R.I.P. XIP...

Well it's certainly been a LONG Long weekend...

Friday; the storm clouds started rolling in as I was driving Hubby and his mate to work. The prediction of a wet weekend seemed to be coming to fruition and the forecast was bleak- the East Coast expecting strong gale force winds and one hundred plus millimeters of rain.

I drove little Son to school and then headed into work; just managing to avoid the first real downpour of the day. We slogged away at it until we heard the news report at eleven am- a tanker was in trouble off the coast of our Town- and had run aground on a reef in eighteen metre swells at one of the local beaches. The twenty two Phillipino crewmen were being winched to safety in horrendous conditions by the Rescue Helicopter. Most of the other ships waiting to enter the Harbour had already headed out to sea- but the Pasha Bulker had come ashore on one of my Town's most favourite and historic beaches; Nobby's Beach at Newcastle, Australia.

Then it started hailing and my best mate M realised that the whole Third Floor was taking in water. That took up our attentions for a while...

When we went downstairs the Office Girls were busy Googling the Pasha Bulka to see firsthand a giant ship stranded on Our Beach. It's eerie; seeing it There. So close to where my Grandma's house on the Hill was. So close to the Obelisk that my cousin Gnome and her friend's accidentally blew up(they were lighting firecrackers and hit a pocket of natural gas underneath the Obelisk; which created an explosion) and the Fort and the Rotunda in the Park. Parts of my childhood.

After work I dropped M up to her daughter's school and then collected little Son. By now the rain was bucketing down- there were reports of a semi-trailer jack-knifed on the highway near the Cemetery but when I rang Hubby he said I could still get through. So we drove to collect him and his workmate.

No dramas there; most people were avoiding driving in this weather unless they had No choice. It was still a busy Friday after work- people still had to get home. I had to get home. I had to drop Hubby off at the pub first and then his Mate. As I drove away from Hubby I hit the First of the puddles; my car barely made it through and seemed to shudder for a few minutes afterwards- but then I was going all up-hill and things seemed like they were improving. However I was busting for a wee and all the rain wasn't helping things. So I stopped up near the Bush Reserve and ran through the rain to the picnic tables and did a piss near the picnic tables. It took probably five minutes and was more than likely the reason for what happened Next...

The rain was still coming down in buckets. On the way to Hubby's mate's house I drove through another giant puddle; again barely just making it through. On the way home I make the stupid decision to go the fastest way possible- and end up going the downhill way towards my house. Downstream you might say. It wasn't a great idea.

They were turning everybody back at KFC. I made the decision to go towards my Mothers house- the water was a foot deep on the road and some smaller vehicles were already floating uselessly by- their drivers gesticulating madly behind their windscreens. People like Me. Mothers with kids trying to get home on a Friday after school. I drove on past; scared I'd suffer the same fate Myself...

I had to do a U-Turn at the cycle-way; it was already underwater. I went back then up and around into Princeton. It was also a foot under water everywhere I went. I saw the SES guy directing traffic over a flooded storm water drain; the guy with the Ute had just made it so I thought I'd give it a go behind the little Corolla.

Stupid mistake.

The Corolla stalled. Then I did. The water was up to the door but quickly started creeping up the side of the car. I told little Son to take off his seatbelt while he crawled over into the front seat onto my lap- and wound done the two front windows. Little Son was asking in a loud frightened voice if we were going to die. The SES Guy was wading over to us at this stage- helping my Son from the car while I scooped up what I could from the centre console and I took off my shoes. The water was freezing as I stepped out of the window up to my thighs. I waded against the current as the black water took out the fence of a neighbouring house. Then I sat in the SES Guy's car as I watched my car start to float away before coming to a rest against the broken fence; the Corolla wedging up against it.

Nice Park Buffoon; I thought.

Eventually SES Guy gave little Son and I a ride around the corner to my Mother's house; there was flooding everywhere- even if I had made it across where I'd gotten stuck I would have been caught at three more 'Puddles' on the way. My Mum's Fir tree had fallen across the back verandah and the pool had overflowed into the two back rooms but they still had power at this stage. I got little Son dry and watching a DVD and then called Hubby to tell him I'd lost the car. He was stranded at the Pub and already half-cut. He wasn't too impressed when I told him what had happened.

There were puddles Everywhere I told him. I couldn't have avoided them All. I had just wanted to get home...

I'd left my phone in the car too; so I foolishly and against my Mother's wishes rugged up in one of my Father's raincoats, put on my Mother's size eight rubber thongs and braved the icy wind and rain again. The water was around my knees the whole way and the thongs kept floating off my feet but I made it. By the time I got back to the car the water had pushed both the Corolla and my car up against each other and the guard rail over the storm water drain had been broken by the force but they hadn't fallen in at least; and the water was subsiding away from the bonnet of the car- but it had still been submerged so I know it's more than likely a write-off. At least it's fully insured.

At least we weren't washed over the drain...

The storm washed away a Couple from Clarencetown. And a Family of Five. And a Man from Lambton.

If I'd gone into the drink I probably would have died trying to keep little Son from drowning.

I found my phone above the water line. It still worked. I trudged back to my Mothers wearing little Son's school hat; seeing tens of cars stranded in puddles along the way. Eldest Son and two of his friends were stranded there for the night also- making up the numbers; so I decided to keep going homewards to sleep at home. Anything was preferable to sharing a bed with both little Son And my Mother...

By this stage my Dad was home from the Raffles; and he drove me down to the train station in his four wheel drive. I still had to cross another frozen swollen storm water drain- but I wasn't far from home and got home without any further incident.

I fed the dog. Sent M a text telling her that I'd killed my car. She sent me a text back; R.I.P XIP (that was the first three letters of my rego plate). Twink bought Hubby home somehow. We went to bed...

Apparently the power went out at one thirty in the morning. Eldest Son and his friends woke up to 'blue flashes' of lightning. My next-door neighbour's woke up at the same time with a Gum tree crashing through their roof. I somehow slept like a baby.

When I got up Hubby was gone with my Father to try and move my car- which luckily hadn't fallen off the drain into the water overnight. It's engine was full of sticks and debris and plastic things. It'll most probably get written off. Oh well. Shit happens. I rang and organised a tow-truck and informed my Insurance Company. The tow-truck can't come until Tuesday because there are around five thousand vehicles in the region who are all in the same boat (that was a bad attempt at a joke)...

We've borrowed Hubby's mother's car for a few days but I'm getting the feeling I'm going to be without a vehicle for at least a month. I went and picked up bus timetables today. I haven't had to catch a bus in fifteen years!

Least I learnt One Thing from all of this.

I Can Not drive through Puddles.