Sunday, September 5, 2010

Wet, Wet, Wet.

First up some house keeping -

Welcome to any who have found their way here through Karen G’s Labor Day BBQ Blog-o-rama.

Second: My Sunday Swan watch will have to be temporarily suspended. It isn’t through a lack of trying, but our Swan family are not at the moment to be found.
Don’t panic, I doubt anything untoward has happened to them. Rather as I’ll point out below the weather down this way has been very suitable for swans, ducks and the like. This has meant the nearby area available for our swans has gone from probably 20 acres of wetlands to hundreds of acres. This is due to higher water levels allowing them easy access to other channels and ponds. I have hunted for them on a number of occasions as has my daughter Io, but with no results.

Finally: Thank you to all who expressed concern for Deb after her fall. She is almost entirely better with all aches and pains pretty much gone.

Now on to my post for tonight…

Poor Victoria has been lashed by torrential rains over the past twenty-four hours.

On top of an already wet winter this has meant significant flooding in the north of the state.
Again – don’t panic, down in the south - central where we are, the rainfall has been much lower with only nuisance localised flooding.

As is usual Deb and I were out and about. We headed in the direction of one of our favourite haunts, the Upper Yarra Valley.

Well the Yarra River has burst its banks.
Back in February I posted this piccie of the river.Today from the same point the scene is a bit different.I didn’t post this picture, but it shows Deb’s brother-in-law David and our niece Kennedy on the same day.They are sitting at a picnic bench in a park near the river.

I don’t think we’d use the bench today.But for many local residents life goes on as normal.

The Happy Wanderer is showing its first flush of spring flowers.This big gum tree will be happy at a good drink after so many years of drought.And these Sulphur Crested Cockatoos weren’t bothered by the rain, but they only put up with me getting so close before flying off.On our way home we paused so I could capture some shots of people driving on moderately flooded roads.

Some being sensible, took it slowly.While others raced through the water (today we saw one person flood their motor this way).

I guess this farmer won’t be getting machinery on his field any time soon.One last shot of more flooded paddocks I took on the way home. As you can see from the clouds it looks like we are in for more rain.

23 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Rivers bursting their banks are so dramatic aren't they?? The power of water! But of course you will always get mad drivers thinking they are invincible...!

I'm glad to hear you are all safe and that Deb is recovering ok! I hope this mad weather calms down soon too.

Those cockatoos are beautiful and great to see flushes of spring colour!

I hope the swan family are ok.

Take care
x

Anne Gallagher said...

I'm glad Deb's feeling better.

I can't believe the miracle of modern technology sometimes. It's funny for me to know it's spring down there and just turning to fall up here.

Stay safe in the rain. I'm not worried about the swans. They're very resilient.

Amanda said...

Wow, those photos really remind me of Kentucky this year after the flood. Some people's farm areas were under 25 feet of water. Amazing.

Heidenkind said...

The picture of the Cockatoos flying is really cool!

Theres just life said...

Since I live in Texas along the Gulf Coast I see a lot of rain and flooding. As children in Junior High we use to make money helping push the crazy drivers out of the flooded roads in the spring. Sometimes we would push the same person out the very next week. Some people never learn, do they.
I also love the picture of Cockatoos flying, as well as the river. Nature is very powerful and awe inspiring.

Theres just life said...

I almost forgot HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Lisa said...

What a difference in the river! When the land is as dry as that was, it doesn't take much to flood, does it? Hopefully this will really help the drought - if it doesn't all rush off.

Culture Served Raw said...

Glad to hear Deb is recovering well. Love these shots, I don't think a lot of people would think to capture the less sunny days!

Hope you had a great fathers day

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I'm glad Deb is recovering well...Water can do an amazing amount of damage.

You took some amazing pictures!

Kathleen Jones said...

What with floods and earthquakes - things are getting pretty interesting at the moment - interesting as in the sense of the Chinese curse 'May you have an interesting life'!
Hopefully it will calm down a bit soon. I could do with boredom for a little while!

Arlee Bird said...

Poor Los Angeles receives hardly any rain. It's a shame the forces of the world's weather can't disperse precipitation more evenly across the surface of the Earth.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Kristen M. said...

I'm sure you can guess what I love in this post -- the cockatoos! Beautiful!

And the picnic table picture tells a thousand words. Our rain will be starting up soon but luckily we're on a hill now. We used to live next to a lake and the area docks would all disappear under the water in the winter.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Visiting from Karen's Blog BBQ. It's great to find another Aussie blogger! :)
Great pics too! I love photography.

