Wind in the Willows

Sunday was a very windy day. The sounds of gusts blowing up began in the late afternoon of Saturday and all during the night it whipped up a fury to the point of it keeping us awake. By Sunday morning the noise continued to grow and it had the fearsome sound of immense fury crushing anything that got in it’s way. One could imagine an invisible force ripping through the national park and stripping the trees and ground of anything that could move….thank goodness that J and I were inside. Every now and then we could feel the vibrations all the way up through our arm chairs whilst we watched DVDs. However, it was not until Monday morning that we realized the full effects of those winds.

J and I arrived at work 5:30am. All along Jervis Bay rd. the debris was evident; like the wreckage of a plane strew for kilometers; the remains of trees lay everywhere. Entries and roadways through Jervis Bay National Park and Boodeeroo National Park were a mess. I watched in awe the enormous trees that must have survived decades and decades yet in one single evening, had been overturned and in some parts, completely snapped in two. Their huge roots exposed after many decades of keeping that tree upright. We simply could not fathom how powerful the winds had been. Upon entry into Cresswell my heart went out to those who tender so caringly, the grounds of the base. The golf course was laden with huge branches, shrubs and rubbish everywhere. The gardens were now devoid of their beautiful flowers and were replaced with bark and leaves in enormous quantities. Kangaroos carefully moved amongst the ruins and like us, seemed confused about the mess. The gusts had reached 115 kilometers-an-hour at times and the destructive winds left their mark everywhere. Our shop is in a protected area and thus, received no damage from the storm but the historic old boatshed down on the docks was destroyed, rafters and all. Many of the residents lost power and will not have it reconnected until Thursday. It would seem that mother nature was indeed upset about something. We watched as gardeners, personnel and volunteers organized the green rubbish into piles ready for the trucks to pick up.

Today was a beautiful day, the birds have returned and order has slowly returned as well. Many are still without power in their homes however, I guess if one compares the imposition of no power to those who are homeless in New Zealand due to earth quakes or those who are trying to save their homes from floods in Victoria, these winds are not so bad.