Monday morning dawns. In 18 hours I'll be taking off from Brisbane airport, heading back to the UK for a friend's wedding. The sky is blue but more storms are forecast for later. I contemplate a last day at Straddie Island, but the return journey will eat into the day and I don't want to risk any ferry delays due to bad weather. So I have a leisurely session of packing, and then head out in The Rig to kill some time.
I end up down near the Gold Coast, in an area called Labrador that has lots of jetski shops. I've done jetskiing many years ago, and would love to do more of it. So I go into each of the shops and start learning what things I should be looking for, how much they cost etc. I'm not seriously thinking of buying (maybe one day?) but it's interesting and the time passes quickly.
On the way home I see that, up ahead, the late afternoon sky is ominously dark. I can tell that the most menacing area - almost as black as night - is exactly in the direction I'm driving. For the second day in a row, I have a nail-biting drive under malevolently dark skies, with lightning flying in all directions. For the second day in a row, as I sit with no roof or doors around me, every set of traffic lights brings me grins and thumbs up signs from people in their cosily weatherproof cars. Even the pedestrains, as exposed as I am, are cheered up when they see me. Miraculously, with lightning and thunder every 15 seconds, the first drops of rain start falling just as I reverse The Rig into the protection of the covered carport back at the house. Ten seconds after I walk into the house, the deluge arrives.
The storm is spectacular - even more spectacular than yesterday, and I try to capture it on video. The camera isn't really up to it though, and I give up. The next few hours I watch the storm slowly drift towards the airport, and then out to sea. The flight might be bumpy, but it won't be cancelled.
A light meal, and then Paddy & Vicky give me a lift to the airport. A couple of goodbye hugs, and then I'm checking in - heading back to the UK, without a job offer, but with a reasonable chance of one when I return in a couple of weeks time.
I end up down near the Gold Coast, in an area called Labrador that has lots of jetski shops. I've done jetskiing many years ago, and would love to do more of it. So I go into each of the shops and start learning what things I should be looking for, how much they cost etc. I'm not seriously thinking of buying (maybe one day?) but it's interesting and the time passes quickly.
On the way home I see that, up ahead, the late afternoon sky is ominously dark. I can tell that the most menacing area - almost as black as night - is exactly in the direction I'm driving. For the second day in a row, I have a nail-biting drive under malevolently dark skies, with lightning flying in all directions. For the second day in a row, as I sit with no roof or doors around me, every set of traffic lights brings me grins and thumbs up signs from people in their cosily weatherproof cars. Even the pedestrains, as exposed as I am, are cheered up when they see me. Miraculously, with lightning and thunder every 15 seconds, the first drops of rain start falling just as I reverse The Rig into the protection of the covered carport back at the house. Ten seconds after I walk into the house, the deluge arrives.
The storm is spectacular - even more spectacular than yesterday, and I try to capture it on video. The camera isn't really up to it though, and I give up. The next few hours I watch the storm slowly drift towards the airport, and then out to sea. The flight might be bumpy, but it won't be cancelled.
A light meal, and then Paddy & Vicky give me a lift to the airport. A couple of goodbye hugs, and then I'm checking in - heading back to the UK, without a job offer, but with a reasonable chance of one when I return in a couple of weeks time.
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