Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Dust Storms, Sepia and the Day Godzilla Ate the Coathanger

My back garden at 6am - then the bloody battery died!


I woke early this morning. It’s been a windy night with gale force warm winds coming up from the south west. It’s always windy in September. The dog was jittery, the wind was rustly and the sky was a very unusual orange colour . . at first I thought it was the old ‘red sky at morning, sailor’s warning’ thing but no . . .

Further investigation of the weird dawn glow helped me understand why. We had been besieged by a dust storm throughout the night. An enormous dust storm. A dust storm to even get Adam out of bed at 6am! The first like it since 1940 and nothing like anything I’d ever seen in my life. Of course my camera battery went flat at the right moment!

Last night had been cool and breezy after a warm 32 degree day so we went to bed leaving all the windows open and the fresh air flushing through. By 5:30 this morning, the entire house, every surface in every room was covered with a thin layer of the Simpson Desert . . blown all the way across the state from South Australia.

City from Milson's Point at about 6:30am

I’m actually very glad that it only happens once in a blue moon! But by 3:30 . . clear skies and high winds and not a spec of dust . . .except in my house!

It didn't take long to hit the emails!

43 comments:

xxx said...

Awesome shots Baino :)

I have friends trying to get here from Sydney today....
It's been a long day for them and they have yet to leave Sydney Airport.

x Ribbon

nick said...

That dust storm must be quite something - a bit like the scene at 9/11 I guess. I hope the hungry monster doesn't eat the bridge....

Grandad said...

You even managed to hit the Irish papers with that one!! None mention Godzilla though, which is strange?

Anonymous said...

"Red skies",heh, heh, heh You should hear our ol' "submarine song"...then again, maybe not-LOL!

Awesome shots! Love the last one-LMAO!

Bimbimbie said...

LOL the day the harbour monster got to take a stretch ... will it have to wait another 40 years?

I just saw on the news the stretch of the storm - all the way to the Gulf of Carpenteria, amazing ... watch our fruit and vegetable prices go north yet again in coming weeks*!*

Jean said...

but i like the orange hue.

From me to you, suejean =)

Brian Miller said...

oh wow. crazy coloring. the pics look almost surreal.

ashleigh said...

My goodness. Amazing photos. I've heard that its caused all manner of choas, flights delayed and so on. Not much fun to be out in that.

Cinema Minima said...

Amazing images Baino. Kinda wish I was in Sydney today, just to see it with my own eyes.

i beati said...

Fantastic photogreaphy how's the job?

Roy said...

Hmmmm... So if Godzilla marches out of the dust clouds, does that mean it was Mothra beating his wings that caused all the fuss in the first place?

Cool pics. even with the Photoshop Godzilla insertion.

Baino said...

Ribbon sadly only the first is mine then my battery died. The other's were sent by a mate at about 10am so it didn't take long to put Gozilla in the picture!

Nick it got Adam out of bed at 6am, we should have them every working day! I think the bridge is OK. He went back to Japan once the clouds cleared

Haha . . of all the things . . we get world recognition for a dust storm. Such is life as Ned Kelly said. Godzilla's camera shy got spooked by the flash.

The radio was full of armageddon . .apparently flying ants were discombobulated and because it's the spring/autumn equinox, you can balance an egg for up to 10 minutes without other means of support Subster.

Seriously, made me laugh out loud in the office of totally serious insects! Huge thing eh. Took me two hours and two Dyson cannisters to decontaminate and I haven't touched the tops of doors, curtain rods or cupboards . . .

SJ very pretty but not pleasant to breathe. It hasn't happened in Sydney for 40 years!

Totally untouched Brian, it was awesome early this morning.

Ash just flight hassles I think. I had a friend going to Melbourne this morning but only an hour's delay. More the wind than the dust.

Spooky earlier on Pubster but the rest of the day was just sepia toned. I had a quick break at 2:30pm and skies were blue with puffy clouds. Gawwwn . . .

Sandy only the top photo is mine. I pinched the other two. The job is 'confusing' I'll post next week when I hit the hot seat but my boss quite frankly is AWESOME.

Tom said...

too cool, but you'll be finding red dust for the next 10 years.

You should bottle some as a souvenir of the day Godzilla came to town!

Jean said...

heya! i'm fr malaysia. i changed the profile to browse for australian bloggers. i've changed back to my country now. thanks for acknowledging.

From me to you, suejean =)

Jean said...

i'm following your blog yea..dont mind do you?

From me to you, suejean =)

Jenny said...

Wow, scary. Milson's Point as we never saw it!

Anonymous said...

Dusty outback blows into the city!

kj said...

