Pat and Deb Meet Cyclone Yasi ...

Well, our relaxation in Port Douglas was cut short due to the untimely approach of the largest cyclone (the word for Hurricanes down under) ever to hit Australia. Who would have imagined it, we could have stayed in Sydney for the rest of our time here, but thought the northern coast would be more relaxing ....

We had a beautiful two days there, and then went to the Outer Reef for snorkeling yesterday (Tuesday the 31st) morning. We caught the only boat willing to set out that day because Cyclone Yasi had headed further north overnight, and was going to hit closer to Port Douglas the next day. We had a little trepidation about heading to sea with a storm approaching, but thought "who are we to judge" safety at sea, and the captain and crew were happy and at ease.

What can I say about the Great Barrier Reef? Pictures can't do it justice. Beautiful coral, shades of red and blue and brown and yellow and orange, with fish swimming all around. It was really fun. Pat and I sat on the top level of the boat where there were about 20 lounge chairs, even though it rained on and off during the hour and a half out to sea ... when you're from Minnesota, you have faith that things will improve ... and lo and behold, the sun came out and was shining the whole afternoon! A really memorable day for us ... and then we motored back to the harbor, and saw that every single one of the many boats that had been anchored there when we left at 9 am were gone at 4:00 pm. All of them! the shops closed, streets empty, an eery quiet. We got back to our apartment and our wonderful hostess Anne said that we were being evacuated, and she suggested we head to Cairns immediately to see if we could get a flight out before the storm hits tomorrow.

This is the time where your electronics are supposed to support you. Our blackberry mysteriously died in Sydney, and we haven't been able to resurrect it yet. We called the airport from the hotel land phone, but there were no flights sooner than our Friday afternoon flight with openings, and the Friday was doubtful if the airport is still closed then. We packed quickly and drove to Cairns, thinking we might have better luck in person.

Nope. Just a recommendation to head to higher ground, or to drive 12 hours inland, because the storm was estimated to reach that far. It was 8 pm by now, and we were getting concerned, because we had no place to sleep and the shelters wouldn't open until the morning. So we headed up the mountain to the village of Kuranda, hoping and praying that there would be a hotel there. At home I would just fire up the Ipad or blackberry to find a place, but no wireless connection was available, so we just had to put the "if only"'s aside and drive.

Now let me just add that if you are ever in a crisis situation (I can head my kids imitating Arnold Schwarzenegger saying that ...) you want my husband in charge. There he was, driving up a mountain in pitch black with his pathetic wife chiming in every few miles "I'm feeling a little scared ..." And at one point, "Is it bothering you that all of the cars are going the opposite direction from us?" But he just kept driving, telling me this was the best option. We got to Kuranda, and the only hotel we found had the lights out and office closed and a "for sale" sign in front, but there were cars parked in front. We went to the only open building in town, a pizza cafe, and Pat asked the owner if there were any hotels open. She said there were a couple, but we would be best off with the one we had already driven by, because it is a brick structure and the others were wooden. OK, now I was really scared. As happens in small towns, she knew the owner and called him at home to ask if he had rooms and he had one left and offered to meet us at the hotel to let us in.

So Pat keeps saying "Now this isn't going to be your three star hotel", but when we walked into the room it was clean, large, and had a small refrigerator, hot water device and microwave, and best of all, it truly was made of bricks. So the category 5 cyclone - Yasi, she has a name at this point, can huff and puff but she isn't likely to blow this building down. Plus we are in the mountains, so in a good place should a "storm surge" hit (their word for tsunami, which I like much better, it doesn't conjure up as many bad images).

We made a quick trip to a grocery store so have tuna, bread, cheese, water, milk and cereal. The poor guy who owned the coffee shop right next to the grocery store came in to batten down the doors and windows, and people kept coming for coffee, so he started making latte's (they call them "flat whites" down here) and ran out of milk and had to go buy more ... I hope he got the job done, but I guess there are just too many people like me in the world who want that last cup of coffee before ______.

So back to Dr. Calm-in-a-crisis, Pat has been busy helping tape windows and getting to know our motel family. Most of the people staying here came because they have pets and you can't have pets in the shelters. So there is a lot of barking going on. We still have electricity but expect to lose it soon, and we are both feeling anxious for the effect this really powerful storm may have on people here in Australia, but we feel very secure ourselves. Pat borrowed a phone from some really nice Aussie's down the hall and got through to his mom, who will pass the word on to our kids and my mom so that they aren't worrying about us.

The birds are really loud outside, as if they know something's about to happen ....

Sent from my iPad