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Published: February 16th 2008
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15th February 2008
We checked in this morning at Gladstone Airport to catch a plane to Mackay. Checked in Ok for the 7-50am flight and went off to get a coffee. Before we had finsihed our coffee an anouncement was made over the airport tanoy for Mr and Mrs Jayes to go back to check in.
At check in we were told that all flights to Mackay had been cancelled as the airport at Mackay was flooded. Mackay had had 625mm ( 25”) of rain in the last 24 hours. They said that we could get on the flight as far as Rockhampton (1 hour further North) or wait until tomorrow when the airport may or may not reopen.
There was one other lady on the flight and we thought we could share a hire car to continue our journey to Mackay. We were joined by another passenger who had come in from Brisbane and was on route to Mackay
Colette and Arty and Bob and I joined forces and Arty hired a car for the 3 hour drive from Rockhampton towards Mackay It was raining again and it got heavier and heavier as we got towards Serena. We saw
a very wet dingo at the side of the road. Arty is on his way back to the Cooper Balla mine. He is a Safety Manager and will now miss his night shift so he can go home for the night if we get through to Mackay. Colette lives in Gladstone is hoping to get to her nephew's engagement party in North Mackay. Eventually about 8km from Mackay we were stopped by floodwater. The police would only allow 4x4 vehicles and trucks to attempt crossing the flooded road. The floods are impressive and we have been listening to the local radio describing the chaos in Mackay. They are advising people not to go into the flood water in case there are snakes or crocodiles swimming about as they get disurbed by the water conditions. The rain falling has beaten all records and is double the last record rainfall.
While we were waiting for the hire car in Rockhampton I asked a TV reporter what the SES personel ( Special Emergency Services) were doing. He decided as the rugby teams he was waiting to interview were not coming in he would interview me for local TV about my dirupted journey. After
I had given him a life history of our tour he wished he hadn't!!!!
The camera man was called Bruce, of course!
I had been texting Jo and Alan as they were coming to meet us. They are stuck in a traffic queue waiting at a flood at Walkerston on Peak Down Highway which runs down from Moranbah where the mine is situated.
Well, finally met up with Jo and Alan at the airport after sitting on either side of floods only a few kilometres apart all afternoon. with text messages flying backwards and forwards via England. Mackay is in a state of emergency so Alan and Jo have booked us into a dubious motel with all the miners who can't get home or can't get to work. All the eating places are closed because the staff can't get to work. We found a Pizza Hut open but so have the rest of Mackay so there was along wait for our pizza and an even longer queue at the drive through grog shop for a bottle of wine!
Jo and I have a lot of catching up to do and we have to plan the next few days. Jo has
this wonderful gadget which can connect to the internet just like wireless. No more searching for internet access!
We haven't seen much of Mackay except rain, lots of it pouring off every roof and rushing up drains and culverts, the heaviest rain they have had for 50 years. Not many pictures today- rain stopped play- anyway the camera is playing up as it doesn't like this humid climate!
Still perhaps the rain will stop tomorrow and we shall see a bit more.
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Annette
non-member comment
Intrepid! Rain has obviously got to the spellchecker again though.