COLD WEATHER, FUEL REDUCTION BURNING and an AIRCRAFT with a FLAT TYRE

 Hello from the Top End

Being only 11 degrees from the equator Croker Island is not familiar to cold weather. Recently the temperature has been so cold (19 degrees minimum) the air conditioners have not run for three weeks and even the ceiling fans have not had much use. The local residences are complaining bitterly about this situation. One ranger was saying that it was freezing, until I showed him some photos of snow and frost taken in southern Australia.

Currently there is a lot of fuel reduction burning happening in the Top End. At Croker Island our burning season is a little later than the adjacent mainland due to more late wet season showers here on the islands. Spear grass is a very common grass here. It grows to 2-3 meters tall and results in large amounts of fuel when it dries out. 

The screenshot below shows some the satellite technology we use for monitoring fire and also recording what areas have been burnt and what areas have been missed. The coloured symbols show where a fire is or has been. All this work is done to prevent large, out of control, very hot fires in the late dry season (October and November) - that do cause a lot of damage to the environment and also put a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. 

Last week we had some meetings here to talk about land and sea management. Quite a few people flew in from Darwin, Jabiru and other smaller places. The rangers assisted with transport as the airport is 15 kms away on the western side of the island.

Rangers, Shaun and Charlie assemble some shelves to help keep the shed in some sort of order.

Cynthia sharpening all the blunt chains. The burning off that is happening currently usually results in some older trees coming down across tracks so we rarely travel anywhere without a chainsaw.

After the second day of meetings the return flights were delayed due to another unrelated aircraft landing with a flat tyre and blocking the runway. People power pushed/pulled the aircraft clear of the runway however another wheel assembly had to be flown out from Darwin the following day - meaning the pilot had an unplanned overnight at Croker Island.

Nancy is still down in SE Qld visiting family and trying to rectify a nasty leak in the roof of our Yarraman house. Some of these cold mornings she is finding it a challenge to leave the nice warm bed. 

Until the next blog post, stay warm and dry. 

Blessings Bryan