DOUCEUR

Canadian Goldrich apricot in nearly full flower

Bracing myself for the usual sharp drop in temperature as I stepped out the back door this morning, it was a welcome change to be greeted by a calm and relatively warm morning. All signs are pointing to an early Spring and as several of my fruit trees are already donning their floral finery, I can only cross my fingers that the weather doesn't take a turn for the worse over the next few weeks.

DRIPPY DAZE

It's been a wet few days, and most of today's live coverage weather coverage came from the vantage point of my home office (aka the dining table) where I watched the rain fall steadily through the last of the autumn leaves - in between my own steady tappings on the keyboard.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH - APRIL 2016

April has been a beguiling mix of warm, clear (and frustratingly rain-free) days with the occasional sudden dip in temperatures to remind us that winter is just around the corner, and the occasional spike to remind us that summer still wants to play.

IN THE GARDEN:

Last 3 strawberries of the season...

KING TIDE

Over this side of the globe the phrase 'king tide' is just another way of describing the biggest of our high tides. As I recently mentioned, Darwin doesn't get much surf. What we do get though are some substantial tidal variations - approaching 8 metres in height. King tides happen a few times a year, but aren't especially noteworthy during the dry season when the winds are relatively calm. However a monsoon season king tide accompanied by stormy winds is the kind of event that gets people to the beach in droves. The evening's entertainment feature of recent days has been a churning sea accompanied by 10 metre high seawater plumes slamming into the rocky shore.

SURF'S UP

I know, I know...How could it get more cliche than an Aussie blogger living by the sea and using a lame surf catchphrase?

But I promise you, Darwin is stuck in one of the corners of Australia that gets almost zero surf. I suspect Darwin would be a much different place if we did (crocodiles and toxic jellyfish notwithstanding). And as such we don't have much of what would be considered stereotypical Australian beach culture up here.

OASIS

This has been my little oasis for the last few days. We hit record high temperatures of over 36 degrees for several days in a row last week. Add in the stonkingly high humidity and it's been pretty unbearable. A big storm system came through by the end of the week so I was finally able to get a good night's sleep. Once upon a time you used to be able to survive this town without an air con, these days it seems even the old stalwarts that have been around for years can't cope without them (I'm admittedly not too far off myself, though my current quasi open air setup doesn't allow for it right now).

So mostly I loll about in the plunge spa. And the walking carpet is generally not too far behind.

mmm, delicious human infused spa water

wut? No, I wasn't drinking the spa water

EARLY ARRIVAL

You know those mornings when you get your first real impression that the season has turned? My favourite has always been autumn, with its first hint of crispness and the fragrance of woodsmoke in the morning air, the first browning of a leaf and blush of purple in the blackberry bushes.

STICKY MOMENTS

Storm, incoming!

Right now in the Top End we're full swing into the build-up. Also known as troppo season as the eternal sticky, muggy and downright oppressive conditions, mixed with the generally high levels of alcohol consumption in these parts has a tendency to send people a little off the rails.
Some mornings start with grey skies. Black clouds on the horizon show a hint of a promise, and though you know rain is unlikely so soon in the season, a downpour would only make it worse anyway. But for a blessed 20 minutes, it's slightly cooler morning than normal. After a while the breeze drops, and even the cloud cover can't keep the heat away. As the humidity gradually climbs, the slightest exertion makes you break out in a sweat. In between showering and changing clothes you're not entirely sure if you accomplished anything worthwhile at all. By the way, it IS actually possible to sweat in the shower.

SOLSTICE SUN

Getting used to seasonal shifts in daylight hours has been one of the hardest things to adapt to since moving to Europe. Although I spent many years in New Zealand when I was young, I lived near the equator long enough to consider daylight hours of equal length all year round as normal. Still, I finally got my little hound over to the UK a couple of weeks ago so my new daily routine involves getting up an hour earlier (groan) to be dragged comatose around the countryside.