Flood Plains and Community Spirit (22/3/14 Part 2)

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While at the Centre, we got chatting to the young lady about the floods and whether any had come up as far as Sheridan Street. She said her Nan told her about a bad one in 1974 that would have had the TIC underwater. She, herself, experienced the floods in 2010 and 2012 (both once in a hundred years floods!), where the buildings on the lower side of the street got badly inundated. She said that the townsfolk learned from the 2010 one and had a plan in place by the one in 2012, to help save people’s newly replaced belongings. As soon as the flood warning came in, anyone that had a truck, including her husband, rallied around and helped the occupants of those properties move all their stuff up the hill into storage, working throughout the night. What a wonderful community spirit!
Full of awe at how amazing people can be, we went back to the van and enjoyed a delicious lunch of fresh herb bread and some of the fabulous cheeses we’d bought at Bodalla. They were all marvellous, especially the Truffle Brie, which was a delicate but very different, almost smoky, flavour!

Barry wanted to go up high for a good view so we headed towards South Gundagai and went up to Rotary Lookout. The whole flood plain was laid out below us, very flat, very wide and very low. No wonder it gets inundated. The hill, itself, looked terribly brown, dry and dead. They need rain, just not too much at once!

We then went to look at the Old Station where the outside was well kept, but most of the rooms were closed. Our final stop was the Criterion Hotel for a cold drink. Inside the bar area, there were some colourful murals, high up on the walls. One side was depicting the 1852 flood and the other showed the story of Captain Moonlite, a notorious bushranger (highway man) who was active in the area in 1879. I got some funny looks when I took photos of them, after asking the barmaid if it was OK. I think the locals are unimpressed. They’re certainly not extraordinary as works of art, but I thought they were worth noticing.

The early evening was very pleasant so we sat outside the van, relaxing after our “rest” day and enjoying the birds. I went across the road to take a photo of the flood marker pole beside the creek and was unexpectedly deafened by the screeching of hundreds of cockatoos that streamed out of nowhere and flew directly above me to land in a nearby tree. They stayed there creating a dreadful racket for about five minutes and then just as suddenly all decided that tree wasn’t good enough for their night roost and shot off further down the creek, leaving me with ringing ears! They’re beautiful birds but they sound horrid, especially in a massive flock.

Oh yes, and we didn’t see the two ducks today, which surprised us as we’d understood they were fixtures. Maybe they’ve moved on, as we will tomorrow.

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Photos

Flood Marker, Gundagai
This is the top half of the marker showing the record 1853 flood that rose to 41ft, the 1852 flood at 40ft 6in that killed 79 people, and lowest item in the picture is the 2012 flood - only 35ft 9in.

Rotary Lookout, Gundagai
You can see the flood plain below and the straight lines on the left are actually the two huge trestle bridges of the rail and road viaducts that tower over our campsite.

Criterion Hotel, Gundagai
One of the murals in the bar. This one is a representation of the 1853 flood.

Morley's Creek, Gundagai
This is beside our camp site. The building is an old mill which was the only structure that surviving from 1853.

Historic Museum, Gundagai
The Bark Slab Hut. The dummy in the middle is actually Barry.

Historic Museum, Gundagai
This dummy belongs inside the living area of the Bark Slab Hut.