Cumulus congestus off Point Wilson

From the Latin, cumulus = 'heaped' and congestus = 'crowded together'.

THE CLOUD

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky:
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain, when with never a stain
The pavilion of heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise, and unbuild again.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

These clouds range in altitude from a base of around 600 metres/2,000 feet up to 6,000 metres/20,000 feet and can bring brief rainshowers. They are often a harbinger of the more dramatic Cumulonimbus (that form into a distinctive anvil shape and tower high into the atmosphere) bringing extremely violent thunderstorms laced with shards of lightning. See: www.cloudappreciationsociety.org

Pont Wilson is located approximately 60 kilometres/38 miles from Melbourne (Victoria) on the northern shore of Corio Bay (a smaller subset of Port Phillip Bay on its western side). It is not far from Avalon Airfield (Melbourne's second major Airport) to its west and the City of Geelong to the south-west. Most of the area around Point Wilson has restricted public access due to the location of an Explosives Facility & Magazine covering 320 hectares/790 acres. It is also the site of the longest Pier in Victoria, which runs for 2,700 metres/8,800 feet.

The photograph was taken near the Point Wilson Boat Ramp, a rather nondescript and roughshod facility located around from the Explosives Site on the foreshore heading back towards Melbourne. The area near the boat ramp is a noted Bird Watching area facing the Lake Borrie Wetlands - a 1,500 hectares/3,700 acres Wildlife Reserve set on the southern boundary of the massive Melbourne Water Treatment Plant. This Reserve is rated in the top ten Bird Watching locations in Australia, being a haven for over 270 different species of Birds. Across the late spring early summer months, these Wetlands host up to 15,000 Waders who have migrated from their breeding grounds in Siberia and the Arctic. An astonishing feat of flying and navigation covering a distance in excess of 11,000 kilometres/6,800 miles.

It is a fine location to partake of Cloudspotting (as well as Bird Spotting) - easily the best free entertainment in the world - a pastime that teaches you 'slow'. You have a quiet Grandstand to watch weather patterns, especially breaking storms on a balmy summer's day. It is quite a good swimming location too, if you are game, as it is unlikely you will overwhelmed by sightseers!

In the distance you can see a section of the Bellarine Peninsular and the towns of Portarlington and Indented Head, where I was walking a few days ago.