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Mission Beach, North Queensland, Australia
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Cyclone Larry - 20th March 2006
Well, what can I say, now you see it, now you don't!
19th March we had rainforest - 20th March we didn't!
Sweepy's cage was definitely not going anywhere
Saturday and Sunday were spent preparing for what had become the inevitable.
We knew he was coming, we knew he was heading straight for us, we knew he was big and getting bigger, and we knew it was gonna be scary.Needless to say, Sunday was very stressful.
We spent the day packing everything that might be a missile away, and packing up important things to keep safe - just in case.The afternoon was so-ooo still and calm. The sun was out, it was a beautiful day, except for the knowledge that Larry was out there.
It was so quiet it was eerie, there were still some birds here, but a lot had gone. I kept Sweepy in his cage during the day, then he came inside with us for the night.Sunday afternoon we walked down to the beach to walk off some tension.
We spent a terrifying few hours sitting in our little bomb shelter (bathroom) cringing everytime something hit the roof, waiting for it to come through,
waiting for those trees to fall on us, not knowing how long it would go for, just wishing it was over.
I snuck out a couple of times when it finally got light enough to see and took some photos through the windows
(which I didn't want to stand too close too).
ps... the birds are stained glass type window decorations
These pics are taken from the same window,
the second one much later on, check out the difference!
Hey look! We still have a power wire attached to our house.
Pity there's nothing attached to the pole!
The entire house was covered in green confetti
These two are taken when I first ventured outside to see what was left
By 11am, we were exhausted, in shock and more than a little cabin-crazy.
So we took the camera and went for a walk. Which is no mean feat when someone has
stolen your front yard and put someone elses there instead.
So now for the BEFORE and AFTER shots.
I raced around on the 19th and took a heap of photos,
then tried to take pics from similar places afterwards
You will notice that Larry is a very naughty boy, who is not very good at tidying up after himself.
BEFORE - our front yard and DURING!
by the time it had been Larry-ed, you couldn't see any grass at all
everything had a greenish tinge to it, because of all the leaves on the ground.
Looking down our driveway
BEFORE and AFTER!
Looking North to Bicton Hill BEFORE and AFTER!
I was very impressed at how the frangipani kept it's leaves.
The butterfly pot at the end of our driveway
BEFORE
and AFTER!
thankfully Kim had resecued the butterflies the day before!
Walking down our easement towards Alexander Drive and the jetty
Everything still looks green, it's just the view that has changed, from dense lush rainforest to a tatty mess.
This part of the driveway was relatively clear as most of the trees had fallen further back from the track
Alexander Drive
And how did the jetty and ferry kiosks fair I hear you ask.
well, let me explain...
The old Cavenaugh kiosk was no where to be seen,
well actually, it looked as though someone had kicked it all over Alexander Drive
The Quick Cat kiosk appears to have had a bus drive through it!
And the Blue Thunder kiosk was sitting happily on the other side of the car park,
leaning up against the 'Buses Excepted' sign.
Yikes, same view....
Heading into North Mission
near the old school site and C4
The car park outside The Shrubbery Taverna
Time to go home again
Who stole Alexander Drive, and where the heck is our driveway???
Oh there it is, I think!
the beautiful Euodia tree, host plant for the Ulysess Butterfly
leaves? what leaves?
And down the back?
Lychee standing up .... Lychee lying down
my favourite wall of green on the road near our place
The pool looked like an oil well
poor bubba birds trying to find somewhere to shelter
our neighbour Chris's Before, During & After Pics
Looking South from Chris & Georgie's verandah
And Kimbo's salute to Larry!
