Rising Waters

The extreme weather making its way down the coast finally hit us towards the end of the second week in May. We had relatively little strong wind, but fairly serious rainfall. My recently completed trench and wall work seems to have held out (thus far) but a lot of mud and gravel has been transported downstream, and there was some worrying gullying around the stump-pads that hold up the house.
Rod and Cherdina's wedding was scheduled for the 3rd weekend of the month, and they hit a lucky break in the weather.
We drove to the Gold Coast, in time for me to partake in the stag party chaos - a scarily typical stag-night (or bucks night as it's sometimes called in Oz) of beer, strip clubs, and getting barred from the casino due to the state of the groom (well, the dilation of his pupils).
For the wedding itself, I was MC, which involved nothing more challenging than some light banter on the mic, introducing the speakers, and playing the scheduled music during the various parts of the ceremony which called for it.
The waterfront house (venue for pre-nuptial party, wedding, and reception) was well appointed, The weather was postcard-perfect, and the beach was a 10-minute stroll away the next morning when we all needed to recover from the drinking and dancing - nothing to complain about.
The weather turned nasty on Monday when it was time to drive home, providing pathetic fallacy for our total gearbox failure. The car (just) limped to the garage in Lismore, and we then paid seventy bucks for a cab home, having been quoted a third of the car's value to get it back on the road.
The mad rain continued, and increased in intensity - we saw mudslides, and Steffan's driveway bridge was washed away.
C intended to catch the bus into town to pick up a courtesy car the garage had arranged for us, but with much of Lismore underwater the bus company cancelled all services, and C ended up first hitch-hiking into Lismore to collect the courtesy car, and then quite literally racing the floodwaters out of North Lismore to collect K from daycare, which was also shutting for the week due to flooding. She got back to Nimbin and picked K up allright, but the courtesy car (a Ford Focus) was too small to get over the Gungas road ford leading to our house, so they ended up waiting for two and a half hours until the waters subsided.
Apparently our car will be fixed early next week, so the plan is for us to head to Brisbane to meet C's mum off her plane, and then dog-sit for Rod and Cherdina for a few days, and when our car is fixed, I'll drive Brisbane-Lismore-Brisbane to pick it up, and the following weekend we can all drive back to home.

Smashes and Dashes

The week began inauspiciously - just as I was turning into my street in West End, I was rear-ended by a tired, late commuter. This meant a further dose of insurance/leasing company/garage paperwork, accompanied by a side-order of hold music with every step - it's becoming the soundtrack to my life.
There was better news on Tuesday though, when C rang to say that the scan she had been sent for due to concern at bub's small size had come back with the all clear, in fact more like a "what are you worried about?"
Also on a brighter note, this being my last week in work before working from home in readiness for my daughter's birth in the next couple of weeks, there were lunches with colleagues, and, more unexpectedly, gifts for the baby and mum-to-be. So many gifts in fact, that they almost left me unable to pack the car at the end of the week. People here in Oz have been remarkably supportive, helpful and kind over the last few months, which has made it far easier than it otherwise would have been to start a family so far from home. Somehow I suspect I may be too tired, when the time comes, to send individual thank you cards - so, thanks, everyone - it's really appreciated!
On the Friday, I drove to the airport in the morning to meet C's mum, Rose, off the plane. We got lunch at the Gunshop, and Rose spent the afternoon exploring the South Bank and the Expo '88 site. Once I had finished work for the day, Rose accompanied me on a very important mission - to West End's Cuban Cigar Shop where the suitably mustachioed proprietor Filip Pilioras talked this cigar newbie through his options, eventually settling on the award-winning and aptly named Bolivar for the big occasion.
As I have with every 12 hour jet-lag, Rose woke on Saturday at 4am. As I was up by 6, we took advantage and picked up some fresh produce at West End market before meeting John, our ex-flatmate who is taking over my room while I work from home. Before I could get away in the car however, I was recruited by Marina to saw branches off the fir-tree in the back garden for use as an improvised Christmas tree. This left me a bit knackered for the drive down to Nimbin, but it was still a nice drive - showing Rose the sights of the Tweed Valley and Wollumbin.
We spent Sunday perusing the covered market at Lismore - because it lacks local colour, I have ignored it this past year but it's packed with bargains and interesting nik-naks, and I came away with useful, good value purchases, and no regrettable impulse-buys.