Weather can’t cross out secular Easter: [1 All-round Country Edition]
John Stapleton, Andrew Fraser. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Apr 2006: 5.
Abstract
Mt Buller Ski Lifts general manager Laurie Blampied said 10cm of snow had covered the resort over the weekend, six weeks before the official start of the ski season, and it was still falling. “It’s great to be able to provide our guests with snow for Easter,” he said.
While skiers celebrated, the surfing enthusiasts were robbed of decent waves. At Bells Beach in Victoria, the sizeable swell that had given professional surfers plenty to play with last week in the Rip Curl Pro surfing event disappeared. The event was postponed until at least Wednesday, when a large swell is expected.
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BEACHES, music festivals, shows, parks and an early call for snow fanatics marked the Easter weekend for Australians of a less religious bent.
In Victoria’s skifields, those enjoying a weekend of alpine retreat woke to a blanket of snow on Saturday after a cold snap across the state. It was the second snowfall in a week, although much of the covering melted as the temperature climbed to 8C.
Mt Buller Ski Lifts general manager Laurie Blampied said 10cm of snow had covered the resort over the weekend, six weeks before the official start of the ski season, and it was still falling. “It’s great to be able to provide our guests with snow for Easter,” he said.
The cold weather gave Melbourne a top temperature yesterday of just 16C — 4C below the average.
While skiers celebrated, the surfing enthusiasts were robbed of decent waves. At Bells Beach in Victoria, the sizeable swell that had given professional surfers plenty to play with last week in the Rip Curl Pro surfing event disappeared. The event was postponed until at least Wednesday, when a large swell is expected.
Elsewhere in the country, beaches were busy. Surf Lifesaving NSW spokesman Stephen Leahy said the weekend had been hectic, with more than 300 people warned about swimming in dangerous spots.
“With the days getting shorter and cooler, crowds are starting to decrease, but many still took advantage of the Easter weekend to get outside and down to their favourite beach,” he said.
The beaches were quiet in southeast Queensland because of bad weather, although lifesavers still reported 15 rescues on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.
At Byron Bay in northeast NSW, not even saintly Bob Geldof could keep back the rain. It poured throughout Saturday night, turning the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival into a quaqmire.
About 13,000 people defied the mud to see Sir Bob and performers such as Georgie Fame, Max Merrit and the Meteors, and Kevin Borich.
Late at night, a younger audience tuned in for higher-energy sets from the likes of Damian Marley, son of the reggae legend Bob Marley.
Jackson Browne, the Cat Empire and Michael Franti close the festival today.
In Canberra, the acoustic set drew appreciative crowds at the National Folk Festival, which also concludes today.
And in Sydney, hundreds of thousands of people crammed into the Olympic precinct for the Royal Easter Show.