Kiwikoala: April 2014

29^th January 2014

Cyclone warning.

The last few days a cyclone has been growing 800kms off the coast. It is predicted that it will reach land within the next couple of days. Cooktown to south of Townsville have all been put on alert.

The last few days the winds have been very strong and with living in a caravan you sure do notice it, especially at night when you are trying to get some sleep. There have been quite a few trees damaged around the area and warnings that rivers are going to flood . They named the cyclone Dylan.

A friend of Johns has kindly let us park the caravan in his implement shed for the next few days until the cyclone has passed. Thanks Ross.

We are now back living in the house with Anne and Glen (Johns brother) .

Not a lot has been happening here with the weather raining a lot . It is the wet season now so we should expect that. John and Glen and Kathryn have been very busy finishing the building of the calf shelter.

John also met up with a friend from his old school and was asked if he would do some milking on the odd weekend, so they could have a break away with their son. John now is working on 3 farms when ever he is needed. Sure is keeping him busy.

We recently had the opportunity to have a game of lawn bowls. The RSL Malanda and the Malanda

Hotel decided to have a play off to see which club was the best. The dress attire was bad taste. Some very good costumes (not suitable for public viewing on the blog) Lol. John and I were lucky enough to get on the same team (RSL) . We had a wonderfull afternoon playing bowls with lots of laughs. We won our ends 25 to 7 . This helped the RSL win. But in saying that we played 15 ends and the other teams just played around doing only 10 ends. RSL won by 49 to 43, a close ending. Once the prizes were handed out for the best fancy dress and the new trophy presented it was time for a bbq and a few drinks. A great day had by all. We noticed when looking around at the different

names on the wall trophys that Johns grandfather's name appeared on a couple of them.

Dave our raffle seller ready for bowls

John being very serious close to the kitty

I was walking around the side of the house a few days ago and came across this snake . I sure did take a few steps back when I saw it. It was a carpet snake (python) 1 1/2 metres long. It had decided to make it home in the steel piping that had been left on then front foyer. They eat mice,rats, frogs, and small animals. After showing Glen and John the photo , Glen thought it was time to move the steel to where it should be down at the farm shed. Anne and I were pleased about this.

2^nd March 2014

We met up with Joe Donnison in Cairns for a couple of hours today. It had been 9 years since we had seen him. Had a wonderful day sitting at a restaurant looking out over the wharf at beautiful boats having a lovely meal and a few drinks. Looking forward to the next time he comes to Cairns hopefully with his lovely lady Rachael.

Anne feeds the local birds every day outside the ranch slider from the kitchen. Kathryn sat outside the other day and a baby Butcher bird has become very tame. It lands on your hand and will take food out of your hand. The curlews are getting very tame also. The baby magpies love trying to catch the mince that we throw out to them. If you don’t feed them they begin to sing for there food. It can be quite entertaining having all these different birds singing. Nature is wonderful especially when it is so close to the kitchen.

In the evenings especially when it has been raining the toads come out by the kitchen area to try and

catch the months and elephant beetles .

This evening I was lucky enough to come across a large green frog that was climbing the wall to catch a meal of moths.

John and Glen and Kathryn have been very busy building the calf shelter. It is finally completed.

It took over a month to complete in between the wet weather and doing other farm jobs.
They then had to replace a few fence posts and put some new ones in so that the calves can get into the shelter from each paddock.

Glens new toy a wrapper

learning how it works

Is it happening john (mobile phone photo's)

Glen has now got a rain forest planted. John, Glen and Kathryn have been busy planting over 2500 plants of all different shapes and sizes (rain forest seedlings) The area has 6 ponds in the middle . This I’m sure once it is established will help the bird life return to the farm and hopefully the Tree Kangaroos find a nice home there. The tree kangaroo's are a protected animal with very few people sighting them. I have been lucky enough to get up close and take some photos. (These I put these on in a previous blog ).

Looking down to the ponds from the house.

With the rain still here I (Marg) have been doing quite a bit of folk art painting .

sneaked photo of Anne and Rennel discussing folk art

Here is Marg looking somewhat bored. She is not allowed to work for a month due to having her

right hand operated on for trigger thumb. Videos and reading are keeping her occupied.

We have not yet been able to get a weekend away to Granite Gorge with John being busy working on the different farms. If all goes well, we are going there Easter Weekend for a couple of days.

Glen and John went a couple of weeks ago and got two pigs for the farm. I named them Roast Pork and Pork Chop. Very friendly fellows especially when its feeding time.

Here are some random photos that we have taken.

