Fri 21. late night: received an SMS from friends, saying they're going bush camping and whether I'd like to join them.

Sat 22 morning: 250km drive to the upper Clarence River west of Casino

Sun to Tue: relaxing in the shade :-) That particular spot seems to be known to fairly few people and is really lovely. It's on the banks of the Clarence, and well within its flood zone. There are bent trees growing horizontally all over the place, and the evidence of the big floods of two years ago is really stunning: the Clarence is at that point not a big river, but the high water marks are incredibly high up. Anyway, all that flooding makes for very very lush grass and pleasant camping. Only downside: the cows and their patties make for lots of flies. The weather forecast had been pretty bad, but all the storms bypassed us and it drizzled just once, briefly. It was really hot and humid, enough so that even I spent some time in the river (I'm otherwise not a great friend of water and swimming). Getting flushed from the tent at 0730 (because of the heat) is not my preferred way to wake up, but after a coffee and a brief swim around 0900 my brain was usually ready for the day - much of which I spent lounging with books and a few cold beers.

The Clarence and its flood plain (well, more of a flood valley).

My tent next to one of the many horizontal trees.

Our "lounge" area next to the river. My compact camp kitchen did sterling duties, and so did the MSR Whisperlite (which is now 26 years old!). The tarp in the foreground is mine, the camper/tent combo belongs to my friends. In Europe I never bothered with a tarp, but in Oz it's really essential for getting out of the sun.

The kids used their personal swags, but I much prefer a fullsize tent to one of these coffins.

I said it was hot, didn't I? Swimming with a hat on looks weird, and I know that hat of mine looks dorky (but whatever works).

That's in the evening.

That's the sound of Sriracha sauce vanishing. There seems to be some hole in the space-time continuum near me, at least as far as chili sauce is concerned: the last 740ml bottle lasted me just under a week, and I don't really think the current bottle will go any further.

As of a few days ago I no longer work for said uni, and I never cared about the sheep.
click here for the rest of the story...

What a letdown: not a single apocalyptic prediction has come true and none of the nutters were elevated, abducted, or otherwise interestingly transformed. Shocking, Truly Shocking.

Better luck next time, maybe? I'm not giving up hopes for the real Ship B, Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet, just yet. In the meantime imagine the joy of the inhabitants of Bugarach when they get their town back!

...you just spent more on cooling your computer than you ever spent on cooling yourself/your place.

It's somewhat hot today. The local weather readings peaked around 35°C (and about 75% relative humidity).

I'm pretty sure the desktop box is feeling the heat less than I do because I have just recently invested in a Fractal Design R4 case (very quiet and nice) and a Noctua NH-U12PSE2 cooler (also lovely). Neither were exactly cheap.

The three plain ceiling fans throughout the house and the pedestal fan opposite my desk are much less lovingly overengineered than said computer equipment but they suffice: I don't like air conditioning much (I seem to catch a cold very easily in airconditioned conditions).