Australië, een land van extremen

Just like everything is big in Texas, Australia is also called the land of extremes. 

When I arrived in Australia in 2019 there was size and extreme drought. Fortunately, where I was at that moment, it was all not too bad, but when you see the current situation, you realize how dry it was. 

The drought has given free rein to the forest fires and huge tracts of land have been destroyed and a special recovery fund has even been set up and backpackers are also allowed to cross off recovery work for their 98-day work for a Working Holiday Visa. 

In addition to the fires, there was also a lot of smog that made it seem continuously gray. 

But in early 2020, the tide turned and it started to rain heavily and the forest fires came to an end. When Mama and Dineke came to visit at the end of February everything had slowly recovered and they could not imagine how dry it had been. We could see the damage from the forest fires, but those areas were also slowly recovering. 

And then at the end of March just after Mama and Dineke left, the borders closed due to Covid and one restriction after another followed. (This is of course something global and not specific to here). During the various lockdowns I walked through it quite easily and been in the right place at the right time. 

The summer looked good at the end of 2020, although we did fall with a lot of weeds, thistles, etc. after the drought, but everything grew. This looked like a normal Australian summer. 

Now, after a drought (El Nino), a wet period often follows (La Nina). There was a good amount of rain, but before 6 months had passed, there had been as much rainfall as normal in a whole year. In itself fine because after the rain the sun comes out and with the help of the wind everything often dries quickly, especially now in the summer. During the winter we had some rain practically every week and everything got greener and it looks fantastic itself compared to a year earlier. 

Slowly the rain subsided and it got warmer. Until a few weeks ago when it decided to rain heavily again. This started with a heavy rain shower and the creek rose high but was still passable when it was really necessary, the water flowed quite calmly. 

The next rain was serious (150ml in a few days) I believe 2000 was the last time they had this much rain here and maybe never this much in 30 years. The creek overflowed and flooded the adjacent paddocks, taking with it entire fallen trees. At night the water level rose up to the house and there are branches and dirt everywhere. In addition, it took part of the roads and all fences on the flat are damaged or taken by the water and the fences that are still standing are full of grass, weeds and branches. 

We have had this amount of water 3 times last month, which also means that we cannot leave the site. That's why it's important to always have extras in the freezer. We are surrounded by the creek on all sides and in addition there are all kinds of ditches along the road that also fill with a large amount of rain. To complete the experience, there was also a blackout. 

I thought it was an adventure but it does indicate that if you live so remote you have to be prepared for all circumstances. 

Fortunately we have 2 generators because without the pump we have no access to rainwater. With the 2nd generator we kept the refrigerators going and I could cook on my kampong gas stove. In the end, the blackout only lasted a day and a half, but 4 days were predicted. 

As for the roads, within a week they have repaired the necessary places and slowly they are refurbishing all the roads. And this isn't just potholes and damage in the gravel road, but whole pieces of asphalt have come off damaged and washed away. 

The advantage of this so-called "La Nina" is that the temperatures remain mild. Sometimes a peak to 30/32 degrees but this lasts at most 2 to 3 days and then it cools down again to the mid 20s and the nights cool enough to be comfortable without air conditioning. The disadvantage is that it is regularly stuffy and sticky due to the high humidity. 

With this I want to give you a bit of an idea of ​​the Australian climate. Remember Australia is so big that there are many different climates and it also depends on whether you are on the coast or inland. The biggest surprise for me was that it can also get really cold in the winter, around freezing point. The only difference is that it easily warms up to 15 degrees during the day due to the sun. But on a rainy or gray day you can hope that you reach 10 degrees. 

UPDATE:

a little update on my leg. It is very good the fracture is neatly aligned but there is still clearly a fracture which means another 4 weeks in the moonboat. It feels pretty good most of the discomfort is around my ankle but that's unrelated to the fracture and it's probably my ankle ligaments which have also suffered a blow.