Yesterday was one of those days when the weather forecast was spot on. The 40.4 degree temperature kept us inside for much of the day, or at least drove me inside to join Chris and the cricket mid-morning. We sat in the air-conditioned space, 37 degrees better than the simmering heat, even in the shade of the awning outside, while the Australians wiped out the Poms yet again.
I really do have to make another observation about this whole cricket affair, or at least that on television; why do they keep showing portions of matches from years ago or earlier in the game, in the middle of the current one? Another one out! No, that was back in 1985. The words “Replay” across the top of the screen would lessen the frustration. Now if I had an iPhone and the appropriate app, I could advise the commentators to fix this incredibly annoying facet of the game, but I don’t, so I guess I will just have to accept it. Thus endeth the grumpy meanderings of this blogger.
And then I learned after we returned from a short outing to the shopping centre that the big tennis match over in Brisbane had started and was live on air too! What other joys were there for a wilting woman?
Severe weather warnings scrolled across the television screens, for here and all the area north to the Sunshine Coast and down as far as the Gold Coast; wind, rain and hail. As night fell, so did the even darker skies and torrential rain. For us the hail and winds did not eventuate, but according to reports around, we were lucky. Thunder and lightning crashed around at maximum volume terrifying all the pets in the park and yours truly. This time we did not rush out and dismantle our outdoor arrangements and were none the worse for not doing so. In the meantime Cyclone Christine was gathering force on the north west coast of the continent readying itself to decimate Karratha.
Again, as per the weather soothsayers, we woke to temperatures far more pleasant; they have not risen much above 30 degrees all day. We donned our sunhats and wandered up Warwick Road to the service station less than a kilometre away, hoping to find our favourite newspaper waiting on the shelf for us. Alas we were out of luck, but did find one when we walked back past the showgrounds and beyond to the little fish’n chip place.
Over lunch we agreed a dose of culture would go down well, so set off into the centre of town, easily found a vacant spot in the metered parking area and made our way to the city’s Art Gallery. On our way there, I had a decided sense of déjà vu; today we found the gallery, supposedly open seven days a week, closed as it was on our last visit. Frustrated, we carried on into the commercial centre of the city, a rather dismal area compared to the vibrant Riverlink Shopping Centre immediately across the Bremer River, even though business has resumed between the statutory holidays. In support of this stagnating part of Ipswich, there is a lot of free parking available, but alas it is all under cover and not for vehicles standing taller than 2.23 metres high. Needless to say we were rather annoyed to have fed the parking metre so well when the intended destination was not available. Instead we called into a DVD outlet and purchased five DVDs at half the marked prices, which were already quite reasonable. We now have no excuse to be bored.
We decided to check out the Conservation Reserve on Denmark Hill, a pleasant refuge in the city we had wandered through on our visit here in 2011 but were unable to find the entrance on the lower section of the park. Instead we gave up, came home and buried ourselves in the newspaper and our novels.
This evening
reports of the cyclone on the west coast are dire; it seems that too few are
taking them seriously. Here on the east coast, the dangers are of lightning
strikes and heat waves. It seems we are to have a repeat of yesterday’s soaring
temperatures on Thursday. Perhaps that will be a good day to catch another movie
in an air-conditioned theatre.
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