"High Spring" - not quite summer. We need better terms.

On days like today I am reminded that our "4 Seasons" are European conventions which hardly fit the Great South Land. A crystal clear sunny morning, a light northerly breeze, temperature in the high 20s. Yesterday afternoon I picked some Peony flowers , and took them to Matt and Harriet, who have just had a baby (called Banjo Nicholas Andrew Campbell). Congratulations to them. I saw the little guy, yesterday, and he seems remarkably calm and peaceful, which is a blessing.

This morning was hot enough to burn the hell out of a few seedling Native plants I have; and the Peony buds were "exploding" (opening in a great hurry). With the sunlight gaining intensity, I picked yet more Peony flowers and a few buds, to prevent them from being frazzled in the harsh sun.
In my search for a better term than "Spring" to describe today's weather, I am reminded that the Aboriginal peoples have names for up to 6 seasons (depending on their regional weather).

In the case of the Brambuk people of Halls Gap (the Grampians, Victoria) we are in what translates as "Early Summer". Check out their Seasonal calendar here. In the Northern Territory, various groups identify two, four or six seasons (depending on what weather patterns they experience in their country). Check out this Indigenous Weather Knowledge site on the Bureau of Meteorology site.

During the afternoon, with lighter fluffy clouds around, the edge was taken off the "heat of the day". So, I went to check for Orchids at one of my favourite places, Manning Lookout (near Fitzroy Falls).I found a wonderful sandstone rock formation which appears (to me) to resemble a Rhinoceros Head, looking out over Kangaroo Valley, in the far distance below. I have visited Mannings Lookout on several occasions before, but I have never seen this particular view before. What a stunning place.Later on, just on dark, a large Thunderhead (cumulonimbus cloud I believe) was sitting high over Robertson.
I stopped to photograph the cloud, on the way back from Bowral, and waited a few minutes, as the sky darkened, in order to try and catch the effect of the lightning flashes occurring within the cloud.So, today started out with a hot morning, and large brilliant clouds; drifted into a mild afternoon; and ended up with a thunder cloud which did not rain on Robertson, (it drifted out to sea, according to the Bureau's weather radar). Somehow, to call today a "spring day" does not begin to do justice to the complexity of the weather we experienced.