"Do you want a lift over town?" is one of the phrases most commonly used by my family in Lismore. Even though we live only a few hundred metres from the main shopping centre, there's a level of confusion, even suspicion when I tell members of my family, "No it's okay, I'll walk". In Sydney, every day I walk several kilometres to and from work and the shops. For me, it's nothing to walk those distances, and to not even think about it, unless of course it's raining. But in Lismore, like … [Read more...]

There was a moment earlier today when I was quite literally the only person (aside from the bus-driver) on a bus in Sydney. It was in stark contrast to Sydney Airport generally, and my flight to Ballina specifically, which was packed to the rafters. I had a bugger of a job trying to get to the airport earlier today, as cabs were obviously in high demand. I figured today was the day when a lot of people have officially gone on holidays. The centre of Sydney is starting to thin out, and places … [Read more...]

For just a brief moment last night I thought we might have seen the start of "flood rain" here in Lismore. "Flood rain" is the phrase used in my family to describe sustained, heavy rainfall that, as you might expect, eventually leads to flooding. You don't necessarily identify it by the volume of rain that falls. No it's more the sound of the rain that identifies it as flood rain. Just like they have dozens of words for "snow" in Iceland - or is that just an urban myth? - we have lots of … [Read more...]