Rock Lobster

By Willy Weather on January 21, 2011 in Other

Like most typical Australian families over the summer break, I took the family up the coast in search of the perfect spot for a bit of R&R. It is a 6-hour car journey to Arrawarra Headland and to beat the traffic we set the alarm for four in the morning. Like clockwork, I had the bags and the kids in the car by 4:15am. With hardly any cars on the road and silence in the air we set off from Randwick.

The calm and silence was finally broken with the inevitable question from one of the kids, “Are we there yet?” With the Harbour Bridge still visible in the rear view mirror, I knew it was going to be a long one. Thoughts of the sun and surf allowed me to remain calm as I endured the same question over and over for the next five and half hours.

Before I left I checked the weather forecast and much to my surprise there were five days of perfect weather coming up. On this holiday I was determined not to get sunburnt.

While the sun’s UV radiation provides the best source of vitamin D, too much exposure to UV radiation can cause sunburn, skin damage and skin cancer. The amount of UV radiation present in the sky at a given location is impacted by closeness to the equator, the time of day, time of year, cloud cover and reflection. In January, the UV radiation is strong enough to cause sunburn in as little as 15 minutes. 

All the sunburns, solarium visits or simple time outdoors without protection add up and increases your long-term risk of skin cancer.

So remember to slip, slop and slap.
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Did you know?

About two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70.

Weather ?Stats

Temperature:
High: 42.1 (1926)
Low: 9.6 (1863)
Average: 22.2

?Rainfall:
High: 630.6 (1990)
Low: 3.0 (1939)
Average: 117.9

?Sunrise:
February 1st:
Rise: 6:16am
Set: 8:00pm

?February 28th:
Rise: 6:42am
Set: 7:33pm

Moonphases:
New moon: February 3rd
First quarter: February 11th
Full moon: February 18th