Thursday, August 27, 2009

SkyWatch ~ 48 Melbourne and Vicinity

For more effect and greater enjoyment, please ENLARGE.

Coming into Melbourne, Victoria from the east, the sky
looked threatening as I wielded my camera while the
Prof. drove at a steady 110kph .



Getting out of the car at my sister's, the sun lent a
golden glow to the houses on the other side of the road.



The dark clouds and slanting light brought out the
red in the recently cut Eucalyptus branch seen from
our bedroom window.



Heading home along the Western Highway next day,
we passed Ballarat and caught a glimpse of the rainbow



over the completely dried out Lake Burrumbeet. Although
the water levels have often fluctuated in this lake, in our
40 years of driving past it and having picnics there, we
have never seen it in this dessicated state before.



This last drought was definitely no joke.

To fly to other skies or join in, click the Logo.

To Klaus and the SkyWatch Team, thanks guys for this great meme.

65 comments:

  1. Great that you had some rain! These photos are stunning!

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  2. Your pictures are amazing.
    Sunny :)

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  3. The sunlight on those houses is beautiful - and how interesting the red wound on the tree Arija.

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  4. Those are some really beautiful weather moods you've captured. And rain was never more appreciated, I'm sure!

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  5. Gorgeous photos! Love those clouds.

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  6. The skies and rainbow are a beautiful sight. The dry lake, however, is not. Hope you get more rain.

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  7. I am convinced, God put Australia so far down there so you can have the best cloud shows. I was just reading about morning glory clouds last night. What I would give to see morning glory clouds, roll clouds, shelf clouds, full mackerel skies, etc etc tec... You have the best cloud shows. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Your captures are always so breathtakingly beautiful, Arija! They do make my day!

    Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  9. Love your stormy and rainbowy skies! Awesome! I posted similar stuff today!

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  10. The light you captured was so beautiful - nothing like being in the right place at the right time!

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  11. I hope the rainbow is a promise of lots of rain for you this year.

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  12. The second photo is absolutely stunning...such vibrant colors!

    I have heard of the terrible drought Australia has been having. How awful for you. I guess there are major efforts in water conservation across the country.

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  13. I can fell the thunder coming and then see the rainbow makes me happy, MB

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  14. Beautiful photos, Arija...I always like the dark dramatic skies....but your sunlit photos are stunning...

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  15. Amazing pictures! The golden glow in the second picture is just beautiful. I've never seen anything like the red wound on the Eucalyptus -- very interesting. The rainbow over the dry lake is an amazing sight as well.

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  16. I love the golden glows and the colors that illuminated on the trees. Have a great weekend Arija.

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  17. These are breathtaking, to be sure. Those rainbows are wonderful.

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  18. Beautiful light and colors. So sorry about your drought, hope you get enough rain.

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  19. Gorgeous photos! I fell in love with the second one, that one has this special light that only appear when the sky is dark and moody!
    And you got the rainbow too! :)

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  20. Ah! wonderful... two rainbow sky watchers!
    Beautiful...
    I love it when the sun pours out on landscape... a heavenly moment.
    all the best, Maria

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  21. Each photo has it's own drama. So pretty. I hope you get rain soon.

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  22. The light in these pictures is magical.I love that second shot.Wow!
    Ruth

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  23. Wow great skies! Beautiful rainbow.

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  24. Great shots Arija...

    But still the effects of the drought linger.

    Love the eucalyptus shot.

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  25. Great light in these grey shots. The rainbow captures are brilliant.
    Sydney - City and Suburbs

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  26. What MARVELOUS photographs you've shared here. Love the way you've captured the light especially and am delighted to know you've had some rain. I keep hoping we'll get rain too but all of the sudden (just as school begins again) it's HOT and the skies are clear & blue! No rain in the forecast any time soon it seems.
    Hugs and blessings,

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  27. A most beautiful photo essay!
    I love the last rainbow image. I swear you could walk right into the end of it - a magical shot.

    My post is here: Carletta’s Captures.

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  28. The sky is lovely..now there is just a certain time of the day when the sun filters through like that and you caught it! Nice job!

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  29. The clouds were certainly dramatic, and I hope the rainbow means that you got some rain and the drought is past. The golden light on the houses is just beautiful.

