Cyclone Alfred - Update
It's Sunday morning—and it's my birthday! Not exactly the type of day I imagined when I pictured my first birthday in the Gold Coast, thanks to what is now referred to as Ex-Cyclone Alfred. A week ago I was picturing a warm, sunny day on the beach for my March birthday, but Mother Nature had other plans this year!
We spent Thursday and Friday waiting for Cyclone Alfred to make landfall, hunkering down at home in a sort of strange lockdown-like (hello Covid flashbacks!) limbo. The cyclone was moving slower than originally anticipated, so its predicted arrival kept being pushed back. We went from expecting the cyclone to hit land late Thursday night to a Saturday morning arrival. With that, the weather was milder than expected on both Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday my dad kept busy painting the hallway, my mom and I visited Ella's nail salon, and Ollie and I squeezed in a few rounds of Just Dance and Brain Breaks on YouTube... seriously, it was just like Covid!
Thursday night we went to bed with what seemed to be very strong winds, and Friday morning we woke up to a fallen branch in the garden, but thankfully, everything else remained intact.
The weather was pretty calm all day on Friday as we watched the Cylone's path via updates from the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) and tried to keep from going stir crazy.
Later on Friday, we gathered for a movie night and settled in to watch Jurassic Park. I found it incredible that this classic is over 30 years old now. Ella, true to form, thought the first half was a bit dull (to be fair, the build-up to all the dinosaur action takes longer than I remembered!), but by the end, she was already clamouring for Jurassic Park 2.
That night, I went to bed feeling anxious, fully expecting to be awakened by the howling wind and pounding rain in the early hours. It was pretty windy as I drifted off, so imagine my surprise when Ollie crawled into bed at 5:30am to a relatively quiet morning. A quick check on the news revealed the best of all twists: Cyclone Alfred had been downgraded from a Category 2 cyclone to a Tropical Low. The winds turned out to be far less destructive than predicted—a relief for us all.
That morning, Andy, my dad, and Ella headed out to Main Beach to assess the damage. They discovered that the entire beach had eroded, with the water rising all the way up to the seawall—a rock barrier that has been built to protect the coastline since the '60s and '70s. Gold Coast's beautiful beaches have essentially been destroyed by this storm, and will likely take months, or longer, to come back to their former glory. It is a stark reminder of nature’s power during this storm, even if our own property had been spared.
On Saturday afternoon we made the most of a break in the rain by taking a walk around the neighbourhood. We even met a lovely lady with a garden bursting with fruit trees—she insisted we take some. We ended up with lemons, blood oranges, and jasmine, and she promised we were welcome back for more anytime.
With not much else going on, we discovered a nearby bowling alley was open, so naturally, we went bowling. Very random, I know. I am not sure why they remained open but it was nice to find something to do. I can’t quite recall the last time I bowled, and, honestly, I was pretty awful at it. However, I managed to finish the 10th frame with a strike followed by a spare—pity I was just getting into the groove at the end of the game!
We then swung by a local strip mall and grabbed some Mexican takeaway from Zambrero’s. It was absolutely packed there, along with the Thai takeaway and Subway. For those without power the takeaways that were open must have been a lifesaver. Back home, we treated ourselves to some Cheladas—a new favourite Mexican drink for us, a combination of lime juice and beer served in a salt-rimmed glass.
After the kids were tucked in, I settled down to watch Severance—a show I’d missed when it first came out. With all the hype surrounding its second season, I was eager to see what the fuss was about, and I’m glad I did; it’s excellent!
Despite some areas of the Gold Coast losing power since Thursday night, we’ve been incredibly lucky to stay connected—and our house, along with our garden, remains unharmed. While we’re still expecting a lot of rain over the next couple of days and hearing about flooding risks for others in the area, we feel very fortunate that our home isn’t in a flood zone.
It’s been a rollercoaster these past few days, and though the rain is starting to wear on us a bit, I can’t help but feel grateful that we’ve escaped this natural disaster relatively unscathed. And I've decided that my birthday is rescheduled for next weekend, once the rain has hopefully let up!
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