Christmas adventures

On Christmas Eve a flood warning was issued for this inland region as fall out from the cyclone which recently hit the top end... I sat with my new found friends in Lightning Ridge Hotel bar and the locals fell into two camps: those who thought the floods would be worse than any previously imagined, and those that thought it would blow over without incident.

So, you can imagine, at 4.30am, when it started tickling on my canvas roof, I was a little worried. The rain got steadily stronger but then mysteriously quit half an hour later. I decided it was a window worth taking advantage of. So, around 5.30am I started packing up my gear with memories of a similar event in the British Virgin Islands on Christmas morning when my brother Chris and I were blown off the beach in his bright orange two-man tent and rowed home in the dark (but that's another story!).

By 6am I had the tent folded away and trailer hitched. I took myself off for a shower while I waited for my neighbours to show their faces so I could say goodbye and Rick the miner was lovely and gave me a necklace for Christmas!

I was reluctant to leave "the Ridge" so I wandered over the fossicking heap one last time (you are supposed to see opals better after rain, but no luck), and stopped at the artesian hot spring for a dip on Christmas morning. The sky was darkening and it was time to try and outrun the weather so I headed south towards Dubbo with the music blaring and a smile on my face.

The contrast between yellow hay fields, solitary trees and a deep black sky was stunning, and ocassionally I could see emus grazing in the fields. The rain set in, and the four hour drive slowed near the end. A dilemma ensued... to whip out and get a motel room? Or stick it out under canvas? I osolated between the two options and by default ended up at the Big 4 in Dubbo where I had a reservation for a powered site.

As I took the cover off the trailer a lovely French man from Noumea asked if I had any panadol for his girlfriend, then proceeded to help me errect my awning. Rain sides up, and shade cloth down on soggy ground, I tucked in and caught up on last night's sleep. How lovely to spend Christmas doing what I want to do without any obligations! I had wondered if I would feel lonely today, but I don't in the least. I managed to talk to Amber briefly, my parents and brothers, so life is good...

This evening I spend sharing a bottle of wine with my Noumean friends and I am just about to curl up in bed with a book... Ahhh... heaven!