Early morning light show stuns Inverloch farmers

THERE is an advantage in having to get up at 5.30 in the morning, apparently, and Inverloch beef farmers Kelvin and Helen ‘Ski’ Dowel proved that this morning when they were treated to a simply “amazing” light show.

It was the Southern Lights, or the Aurora Australis in all its glory and Ski simply had to share it with her friends.

“I hope they didn’t mind getting a text message at 5.30 in the morning,” she said with a laugh after being contacted by the Sentinel-Times.

“We used to be dairy farmers so we’re generally up pretty early. Kelvin was out on the verandah for a smoke and called out to me to come and see.

“I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing. I’ve seen photos of it before of course, and to be honest, I’ve thought it couldn’t be real with all those colours.

“But there it was, absolutely amazing, the colours, absolutely brilliant.”

The Dowel’s farm is located about 10km north of Inverloch, along the Bass Highway towards Leongatha, so ideally placed to look south, in the dark, and for the Southern Lights that are occasionally visible from Inverloch, to shine out in the early morning in all their glory.

“I just had to send out the photos to my friends to share,” said Ski.

What is the reason for the southern lights?

The famous Northern and Southern Lights -- Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis for those Latin lovers among us -- are caused by high-energy particles from the Sun cascading down on Earth. As they near our planet, they interact with Earth's magnetic field, which channels them toward the north and south magnetic poles.

Did you see it? Another reason why they say “it’s the best part of the day to be up”!