Surfing clouds home from work

Cycling through a rolling corkscrew vortex below the vaporous swell of cloud. Waves in the air rolling not yet breaking. 

Riding home from Parap on Monday night. 7:00pm The sky was darker than usual, no sunlight poking through just a dim glow reflecting off the rolling head of another trough. A few drops of rain touch my skin and I wonder how far I'll get before the rain bursts free from the sky.
After a couple of minutes chatting with friends the time has come to ride. The early evening and morning are my favorite times to ride.

I was keen to start peddling but an old fella was gesturing me to the auto teller. I wanted to ignore him but without my glasses I stared too long to see what he was doing and he knew he had me! This happens a fair bit in Darwin. He's got his card and knows his pin but he can't operate the machine, he just needs someone to access his account and withdraw his money for him. It's a weird situation to have a stranger give you their bank card and pin number anywhere else it probably would never happen but in Darwin life is a bit different. I kind of doubted he knew the pin but sure enough I entered the number he told me and we were in.
"How much do you want to withdraw?"
"One Hundred Dollah"
I try one hundred and surprize surprize the machine refuses to pay. Not enough funds. OK, I thinks, No money, great now I can go home!
"You've got no money, sorry, it didn't work."
I waited to be dismissed but no, we're going to try again. Damn it! It's going to rain and I'm stuck at the auto teller with some old bloke who could probably do without another $100 of drinking money but he wasn't ready to let me go just yet.

"OK try forty!"
"There is no forty. Only twenty or fifty..."
"OK fifty!"

I try fifty and miraculously the money comes out. I leave it for him to grab from the machine, thankfully he had no trouble doing that, not that I would be tempted to take his money, even though I've rarely got more than a dollar to spend. It just seems weird and I want to get on my bike! The old fella says thanks, he's genuinely grateful, now I feel like an asshole for not wanting to help him. Argh get over it!

Back to the ride. Off we go. The sky is dark but I can see the clouds moving quickly with the wind licking at it's heels as the front rolls across the inky black sky. I roll down the familiar back streets and onto Bagot Rd. I love this time of night! It's the fruit bat hour, cooler, the sun is not frying my skin or broiling my brains the air is heavy and soft. I can feel the weight of the clouds above me and wonder when they will burst and bombard me with rain. I naturally start to peddle faster, It's amazing how much energy I have for cycling when it's cloudy or dark.
The sky is growing darker and darker up ahead... I'm sure I'll get wet but I don't care, the atmosphere is electric... (Only a few flashes of lightning fortunately!) I start to peddle faster. The air pressure drops considerably as I get closer to the storm I feel an incredible sense of lightness. The fruit bat hour is the time of night when 100s of fruit bats fill the sky headed for their evening roosts, It's quite surreal to see... The sensation is magical!
As I ride I am engulfed by the darkness of the storm cloud, I can feel drops of rain falling and wonder if I'll make it home without being drenched. I peddle faster and the bike just glides along. It's like there's no resistance! I am being sucked through a vortex! Moving faster and faster the street is quite empty, all peripheral sights and images disappear into a blur I feel an intoxicating euphoria. I am high! Now I feel like a surfer riding a 5 mile long tube of the perfect wave! The sky is getting darker, I glide the path, drops of rain gather on my skin but only enough to urge me on faster! As I head down Mc Millans road the wind of a storm front bowls it's way through the trees, the temperature drops dramatically but no rain. I am flying! Rolling up hill now I feel like I'm exerting no energy at all! I am in a state of bliss!
The bike trembles slightly as I cross Lee Point Rd, finally I begin to slow down as I approach home. Now I'm just cruising the final leg, my bike and this strange wave just pulls me home. I open the gate and dismount, roll the bike into its stable and enter the house... Home.
Oh give me my bike on any night like this.

How's the weather?

Some people make a profession of reading, interpreting, understanding and then predicting weather patterns, others study the weather for practical reasons like when to plant their crops or whether or not it is wise to go to sea... and others listen intently to weather forcasts so they will have something boring to talk about at picnics and dinner parties... Personally I am none of these and tend to just enjoy what the weather dishes up to me when I step out the door each day.
Even as a postie I was only ever mildly interested in weather forecasts... Don't get me wrong I am not disinterested in weather; I just don't see the point in studying up on it as though I can have some influence on the outcome! OK if someone tells me it's going to rain I'll dress accordingly... But don't try to start a conversation with me about how the weather is going to be over the next 12 months because I've had one too many of them... (After a few years of living in Darwin you will understand why conversations about extreme weather events can become a bit droll!)

