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Same-same.... but different

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 When we lived at Carwoola water was a constant issue for us.  We either had plumbing problems (too little water); floods across the road due to storms; or a watercourse running from the dam overflowing and flooding the garden (too much water). I thought we might be past all that. However today I was quietly reading, while Frances was out for a walk when there was a rumble from the general direction of the ceiling or roof.  My first thought was the chimney had fallen over but that wasn't the case (and the solar heater and panels all looked OK.  Then I walked past our water meter and it was going berserk, when nothing should have been running.  I turned it about 90% off and started looking for what could be the problem.   Then Frances returned and went to check her bathroom.  She described it as like Niagara erupting from under the basins. Turn off of water goes to 100% and our plumber is contacted. He arrives quickly (he is sort of retired but hel...
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Nearby snaps

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 These are just a few snaps from 505 or very nearby. It is quite usual to see groups of dog-walkers in the morning.  However they are usually out in the middle of the park, not blocking the path.  I have no idea why the big dog - possibly a Burmese Mountain Dog - is in the cart. The low clour/fog has been keeping the balloons away but 4 came in on the 17th.  I thought this one was going to land very close to 505 but it ended up about 200m away. A couple of snaps of a colourful sunset on the 17th.  This looked quite nice .... ... but the colour got more intense 3 minutes later.    It is also surprising that the sky was this light at 1743 hrs.
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Albert Park and nearby

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 on  The following image shows a 20-meter high mural in Bowen St, South Melbourne (heading from Mac Rob to the Toorak Rd tram stop,  honoring Boonwurrung matriarch and trailblazer for Aboriginal rights, Louisa Briggs .  The mural was painted by acclaimed street artist Pete CTO.
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Landing

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 We were walking to Prahran on the morning of the 10th and heard a helicopter coming from the general direction of Richmond.  It was indeed the Air Ambulance, albeit on an unusual flight path over Fawkner Park rather than Albert Park. Here it is coming down.  Note the bloke with the Hi-vis and a stop sign on the pavement.  It seems he was just stopping pedestrians not vehicles. Then it has to be lined up properly.  I assume it is more efficient to swing it round in the air than to get a couple of wardsmen to shove it round after landing.
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Between houses

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 So on 5 July we finished packing the car and headed on in the dark and the rain at about 0630.  Daylight arrived somewhere after Genoa.  I think we were close to Drummer (about 45km) before we saw another car. We each guessed the number of caravans we would see at Cann River.  Frances voted for 10, allowing for school holiday travelers while I was influenced - unwisely - by the foul weather and went for 2.  The park was well occupied, with Frances estimating about 15 occupied sites.  From Cann onwards the traffic coming towards us was quite steady: certainly more than there has been for the past 2 or 3 trips.  I think a certain amount of sanity returning to fuel prices has got people on the road again. I have entered up the fuel purchased at Bairnsdale and was struck by the similarity of consumption this trip and last.  There is a notable difference between the consumption on the legs Bairnsdale - Mallacoota - Bairnsdale  (about 6.8 l/100km)...
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Morass and Balloons

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 The start of the drive was not pleasant with 8/8ths cloud and drizzle to about Bruthen. A Forest Kingfisher has been reported many times in the last 2 weeks from MacLeod's Morass in Bairnsdale so we invested some time in checking the are out.  There were a few other folk also looking but no one got lucky until just after we left .  It reads as though this guy drove up, ticked the bird and left!  We put in a bit over 90 minutes but didn't see it although it was good seeing all the Dotterels out from the boardwalk.  One of the observers the previous day noted that " S pent 4 hours patiently waiting with a group of people trying to search for the bird to then have it perch in a tree next to the road and then fly to the power lines."   C'est la twitch.  We enjoyed the break and will likely do it again.  The Red-kneed Dotterel was an East Gippsland tick (taking me to 261 species for the Shire, 13th on the eBird list for the Shire and only 66 spe...
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Prayers, Tanzanian style

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 A friend who is hoping to get out of hospital soon suggested that people's prayers might help.  That made me think of the tree I drove past every day in Dar es Salaam. People put all sorts of items up on this Baobab to get their message through to the spirits that were in the tree.  I added to the collection as a friend back in Australia was having some health problems.  As I was putting my message up an old chap appeared explaining that he looked after the tree and would appreciate a little "chakula" - Kiswahili for food, but he was actually after shillings which were duly provided.   A nice illustration of religion in Tanzania.  40% are Christian; 40 % Islamic; and 100% believe in witchcraft.  Here is another snap of the site, with a witchcraft ceremony in progress. The red cloaks are the traditional attire of witches.  We went to a performance of Macbeth at an amateur dramatic society.  Half the performance was in Kiswahili and there...
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