We have always known that Australia was a country of extremes, but the beginning of 2011 beats everything. First of all the floods in Queensland got everyone's attention and we were following Brisbane in particular, with Derek and family living there. Fortunately they were high enough up to escape flood damage, but the loss of property and the mess everywhere was heartbreaking for many of their friends.
The monster cyclone Yasi was the next one and it just blows the mind. Watching the size of it on the television as it approached, it was difficult to imagine that the whole thing could pass without loss of life. Fortunately only one person seems to have died, suffocated by the fumes from a generator as he sheltered in a non-ventilated part of his house. We had some concerns for our house in Dingo Beach but in fact Yasi came in a bit north of there and we seem to have escaped damage. The heartbreak for thousands of people who have lost everything is hard to watch. Queenslanders are a special breed and they WILL come through it, but it will be a long uphill struggle. Then it was the turn of the river country in Northern Victoria and adjacent parts of South Australia to suffer devastating floods, causing us to drop our plans to visit these areas on leaving Tasmania.
Last week it was the extreme heatwave in Sydney that held our attention, with Rob and family there. Schools were refusing to let children out at breaktimes as it was too hot, so everyone was stir crazy. Ryan's soccer trials on Saturday could not be held until the temperature came down to 32 deg. and at 8 o'clock at night it was still 35!
The last straw was last night's television news showing the horrific fires in the south-east of Perth where over 40 houses have been burned down. Again fortunately no lives have been lost but many people have lost everything. Our nephew is among those who have had to evacuate and we are waiting to hear whether he and his partner still have a house.
We are relishing the safety of Tasmania and tomorrow we will be off to do the next stage of our tour -- up the east coast this time and back in about ten days' time hoping that finally the benighted Winnebago will get a new toilet! I wonder why I'm not holding my breath!
The monster cyclone Yasi was the next one and it just blows the mind. Watching the size of it on the television as it approached, it was difficult to imagine that the whole thing could pass without loss of life. Fortunately only one person seems to have died, suffocated by the fumes from a generator as he sheltered in a non-ventilated part of his house. We had some concerns for our house in Dingo Beach but in fact Yasi came in a bit north of there and we seem to have escaped damage. The heartbreak for thousands of people who have lost everything is hard to watch. Queenslanders are a special breed and they WILL come through it, but it will be a long uphill struggle. Then it was the turn of the river country in Northern Victoria and adjacent parts of South Australia to suffer devastating floods, causing us to drop our plans to visit these areas on leaving Tasmania.
Last week it was the extreme heatwave in Sydney that held our attention, with Rob and family there. Schools were refusing to let children out at breaktimes as it was too hot, so everyone was stir crazy. Ryan's soccer trials on Saturday could not be held until the temperature came down to 32 deg. and at 8 o'clock at night it was still 35!
The last straw was last night's television news showing the horrific fires in the south-east of Perth where over 40 houses have been burned down. Again fortunately no lives have been lost but many people have lost everything. Our nephew is among those who have had to evacuate and we are waiting to hear whether he and his partner still have a house.
We are relishing the safety of Tasmania and tomorrow we will be off to do the next stage of our tour -- up the east coast this time and back in about ten days' time hoping that finally the benighted Winnebago will get a new toilet! I wonder why I'm not holding my breath!
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