Writing about a cyclone certainly isn't something I thought I'd have to worry about but sadly Australia experiences a lot of them, particularly in the East Coast. We left Airlie Beach on the morning of 11th and met up with Sam (Cool Bananas). Sam had been planning on travelling up to Cairns that day but not even 30mins into the journey, we were told that all buses were to be terminated at Townsville. It was at this point that I thought panic would erupt. Thankfully everyone remained calm and altered their plans. 'It'll all blow over", we thought. The cyclone was then upgraded to a category 5. This shit just got serious.
The night it hit Cairns everyone was glued to the tv for updates. Thankfully as the night went on the cyclone lost power and slowly downgraded hour by hour. A very lucky escape. It hit Townsville and caused flooding across the town and the region. Even the carpet of the hostel was soaked. Roads were closed for days and routes blocked off. People tried to leave town but failed. Some backpackers even paid up to $200 for a car to Cairns. Crazy!
Sam and I had opted to stay in Townsville for a few more days. Yes there wasn't much to do but we were safe and dry. Days were spent watching movies, including showing 'Frozen' up to 3 times a day which infuriated the boys or drinking. Many afternoons were spent with Louise drinking tea and chewing the fat! Life was pretty good!
As the days went by, people came and went including Marielle, Mathijus, Amanda and Malin. By the time it got to Friday, we were ready to go. Still, I had a pretty good week. I made friends with some great people particularly Matt and 'wee-China' (Caroline) who has the most infectious smile and personality and spent time with Sam and Louise. I couldn't have thought of a better way to pass the time away.
Next stop: Cairns
No comments:
Post a Comment