On This Day, 5 January; the big wet

As I write this, it's 38 degrees C outside (and in my study!), about 10 degrees above our long-term average maximum for January. In many places in south-eastern Australia it's well over 40 at present. There's not much rain around, and numerous fires are burning. From down here it's hard to imagine that on this day in 1979 Mount Bellenden Ker, behind Cairns in tropical Queensland, received 1140mm of rain in 24 hours! That month they got 5387mm (ie over 5 metres); their annual average is 8500mm. (Across Australia the average is 165mm...) Mind you, parts of the western slopes of the Andes in north-west Ecuador and south-west Colombia get double that each year.

The mountain was named by Phillip Parker King, for a curious character called John Bellenden Ker, editor of the Botanical Register in London. He was born John Gawler, but at the age of 40 sought and received royal permission to change his name to John Ker Bellenden; having achieved his odd aim, he proceeded to call himself Bellenden Ker... Please don't ask me. He did however get this rather nice Tasmanian shrub named for him.

Bellendena montana, family Proteaceae, Ben Lomond NP, Tasmania.
These are the fruit.

Meantime we await a bit of rain - not a metre preferably! - down here.

Spotted Catbird, (near!) Mt Bellenden Ker.

Back Monday.