Cyclone Yasi- Summer in the Tropics

We kept a diary leading up to Cyclone Yasi- It was a first for all three of us, and an experience I don't particularly want to have to repeat! As Carlos bears down on our friends in Darwin, the following are some of my thoughts leading up to the storm, and through the powerless days afterwards!

Wednesday 2 Feb 2011

1217 h

The house is now ready- or at least as ready as we can be. The bath is full, pictures are off the wall, the chooks are locked in the garage and we have water aplenty. I have even filled home brew bottles with water just in case. Have to hope I remember to exchange water for the good stuff when this is all over!

The wind is also up and we have had our first heavy squall. The roads were full of people making a last minute decision to try and outrun this weather system- against all advice. It is going to be bad, but safest place is in the home.

We seem to have been lucky with the house that Defence gave us. We appear to be out of the flood surge area, and are in no imminent danger of flood related evacuation.

Expecting to lose power for a significant length of time during and after this.

Other than that, we are in good spirits, and not particularly looking forward to the cleanup afterwards.

1253 h

Had lunch- There is an excellent bakery here in Townsville- 3 loaves bakehouse- that was open today. I bought a loaf of French Sourdough, and we have lunched on egg and lettuce sandwiches. The eggs are from our own chickens, and the bread was great.

Also had an excellent Celtic Red Ale. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon! (Particularly on a school day)

Wind has dropped down a little, but the sky is totally grey. It is coming!!

1547 h

Both Jane and I have had a sleep. If this thing gets really bad, I think we will be in for a long and sleepless night, so best to get it while we can. Calls and well wishes continue to come in from friends and family all over the country.

People seem to be generally more concerned than we are. Do they know more, and are we blasé, or is the fact that we are here and experiencing the storm (soon) put us more in control?

Either way, the noise will be horrendous, there will be damage (trust that our preparation is good enough), and we will clean up afterwards.

The winds are really getting up now, and there are birds sheltering under our patio.

1906 h

According to the BOM maps, we now have the strong gale force winds. Feels like the wind strength is getting up a bit. Still a long way to go!

Still have power, and watching the cricket!! (Almost feels like a normal night- but with a definite sense of foreboding)

Have torches, with spare batteries handy. Hand wind radio, candles, gloves and ‘appropriate’ shoes are all ready. We won’t be evacuating, but could go at very short notice if we had to. Just need to pull a couple of files from the filing cabinet.

2040 h

During a news conference held by Anna Bligh, and with six overs to go in the cricket, the power went out. We both had a shower, as we had no idea how long we might be without water for.  The winds were huge, and the sound was like a freight train- in surround sound. We went to bed- nothing else to do as it was well dark.

After being in our bed on the windward side of the house, and feeling and seeing the walls and window flex with the wind, we decided to move to a spare room on the other side of the house.

We pulled the swags out, in case we might have to sleep in the hallway. Because of Jane’s lack of ease with getting down to the floor these days, this was only going to happen if we had windows blow in.

2150 h

We heard a sharp crack, very close to the house, so I went to investigate. Our side fence (backing onto the park) had snapped off at ground level!

Inspections at the front of the house showed trees down, but little other property damage.

We went to bed, and at some stage must have become immune to the noise, as we both slept a bit. Jane struggled with the lack of a fan, and had to dunk her feet in the bath every so often just to keep cool.

Thursday 03 Feb 2011

0430 h

Rudely awakened by Mum… Lovely to be able to let her know that we were OK, but sleep after that storm was also nice. Probably just as well that we did get hold of them then, as our phones went out at about that point for the rest of the day.

0600 h and the rest of 3 Feb

As soon as it was light, we could survey the damage. In addition to the fence, we had also lost some guttering off the patio. At the front of the house, there were trees down everywhere.

I went for a walk, and it was the same everywhere- Lots of whole trees just pushed over, the odd fence down, but little structural damage.

On the radio, we started to hear the reports from other places, mostly talking about how lucky they had all been.

We drove to friends houses to make sure they were OK- some hadn’t lost power at all. While there we were able to watch the absolute ridiculous sensationalism put forward by tabloid journalists (Nine, Seven and Ten) all looking for a story, and telling one that didn’t exist.

Yes there was a lot of damage here in Townsville, and we still had massive gusts up until about 2:00pm. But the damage was mostly cosmetic. The fences can go back up, people will eventually get their power back on, and the trees will be chipped into mulch. There were a couple of homes that got totalled, but very few.

Some of the damage in our immediate area...

We definitely dodged a bullet up here in the north. Tully, Cardwell, Innisfail and Mission Beach will take a lot longer to recover, as they were in the path of the eye.

We got power back late afternoon, and went for a drive to see if any restaurants were open. Most were just starting to get back to work, and seeing what if any stock they could salvage. By Monday, it will be pretty much life as normal up here.

Come and visit- we’ve got plenty of room, and the beer is cold!

The result- We have had the damage assessed, and it will get fixed when there are builders free to do the work. The chooks have a slightly smaller yard to play in, and are still not laying as much as they were before the storm. We were three hours short of the government grant for lost power- but would far rather have the power.

I never got called to help up north. Only about 500 of our boys and girls did, although many more were wanting to go.

We might look to buy a generator...

Road Trip from Sunshine Coast to Townsville

 We thought it might be a little quirky thing that we might do on the the three day, 2800km, one traffic infringement notice drive from the Sunshine Coast to Townsville (via Longreach). We thought we would take a picture of the town signs wherever we went to serve as a sort of travelogue...

