Latest news with #Carnarvon
ABC News
16 hours ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Fog turns Perth into mystical winter wonderland, causing delays at Perth Airport
Perth residents awoke to a rare, mystical treat on Thursday morning, with heavy fog blanketing much of WA's west coast, causing disruption for motorists and at Perth Airport. The widespread fog shrouded areas from the state's far south west, extending up the west coast to Carnarvon and inland through parts of the Goldfields district. The murky and misty air gave Perth's CBD an eerie vibe with buildings almost invisible behind a thick cloak of fog. The conditions followed a cold front that passed through the south west region on Wednesday, leaving behind cooler overnight temperatures and cloud-free skies. Perth Airport confirmed 18 flights in and out were delayed on Thursday because of limited visibility. In a statement, it said a mix of regional interstate flights were disrupted and two had to be diverted back to their departure points. To form the perfect recipe for fog, you need four main components: moisture, cold air, light winds and clear skies overnight. Those elements typically happen when a cold front moves through, which is what we saw yesterday. The Bureau of Meteorology's Jessica Lingard said those elements were typically found behind cold fronts. "As the air cools, any of that moisture in the air, that water vapour condenses into water droplets and we end up with clouds forming on the ground," she said. "Any wind or cloud overnight is going to keep temperatures warmer and prevent that cooling that we need." It was the second morning this week that Perth has woken to misty conditions, after the city was blanketed on Monday. However, Ms Lingard said Thursday morning's fog was more extensive than normal. "We do see places like Port Hedland and through the Pilbara district that will have fog events, but this one was quite extensive because it was all one system that formed it rather than just localised patches of fog," she said. For fog to clear in the morning, the sun needs to warm the earth, which will in turn warm the air above it and dry the moisture out, lifting and clearing the cloud away from the ground. "Sometimes we have, like we did on Monday, high cloud moving in and that blocks out a bit of the sun so we see the fog lingers around for a little bit longer in the morning," Ms Lingard said. With cloudy conditions having settled in overnight ahead of another cold front, Friday morning was tipped to be fog free across much of the state. That front is set to bring a burst of wintry weather to western and south-western parts of WA over the course of Friday and into the weekend. "We're not likely to see any fog [on Friday] because we're going to have that cloud cover and it's also going to be too windy for fog to form nicely," Ms Lingard said. "But as the cloud clears, there may be opportunities for some fog to form but probably not as widespread." The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the cold front could bring severe thunderstorms and damaging winds for WA's south west and coastal regions on Friday. Some places could see rainfall totals exceed 40 millimetres, while areas further inland could be looking at 5 to 10mm. Behind the system, winds will shift dramatically to south-westerly and stay strong and blustery, making temperatures feel very chilly this weekend.
ABC News
07-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Western Australia's remote Islamic communities gather for Eid al-Adha
"Eid Mubarak" may seem a bit different in Western Australia's north-west, where community members gather in unconventional ways to mark one of the most important dates on the Islamic calendar. In Karratha and Carnarvon, worshippers, including some donned in high-visibility work uniforms, have no fixed place of prayer for Eid al-Adha. It is a far cry from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a majority-Muslim external territory, where the Athan or Islamic call to prayer blends with the sound of drums and violins to ring in the holy festival. On Saturday, belated Eid celebrations were held at a hired council venue in Karratha, about 1,500 kilometres north of Perth. Karratha Muslim Community Association president Imraan Koalia said not having a permanent place of prayer had been a real "sticking point" for the community. "We are looking for a dedicated space that we could call our home," he said. Mr Koalia described the Muslim community in Karratha as small but tight-knit, with people from all walks of life and corners of the globe. But he said the transience of the town could make it difficult to cater for all nationalities and cultures. "It's very diverse, very multicultural, very traditional as well. We're only a small community," he said. About 150 people came together for Eid festivities, which involved prayers, sharing gifts and treats, visiting families, jumping castles and face painting at the Tambrey football oval. Mr Koalia described the dissonance of celebrating and feasting as a community while people in Gaza remained under threat and could not enjoy the same freedoms. "It's a time for us when we come together as a Muslim community to remember Muslims all around the world, and especially those Muslims in Palestine and in Gaza," he said. The Carnarvon Muslim community is made up of 50 people. Most have travelled from Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan to work in the farming town. Like Karratha, there is no fixed space for worship. In the past, the