Latest news with #HunterValley
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Torrential rain expected to hit Sydney next week as wild weather system brews off Australia's east coast
Sydney and parts of the New South Wales coast should brace themselves for a fast-developing weather system expected to bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flooding early next week, the Bureau of Meteorology has said. Some areas could see flash and river flooding on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Sydney metro area 'in the firing line', the bureau said. The system that is expected to develop on Sunday has the potential to be classified in the coming days as an east coast low – a weather system known for its damaging potential. 'It is looking like a significant weather system off the east coast and will start to pick up steam on Monday and intensify on Tuesday,' said Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the weather bureau. The source of the weather threat is an area of spiralling wind and cloud that will develop off the southern Queensland coast on Sunday night. Hines said as the pressure in the centre of the system drops, this will cause it to intensify and, as it travels south, could unleash damaging coastal conditions, high winds and torrential rain by Tuesday. Hines said people on the east coast should watch their forecasts closely in the coming days, but areas expected to be hit on Tuesday and Wednesday include Sydney and the Hunter Valley, as well as elevated areas on the Great Dividing Range. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h in coastal parts are expected with rainfall of between 100mm and 200mm over 48 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some areas potentially seeing higher totals. 'That is enough rainfall to give us some concerns about flooding – both riverine and flash flooding could pop up, including around the Sydney area,' Hines said. 'When you combine the winds with persistent rainfall, you are starting to look at the potential for trees coming down with those softer soils. It is plausible we see extensive tree damage.' Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion He said the system is known as a 'bombing low' because of the speed at which it develops. 'It means over a short period of time, as the pressure drops, the spiral of winds ratchets up very fast, the wind speed picks up quickly and the rainfall becomes more intense. That rain then gets driven on to the coast at a greater rate of knots.' As of Saturday morning, the system was forecast to start drifting east by Thursday. Elsewhere, cooler than average morning temperatures that affected much of the country in recent days are expected to continue until early next week. A band of cloud is forecast to bring rainfall from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Queensland's south-east this weekend, with falls reaching the Brisbane and Gold Coast areas by late Sunday.
The Australian
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Boom colt Storm Boy retired after European flops
Former boom colt Storm Boy has been retired and will return to Australia to stand at Coolmore's Hunter Valley stud following his Royal Ascot flop last weekend. The one-time Golden Slipper hot pot and Magic Millions 2YO Classic victor failed to flatter in two Northern Hemisphere starts after being sent to Irish maestro Aidan O'Brien to train last year. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Storm Boy didn't beat a runner home in his first start for O'Brien in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh last month and was disappointing again when 10th in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot in the early hours of Saturday morning. Formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, the son of Justify created headlines when sold for a potential $60 million incentive-based deal midway through his two-year-old season. Storm Boy made an unforgettable start to his racing career with victories in his first four starts, including the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and Group 2 Skyline Stakes. His unbeaten run came to an end with a third placing in the Golden Slipper with his final victory coming as a three-year-old in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes. Storm Boy has been retired to stand at stud Picture:Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier said the breeding powerhouse was delighted to have Storm Boy back in Australia for the 2025 breeding season. 'His early performances on the track really had to be seen to be believed,' Magnier said in a statement. 'He was jaw-dropping, much like his sire Justify, he broke his opponents' hearts. 'He won five of his first seven starts in a really dominating fashion and was unlucky not to include a Golden Slipper in that tally.' Coolmore sent Storm Boy to Europe with the hope of winning the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes but the preparation didn't go to plan. 'Unfortunately we haven't been able to give him the ideal prep,' Magnier said. 'We felt we were getting back to where we needed to be with him, but he was found to be quite lame since returning to Ballydoyle on Saturday.' Storm Boy will stand for $16,500 this season and joins fellow star Coolmore three-year-olds Switzerland and Private Life at stud.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Former Australian star Storm Boy retired to stand at Coolmore Stud
Former boom colt Storm Boy has been retired and will return to Australia to stand at Coolmore's Hunter Valley stud following his Royal Ascot flop last weekend. The one-time Golden Slipper hot pot and Magic Millions 2YO Classic victor failed to flatter in two Northern Hemisphere starts after being sent to Irish maestro Aidan O'Brien to train last year. Storm Boy didn't beat a runner home in his first start for O'Brien in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh last month and was disappointing again when 10th in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot in the early hours of Saturday morning. Formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, the son of Justify created headlines when sold for a potential $60 million incentive-based deal midway through his two-year-old season. Storm Boy made an unforgettable start to his racing career with victories in his first four starts, including the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and Group 2 Skyline Stakes. His unbeaten run came to an end with a third placing in the Golden Slipper with his final victory coming as a three-year-old in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes. Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier said the breeding powerhouse was delighted to have Storm Boy back in Australia for the 2025 breeding season. 'His early performances on the track really had to be seen to be believed,' Magnier said in a statement. 'He was jaw-dropping, much like his sire Justify, he broke his opponents' hearts. 'He won five of his first seven starts in a really dominating fashion and was unlucky not to include a Golden Slipper in that tally.' Coolmore sent Storm Boy to Europe with the hope of winning the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes but the preparation didn't go to plan. 'Unfortunately we haven't been able to give him the ideal prep,' Magnier said. 'We felt we were getting back to where we needed to be with him, but he was found to be quite lame since returning to Ballydoyle on Saturday.' Storm Boy will stand for $16,500 this season and joins fellow star Coolmore three-year-olds Switzerland and Private Life at stud.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- The Guardian