Banana's growing out the back of the house on the farm

4 kookaburra's in a tree out from the sunroom

I still believe

Decorative wheelie bin across from the farm

Sunset one evening looking towards Atherton across the farm

Dragon fruit (taste similar to Kiwi fruit)

These vases I am now selling at the local markets along with our Pewter key rings and Motor Bike earings

Mother honey bird feeding her two babies outside the back door.

John picking guavas from a tree on the side of the road.

Little Gem Magnolia (note the two bees in it)

A Beautiful Bat Flower in Anne's garden

Johns parents celebrate there 61^stWedding anniversary on Friday the 4^th April. Its hard to believe that we have been back up here in Malanda for 12 months from Victoria. Time has gone so quick.

We are now in the planning for our next big holiday. We are going to England for 10 weeks at the end of June 2014 to visit our friends Mel and Peter Machin. Also a friend of Marg's that she had not seen since she was 19 when she lived in Scotland, and her girlfriend Kathy that just found her only recently via a lot of emails to different people after many years also . The internet sure is great for that.

We will be spending the first two weeks in Ireland and Wales . Then we come back from there to our friends place in Manchester, Then we are hiring a 48 ft canal boat and spending 7 days going from Wrenbury to Llangollen in Wales on a circuit with Mel and Peter . Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of wonderful photos. We are so looking forward to visiting the villages along the canals and meeting lots of people. Just hope the weather is good for us.

10^th April 2014

We are now on cyclone alert again. There is a category 4 tropical cyclone making its way to land just north of Cairns around Cooktown area. They say that it will extend up to 300kms inland . The next 24 hours will see where it is going . There is a possibility that it could turn and make its way down the coast towards Cairns hopefully this is not the case. We have put our van in storage down on the farm here at Glen and Anne’s in hope that the cyclone will not come to anything. John and I are now back in the house safe and sound. The cyclone now has reached a category 5 and is going to land around Cooktown area the authorities have said. It is named Ita. This cyclone has 2 eyes . Hopefully with the second eye in the cyclone it will take the fierceness out of it. Apparently that is what happens. They say it is around 250 - 300 k plus wide.

12^th April 2014

We have been following it on www.bom.gov.au .The cyclone landed at Cape Flattery at 10pm last night and made its way to Cooktown at 4 am. A lot of trees have been uprooted and roof's blowing off plus a lot of flooding. 300 people were in lock down at the cyclone shelter in Cooktown. The rest of the town were still in their own homes hoping to keep secure.

Crocodiles have been found sheltering in back yards of private homes. The cyclone is travelling at 11 kms an hour so with it going slow, it is causing a lot more damage. A lot of flooding in the Laura and Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas area. Johns sister Anne lives in Kuranda which is parallel to Port Douglas and has said a few trees have blown over where they live and they have lost their carport . It is too dangerous to go out and check with the winds and the rain blowing sideways.

Here at Malanda on the farm Glen and Anne have put tape across the windows facing east ready for the winds. Anne has put a lot of her photos and art work away in plastic containers just in case we get windows broken with the wind. I have been told that if the winds comes from the west we open that side and close the windows on the east side of the house We have just heard that the cyclone is now a cat 4.

As I am typing this it is 11.45am . The wind is starting to pick up and the rain is blowing in on a angle. There is a very eerie feeling here, it is very quiet all you can hear is the rain getting harder and harder. We sure do need the rain here but not the wind. The rain will help fill up the local dams and water tanks. All the farmers will welcome the rain as it has been very dry here.

For myself , I feel a little apprehensive but there is nothing that we can do . Just make sure everything is secure and wait it out. My wish is that no lives are lost. As in previous years a few people have died with falling trees into homes etc . John is busy doing his soduku and I am doing my usually knitting. Glens playing patience on the computer and Anne’s having a Nana nap, it all helps pass the time away. The cows are huddled together in the paddock sheltering under some trees against the rain. Johns parents said they are all secure and once again just sitting it out . Nothing else to do. The darkness has come and it is only 12.10pm It feels like around 6 o’clock at night with the rain being so heavy now. You can not see far from the house . It is like someone has put a white sheet over the paddocks. You sure do not want to be out on the roads in this. If anyone is they are crazy.

The powers to be have said it will reach Mareeba and the tableland region around late afternoon.

We can only hope by then that the force of the cyclone has down graded.

Thankfully the cyclone was down graded to a 3 then a two. It decided to change course and go down the coast and out to sea. This was a blessing for a lot of farmers and homes in the Atherton Tableland area. The eye of the cyclone went across at 10.00pm . It was very still for some time then the rain and a small breeze came up . But nothing to worry about . It was good to have a goodnight sleep after being concerned whether we would have to camp out in the bathroom for a for hours.

In the last 48 hours we had 10 ½ “ or 265 mm of rain. The farm dam had plenty of water in it plus Tinaroo dam also got a good top up the best in a few years. So a very good outcome.