What a difference in a year

Ten days without a post! All I can say is that work is completely bonkers, and weekends are full of sleeping and socialising. We were meant to have a weekend away to walk to the top of Australia's highest mountain (not that high, it's a day walk, there might be snow or there might not) but the weather forecast was bad so we decided not to. Even though it's not exactly the Alps you still don't want to get caught in a sleet storm so we put it off until March. Apparently January and February 'the flies will carry you away' which doesn't sound appealing. So I went for my usual 16 km on Saturday morning and on Sunday afternoon we went (with the boys) out to Tidbinbilla to do the Sanctuary wetlands walk.

It's almost exactly a year since we were here with my brother and sister-in-law from NZ. It was shockingly, terribly, depressingly dry. These two photos are the same spot - a year ago and yesterday.

This is why Australia burnt down in January. Everything was bone dry and dead.

But what a difference a year makes. I know that something major has to be done about the climate or these dry spells will just continue and get worse, but in the meantime, it is very pleasant to see turtles and fish and black swans and magpie geese and even a tiny little Eastern bettong rustling in the undergrowth.