Stormy weather

Well, it's been a busy week so far. Lots of exciting things have been going on, including a long long bike ride on Sunday, which really wore me out. Anyway...

But the best thing about this week has been all the storms. We've had storms every day this week since Sunday. It's now Thursday and they're forecasting more storms this afternoon.

I love weather like this - as long as I'm home, that is. I love to just sit around and watch the lightning flash across the horizon, with the rain pelting on the tin roof. There's nothing quite like the sound of rain on the roof to make me glad I'm home and safe inside. And the lightning has been impressive. I was watching it on Tuesday night from the balcony and it was lighting up the street almost like daylight. I haven't seen a storm like that for quite a while now.

Maybe the Queensland drought has finally broken? Here's hoping...

Continued around the bend...

Climbing Mt Beerwah

I went off on Saturday to climb Mt Beerwah, in the Glasshouse Mountains. Somebody, who shall remain nameless for now, told me that it was just a steep bushwalk. Hah! Last time I trust him...

It was actually a great day for climbing a mountain. It was overcast, not too hot or windy, not raining. Perfect weather, in fact, for this sort of thing.

The walk starts easily enough. It's an easy walk from the carpark to the base of the mountain. But then it gets... difficult. The sign by the carpark should have warned me - it says the walk is for experienced climbers only. And here's me with vertigo! I really, really should have taken the hint.

Anyway... from the base of the mountain, the track becomes a steep scramble, or rock climb. The path goes pretty much straight up a rock slope, and it is climbing. At this point it is definitely not a walk. I'm not good with heights, and this was very tough. I wanted to give up at several points, but was silly enough to force myself onwards and upwards.

The rock slope ends, eventually. You come off the slope directly underneath the overhanging cliffs, with some beautiful erosion patterns int he rock. You might even get to admire them after you've recovered from the climb up what is practically a cliff face!

From this point on, though, it's actually quite easy. Its still steep, but it's an actual walk from here. The views are spectacular. The track winds around from the western face, with views inland to the hills and across plantations and farms, to the climb to the summit. Along the way there are some great views back along the cliff face and towards the other Glasshouse Mountains.

From the summit there are views in all directions. It was hazy and smoky on Saturday, with a couple of fires burning back towards the coast. On a clear day there would be views back to Brisbane, and up the coast towards Noosa. On Saturday, though, most of this was obscured by the smoke. Still, it was very impressive.



Fortunately, it was much easier to get down than it was to get up. I've noticed this before - I struggled on the climb up, feeling dizzy, sweaty palms on the climb up the rock face, but on the way down I didn't get vertigo at all. It was still tough on my ankles and knees, but I felt fine. I felt a lot more in control on the descent.

All up, I'm glad I managed to complete the climb. It was probably pretty silly, but it's also a bit embarrassing. There were lots of other people on the mountain, too. There were young kids practically running up the slope, and teenage girls in old sneakers who had no trouble with it. To me, they seemed to be taking some insane risks, but they were all fine and made it up and back quicker than I did. Anyway... I guess that's vertigo for you.

I don't think I'll be rushing out to do it again, but I'm glad I did it at least this once.

Continued around the bend...

John Howard keeps a straight face while...

In other political news, John Howard announced today he'll be over-riding some parts of Peter Beatties new laws on council amalgamations. That's not particularly surprising, as Howard's been looking for a fight up here. But I can't believe he managed to keep a straight face while saying things like this:

He said the "arbitrary jackbooted fashion" in which Queensland sought to impose amalgamations was "beyond the pale".



And this, from the Australian:

Mr Howard said he was acting because the “arrogant” Beattie Government was behaving in a “dictatorial fashion’’, particularly the “outrageous’’ trampling of peoples rights.

This really is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Just a few days ago, Howard said the Beattie government was power mad. He may be right, but can John Howard really say that without looking at his own record? The federal government has spent most of the last few years grabbing more power for itself, acting arbitrarily and riding all over peoples rights. And now he complains about the Queensland governement doing the same thing...

Queensland does have an accountability problem in government, though. With only one house of state parliament, there is no effective opposition. The government of the day can do what it likes almost with impunity. That really needs to change - either with the creation of an upper house, or an electoral system of proportional representation that could create minority/coalition-style governments.

Anyway - back to reality after this weird episode in Howard's Australia...

Links (upper house for QLD): Online Opinion, Andrew Bartlett

Meanwhile, it's beginning to look like Howard shot himself in the foot of the Mersey Hospital bribe down there in Tassie. Hah! Can't make his promises stick for more than a couple of weeks now, can he?

Links : The Australian, Brisbane Times

Continued around the bend...