Melbourne, Summer 2024
We tend not to go away over the summer holiday season as it is a busy time for families. Though we do like to spend our Christmas in country towns. This year, however, commitments and crazy weather have thrown every plan to the wind.
We had hoped to spend Xmas up in the goldfields area around St Arnaud with our mate VeeWee but had to cancel our booking. When Xmas came around, we breathed a sigh of relief as the weather worsened, and St Arnaud flooded. It certainly was miserable weather and not suited to being in the caravan. Even the ducks were over it.
Last week there was sunshine and a gap in the calendar, so we packed the van and were all set to go to Rochester for a few quiet days by the river. The little town has been suffering because of last year’s floods and they were begging tourists to come and spend a few bucks. With all our food in the fridge on the van and ready to go in the morning, we decided that dinner should be fish and chips at the beach. We certainly weren’t expecting an alert to come through for ‘life-threatening’ floods across the state. The Rochester Caravan Park manager was in the process of moving customers from lawns to slab sites. Down came the rain and she rang to tell us that they were now evacuating as the river was rising. We’ve now unpacked the van and the weather is glorious once more, but still coastal resorts are busy, and the rest of the state is mopping up one hell of a mess. Whilst we remain itching for hitching, I’ll keep you posted on the goings on around Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula, and let’s hope we’ve seen the last of flooding rain for a while.
itchingforhitching 
I imagine such evacuation is more to be expected in Queensland
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Oh yes, northern NSW and QLD. They’re dab hands at it up there.
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Ummm – wherever you decide to go next, maybe you should issue a warning in advance?
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Yes, something like “Albury get your boats ready, we’re heading your way!” On a serious note, how did you fare in the Bendigo flooding?
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Yep! We were fine, thanks. Think we are on higher ground out here than to the north and east. I am noticing that, in these severe rain events, we do not seem to get as much as the official total. Yet, when it is a gentle, normal sort of rain event, we get more. Go figure.
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That sounds perfect.
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You are not alone. On 21 October we got to the stage of packing an emergency bag as we watched the water creeping up the road at an alarming rate. Fortunately it stopped about 25 feet away.
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That was lucky. You’ve certainly copped some foul weather lately.
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Oh, I’ll keep myself posted. My grandson has just fetched up in Melbourne for some months of travel and casual employment opportunities.
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Oh that’s wonderful news. He’ll have memories to last a lifetime. If he’s on a 457 visa, they have to do x amount of weeks in the outback and the same in a city. It’s a great scheme, we’ve met so many young folk in country pubs with grins from ear to ear.
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That’s not his visa. I’m sorry to say my grandson’s a real Townie. I hope he’ll get some experiences that convince him otherwise. But so far … all good.
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Good on him, he’s out there doing it and that’s all that counts. Mind you there are a lot of lovely French girls working in pubs in the bush!
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I’ll tell him …
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I’ve messaged him now. …
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