Stormy weather
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If you thought yesterday was about rain, then you hadn’t seen today yet. We woke to frequent showers of extremely heavy rain, with close to gale force winds. A grey pall hung over the sky, and the sea was very rough and murky looking.
Stormy weather |
There was a break in the rain during which we hurried out to get breakfast, this time choosing to drive down to Casualties Espresso instead of walking, in case the rain returned. Today we had something hot instead of the açai bowls we had yesterday. M. had fried eggs on sourdough toast, while I had a croque madame.
 Croque madame at Casualties Espresso |
We managed to eat most of our breakfast during the break, but it started raining again as we finished, and we got very wet just climbing back into the car to return to the hotel. After packing our bags and checking out, we had to return to the car, which again involved getting very wet. The inside of the car got very wet as we climbed in.
Our first stop was back at The Other Chef, the place that made condiments, jams, preserves, and similar stuff, near Wicked Elf Brewery where we’d had lunch yesterday. We arrived back there, and the rain was pelting down. We parked maybe 10 metres from the door, but again got very wet dashing over to look at the shop. It was worth it though, as they had a lot of really nice looking stuff. We bought six different jars of sauces, jams, and mustard.
 The Other Chef |
From there we set out on the drive home. It was very wet. At times driving on the freeway visibility was reduced to maybe 50-100 metres due to the rain. It took more concentration than usual, so we had a welcome rest break about halfway home, stopping at the town of Bulahdelah. Leaving the freeway, we headed into the town... only to be stopped by floodwater across the main road. Turning around, we saw another perpendicular road cut by the floodwater as well, but we were able to find another route around the flooding to get into the centre of town.
We stopped at Robyn's Cafe, but because of Scully we needed to sit outside, where all the tables were getting drenched by the rain. But the woman running the cafe offered to set us up at a table out the back, under an awning on the leeward side of the building, which was significantly drier. The cafe owner told us that part of the town was being evacuated because of the flooding. I had a hamburger and chips, while M. had a grilled cheese sandwich. It was pretty good!
 Lunch at Robyn's Cafe, Bulahdelah |
After lunch, we continued the drive home, again through some ridiculously heavy rain, although as we got closer to Sydney it eased off and stopped. However, once we got home and caught up on news (we typically never see any news while travelling), we discovered just how bad this storm system is. Port Macquarie, our departure point this morning, is now under a flood evacuation warning for some areas.
The next day, the highway between Sydney and Port Macquarie was cut by flooding. If we'd left a day later, we might not have been able to make it home. This became one of the worst flooding events in New South Wales history, with dozens of towns flooded, including Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Bulahdelah, and Wauchope, which we'd visited on this trip.
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