Thunderbolts and Lightning

At this very moment, and by the time I actually get to the school to use the internet and upload this post it won’t be, but right now there is about four intense thunderstorms coming in from four different directions merging over Balgo. It is truly a sight and an experience to behold, because I’m fairly sure a lightning bolt just landed outside my kitchen window in my back yard! But as you will later discover, the thunderstorm was the best way to end a long, hot day.

Being Labour Day, the day off meant extra time to explore the area around Balgo. Brother Marty and Brother Rick offered to take us out to some rock paintings on the road towards Yarra Yarra. As I soon discovered, this road is one of the worst roads around Balgo and being in a troupie sitting sideways, the motion sickness soon set in. If you ask him, he’ll deny it, but Brother Rick got us quite lost along the road as we missed the turn off towards our destination. When we finally turned around and headed back, we discovered the turnoff was only 10km down the road; we had gone about 30km. Smooth Brother Rick!

We headed out down the gorge and along a creek. The spiky and sharp Spinifex was a hindrance along the journey, as was the unsettled rocks and mud. I have certainly had enough of mud for the weekend. We walked for about fifteen minutes, navigating our way through the spectacular scenery, with photographic proof at the end of this blog. At the end, we reached a small pool with paintings along the rocks above. Brother Rick said they are estimated to be thousands of years old; they are untouched and preserved in pristine condition. They really make one feel rather insignificance in the scheme of things, being able to be viewed in their painted manner years and years later on a rock face that most likely faces the harshest of elements. Henry and Anthony were brave enough to scoot along the rock face, through a small hole and climb a rather steep incline to enter a new area of the gorge which they said offered great views but was not something I could achieve without falling into the shallow pool. This was not something Anthony could even do without getting his shoes wet. While I laughed greatly at him, my karma came when I slipped into the creek and wet my second pair of sneakers; the first pair was thrown into the creek yesterday by the kids so I am really not having much luck!!

Brother Rick decided we’d take a much easier short cut, but as we later discovered when we reached the top of the gorge, we had absolutely no sense of direction. After stumbling through the spinifex, we reached the main road but the problem was discerning which way to go. In hindsight we should have split up and gone either way but instead all headed north. We walked for a good three kilometers before deciding to split up. Alejandro, Anthony and myself backtracked while Brother Rick and Henry kept going, just in case the turnoff was just around the corner. We were incredibly grateful we left Brother Marty at the car!

As it turned out, we only needed to walk 100m south to reach the turnoff; a journey that would have saved us a long walk in the heat. But the views along the way were incredible. Four sets of thunderstorms were merging in on Balgo, and where we were offered an amazing view of the storms and falling rain. We reached the car, headed back to pick Henry and Brother Rick up and then came home, where we were greeted with torrential rain!

Henry and me, the adventurous once decided to take advantage of the rain to cool off after a long walk. The rain was so refreshing, and while we got funny looks from Brother Leo and Sister Alice, that was one of the most enjoyable rainstorms of my life! We cooled off under the water falling from the gutter and jumped in puddles, enjoying being kids again. However the lightning and thunder got a little bit too intense for our liking and we retreated inside for our safety, even now, the storm is really going off, with lightning flashes every five seconds! They are particularly close as well which is both exciting and scary! Thank god we have underground power, because I’m pretty sure the house has been hit a few times!

The only problem with the rain is the washing on the line! Alejandro’s load wouldn’t fit in the first load, so while me and Henry are going to be cleanly clothed this week, it looks like Ale may struggle! Oh well, being a guy he can wear things more than once; it’s so much harder being a girl!

I can still not get over how intense this lightning is! I think I may and go enjoy it for a while. Even though we have had a thunderstorm every night since we arrived, this is by far the most spectacular and I wish I was at the lookout for this!

The Valley

Some paintings

Water hole

Henry in the cave

Anthony

Anthony stacking it. So glad I got this on camera!!

The long walk!

One thunderstorm

And another

And another

The car, after a good hour and a half trying to find it!