It’s been wild

How was the weather around your way over the weekend? It was insane on the Northern Beaches on Saturday night.

I headed home from DD’s place at around 8pm as I had a walk scheduled for the Sunday morning.

The walk didn’t happen … for obvious reasons if you’ve watched any of the storm footage. And I reckon the drive home was one of the scariest I’ve ever done.

Forget about the famed ghost of the Wakehurst Parkway, it was the intensity of the rain that frightened me.

There’s an 80km speed limit on that stretch of road, but the cars were doing about 40km because there was virtually no visibility.

There was also a flooded section near Oxford Falls, but that didn’t stop a couple of morons from speeding through it, which sent an arch of water up into the air that completely obscured the windscreen for a terrifying moment.

Thanks, mate.

I found out later that the road was closed a few minutes after I drove through.

I was very relieved to finally make it home.

I was also concerned for all the people in Narrabeen, including those at the holiday park, who were told to evacuate later that evening.

The next morning dawned with more relentless rain. I had no idea how I was going to get the dogs to wee in the wild conditions. I carried them under an umbrella up to the shops so they could wee on a few pillars (sorry, sorry), but they were very unco-operative. The mop has been getting a workout in the apartment.

Then I jumped in the car and tackled a flooded bridge to meet my friend for a coffee rather than a walk.

DD and I were invited to Balmain for a long Sunday lunch with friends who’ve recently moved there and I wasn’t sure he’d make it out of the peninsula due to the flooding, but the worst of the water had subsided.

By late Sunday afternoon the skies had cleared and DD dropped me off on his way home to pack for an offshore conference, fortunately not in the US of A.

Happily, the whole weekend wasn’t a wash out, we headed to Bert’s at the Newport for a happy hour limoncello spritz in the Friday afternoon sunshine, which was gorgeous.

But things will be lonely from tomorrow when DD heads off on his week-long trip.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I have my sister and the eldest both visiting this week.

And I’d like to say it will be a quiet, relaxed long weekend, but I put my hand up to work on Australia Day as the corporate comms person.

Hope all is well around your way weather-wise. It’s pouring again here, so I’ll be hauling the dogs out under an umbrella again, then braving the bus to work.

Song of the day: Richard Clapton “Deep water”