Scott T: The Blog
Long Weekend!
Posted Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 1:31pm by ScottTagged: sailing, water
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Hard to believe we're halfway through October (and Spring) already - not to mention this post is almost 2 weeks later than planned already. Holidays have come and gone for another two months (even if I had to work through them), and exams are looming in a few weeks time for all those around me and for the Year 12's (including my younger sister - good luck! =) ).
Anyway, the long weekend also brought the opening of the new sailing season too, for which I headed home again. Unfortunately I was struck down by Labyrinthitis for the second time in 3 years (however was lucky enough for it to not be as bad as last time) but ultimately it was mostly drifting due to a lack of wind. Luckily the final race on Sunday afternoon picked up so the weekend wasn't completely wasted by those who visited the region. No photos of that since I wasn't expecting the wind to pick up as much as it did.
The water-line is also still receding - these photos were taken on Saturday 11th. The usual view doesn't really show where it sits now that the logs are out of the water so here is a side view instead. For scale purposes, most people stand roughly two-thirds the way up the closest stump. Still deep enough for us to sail although there are some areas down to less than 1.5m.
Home for Easter
Posted Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 7:40pm by ScottTagged: everyday, sailing, water
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Easter Thursday traffic (particularly around 5pm) is a complete pain. Seriously.
After finishing my lab early and rushing back to my accommodation, I managed to drive out of the car park around 4:20pm. It then took me close to half an hour for what is normally a ten minute drive to reach one of my friends houses to pick them up. From there, we battled our way across to the other side of the city for our tea break arriving at 6:45pm. We left there at 7:15pm and settled down to sit behind a truck for the several hour drive. One RBT later (a "Random Breath Test" - my first one! They were pulling off groups of 10 or so cars at a time), we arrived home around 9:20pm meaning a travel time close to 4.5 hours.
The weekend itself was quite good. I spent most of Saturday and all of Sunday down the Yacht Club and got adequately sunburnt on the Saturday afternoon out in the rescue boat. Seems to be a habit of mine getting burnt at sailing events. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of wind but all the "races" got in with lasagne and apple crumble for tea on the Sunday night. All in all, I think the majority of those sailing enjoyed the weekend, both on and off water.
I also took the time for a trip around the lake to see the effects lack of water. While not a lot had changed from last time, there was a 10 or 15cm drop which was noticeable around the tree stumps. Part way around the lake provided some quite appealing photo opportunities as well (photos at end of post).
Eventually the weekend had to come to a close so my friends were dropped off at our place and we left around 12:45pm. The drive back wasn't nearly as hectic as the one up was with myself opting to just sit out the slower cars until an overtaking lane (leaving adequate room in front of me), but even still, we saw some rather risky overtaking manoeuvres performed by other cars. Upon reaching the city again, things didn't slow down very much with a fairly clear run through and after dropping my friends back off, I arrived back around 4:10pm. Around an hour less than in reverse direction a few days earlier.
Of course, the only issue I can see now is a lack of hot cross buns for another 11 months...
And now for the other lake photos. Full view here and here.
Did other people get up to much?
It's Cold at the Coast
Posted Fri, Feb 15, 2008 at 9:33pm by ScottTagged: everyday, games, sailing
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Quite cold. Or at least when compared to back up here at home when last week, the lowest maximum for the day was 28C.
[[img|/images/gallery/4/76_med.jpg||float=left|Boats on the shore ready for launching]]Last weekend, on the 8th though 10th we headed down to Victor Harbor for the second leg of the Mosquito States - the first of which was up here last November. Anticipating the cold, I packed jackets and long pants, and upon getting out of the car at the caravan park down there, things didn't seem too bad.
The next day however was a different matter. While a tolerable 19C was forecast, the wind was not factored in to my expectations and despite the sunny weather, it was quite cool all day. The McDonald's cappuccino at 3pm was much appreciated :D I also managed to get rather sunburnt although only on my face and the tops of my hands. This is probably because they were the only parts of my body uncovered :)
Sunday was more of the same however after learning our lesson, the car was parked facing the water allowing shelter all morning. Despite Dad sustaining damage to his Mossie while attempting to leave shore the weekend was reasonably enjoyable.
I would have probably posted this earlier, except I've been colonising new land in Anno 1701 :) Screen shot shows my settlement achieving independence.
[[img|/images/gallery/4/75_med.jpg]]
I'm Home!
Posted Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 12:54pm by ScottTagged: fires, sailing, uni, water
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It's been a little while since the last post so time for an update. Firstly, exams are over! Hopefully everything went well. I'm also home again after leaving my uni accommodation after the final exam last Friday. I also picked up a new computer on the way :D
The fires were put out towards the end of last week and I got to see all the burnt out areas on the way home. A lot of the weed area that was there is now bare (and black) land. The Australian election was held on the Saturday with a reasonably one-sided victory to the Labor Party.
Finally, we also had state titles over the weekend so I spent a bit of time down at the yacht club, which also allowed me to see how the water has dropped.
I know the photo may not show a lot for those unaware of the area, but the water used to be some 10cm or more above that ledge on the log not too long ago so that gives ~20-30cm drop in the last few months. The lake also now has a beach approximately three times as wide as it used to be.
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Entire ferry for two bikes - good use of resources...