civic centre has been rented to host Eid prayers. But this holiday, no communal prayer was held. It is a Sunnah for Muslims, which means it is highly recommended and should be practised, but is not strictly obligatory. Shzahaer Iezayed Abdullah bin Mahalan, who goes by Lang, moved to Carnarvon from Malaysia eight years ago. He spent his Eid working at the kebab shop. "I just talked to my family in Malaysia … I really miss them when Eid comes. But the only the thing I can do is video call them," he said. Lang said most people were too busy to organise the prayer. "They're working in the plantation, some in the petrol station, everywhere they're working. So we don't have any time," he said. But that did not entirely squash the festivities. "Sunday … we can make Eid party for us. We're just discussing … like who's doing cooking, who's doing the preparation?" Using a WhatsApp group, the community planned gatherings and supported each other. More than 2,300km north-west of Carnarvon, the call to prayer could be heard along tropical beaches and blue lagoons as Eid al-Adha kicked off in Australia's most remote Muslim community. Many residents of the Indian Ocean territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands observe the festival, although their traditions have developed in isolation from the mainland. Haji Adam Anthony, the islands' senior imam, said the special variety of Islam practised by the Cocos Malay merged distinct cultures from across the world. "The Clunies-Ross brought the peoples from different places to Cocos." The islands were discovered by the East India Company's Captain William Keeling in the early 1600s. But it was not until the 19th century that trader John Clunies-Ross began populating them with indentured workers from British Malaya, China, India and other places. Haji Adam said Islam took strong root among these settlers, who congregated on Home Island when the Clunies-Ross fiefdom passed into Australian control. Cultural markers from homelands as distant and diverse as Indonesia to Scotland still feature in contemporary ceremonies. Worshippers marked Eid with traditional dancing, tamarind drum playing and performances on the Cocos biola, a fiddle which the Clunies-Ross family is often credited for bringing to the territory. Haji Adam explained the harmony between disparate traditions and Islam made the Cocos (Keeling) Islands unique. "[Without] using drum or violins and so forth … we lost our culture and tradition," he said. "The elder people still like to keep this."
Daily Mirror
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Downton Abbey quaint village overwhelmed by tourists as residents divided
Downton Abbey, which initially ran on ITV before becoming a film series, has filmed in places such as Bampton in Oxfordshire, which was used as an outdoor location Residents of a village that was used in Downton Abbey are said to be divided over the tourism that its association with the ITV show brings to the community. It's been described as a "magnet" for visitors after its appearances on-screen. Bampton in Oxfordshire is among the filming locations from Downton Abbey, which ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015. It's been followed by two films, which came out in 2019 and 2022, with a third set to be released later this year. The village is said to have been used as an outdoor location for the fictional Downton since 2010. Characters have been seen at St Mary's Church and other locations in Bampton, like its Community Hub, which appeared as a hospital. It has been reported that the community has attracted international visitors due to its role in the Downton Abbey franchise. According to the Telegraph though, the village is now divided over the tourism boom that it's generated. Some residents have said that it has generated a "small fortune" which has helped to improve buildings and services in the community. Others however have complained about tourists flocking to the area, with some visitors said to have even been found on resident's driveways whilst exploring. It's reported that guided tours of Bampton and other filming locations from the acclaimed TV show can cost as much as £500 each for visitors. The outlet adds that fans of the historical drama often visit St Mary's Church. A volunteer at Bampton Community Hub claimed that their charity shop was making £1,000 a day from visitors at one point. They told the outlet: "It has made us a small fortune." They continued: "Hundreds of thousands of pounds – we've had thousands and thousands and thousands of visitors." The tourism is said to have helped the community to fund renovation work. The financial impact has also reportedly supported the improving of services like the village library, an exhibition space and a community archive. Not everyone seems as keen on the amount of tourism that the village's connection to Downton Abbey has prompted. One resident said that tourists "just go everywhere" and said that they "often" stand on his own driveway. Another suggest that whilst they contribute to the library, they "don't have enough time" to support other venues in Bampton by visiting them. They said that the area is "better off" with families visiting in car, rather than bus tours. Bampton is just one of the locations used on the show. Highclere Castle in Hampshire features as the fictional Downton Abbey in the franchise. Lord Carnarvon said in 2015 that his property had become a "major tourist attraction" because of the show, adding: "It has been a wonderful thing for us."
