Back to Hervey Bay

This is the only flooding we encountered on our drive back to Hervey Bay.  And see that blue sky?  First blue sky we've seen in two weeks!  Actually, we had lovely weather yesterday at the Reef, but other than that, it's been very, very rainy.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/residents-evacuate-as-flooding-grips-much-of-queensland/story-e6frf7l6-1225977082293

Whew!  We're in Hervey Bay, back in the same Best Western we stayed in over Christmas and we're going to settle in for a week here.  We have free internet (a real bonus) and we're across the street from the beach, though I can't see it from our window cause there are too many trees and a park between the street and the ocean.

A little further down the road I noticed a Rotary Park which appears to have grilling facilities, so we may make use of that later on in the week.

It's SO GOOD to be out of the rain.  The last two weeks have been pretty wet and we've just been one step ahead of the flooding.  Our Rotary friends in Forster had recommended we come back from Cairns (where we never went due to the weather) via an inland route, taking us through Emerald...Obviously, that was out too as to date, Emerald has been the hardest hit and is totally evacuated because it's completely under water.

For the last 36 hours I've been itching to leave Mackay but we had booked a day on the Great Barrier Reef for Thursday, the 30th and I'm so glad we did that.  It was fabulous!  The weather there was great, the first sun we've seen in two weeks, and the snorkelling was outstanding.  The stinger suits...not so outstanding.  Thankfully, there are no pictures.

So when we made the decision to leave Mackay this morning, we left pell mell taking only a few minutes to head down to the internet shop and make sure that there were no urgent messages and also to check that the Best Western in Hervey Bay had a room for us. 

We got through Rockhampton by the skin of our teeth.  One of the roads was already down to 1/2 a lane (see photo above) as the second lane was under water and the remaining lane was slowly sinking, but we just followed the traffic and we all got through okay.  It wasn't deep yet, so no problem really.  Just slow.

On our way up 4 days ago, we had forded some deeper water north of Rockhampton and that had miraculously ebbed so other than the little portion I wrote about above, we drove through no water but the radio was full of dire warnings that the Bruce Highway would be closed this weekend, probably Saturday and possibly even this afternoon.  So we felt fortunate to get through when we did, which was around noon.  I was already mentally preparing myself to be a "helper" if we got stranded at an evacuation center in Rockhampton. In my fantasy we made it to the local TV news as Canadian Rotarians, on a visit to Australia, now stuck in the flood and lending a helping hand at the shelters.  Just as well that fantasy didn't come true.

I was feeling a little pressured to get south as quickly as possible, but then I'd sober up and remember that had we been stranded, it would only have been a small inconvenience.  Those poor people all through Queensland who have been flooded out, I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like.

So here we are, warm and dry in a nice little 'apartment' unit at the Best Western with fridge to chill our midnight champagne, which we'll have with strawberries, pate and crackers.  It feels good to be safe.  And dry. We even have a mike to heat our barbecued chicken because after driving for 8 hours, Hans would just like to relax and drink some wine and not have to go back out for dinner.  I'm all for that myself.

Happy New Year everyone.