Not that we’re complaining, but imagine if you were responsible for weather forecasts. Wouldn’t it make barbeques and pub sessions a bit challenging? And climatologists, for that matter.

The long-range rainfall prediction for April was that it was to be far drier than average and would stay that way until June.

At the time of writing, we’d had more than twice the April average with a couple of soggy days yet to come.

(Ahem: for next Tuesday, Anzac Day, there’s a forecast including a 90 per cent chance of between 10 and 20 millimetres early in the day)

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So, how does Bendigo know that April and May were supposed to be dryer than a prohibitionists’ picnic?

Well, the ENSO status was neutral, as was the IOD while the SSTs were within ENSO boundaries. The SOI had an index of 1.5 and SAM had a neutral-to-negative trend.

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The magic and mystery is back in life again.

Some of us were a little saddened at the state government report from 2012 which said there was no evidence to support the existence of mysterious big cats roaming the Victorian bush.

This was despite the many hundreds of people who reckon they’ve seen them. The “Oh no, you didn’t” state report chucked a bucket of cold water (sorry) on people who liked to have a tinge of mystery.

Now? They’re back. Yep, all the way from Warburton to Riddells Creek, from Toolangi to the Grampians, new huge black cat sightings have been reported in recent weeks.

Come on people. Where’s ours? Bendigo generally, well, mainly Bealiba, has had big cat sightings throughout most of the past century. The tales of the Bealiba Beast almost became a tourist attraction. 

The best we’ve had is a report last month that someone feared there might be a yowie in Jackass Flat. There was another in Sedgwick in 2015.