This is my 400th post and I have been procrastinating mightily about writing it. I thought it should be about a meaty, juicy topic but hey what the heck my post for the 200th and 300th posts were both light and certainly did not shatter any records. This post is short and sharp with no content beyond a thank you. Now the pressure’s off, I can get stuck into another post.
Thank you to my frequent flyers! I appreciate you being there.
Today I went to the High Country Markets in Uralla, a little village not far from Armidale. To my delight they also had a poultry auction. It was a very new experience for me! It looked like serious business. The buyers were well prepared and seemed ready for a long morning of bidding, judging by the comfy chairs they had brought along.
At the beginning of 2020, I set myself a challenge to make a weekly mini-documentary. I lasted about 5 weeks and declared myself defeated. A weekly video was more than I could manage. As we know practice makes perfect and I’ve gotten out of practice! I look back over some of my previous efforts I can see that I have lost some skills. I have certainly lost some files! The various intro and outro snips I made have vanished into my chaotic digital vortex. This little clip was made with iMovie on my iMac but I think it’s high time I booted up Adobe Premier before I forget everything I learned at the courses I have done over the years.
Perhaps I’ll get back into making some more mini-docs – they sure are fun to put together!
The poultry auction and the markets are held on the first Sunday of every month. There is the usual mix of handicrafts, plants, some produce and food vans. It’s only a small market and you could do a couple of circuits of the stalls quickly, however the poultry auction is an interesting addition to the day.
Uralla has a really nice feel about it and well worth a visit. You could make it into a full day by doing some fossicking for sapphires and garnets and then check out the hideaway cave of the notorious bushranger – Captain Thunderbolt.
The autumn weather was smiling down today and while the air was a little crisp, I’m sure if I go again in June, I’ll need to rug up!
The eastern coast of Australia has been on the wrong side of nature’s umbrella since the beginning of the year. The drought that had given us the tinder box which ignited into devastating bushfires in the Black Summer of 2019-20 was replaced by floods of near biblical proportions in March 2022.
Communities in the very south of Queensland and the far north coast of NSW (Big River Country) have been inundated by record breaking floods. Further south, areas around Sydney and Wollongong were also lashed by the East Coast Low – a quaint term for a cyclone-like event that occurs south of the areas cyclones are supposed to stick to.
My new town of Armidale was not affected by flood. The thirsty paddocks around here soaked up the welcome rain. It got a bit boggy but given nearly everywhere is downhill from Armidale, there is no risk of widespread flooding. Not so for the residents of towns like Lismore and Woodburn. The news was filled with heartbreaking images of families huddled on the roof of their two story homes with water lapping at the gutters waiting their turn to be rescued. Some of them waited for days. The demand for rescues exceeded the capacity of the emergency services and everyone with a “tinny” (a small aluminium boat) joined the effort to deposit soggy, hungry people on drier land.
A month later when recovery efforts were well underway, and widespread tidying up in full swing, another East Coast Low dumped more rain. Less than the previous event but because the ground was already sodden it did not take much to over top the levee again and people were evacuated for a second time. This time there were few rooftop rescues, mainly because those families were yet to return to their homes and because of swift enforcement of evacuation orders.
Flood is a frequent visitor to Lismore. There is a levee around the town which is meant to protect them but this year the flood was a full 2 metres past previous records. Climate change? Probably.
I listened to an interview many years ago, when another bad flooding event had submerged the town. When the ABC reporter asked the hydrologist what could be done to protect the town, she drew a sharp breath and said “Move it”.
Move the whole darn town. Sounds crazy but not that crazy. With the the millions of dollars that are spent in fixing things after flood every couple of years, it seems like a good long term strategy. When you add in the personal cost, the trauma; the loss of household “stuff” and the fatalities, it seems like an even better idea.
Will it happen? Probably not.
I wouldn’t like to be trying to insure my home there though.
I am here in the disaster zone, helping out as an SES volunteer. My role is a small one. Working in the “back room” logistical side of things at an airbase. The helicopters are busy dropping food and supplies to people and animals. Today I helped load a chopper with sleeping bags and air mattresses for people still stuck in an evacuation centre.
I’m not getting wet and I’m not getting dirty, but I’m here and doing my bit. Just like hundreds of others of my orange colleagues and those from other agencies like the Rural Fire Service, the Police, the Defence Force and NSW Fire and Rescue. Some get paid, but for others (like the SES and RFS) this is a labour of love. For me it’s all part of my personal strategy to improve my life. Volunteering is one of the things that contribute to your own positive mental health and happiness.
To get here, I drove through the towns worst hit by this 1 in 1000 year flood. The scene was horrific. I found it hard to keep driving. I wanted to leap from the car and help the family I saw sweeping mud from their home. I wanted to hold the hose for the firies (fire fighters) who were sluicing out the shops. I wanted to take photos of the mud on the roofs, the caravans tipped sideways; the cars randomly wedged against trees; the bits of furniture stuck in the branches 10 metres above the ground. The piles of books and furniture stacked outside on the street waiting for collection. I wanted to record and share it all. But that seemed disrespectful. Disaster tourism. It didn’t seem right.
Or is it a chance to share an historic moment in time when Australians once again pulled together to help a community in trouble. A time when we decided climate change was here, and now.
Fellow Australians, It’s only a few weeks out from an election. Remember this. Which party has our long term interests at heart? The planet’s?
Remember that handshake during the fires? Where is he now?
There are no photos for this post. Maybe I’ll take some on the way home.
