And The Rains Came

We have just had a long weekend in this part of Australia.  Unlike most other States, Victoria has its Labour Day in March while here they follow the more traditional first Monday in May.  They had been forecasting a 'major rain event' for Monday (the holiday).  Despite it being quite windy there wasn't any rain till mid afternoon and by 8 am this morning we had received a decent 65mls with more showers forecast for today and tomorrow.

I was going to give the pool a top up Monday morning but I am glad I held off.  Needless to say that after 65mls the pool is full and the gardens and lawn are well watered.  This is the first rain we've had since the lily pilly trees were removed and I am hopeful of seeing some grass growth in the front lawn bare patches where previously the trees had sucked all the moisture out of the soil.

Despite it being windy yesterday I did jump on the bike for a wind blown 14 or so kilometres.  It was great with the wind but very hard work riding against it.

Things are kind of back to normal with the long weekenders enduring a long drive home to Brisbane through heavy traffic.  It is great to see a promise from the Federal government to fund extending the Bruce Hwy from here to Brisbane to 3 lane all the way.  Currently it is only 2 lanes each way to from here to Caboolture which is about half way to Brisbane.

It's a pretty crappy photo above as it was taken from a webcam but indicates some of the hassles holiday makers had getting back to the City yesterday.  By the time the wet weather arrived, much of the traffic should have cleared which was good.

It is expected to fine up Thursday before we get our first taste of wintry weather on Saturday.  In this part of the world winter is usually sunny but cool which is why it is popular with those from down south.  Wintry days can be very cool overnight but into the low 20's during the day.

In winter the wind tends to come from the south west which means it has travelled a long way overland and has dropped any moisture it may have had.  By the time it gets to us the wind is dry but cool, thus the sunny weather for winter.  On Saturday we get our first south westerly for the winter along with a promise of a morning temperature around 9°.  After lows 20's and high teens, 9° will feel very cold.

However by 9 am the sun has been out and the temperature gets to the high teens.