So- From Peachester, you need to read left to right. If you were to ever try to plot this on a map, you will see many places that are not represented here. Some in reality are just too small to even have a sign. Some we flashed by without seeing the sign. Some- like Dalby- don't even have a sign.

We were curious also about Hughenden- There are no welcome to Hughenden signs, but one wishing visitors a farewell. Funny people, Queenslanders!

 

 
 

The Outback is phenomenally huge. The following two pictures were taken from the same spot. One left, and the other to the right. The vista is quite special, and just huge!

The view to the left

And to the right

A fascinating trip all round. We found a winery in Roma (called Romaville) that does really good muscats and sauterne style wines. We couldn't believe it when we saw it, but it made for a very pleasant diversion.

We found the outback drivers more courteous than the coastal drivers, and the road trains are not the scary beast they are portrayed as.

Do have to stress though- Longreach isn't a day trip from anywhere. If you are going to go, avoid November to March if you can. The town seems to shut down a little, and the sandflies just take over.

Until next time...

Christmas 2010...

We drove from Townsville to Brisbane as we were spending Christmas on the Sunshine Coast, arriving a couple of days before Christmas. The days prior to Christmas we spent cooking and preparing. I baked fresh breads, and marinated a leg each of pork and lamb. The intention was to cook the lamb and pork over coals, but the weather was awful- The rain was simply incessant.

The main cooking station for Christmas Day Lunch

Jane and I drove to Brisbane to pick Jacinda and Jason up on Christmas Eve- so nice to see them again. They were tired after having circled in the air for 30 minutes before landing. On the way out of the airport, we heard that flights to Townsville had been cancelled as storms had closed the airport.

Dessert was a frozen Christmas pudding (chocolate ice-cream with marinated dried fruits and spices folded through it), pavlova, and a mango and pineapple cheesecake.

Christmas Pudding!

 The day dawned fine-ish (overcast, but no rain), and we were able to get the fire going.

It was a good fun day, as always with us and the Tickelpenny’s. The rain came in, and never let up, but it did little to dampen spirits.

Mary at Christmas- Pick the Hawaiian theme!

Jane with Lee and Cara (or Cara and Lee?)

Summer and Harri

Ken and Camille

Hudson with buddy0 no arachnophobia there!

Welcome to my party!

Tiff, Fred and Danah

The Outlaws!- Jason, Jane and Mark

Ken and Fred

On the 27^th, Jane and I flew to Sydney for Uncle Tom’s 90^th birthday celebrations. We weren't the only one's to travel long distances for this celebration - David flew down from Darwin for 26 hours to be there! The difference was that everyone knew we were coming, David kept it a complete surprise arriving on Aunty Betty's doorstep at 7am. It was fantastic to catch up with him (even briefly) before he left for his next adventure. We then went to Canberra for a few of days. The weather was fine, the nights were cool, and there was no humidity. Lovely! We spent our days in Canberra catching up with close friends, and I got on the end of a jackhammer to extend the wine cellar.

Phillip, David, Clare, Jane & Quent at Uncle Tom's birthday lunch

Uncle Tom, David and Aunty Val

David "telling it like it is" and Jane

New Years Eve was a very civilised affair at home. I cooked a pasta dinner, with a cheesecake for dessert (raspberry and white chocolate- especially for Clare!). We were in bed early… must be getting old!!

Our return to Queensland on the 2nd of January meant a return to the wet, and we started to worry about how we might get home, as Rockhampton was flooded.

We caught up with some very good Brisbane based friends and also went to the Eumundi Markets for a look, and to buy some “Zappy Nappy’s”. It was a very pleasant surprise to see John Somerville at the markets. I worked for John years ago in Bendigo, and we have been firm friends ever since.

We had it confirmed that we couldn’t go north on the coast road, and leaving the car behind and flying just wasn’t an option. We found out that we could skirt the water by heading west- way west, and accordingly plotted a route home through Longreach. Instead of a two day drive it would be three, and we would have road trains to deal with.

Our very accommodating road trip companions

The open road - Outback Queensland

Longreach - Stockman's Hall of Fame - very much worth the visit but it's still not a day trip!

The only signs of the recent floods we came across - travelling into Dalby

This is the hotel Tyson built in Chinchilla. No visible damage and was open for business when we drove through

As it turned out, the drive was awesome, the road trains are nothing to worry about, and we got to see the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach. If you ever get out there, dinner at the RSL is a good bet. Because of the number of Kiwi shearers out there, one of the specials is the ‘Shearer’s Fush, Chups & Eggs’ (sic). Fish and chips, with two fried eggs. Brilliant. Jane had the crumbed steak, which should really come with a warning other than "adult sized". It was served on a buffet serving platter, and the meat flowed over every edge of the platter. I think Jane just about gave up before starting!

We did see a couple of amusing things on the journey. At Ilfracombe, they advertise the Wellshot Hotel as being a historic building, with modern refrigeration, and also advertise free town attractions. In Blackall there is a place advertising accommodation with all the usual amenities (what are usual?).

On the Matilda Highway north of Barcaldine, we saw a man running beside the highway at 3:20 pm in the afternoon. He had no hat or shoes, was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with the logo “gifted”. Bloody gifted alright!

We were very happy to be home, and welcomed our nephew, Phillip, for a visit from Canberra. He tried to stay out of the heat/humidity and helped me with another couple of furniture pieces. I had to make another three bookshelves so we could finally get our last books unpacked, and a desk.

 

Then back to work. A last eleven weeks for Jane before Sparrow arrives, and a new job for me. Until next time…