I’ve taken the liberty of pinching the words of my heading from Dorothea Mackellar’s famous Australian poem, ‘My Country’ that she wrote as a 19 year old in 1904.

In the second stanza of the poem Mackellar wrote:- ‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains’.

Her poem epitomizes our climate here in the Land Down Under and for the last couple of years we have experienced a national drought followed by massive bush fires that  caused enormous destruction during the latter part of 2019 and into February this year.

Additionally, the bushfires created massive areas of smoke haze, so much so that people with breathing problems were advised to remain indoors and the wearing of face masks was recommended. In fact, our local pharmacies were offering their customers free masks. They were uncomfortable but at least made breathing easier and safe.

Here where I live, the drought’s impact required the local council to impose water restrictions that limited household usage, maintenance of gardens and of course, car washing.

The Wollondilly River which runs through our City was reduced to a trickle and it dropped over a meter below the top of the Marsden Weir.

Then came the rain. Not just a sprinkle here and there but massive falls, some in the north of Queensland  in excess of 500mm a day.  Most of the Nation received good falls and our City and surrounds didn’t miss out. Some local farms received up to 100mm.

Our main water catchment, Peejar Dam is now at 100% capacity and the water restrictions have been lifted.

Then, the floods arrived, Queensland has been strongly hit as has the eastern seaboard of New South Wales and many inland areas.

Here in our City, the Wollondilly River broke its banks and the water volume was such that whole trees were uprooted and carried down stream, over the Marsden weir and onwards towards the dam many kilometers away.

The water level has now dropped.

I was able to make the following images from the road bridge over the river.

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Over the next few days, the river will drop to it’s normal running depth and any damage to the walking/cycling path and its lighting system will be repaired. At the same time an assessment will be made of any debris left in the river as the flood subsided and the action that may be required to clear the water way.

To end on a positive note, the grass outside Cassa Creakingbones will require mowing this weekend.

Bummer.

Hoo roo for now.