We’ve been through all kinds of weather here in Queensland over the last
week all thanks to a cranky fella named Oswald; Cyclone Oswald. Things went
awry up north earlier in the week and Mr Oswald made his presence known here
over the weekend, the Australia Day long weekend mind you. Saturday was a
washout with plenty of sad faces as picnics, BBQs and backyard cricket matches
were cancelled across the state. I figured I could eat my snags and swing a bat
on Sunday until I discovered things were about to get a lot worse…
Sunday rolled around with wind and rain which steadily grew
worse. I was busy getting ready for Mum’s birthday afternoon (delicious cake
recipe up soon) so was not all that concerned with the weather but when I
looked up from my icing I figured the Mayans must have got the date wrong: wild
winds beyond anything I’ve ever heard before, black skies and pouring rain,
surely this must be what the end of the world looks like?
It only got worse from there. Once the party was over, as the
sun set it was time to get to work, protecting rescuing the outdoor
furniture which was much harder than it first seemed… After much tugging and wrestling,
finally our furniture-cover was battened down over the outdoor lounge suite,
everything was tucked into corners and little items were brought inside so as
they didn’t grow jet-packs and turn into speeding missiles courtesy of the
cyclonic winds. Time for a cuppa and curl up and watch the weather right?
Wrong. For the rest of the evening, 15minutes of every hour was spent crash-tackling
the furniture to stop it from running away along the deck, whilst being
thrashed by 150km/h winds and drenched by Oswald’s never ending rain. If it
wasn’t so frustrating it would have been hilarious.
At 1am it was time for an uneasy sleep with every gush of
wind promising to shatter the windows. By 1.30am I was just closing my eyes
when ‘whoosh’ – sounds like the furniture cover is making a break for it. So,
up again, out the back for more wrestling only this time the power goes out.
Note: furniture-wrestling
in the dark is even trickier, they should consider this for a new Olympic sport.
I finally fell asleep sometime around 4am and woke to much
the same weather but the power was on thank goodness.
You think the story ends here don’t you? Just you wait…
At lunchtime I was just settling down to pass the time with
some MarioKart when the power went off again. It did not return for nearly
10hours. In that time there was panic over the things in the fridge, manual
garage door heaving, scrabble by candlelight, many stubbed toes and a couch
nearly set alight (how ironic to have your house burn down during a cyclone).
Hurray for 10pm when the power returned, but not so quick, the excitement isn’t
over yet… 10minutes later there were several large groans, a pop and a ominous
sounding thunk from the kitchen, followed by some foul smelling smoke – the
fridge had finally given up the ghost (it was nearing it’s 30th
birthday). This delightful little event caused the power to short-circuit (I
know, I’ve got to be kidding right?).
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, after several
trips to the electricity box and the spare fridge was wrestled from the garage
to the kitchen by two weaklings, I fell into bed. Ironically this morning I woke up
to blue skies and 30-degree heat, of course the lovely weather appears just as
we all head back to work.
So thanks for a great weekend Oswald – I missed the nation’s
celebrations, my toes hurt, my backyard is a swimming pool, I’m severely
sleep-deprived and my arms feel like I’ve been in training to be a professional
weightlifter.
Photos by Krissie.