Stunning photo wins nifty weather station
Graaff-Reinet local Nicola Woods’ photography skills have earned her a welldeserved iWeather weather station, which she will lend to the learners of Union to learn more about the fascinating subject of weather.
Last year, Woods photographed a mountain tortoise on 30 December at Nqweba Dam, when long-awaited rain started to fall over the drought-stricken town. The tortoise’s face was submerged in water.
"I drove out to the dam because I wanted to see how the animals were reacting to the first big rains in town," Woods said on 29 August this year, when the weather station was handed over to her by Jan Meintjies from Reënval SA. "I drove past the dam and did a U-turn when I saw the tortoise. I spent about 45 minutes with him and he just kept drinking. Even when people came out to the dam to see the water, the tortoise didn’t blink."
Woods submitted her photo to the Reënval SA photo competition on Facebook, where it received over 6 000 likes to dates, was shared by over 5 000 people, and even featured on several TV news stations. The photo was also one of the first to feature in Graaff-Reinet Advertiser’s Pic of the Week section.
"Had Nicola marked the tortoise, it would’ve received celebrity status," joked Meintjies. Meintjies said that the photo of the tortoise quenching his thirst captured the joy when the rain finally fell over the drought-stricken town. "It is the photo that moved me the most."
For this reason, Woods received the iWeather station, a nifty little internet-based weather station that can detect and record temperature, wind speed, UV index, rainfall and much more. The station is internetbased and even fitted with a digital camera.
Wherever the famous Graaff-Reinet tortoise is now, we’re sure he’s chuffed with how his photo turned out.