I'm Baaaack!

My last post was before Christmas & what a trip it has been since then.  We visited friends & relatives in Sydney and southern New South Wales and went sight seeing in Victoria.

This was the sight that greeted us most of the way to Warwick (just an hour's drive south of home!)  We should have taken this as a sign!

This is usually a little creek that winds its way through Bestbrook Mountain Resort http://www.bestbrook.com.au/ where we were forced to stay when we couldn't get through to Warwick because the road was cut by flood waters.  Another sign not heeded!

The bitumen across the bridge which crosses the Condamine River, was lifted in huge chunks by the flood waters. Needless to say the bridge was closed to all traffic.  We did, however, find our way past on another bridge & headed further south to Sydney.  The rest of the trip south was uneventful & no more rain.

A day on the boat on one of the rivers around Sydney was just as pleasant as it looks.  This must be how the poor people live.

After four days in Sydney, we went to Sussex Inlet on the south coast and took in the local flora & fauna.

Found a quilt shop!

Visited my cousin in their new home just north of Albury on the Hume Highway not far from Holbrook.

Spent four hours in Holbrook - a little town on the Hume Highway that will soon be bypassed.  The locals couldn't believe we could spend 4 hours looking at what????  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  HofM went back the next day for a game of golf - sand greens -apparently not so good but an interesting little course.

Another sign went unheeded at Echuca!

We had lunch on a paddle steamer - a great way to spend an hour or two, walked the streets of the Port of Echuca & found the quilt shop - http://www.heathersquiltingemporium.com.au/ -a lovely shop to visit.

From Echuca, we visited Daylesford & found the Convent Gallery - well worth a visit & a cup of coffee & of course, a piece of cake.

Stopped at Ballarat for the night - the Eureka Centre was closed for refurbishment but we had a look around & went to the Light & Sound Show at Sovereign Hill that night.  It was really well done! Next morning we woke to the news of the horrific flash flooding in Toowoomba, Grantham, etc & the huge possibility of Brisbane being flooded.  Time to head for home - in a hurry.

We got as far as Goondiwindi (that took us 2 days of driving) but couldn't go any further - the road was cut by water.  Stayed the night & heard next morning that the road to Brisbane was open so we & 3 other cars took off again.

Water across the road - but not deep enough to stop us - we were going to get home - come hell or...............

The water was still all around us & under the house but we were home! You can see where the water went to by the mud left on the bushes.

The beautiful back yard not so beautiful anymore - but the pergola is still standing!

Fifteen years of quilting magazines - just the start of what was to be lost.

This was only a part of our pile & we only had water under our house.  Can you imagine the height of the piles where people lost everything?

The rubbish removal was done by bobcat & truck after truck after truck.

Then it was cleaned & now we wait for everything to well & truly dry out before we start with carpeting & putting our lives back in order.  All I need is the magic wand!  We are starting again with normal things, golf for HofM, Quilt group meetings (how generous are my friends), church stuff & around all that every day stuff, we still have to clean, work, try to put our garden back together but we will manage - we have a home to do it in!  My heart goes out to those who have nothing & don't know when they will be able to start rebuilding.