December 23 - what a month

December started very nicely with a group of four of girlfriends staying overnight across the road from the Cairns Esplanade.  We were celebrating one of the ladies birthdays and this was our afternoon view.

Night time came and this was now our view, much talking, laughter and the fifth person from NZ joined us via Viber.

We woke to this the following morning......the little dots are all the boats heading out to the reef due the water being so flat.  Mind you the humidity was high and temperature hot.  We opted to window shopping (yes, some items were bought) in the little boutiques around the Cairns streets followed by lunch in aircon before heading home.

The following week I had Covid, thankfully not to painfully but it did really wipe me out with tiredness.  During this week our Mum's house went on the market as she has moved into aged care.  Yes emotional at times, as my parents only ever had the one house, so a lot of years have been spent there.  Thankfully, the house went under contract in a week from putting it on the market.  Now it's time to clear out all the memories, we have until mid January.  Each time I visit to do a little more sorting I am realising it is just a house and Mum is the home.  Mum is happy where she is although would dearly love to be back in the house but her having dementia (the reason she move) the house was too big for her and she was getting sad at not keeping up with the gardens like she used to.

This past week we have Cyclone Jasper visit, the winds didn't cause much damage at all as he was a category two and our building codes really ensure things stay where they are.  However, the rains that followed for a constant three days has meant lots of record flooding.  North of Cairns the flooding has caused devastation.

Barron River flowing to the ocean

Cairns Airport

Thankfully we live south of Cairns and were safe, have had a minor leak in our ceiling, possibly due to the winds from the cyclone pushing rain under a join.  This is the creek that runs alongside our property.  We haven't seen it flow like this for a few years now but it normally is a yearly event for it to flow over the road.

This photo was taken 40mins after the one above, as you can see it clears pretty quickly.  The bridge did go over  a lot of times in the three days of constant rain.

Along the back of our property we have an easement which also flowed strongly.  You can see from the tideline of debris how wide this flow would have been.  There was one section that it did break the bank but it always flows straight back towards the creek and not the house. 

View from back our yard up to the bridge in the earlier photos.  This was day four and now it looks like a gentle stream.  By the end of the week it will only be a trickle.  It always amazes me how quickly the water goes away. Majority of the year this creek is bone dry.

Well that is my December, I'm ready for 2024.  Christmas will be a very quiet affair for us and a lot of people in Cairns this year.