Sydney's got water again!

The big rain event of a few weeks ago worked wonders on Sydney's water supply. We've gone from 40% and falling dangerously, to over 80% and time to relax about it again.
 
So off to Warragamba Dam, and Lake Burragorang reservoir, the other day.

The visitor centre is open most days, and on weekends you can walk over the dam.

I think I mentioned once before about how Sydney's big reservoir compares with that of my home town, Birmingham England. They're very proud of their Elan Valley reservoir and dam there. Well it turns out that Sydney's Lake Burragorang is actually 40 times bigger than Birmingham's.

Droughts and flooding rains

It was almost inevitable that our worst ever drought, hottest ever heatwave, and worst ever bushfires, would be followed by one of the wettest ever downpour events. That's what happened last weekend. My rain gauge recorded 250mm, the highest for any three or four day period in its lifetime, and some areas in the Blue Mountains recorded over 500mm.





Remembering the minor flood we experienced a few years ago during a lesser rain event, I did a bit of quick civil engineering outside, and hastily constructed a drainage channel to steer the water safely down the side of the house and out towards the street.




Dorothea Mackeller famously wrote about her love of her sunburnt country, a land of droughts and flooding rains. Several of our shockingly ignorant, coal-loving politicians having been quoting Dorothea Mackeller a lot lately, implying that climate change has nothing to do with our current climatic extremes. They're no longer managing to convince many though.

It's raining and the angophora's shining!

We've finally had a good dose of rain after a lot of very dry months in Sydney. We'll need a few more such events over the spring and summer, if we're to avoid a dreadful bushfire season, but it's a nice start.

The angophora tree out the front looks like it's loving it!

Angophora costata

Angophora costata is a common woodland and forest tree of Eastern Australia, and is known by a variety of names including smooth-barked apple, rose gum, rose apple and Sydney red gum. It grows primarily on sandstone soils, usually on headlands, plateaus or other elevated areas. More at Wikipedia

England's green and pleasant land

England's green and pleasant land was largely under water when I visited a couple of months ago. I understand it's even more so now. I visited Tewkesbury, Worcester, and Evesham, and found the car parks under water, bridges closed, and river walkways submerged.

I got out on a few little rambles along muddy pathways and through muddy fields, but somehow it just doesn't quite cut it any more for this Aussie bushwalker. 






















Maybe visiting England in winter was a bit of a mistake. It can be a depressing old country at the best of times, but when the full force of the wettest winter since Ethelred the Unready hits you, it's a bit of a lost cause. Nice weather for ducks, as they say.