Tim the Yowie Man: Rainbow skies

If you look closely, the secondary arc has the order of its colours reversed – this is caused by light reflecting twice inside the water droplets.

Meanwhile, Maryann Mussared of Yarralumla reports that she "drove through a rainbow on Lady Denman Drive the other day but the pot of gold has yet to arrive," adding, "however, I am content with a garden full of tulips".

While rainbows are relatively common (double rainbows less so), Alison Milton reports that she recently witnessed a much rarer natural phenomenon – cloud iridescence. While on a bus approaching the Belconnen bus interchange Alison, a member of the Field Naturalists Association of Canberra, glanced up from her book, and "was amazed at seeing what looked like an oil slick of colours in the clouds, in just one spot".

At first Allison didn't believe what she was seeing "and thought it might have been a deflection of the sun through the bus window" but after getting off the bus she was left in no doubt that she had seen an example of cloud iridescence.

Iridescent clouds are also known as "fire rainbows" and are a diffraction phenomenon caused by small water droplets or small ice crystals individually scattering light.

"I feel so privileged to have witnessed such a rare phenomenon," declares Allison, who unfortunately was unable to capture the spectacular scene on camera.

Still looking skyward, Martin Ollman, who specialises in capturing celestial objects on film, took this stunning photograph at Burrinjuck Dam near Wee Jasper during last year's Dragon Dreaming Festival. "By the time I got to the water the moon was up – a well-positioned tree stump enabled me to capture the stars," explains the shutter bug.

If you want to try and replicate Ollman's photo, this year's highly anticipated follow-up festival which "celebrates art, music, nature, and the freedom of self-expression" is on 24-27 October, again on the shores of Burrinjuck Dam (which is currently near full, and looking at its beautiful best). More dragondreaming.net/

An international flavour for this week's mailbag:

Train spotter

Dave Moore of Nicholls, who has been on assignment in Dubai for the past 12 months, and who confesses to reading this column "every week, especially when feeling a little homesick", reports that he was surprised to see a scene from Canberra in Read, a free newspaper handed out on the Dubai metro. The far-away publication's "Spot the Difference" photo quiz featured our very own Lake Burley Griffin photographed from Regatta Point. While Dave was buoyed to see his home town featured, I'm not sure fans of regular recitals at the carillon would been overjoyed to discover that the iconic bell tower had been photo-shopped out of one of the photos.

A fruity tale

This column's recent series on overseas cafes, pubs and eateries named after our fair city prompted Canberra resident Peter Papathanasiou, who is currently living in Britain, to send in this photo of a sign adorning the walls of Royal Peri Peri, a fried chicken shop in Hampstead Heath, London. Perhaps the good folk at Visit Canberra should jump on this marketing opportunity and employ the services of Irish rock band The Cranberries to promote our city?

The big 'tea bag'

In response to this column's recent expose on the proposal to put a large "CANBERRA" sign atop the disused quarry at Eagle Hawk Hill (Welcome Signs for Canberra, , Rosemary Hendry reports that since the late 1970s she has "been advocating that on the entry to Canberra there should be a giant tea bag to represent the Australian Public Service."

Hendry reckons "it could sell tepid, milky tea with an Iced-VoVo biscuit and offer obligatory reading material from the 'APS Gazette' or 'Parliamentary Hansard'." Judging by the plethora of bustling cafes near government buildings, I suspect Hendry's view of public servants is perhaps a bit dated. Most public servants drink espresso coffee these days, don't they?

Meanwhile, principal proponent for the giant welcome sign Alicia Doherty says she is encouraged by the support she has received since first revealing her audacious plan on these pages.

Although this column usually only publishes simulacra from around the Canberra region, I couldn't help but share with you some of the photos submitted by Axel Michaelsen of Turner, who is on holiday in Europe.

While recently sailing around the southern coast of Milos, Greece, Axel, who has searched for many years for simulacra, but without luck, was overjoyed to when "several rocks clearly resembling animals came into view". "At last something to send to Tim!" exclaimed Axel in the emailed he fired off to me just hours after his sailing adventure.

In fact Axel has set a new standard when it comes to simulacra – his photos of the same rock jutting out of the Aegean actually resemble different animals when viewed from different angles. "In one photo you can see the clear profile of a Mountain Silverback Gorilla, while in the other, taken of the same rock, but at a different angle, it is clearly a Scottish terrier," boasts Axel.

The third image of is of "a pirate skull wearing a black bandana". Thankfully Axel and his wife encountered no real pirates and they are now continuing their simulacra odyssey in Italy.

Contact Tim: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write to me c/o The Canberra Times 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. A selection of past columns is available at: canberratimes.com.au/act-news/by/tim-the-yowie-man

Clue: I wonder what designer "John Gregory" would think of this sculpture in the suburb named after his son.

Degree of difficulty: Medium

Last week: No one was able to correctly identify last week's photo as a car parked in the front garden of a home on Red Hill Road, near Majors Creek. Although Jenny Jones of Kambah didn't know the location of the car-come-garden, she did notice "a similarity with the car body at Floriade that had flowers growing out of it".

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am on Saturday, October 18, with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.