Apparently we are currently experiencing a La nina weather phenomenon. That is pretty interesting actually. Most of Australia has received so much rain that it has caused major flooding in areas that have been dry for more than a decade! Dams are full to overflowing and people are now beginning to wish they hadn't wished so hard for rain.

Here in Darwin we've had exceptionally high rainfall for this time of year and have also been blessed with regular thunderstorms. It's quite wonderful to experience the Tropical thunderstorms we get here, but there is always an element of danger. There are some things a person should avoid doing. Things that might increase the chances of being struck by lightning... Things like playing golf, riding your bike or talking on a conventional telephone (you know the ones that still use a wire).

So after a storm had just passed I was reading my boy a children's story about the rain thinking it would be kind of fun and keeping in theme with the current weather.. I was kind of shocked to find that apparently for the sake of staying true to a rhyme the book gave some very dangerous advice!

(...Umbrellas up and all get under?) - Click on image for clearer text

What is wrong with this picture?

Are they CRAZY?

Planting

Apparently Darwin has seen it's highest November rainfall in 15 years!
Everything has turned green again and life is sprouting from every nook and cranny.


(Raised garden beds at a local school)


(Cantaloupe growing in a raised bed at local school)

I thought I'd end the month with some pictures of the green that is all around us now as we enjoy some lovely coolish days, amazing thunder heads, dark ominous skies proceeded by a rush of cool air and fairly regular thunder storms. (Power outages and blackouts too)
The gardens are enjoying a hefty splash of rain!


(New council planting along Mc Millans Service Rd)

There have been a series of community tree plantings over the past couple of weeks and more that I know of which have been planned for this coming weekend. Now must be the right time to plant wet season crops, but what's really great is that there are heaps of trees being put in the ground. Down at the Mulch Pit the holes have already been dug (with that cool hole digger tool) and a variety of fruit trees are waiting to be stuck in the ground. I've also heard that some friends of Rapid Creek are planning some re-vegetation work that will include tree planting.

The most surprising thing is that it looks like the council has gone bananas planting trees along McMillans Rd! (Or maybe it was the State Government's department of Roads Planning and Infrastructure)
I'd been cursing them all dry season for being heavy handed with their pruning and tree removal but now I am very pleased to see that they have planted heaps of trees. Some of them exotic but I have noticed quite a few Milkwoods going in which is great to see.

The frogs love this unusually wet weather! They seem to have been much more vocal this year than I have ever heard them... well at this time of year anyway! This afternoon we discovered frogs eggs in a bucket full of rainwater at our back door. The kids are so excited.

Life seems full of new beginnings at the moment.

Raining finaly!

A tropical low off the Kimberley coast brings rain
(image courtesy of Australian Gov. BOM)

We've been having some fantastic rain all weekend and yesterday was the best. looks like there's more to come. Looks like Indonesia is getting some too.

Monsoonal puddles

So finally the monsoons have hit and Darwin is receiving some considerable rainfall. I am committed to riding my bike rain hail or shine and for the past two days I have ridden through monsoonal downpours on the way to work.
On Monday morning I had to take the car to the mechanic (wheel bearings - brakes etc...) and then ride to work. I took the main Rd which was a big mistake because the gutters were so full that I was forced to ride in the middle of the lane to avoid scuttling my bike in the gloomy depths. The traffic was OK but I felt kind of vulnerable in the haze of rain and foggy windscreens. I was very glad to take the back streets from Nightcliff where I could enjoy the experience of riding in the warmth of soft, heavy tropical rain. It was an utter delight and the Nightcliff foreshore looked awesome with the dirty water splashing out of Rapid creek into a turbulent sea confused and turbid with the sudden influx of fresh water.




I rode through the rain again yesterday and man did it pour! This time I wore a bright green raincoat so I could be seen. The gutters were flowing backwards as the sudden rush of water overwhelmed the unsuspecting drains, their capacity reduced by mud and debris. Great pools were creeping across nature strips and back up the foot paths as cars cut momentary channels through the torrents that should be roads. I kept peddling, the warm water engulfing my peddles and feet as the front tire split lakes and sprayed more water ove the teaming gutters.
A flash of white light filled the street and burned the back of my eyes, *CRACK* a lightning bolt smashed through the rain and brought fear in an instant. What the hell am I doing?! Dogs howled in agony, cars raced on un-deterred and I peddled faster hoping to make it to work alive. Bang there goes another one, Oh Shit I'm gonna die! - (I didn't.) Finally I arrived at work just two km from home.

I haven't been on the Lee Point track since last week, I think I'll spare my bike the misery of all that mud and grit.