The Herald
03-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Scientists want astronomy-linked conditions on Starlink's SA licence deal
Di Vruno said the SKA Observatory, where he is spectrum manager, and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Sarao) were lobbying for licence requirements to reduce the impact on observations in certain frequency ranges, including some that SKA-Mid uses. This could direct Starlink to steer satellite beams away from SKA receivers or stop transmission for a few seconds to minimise interference, he said. South Africa's SKA antennae, in the remote Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, uses the 350 megahertz to 15.4 gigahertz bandwidth, a range also used by most satellite operators for downlinks. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa regulator and Starlink did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the scientists' concerns. South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to SKA-Mid which will be incorporated into the larger instrument, has already discovered a rare giant radio galaxy that is 32 times the size of the Milky Way. Last year it found 49 new galaxies in under three hours, according to Sarao. SKA Observatory, an international body, also campaigns for conditions on licensing agreements with other major satellite operators such as Amazon and Eutelsat's OneWeb to ensure quiet skies amid a boom in new satellite launches. 'We are trying to follow different technical and regulatory avenues to mitigate this issue on the global stage,' Di Vruno said. Reuters
ABC News
27-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Stolen Generations survivor Kath Ryan reflects on her life after WA redress scheme announced
More than 60 years ago, Stolen Generations survivor Kath Ryan was pulled screaming from her mother in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. WARNING: This story contains details that may be distressing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers. At just seven years old, she became one of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia taken from their families. Years later, her own daughter was taken from her. But in the years since, she has reconnected with her family, graduated university and is proud to be a grandparent. On Tuesday, the WA government announced Stolen Generations survivors would be eligible for payments of up to $85,000 as part of a landmark redress scheme. It leaves just Queensland as the only state or territory without a compensation scheme for survivors. Ms Ryan, a 72-year-old Yinggarda elder, was at the steps of WA's Parliament House when the announcement was made. "It's wonderful. I cried when [Noongar traditional custodian] Jim Morrison told us," she said. Ms Ryan was born in Carnarvon in 1953, her skin much lighter than her single mother's. It put authorities on alert, with Ms Ryan's hardworking mother always on the move to evade welfare officials. When they eventually caught up to her, she was powerless to act when a seven-year-old Ms Ryan was shoved into a paddy wagon and taken away. "I was screaming and kicking and stuff like that. I saw my mum walking off and she didn't look back," she said. "The penalty was back in the day if you kicked up and carried on, you would be thrown in jail." Ms Ryan was placed in a Church of Christ mission in Carnarvon, where she spent her days carrying out domestic tasks and looking after the younger children. When she was about 12 years old, she was sent to live with a family in the affluent Perth suburb of Cottesloe. She said the prospect of going to a big city was exciting, and she went to a private school where she worked hard. But she felt keenly the absence of her family and other children who looked like her. During this time, she fell pregnant and was sent to a home for women and babies. But as soon as her daughter was born, she was taken from Ms Ryan. "I had no choice in the matter," she said. Ms Ryan went on to have six other children, whom she vowed to keep close. "No way was I going to let those other six go," she said. Ms Ryan returned to Carnarvon in her 20s but received a shock when she was ostracised by her family. "It's sort of like … as we say in our language, 'you've been living with Wadjela people, you've got to live that life now'," she said. But she persisted in rebuilding a relationship with her mother, whom she only spent a combined nine years with before her death in her 90s. As well as taking away precious time with her family, her experience as a Stolen Generations survivor also made Ms Ryan doubt her intellectual abilities. It was not until a friend convinced her otherwise when she was in her mid-30s that she pursued a university education, graduating with a degree in community health. Her granddaughter is now following in her footsteps and is pursuing a law degree. "It makes me so proud," she said. Now retired, Ms Ryan enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and other Stolen Generations survivors. But she said she feels deeply the loss of other survivors who died before the announcement of redress this week. "It was great to hear it, but a great sadness as well, because the Aboriginal people don't have a good life span. I'm fortunate, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd reach 60, let alone 72," she said. "For the unfortunate ones that have passed … it's a little bit too late." For some time, Ms Ryan wanted to keep her story close out of feelings of shame. But she said the time for silence had long passed. "People need to know that these things happened," she said. "With this truth-telling and stuff like that, hopefully we'll make a lot of people realise these things are true, they're not just made up." The state government estimates there to be between 2,500 and 3,000 survivors of the Stolen Generations in WA. Registrations for the redress scheme are expected to open later this year, with payments to follow towards the end of the year.