Why one couple, two kids and 10 camels are trekking almost 6,000kms through the Australian outback
Instead of a dozen red roses, a bottle of bubbly or romantic poetry, Emily Parrott gave her husband a camel to celebrate their first Valentine's Day. 'When he met me, that's when he met camels,' she says of husband, Luke. 'He found his first two loves. 'As long as I don't ask which one comes first, then we don't have a problem.' Nearly 15 years after that fateful February, camels remain the centre of the Parrott family's world. The couple runs the Oakfield Ranch with Parrott's father at Anna Bay in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, hosting camel rides along the picturesque beaches of Port Stephens. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email They're gearing up to take 10 camels, including Foxy Lady, Polished Copper, Bronte, Barry and Jeffrey on a nearly 6,000km round-trip via South Australia to Queensland for the Desert Champions Way: Outback Camel Trail. Winding through the red dust to the Queensland outposts of Jundah, Birdsville, Bedourie, Boulia and Winton in July, the trail features camel races and rides, live music and markets at every stop. Parrott, who has been around camels since she was a baby and began racing at 14, can get the animals running up to 45km/h. It's a bumpy – or humpy – ride around the dirt track as jockeys skilfully hover above the saddles. 'They're not very nice to sit on at speed,' Parrott says. 'They're quite bouncy, so the less your bottom is in the saddle is probably more comfortable.' Apart from the rollicking races, the trail is a celebration of the outback spirit and pays tribute to the history of cameleers. Camels were brought to Australia from Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent during the gold rushes, when they were used to transport goods across the arid inland. Cameleers established their own transport and import businesses until cars were introduced in the 1920s. Many of the animals were then released into the wild. An eccentric 'globetrotter' named HD Constantinou spent nine years walking with camels and a cameleer from Sydney to Perth in the 1930s, wearing through 50 pairs of boots. 'He stated he had walked every inch of the way across from Sydney, the camels … carrying his baggage,' Brisbane's Telegraph newspaper reported in 1939. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Parrott feels an affinity with the creatures, a passion passed down by her father who bought 20 camels to establish his business. 'Animals don't get enough recognition for the amount of effort they've put in for humanity,' she says. 'Donkeys and camels are a huge part of Australia's history. 'They were brought over here to build Australia up.' Her 10-year-old daughter, Abby, who will accompany her parents on the outback trail with her six-year-old brother, Cooper, has observed the deep connection between her mum and the herd. 'About six months ago she said, 'Mum, when do I get my special power?'. 'I said, 'what do you mean?', and she said, 'your special power, how you know what animals are thinking'.' The Desert Champions Way: Outback Camel Trail kicks off with the Jundah camel races on 5 July and ends in Winton on 26 July.
ABC News
20-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Shiraz hits dry patch as wine drinkers opt for sweeter whites like moscato
An oversupply of shiraz grapes and young drinkers trending towards lighter whites are putting the number one grape variety grown in Australia in a "diabolical situation". The world's oldest continuously productive shiraz vines were planted in the Barossa Valley in 1843. But despite the long history, drinkers are falling out of love with the heavy reds, prompting wine makers to pull out hectares of vines. The managing director of De Bortoli Wines, Darren De Bortoli, said consumers were moving away from reds in favour of whites. "Shiraz is in a diabolical situation at the moment," Mr De Bortoli said. According to the 2024 Wine Australia national vintage report, the shiraz crush dropped to its lowest levels since 2007. It's a far cry from Australia's record shiraz crush of 535,000 tonnes in 2021, with just 297,868 tonnes crushed last year. De Bortoli has vineyards in several wine regions, including the Hunter Valley, King Valley, Rutherglen, Heathcote, and the Riverina. Over the past two years, they have removed 130 hectares of red wine varieties in Rutherglen and the Riverina. Mr De Bortoli said there was a range of factors at play. "Leading up to COVID, the demand from China was exceptionally strong and a lot of new vineyards went in," Mr De Bortoli said. "Then we had an altercation between our prime minister and the Chinese government and were effectively banned from sales into China." He said that had now been resolved, but demand had not returned to the same levels. "Additionally, we've seen an anti-alcohol theme as well," he said. Data by the International Wine and Spirit Record shows drinkers aged 18–39 years old were more likely to choose wines described as sweet, delicate, soft and simple. The demographic also preferred low-alcohol options and were reducing the amount they drank. One such wine is moscato, an industry quiet achiever that is low alcohol and sweet. Katherine Brown is a fourth-generation family winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa, Victoria. She said moscato, which is made from muscat grape varieties, had grown to become their biggest product. "We released our first moscato about 35 years ago, and at the time it felt like the wine industry was having a laugh at us," Ms Brown said. Out of the 14,000 tonnes of fruit Brown Brothers produced in their 2025 vintage, 40 per cent will go towards making 20 different moscato-based products. "We have a theory that the next generation doesn't want to be seen drinking what their parents drank," Ms Brown said. "Crouchen riesling is a sweet white wine, but it's now old-fashioned." Ms Brown said prosecco had been the other big performer. "I've never seen growth like that before." Zero-alcohol wines were also increasing in popularity across all generations. "Gen Z is not going out as much, and we're seeing the baby boomers who are asked to drink less for their health," Ms Brown said. "I think there are big pressures on people at the moment about not drinking." Brown Brothers had also seen a decline in demand for red wine varieties, however, Ms Brown noted that wines came in and out of fashion. "Yes, there's a decline in red wine, but red wine grapes also make rosé, which is growing in popularity," she said. "This issue is not new. My grandfather was doing this over 60 years ago, when there was a pivot point and it was mostly red wine production. Mr De Bortoli said he was confident gen Z would discover wine as they aged. "It's definitely a demographic the wine industry is missing out on," he said.
