Living in rural Oz I miss out on such radio programs. But I've just returned from Alice Springs, where I celebrated a friend's significant birthday at the Araluen Homestead; she was the Director there for a while.

No dust and not even wind until I left Coober Pedy but it was a 60kph beauty all the way south; fortunately a tailwind. But no dust until Glendambo, which is upwind of Lake Eyre, where various people reckon Sydney's dust came from; once again, Glendambo provided rain in the middle of its dust storm.

The tailwind kept up 'til I got to Port Augusta, where it started to rain and filled up Adelaide's dams; the rain lasted 'til I got to Yunta but the wind kept up. Still, no dust. Stayed overnight at Mannahill (now, there's an experience) wondering if we'd still have a roof in the morning. Lots of wind but no dust, not even in Broken Hill. In fact, the place was sparkling, showing no sign that the visibility during the previous afternoon had been down to about 10 metres. All the road trains and semi trailers had stopped, as visibility was so bad and even new trucks had sand penetrating seals.

No dust until Wilcannia, where the landscape was shifting across the road; all the sheep and feral goats had stripped the vegetation so that te wind could just blow it away. The tailwind lasted all the way home (New England) but the only evidence of dust was the colour of oncoming vehicles. Today the carwash places are doing a roaring trade.

All the best, Sandra.

Cheers, Rowan