Lyn
W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

Lisa Potts said...

Great pictures, Al. I hope the weather dries out. Thanks for stopping by from the BBQ. I'll definitely be following!

Ann said...

What a wonderful photos of the Cockatoos in flight. Just beautiful.

My goodness that is some flooding. The picnic bench photo's really brought that home.

Hope you, Deb and family are keeping dry. Glad to hear Deb is on the mend. Take care

Candyland said...

Found you through Karen's blog! Amazing pictures. I love how they capture a sense of drama and emotion. Happy Monday!

Marguerite said...

Hi Al! Over from the BBQ. So nice to meet you! Great pics and blog! That is a lot of water! I've always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand.

MTeacress said...

Hey there, I'm from the BBQ too. Your pics of the flood are really interesting - especially the before and after. I hope everything returns to normal soon.
Cheers!

Kittie Howard said...

Thanks for stopping by, Al. I'm following you now (*waves*) and gotta say I really enjoyed your post. Happy to hear Deb is on the mend. And Kennedy is too precious for words.

Great pics. Victoria looks really beautiful. But that picnic bench in the water made me gasp. Stay safe, mate.

Deniz Bevan said...

Wandered over from Karen's BBQ. You've got some great photos!

http://www.samposey.com/ said...

Your pictures are wonderful, Al. I'm linkingt you to another blog Im now following because you each have blogs that remind me of the others. Check it out. http://joezachs.blogspot.com/

Michelle Tressa said...

Those pictures are gorgeous! And you usually have a swan family living near you? Sounds fantastic!

Thank you for stopping through! Have a wonderful week!

Al said...

Hi Jennifer,
Thank you.
There are unfortunately mad drivers everywhere.
The cockies are gorgeous, such wild spirits.

Hi Anne,
It is a relief everything is Ok with Deb.
Technology has really meant a wonderful growth in relationships across the world.
I’m not too worried about the swans.

Hi Amanda,
Fortunately we haven’t had anything like 25 feet of water in our part of the state.
Some areas in the north of Victoria have had flood levels like that. Amazing is the word.

Hi Tasha,
I was happyish with the flying cockatoo piccie. My camera is a bit long in the tooth, so shots like that are a bit hit and miss.

Hi Pamela Jo,’
What a great money spinner – I love that they didn’t learn their lesson, makes for agreat story!
I love this wonderful world of ours and all the amazing creatures!
And thank you for wishing me a Downunder Dad’s day.

Hi Lisa,
It is amazing what a difference the rain has made.
I think the drought is effectively over for a couple of years. The reality is here in Oz we tend to lurch from drought to flood and back again.

Hi Valerie,
Maybe not, but then again compulsive shutter bugs like me probably can’t help it rain or shine :-)

Hi Sharon,
Thank you! Elemental forces really put life in perspective don’t they.

Hi Kathleen,
I think the ordeal Christchurch is going through really puts our flooding in perspective. Still you/they have been so lucky in NZ given how few people were hurt.
I love the curse of the interesting life. Although I have heard it a little different, phrased as ‘may you live in interesting times’.
Boredom sounds good doesn’t it?

Hi Lee,
It never quite works out in the weather stakes does it?
The climate in Oz tends to be like that full stop, you’ll get ten years average rainfall in two years and then have next to nothing for eight.

Hi Kristen,
I guess a zoologist is going to have some general preferences, they are gorgeous birds aren’t they? So amazingly intelligent too.
It is good to live at the top of a hill in wet weather.

Hi Lynda,
Welcome, there aren’t very many of us Aussies out in the blogosphere are there! Hasn’t the BBQ been great?

Hi Lisa,
Welcome!
Thank you! I like the look of your blog too!

Hi Ann,
I liked the cocky piccies too!
The bench was so good because I had before and after.

Hi Candy,
Hasn’t Karens blog BBQ been a great social event.
Thank you!

Hi Marguerite,
Welcome! Nice to meet you too!
I can certainly recommend Oz and NZ looks pretty impressive too!

Hi Mt,
Welcome! In most areas the water is receding already .

Hi Kittie,
Welcome! And Hi! Thank you, Kennedy is a real sweetheart!
It certainly has been wet down this way!

Hi Deniz,
Thank you and welcome! The BBQ has been fun!

Hi Shellie,
Welcome! Thank you for the link I will have a look.

Hi Mytressa,
Welcome, and thank you! Yes we have a swan family who normally live about quarter of a mile away. They have been a little hard to track down just recently, but I guess that is because they have some more choices at the moment.