STRANDED IN PARADISE

We drove back from Auckland last night and caught the beginnings of the cyclone that has devastated a lot of the North Island. Water was sluicing across the roads and made driving difficult (or at least limited to 90 kph). I was wondering if we would get home at one stage and as it turned out SH1 was closed overnight in two places - Dome Valley and at Marsden Point before Whangarei. Driving from Whangarei out to Whangarei Heads was pretty hairy. Torrents of muddy water were pouring off the hills and down driveways.

The drains at the side of the road were overflowing. At many points of the road I had to slow down to almost a standstill to ford floods on the road and often had to travel on the opposite side of the road to avoid sheets of surface water. It was exciting, exhilarating and a bit scary. We made it to McLeod Bay just before 8pm just making the cafe before closing to order fish and chips (the best in New Zealand). The cafe was almost flooded with the torrential rain breaching the roof and ceiling at many points. I worried about our house, an old villa with an ageing roof as we had been away from it for three days. Arriving home water was pouring down the driveway, the downpour being too much for the big culvert on the farm at the back and our own substantial drains. Fortunately all was well inside except for a couple of small drips as a result of the flat spot between the two roofs having  to handle too much water. No problem once it is cleared. We settled in for the night (rain fade made TV a dead loss) and listened to the roaring rain outside. Luckily the wind, while high was nowhere near as bad as last year when the neighbours lost their roof in a storm. As expected the fire brigade siren went off three times during the night. The local volunteer fire brigade attend fires, accidents, medical emergencies and floods at any time of night or day. In bad weater car accidents are the norm. It gives one a creepy feeling hearing the WW2 air raid warning go off announcing some accident or other. We woke this morning and read news of the cyclones effects throughout the North Island including the two road closures of SH1 and were glad that we left Auckland just after 5 and not later.

Another bit of news though was much closer to home. The road bridge at Tamaterau has apparently been washed out isolating Whangarei Heads. We had crossed that bridge and the surrounding road at about 5kph with muddy water surging around the tyres. We were lucky to have got through when we did. So now we are stranded. I don't know how long the road will be closed but it means we cannot get to the airport at Onerahi or into Whangarei. I personally am not worried but The Old Girl is supposed to be driving or flying to Auckland on Monday. We have provisions - vegetables from the garden, home made bread ingredients, meat in the freezer and plentiful fish in the harbour so it should be a nice adventure.