OH! OH! that's your backyard?! i am so excited to see it! is that weird?

this must have been abit beautiful to witness. i love weather events.

baino, your comment about your boss being awesome jumped out at me. YAY! that will make all the difference. and man is she going to LOVE you!!

have fun...

kj said...

p.s. hells: your dust storm was headline news this morning here in the usa.

Nancy said...

Hello Baino,

Yes, your red dust storm was all over the Philadelphia papers. I am happy it wasn't worse for you.

Reminds me of the time my MIL asked my FIL to run the vacuum cleaner for her and he put the hose in the wrong end of the cleaner and emptied the dust bag all over the house. It looked like a locomotive went through that place.

In your case, I suppose your house looks like a loco spewing RED dust went through.

Wish I could come over and help you clean up.

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

wow....I have not seen such a thing...like you do not see much of the fall foliage I have never seen a dust storm...despite battery issues you got some good photos.

Now, for a dusting of the house...ugh...a dreaded chore...this is when you need a house maid for sure!!

Megan said...

Holy cow!

petra michelle; Whose role is it anyway? said...

We got the news here in the States about it, and I immediately thought of you, Baino! The ash all over your house! Ugh! It truly reminds me of the ash after the twin towers were hit. The same happened to so many friends of mine! I hope things will be back to normal soon! After some backbreaking work?! Ugh!

laughingwolf said...

lol... gotta love them critters emerging from the 'mist' ;)

bloody incredible pics/event, baino!

tony said...

Jeeze! You Have Bloody Big Dust-Mites In Australia!

Mo said...

IS that real!!!! No, I'm not talking about Godzilla. That orangy colour. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dot-Com said...

Wow, those are cool pics!

Anyway, you have been nominated for a Kreative Blogger Award! It's waiting on my blog for you:)

Baino said...

Not at all SJ, welcome on over.

Bit different to when you stayed there Jenny!

Unstranger, there's a load of 'red shit' in the centre.

Yep that's the view from my back door! It was beautiful but a bit 'throaty' I think we made the news everywhere kj

Haha Nancy that's hilarious although I would have been less than impressed. Took me ages to clean the stuff! Thank God for the Dyson I say.

I've never seen anything like it before Jill. Amazing and all gone by 3pm!

Ha! Nearly had a cow when I woke up! It got Adam out of bed in a bounce I can tell you!

Hey Petra. It was super fine dust, sort of like talcum powder. I'm sure it's stll hiding in crevices but at least I won't have to do any housework this weekend. It's already done!

Damn Japanese, they're everywhere Wuffa

Hehe . . .everythings bigger here Tony, didn't you know?

Ebony it certainly is. It faded to sepia as it got llighter but those pics were taken just after dawn. Very orange.

Oooh, presents!

Miladysa said...

LOL @ Wolfie!

Looks awesome but I don't envy you the cleaning!

ian said...

Don't you have anything in New South Wales that you can send to afflict South Australia?

Ronda Laveen said...

Wow! That is some dust storm. Looks surreal. Happy first day of spring, yes?

Mike said...

Very Cool!
I love Godzilla!

Ces Adorio said...

Oh I can't wait to see the satellite photos!

Darlene said...

We have dust storms here, but they are not colorful like your orange. That must have really been surreal.

Our cause accidents on the freeways - they are very scary when you are caught in them. I hope yours doesn't happen again for 49 years,

It reminds me of the dust bowl of the 1930's.

Rowe said...

Wow, wow, wow, is that what yesterday looked like !!! Excellent photos Baino; that Godzilla one - hilarious. Did you hear the guys at Triple J had people phone in with confessions they would make if it was the end of the world? One guy confessed he really did like the boy band, Take That, hahahaha.

Anonymous said...

We heard about the dust storm over here too- but I hadn't seen any pictures till now. What an amazing colour. Awesome to think of it blowing all that way. Hope the clean-up isn't too arduous.

e said...

Wow--we also heard here but would never have imagined that orange hue! A story for the grandkids one day...Your new boss sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Yeah heard it on the radio and interviews with the locals. The photos look amazing. Heh, and you were worried about a little Elderberry in your kitchen. Hope there's not too much lasting damage.

Sarah Lulu said...

Still cleaning the dust out of my hair here!

I did link your blog to mine today.

Carolina said...

So your world isn't orange anymore and you are able to breathe again?

Great shots! LOL

Unknown said...

Yikes, really eery and kinda apocalyptic!

California Girl said...

yeah, my husband drew my attention to some shots by a fellow flickr photographer in your country. looks just awful. it was all over our natl news last night.

i told my husband if i were an "end of days" type, i'd think it was near.

Susan at Stony River said...

Oh no! When my husband told me Sydney was having a dust storm, I said, 'Good Lord I hope Baino has her windows closed'. Yikes! But your photos are stunning (love Godzilla in there...)