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  30. I love the lighting in a couple of these pics. Hopefully the rains will come soon and replenish the lake. We were down at our lake last night and we were saying we've never seen our lake that low. I hope it is not a sign of things to come.

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  31. i can see the golden glow on the trees. the rainbow at the bottom picture is also charming! thanks for sharing all these beautiful photos from your part of the world.

    happy skywatching!

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  32. The light on the second and third is just wonderful. They look like a painting.

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  33. That red eucalyptus branch was something! I had no idea the tree was that red. The rainbow along the dry lake bed was beautiful, though somehow you think of water when you see a rainbow.

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  34. Great contrast in these beautiful pictures, Arija! The rainbow images are fantastic too!

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  35. What joy Arija. I really miss seeing a rainbow. The last one was in fact in Gold Coast Australia, two rainbows..unforgettable.

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  36. Lake Burrumbeet has no water? I hope you don't get bush fires. I read today in our papers, that you in Oz has the hottest weather for a long time.

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  37. The golden light is beautiful, Arija, as it falls on the houses and the tree. I love those grey and gold skies with their beautiful light. I hope the clouds have since brought plentry of rain.
    Janice.

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  38. every view is just great! you are having phantastic light over there! ist makes a magic touch! greetings from Austria! kri

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  39. Well done, great collection of photos for sky watch friday, the play of light and dark does bring out all the beautiful colours.

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  40. These are all wonderful shots. The one of the houses looks like an illustration for a fairy tale. I'm sorry you've had such a long drought and I hope you will continue to get more rain.

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  41. Golden glow on the houses is my favorite

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  42. The second photo is my favourite. The light is just wonderful and the threatening sky in the background makes it even better.

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  43. absolutely beautiful pictures love the rainbow over the pasture

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  44. I love the light in your second and third shots.
    Beautiful rainbows, too.
    I hope the drought is over so the lakes can fill and the full beauty of the land can reawaken this spring.

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  45. Hallo Arija,
    wunderbare Himmelbilder aus Australien.
    Ich in noch in Norwegen und werde eine weitere Woche bleiben. Ich geniesse das Leben auf dem Land, bin der Koch im Haus und habe viel Drechselholz gesammelt.
    Dir ein schoenes Wochenende.
    Liebe Gruesse
    Hartmut

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  46. i like how the colours stood out against the gray skies on your second photo.

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  47. Fabulous photos, I love the broodiness of the sky in that first pic :)

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  48. Photos are great. I love it when it rains - it cleans the air.

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  49. After a storm passes and the sun comes out is my favorite time to get photos as the colors are enhanced. Great photos.

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  50. The second shot with the sunrays on the house is just amazing!

    I like rain.. sometimes anyway, haha.

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  51. Lovely, lovely photos, the lighting is wonderful on the houses and trees. And all those skies are fantastic. Have a great weekend.

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  52. I liked the first shot very much! Thx for visiting my blog and a happy weekend to you!

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  53. Arija, Never captured the rainbow, like this, u can believe me...
    Your photos are wonderful and very itneresting...I love it
    I added your blog, dear to my blogroll.

    congrats for the amazing pictures
    graceolsson.com/blog

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  54. Arija now these are beautiful skies.

    Love you.

    Renee xoxo

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  55. Arija: Beautiful photos of the rain clouds and rainbow. I hope you have many more rains and bring your water levels back to normal.
    Thanks for your comments on Jake.

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  56. let's hope the rozzers aren't reading this....the speed limit in Victoria was 100kmh last time i looked....

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  57. India,
    ha,ha, would WE exceed the speed limit???? Never! That was on the new Super-Expressway to the Latrobe valley, 110 all the way!

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  58. These are lovely glimpses of your rainy skies - hopefully more rain to come.

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  59. Very dramatic skies and very dramatic imagery to demonstrate the severity of your drought.

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  60. Funny how Australia is surrounded by bog bodies of water, yet it sounds unfathomable how it suffers dehydration. I like the word "desiccated". :)

    Pretty pics.

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  61. Striking skies you have, especially the clouds and golden glow of late aternoon sun on the houses!

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  62. Glad I didn't miss these....very dramatic and a rainbow at the end! Wonderful!

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