I had planned a sojourn from the bright lights of Melbourne (who am I kidding? It was a sojourn from the dense clouds of Melbourne!) down to Torquay for the Christmas break. It all seemed right - mornings off to sleep in, relatively dark skies, and an east facing balcony from our hotel. Christmas morning? Thunder, and dense clouds! Melbourne had a tornado warning, but the wind didn't shift those recalcitrant clouds. Boxing day? Clouds so thick it didn't even warrant heading onto the balcony. This morning? Clear views of the southern cross and centaurus, but those pesky, horizon-hanging clouds... After a minute or two, it dawned on me that a single, vertical strip of cloud wasn't moving - it was Comet Lovejoy! Though there was cloud cover, it was still discernable by eye (though apparently, not by camera?). What a fabulous Christmas present!
Best bit was... having failed to notice my alarm going off at 3am every morning, my granny, who was staying with us told me that "someone told her there's something in the sky at the moment that doesn't happen very often!" Good spotting, Gran
