Monday, 17th January 2010 - Day 766
Well, after surviving the deluges at Monto, the roads cleared enough for me to head to Brisbane. The roads were so cut up and pot-holed, it was as bad as travelling on a poorly-maintained dirt road in the outback. I made it as far as Benarkin for an overnighter (where it rained again - of course) and made it down to my brother's place in Brisbane. Not only is my temper getting a bit frayed by this constant rain, but my van is starting to go mouldy in spots - I'm going to have to get stuck into it with a bottle of bleach.
I thought I had had it tough with the rain, but the last two weeks in Brisbane have made me realize that I'm not so badly off. The widespread flooding, particularly in Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, and now in Western Victoria and even Tasmania, have made me realise that I should just shut the #@&# up and get on with life, that there are plenty of people a lot worse off than me and that I could be in a lot worse position than I am. New Year's Resolution. I will NOT complain, no matter how bad things seem to be, they could be a lot worse. From now on, I will Observe, Note and Report - without making value judgements (unless of course I see something really good, then I will let you know about it).
For the next couple of months at least, I should be in relatively "civilised" areas, that is, those with mobile phone coverage, so I will try to post a little more regularly.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks with my brother and sister-in-law. I recommend only seeing family members every couple of years or so, it makes the experience of re-uniting so much more pleasant. I have not been able to get out of Brisbane until now as all of the main highways have been closed due to flooding, but I managed to get down the coast to Bangalow and turn off onto the Buxner Highway to Lismore and Tenterfield. A pretty narrow, winding road, with some monumental potholes from flood damage, but at least it was open. It should be relatively good running from here on (I hope). Tonight I am overnighting at Bluff Rock, (picture in next post) about 10kms south of Tenterfield, and heading for Tamworth and then across the western Plains to Bourke and Broken Hill with the ultimate destination for this leg being the beautiful Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
See you soon
