Estuarine Life

My day off is over and I head into port.

Brisbane River

Special Mention: Flood

The State of Queensland has now been declared a natural disaster zone with over two thirds of the State now under water. Rain is predicted for the south east which is where Brisbane sits. (And yet the pundits refuse to acknowledge the drought has broken!) I just may have to start one of these!

Ark built by Dutchman Johan Huibers
Schagen, Holland
photo Daily Mail UK

More from the garden

I don't mind spiders. This one, a garden orb, sits straddled between two ropes that make the clothesline and makes more than her keep in fly catches. You can see her chewing on her latest, one fresh in the fridge and the pantry to the left.

Garden Orb

And there's this tiny little man, half the size of our smallest coin, flying around on his web thread. He is really quite the character. This was taken at distance because the eyes on this little guy are amazing - they're a veritable scanner and he can see me, in size and colour so every time I approached he would jump away. I am delighted to have identified him, the shape of his thorax and crown markings making him very distinctive.

Jumping Spider - Stilicid (Opisthoncus Mordax)

He's watching me.

Loving nature and respecting its presence in your life has its challenges. Everyone has their 'thing' and for me it's wasps. These guys have settled near the orb and are very good at keeping the fly population down. They only build colonies of about 15 and, left alone, they keep to themselves. Provoked, they will attack and bear a nasty sting.

Paper Wasps

Their stringlike home is called a "pagoda" and is constructed from their saliva. When every core of my being cries out "get rid of them!" I resist. For they have their place too.

Meet our Martha

This is Martha, formerly Arthur until her sex was determined.
Resident python, she feeds on chook eggs and her yearly offspring are protected from those eager to steal them for their own gain.

Yes, unfortunately, pythons fetch a lucrative price both here and overseas.

In a pensive mood

She's like my year 4 teacher. Looks fierce and bites when you annoy her but underneath that scaly exterior (which she is shedding in this photo) lies a soft heart.

Checking out the camera

View on Edward from on high

Looking out.

Edward Street, City

Looking at. (Top level corner window).

Queen Street Plaza
which is stupid really as the building sits on the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets, City

Summer is....

Taking off your work clothes and going for a late evening swim.

Man made beach, Southbank, Brisbane City

Clearing your head on the ferry, watching the bats and swallows dip and listening to the currawong call to each other.

Rivercat en route to St Lucia, a suburb of Brisbane

The rampant growth of the blackberry bush, berries ripe for the magpie men feeding their young.

blackberry bush, my back yard

Long grass.

I haven't mowed in a while.

Mr Pentagon coming into the kitchen for a drink. Yes, he dips his head into the sink, lingers then leaves.

Male Huntsman spider, kitchen sink Brisbane
(known in other countries as the Housekeeping Spider)

Skies to get lost under.

8pm

Street theology

Brisbane residents communicating via construction sites.

On Scaffolding- Fortitude Valley

I aim to please (for Uma Por Dia)

What can I tell you - Brisbane is one sexy place.

They're at it again - Afternoon delight

Take a closer look at our natives

Behold, what is probably a callistemon viminalis (note to botanists - the leaves give it away) which is commonly known as the Bottlebrush. This lovely lady hangs in glorious splendour from an adult bush in my front garden and flowers when she feels like it, year 'round.

A special mention....

I took more pictures of some clouds today.
The rain had stopped, the day was fading and the light was the kind that beckoned.
The kind that make you pine for long summer days ten years ago when....

Well, just when.

All photos Brisbane City

Ye Olde Pump

This is an old station pump - no longer in use but kept for posterity. It is situated at Breakfast Creek Wharf which, in the early days, was used to receive stores and various commercial materials such as coal and wool.

On the left hand side you have the time and the right hand side you have water measurements. Each were operated independently so that at any given time, one could view the water levels.


There's a little kitchenette downstairs meant that the pump operator could enjoy a little smoko now and then (when not overtaken by flood waters).

The creek gets its name from an early settler, John Oxley, who mapped the area in the early 1800s and it was from here he proposed the site for Brisbane. At the time this entire area was settled by Aborigines and when they disturbed him at breakfast one morning, he decided this event was worth naming. It's in the working class suburb of Newstead, about ten minutes out of the CBD.

Look out, big storm comin'

Breakfast Creek Road, Newstead

Huge cumulo nimbi forming on the horizon yesterday. This one eventually turned into the classic anvil and it's been raining ever since. Northern Queensland is now cut off as floods drown roads. Guess that means I won't be off to Gladstone this weekend...

Stroll along the boulevarde of bougainvillea...

A unique Brisbane design. A frame upon which bougainvillea plants are woven. And for you to stroll through.

Southbank, Brisbane

In the middle of summer

And what appears to be fog engulfs you as you cross the field.


Except that it's not a fog. But it is. No January air brought this and although rain falls this fourteenth day, that mist is not borne from any cool front.

This was taken at 1oam. The air was warm, no birds sang and neighbours watched from their windows.

Not everyone sleeps in

I went out to get some washing off the line (as you do when you haven't prepared the night before), I spotted these two well at it.

For those of you who think I have a pervy streak, they're bright orange for heaven's sakes. How could you possibly miss them?

In the garden, 6am

Perfect Potion is a Brisbane success story. Started by an engineer-turned-aromatherapist and his wife, they started selling their smelly little concoctions at the local markets and when demand grew, a shop was opened - in the heart of the city no less!

Now with further success meaning they're stocked in large department stores, prices have rocketed but there are times when one can snatch a bargain from the shelves and inwardly fling themselves about with dollar saving glee.

Thai Fusion is a tart mix of lemongrass, ginger and lime. I often burn it in the kitchen where it lends a lively, joyful smell. Zest is a trigger happy melding of orange, lime and rosemary that revives me after a long day at work. I use it as a room spray by adding a few drops to a spray bottle of water and Castor oil.

So why the glee? They usually sell for $19 but I nabbed them at $6 because the company (yes, they're a company now) has decided to 'go organic' and use 'certified organic' stock so there's nothing wrong with the above, they just don't have that little seed logo that suddenly makes them uber-fashionable.

Yeeha!

No smoke on the water

Brisbane River, 5am

I know, I get up too early :)

Queensland Floods

Told you the drought was broken.
A state of emergency was declared for south east Queensland overnight due to the worst floods in 20 years. Logan - considered a part of Brisbane - and the Gold Coast are under seige with the Logan and Albert Rivers breaking banks and expected to peak today.

Roads have been cut and people are preparing to evacuate whereas children are tearing about on rubber tyres and makeshift boats - it's the first big wet they've seen.

Happy new year.

Still raining...

My chariot arrives to take me to work.

And in minutes the sky is blanketed by a swathe of grey and rain threatens to pelt.

But I'm not complaining.

Flying back into Brisbane yesterday I see this. Ah, the River City.
And there's my little hut riiiiight over there.


Today, it's this:Rain has found our catchments and flooded our regional towns (I know, it's supposed to be summer but cyclonic activity in the Arafura Sea has wrought the moisture).

Apparently, it's been raining over Christmas and New Year. With over 156mm SQ Water are saying "...well it's added two weeks to the supply".

Crapola.
The drought is over.