Apart from praying for the Cowboys to hammer the Storm at the weekend in the true spirit of sportsmanship and Christian belief , many residents living in the dry tropics of North Queensland also want the heavens to open ASAP.
Their fervent prayers this week are mainly concentrated on smiting the southerners at the footie grand final . However, prayers for rain may also be answered as soon as this weekend because Rain Orchids on Magnetic Island , above , are in flower . So will it be 40 days and nights of weeping and wailing due to the Cowboys being beaten or joyous dancing in the street after the same length of time of heavy rain and the lifting of Townsville water restrictions ?
The first person to break the welcome prospect of rain was a man walking a greyhound , with an Irish name , Boyo , who informed us that his Rain Orchids are flowering and we could expect rain in four days' time . That was Wednesday . On the four day reckoning , welcome rain could be falling by Sunday .
The Queen of the Jungle rang a day later and said her Rain Orchids are in flower and there could be rain by Sunday or Monday . Last year, the orchids flowered and four days' later there was a slight drizzle , certainly not a heavy tropical downpour.
Armed with the office camera , a parched , intrepid Little Darwin staffer called on the Queen to inspect and interrogate her orchids . Sure enough , the two bunches of orchids were a mass of white flower . But what was that hidden behind one clump in an aviary ? Gadzooks ! A brazen , topless, Playboy centrespread garden gnome , above , who made our man's puffy eyes water .
