We seem to have passed into the dry season. The air is cooler and the nights bearable. We haven’t seen any lightning like this for a while:
[There was a wonderful picture of lightning in the sky over Darwin here - I'd linked to the Northern Territory Times picture gallery. The NT Time in its wisdom has made that photo disappear and replaced it with a girl in a bikini! - so I've removed the link!]
Dragonfly numbers have reduced during the day, which leaves me somewhat saddened, but the possums demand our attention instead, squabbling in the trees below the garden at night. Perhaps they are mating or the males are staking out their territory in preparation. Fruit bats fly low and are like ghostly spies at dusk.
The new civic wave pool was opened by the Great Chief at the wharf precinct yesterday. The locals, particularly those with young children, anticipated the arrival of this innovation with great interest. I inspected the site early this morning. It is a very pleasant open public area and we are welcome to walk on the small beach and swim in the salt water, free from jellyfish and crocodile attack. I will nonetheless keep up my regular attendance at the Parap swimming pool, a fenced and chlorinated facility which only charges $3.30 per visit. However, I am put out though over an incident that occurred recently. The matter involves a dispute between myself and management at the pool. I suspect I may have left a newly acquired pair of flippers at the pool. They deny all knowledge and can only supply me with a broken down alternative, so I am in a disconsolate mood and inclined to take my patronage elsewhere.
Now that the rainstorms have moved on, there is a plethora of entertainment. We were visited last night by a troupe of comedians from Melbourne. The southerners were of variable talent – the most entertaining of all being the female member, Kitty Flannagan. Her repertoire was broad, and her comic timing excellent. Her item on modern parenting practices was particularly instructive and unorthodox.
This morning I also attended a brass band concert near the museum and art gallery. The program included the theme from Austin Powers, which interestingly begins with a triangle solo. While listening to this al fresco diversion, the birds in the tree above the lane where my car was parked busied themselves at my expense and left their calling cards all over my Honda. One is never allowed to forget the presence of wildlife up here.
We have a long weekend this weekend to celebrate Labour Day, and I will be docked in town for the duration of the festivities. There is much to do and see here, and I have joined the deckchair cinema film society, http://www.deckchaircinema.com/ so connection with the outside world is maintained. I will keep watching the websites nonetheless that advertise cheap fares to the southern states.
e
