Stormy weather swallows ocean pool

The drought, the heatwave, the fires, and the big winds have been and gone. It was rather a nice day today. Perfect temperature, blue sky, ideal for that trip to North Narrabeen and a dip in Sydney's best ocean pool.

But it's not to be. Recent stormy weather is still showing wreaking havoc along the east coast. So no swimming in the ocean pool today.




I wasn't the only photographer who was enjoying the dramatic views This chap had to keep running for cover as enormous waves broke around him.

Outage? What outage?

After the big storm the other week, which brought down lots of trees and power poles, we were without power for 24 hours. Not bad at all, I thought. They're on top of this.

They replaced the power pole around the corner, and restrung the power lines. But the NBN broadband cable remains stubbornly cut and unconnected. Nobody round here has any proper internet.

I rang our service provider, who told me there wasn't any outage in my area, so it must be me. I told the chap exactly what had happened, but he nevertheless sent an NBN team round to the house a couple of days later to see what was wrong here. I told them exactly what had happened, and they agreed that yes, it probably was the cut cable around the corner. A few days later again, my service provider rang again to tell me there was an outage in the area. I told him too exactly why there was an outage, and that I'd told them all about it a week earlier. He seemed pleased that his job was done. When I asked what the timetable for the repair was, he said it was the NBN's responsibility now, and he didn't know. Wasn't that interested in suspending charges for the non-existent service either.

So a relatively unconnected Christmas, and maybe a relatively unconnected few weeks to come. Sydney Exponential will endeavour to continue its service anyway. Watch this space.

Blown away suburbs

Several of Sydney's northern and north western suburbs were nearly blown away on Saturday night. It was probably the wildest storm that I've ever seen, and it caused hundreds of trees to come down, some on houses, many across roads, and lots of them bringing down power lines.

The storms, and possibly tornadoes even, had been much forecast. I'd cancelled a Thursday bushwalk, which could have gone ahead as it happens. The weather came late.

Walking around my local streets afterwards, I surveyed the destruction. Our power is now back on, though many will have to wait another day or two. SES and electricity crews have converged on the area from all over the state, and appear to be working miracles.

Some random observations:

* As well as no electricity, there was no phone service. We used to have phones that didn't need mains electricity, and the mobile system fails at times like these because everyone's needing to make calls.

* Although none of the traffic lights were working, the traffic generally flowed far better than usual.

* Despite widespread gridlock in some areas because of trees down on main roads, there was almost no assistance from the 'Emergency Broadcaster', the ABC. Maybe in times gone by, before the vicious cost-cutting of its idealogically driven political enemies, it would have been different. Hardly a mention that anything had  happened, let alone what streets were blocked, and what else was happening where.

* Our local streets were full of talkative, friendly neighbours. There's nothing like a little adversity to bring a community together!

Collaroy collapsing

We've visited Collaroy's Beach Club many times, usually in the company of an old friend who lived in the area. He died a few months back, and then two weeks ago a big storm came through and nearly washed away his beloved club.






 Several waterfront homes were nearly washed away too. Collaroy's been front page news, and there's lots of debate about sea walls, whether they're more trouble than they're worth, and who should pay for them if they do get built.

Stormy weather and a demolition derby

Sydney had sunshine and blue skies today, following several days of very stormy weather.

A perfect day really for Narrabeen's family fun day demolition derby! The heavy rain had washed away the foundations of a house on a hill, and it was teetering on the edge of collapse, endangering other houses nearby.







There had been lots of media attention, and with a promised pubic demolition today, we decided it was the perfect destination for a little outing.

There were dozens of police and firies. There were camera crews from all the TV stations, seeking out the locals from within the crowd for interviews, there were media helicopters hovering overhead, and one sightseeing seaplane even diverted from its usual route for a better view.

Unfortunately we had to leave before the magic moment. They were attaching a heavy cable to it at the time, and warning people with babies and dogs about the loud noise that was to come. After we got home we were able to witness the big moment over and over on all the TV stations anyway.

A nice little day out somehow!