Rain, Rain, Sun

January 2011, a month many Queenslanders won’t forget too quickly. A record 65% of the entire state had been declared a disaster zone. The flooding rains which began mid-December eclipsed the length of time that insurance companies define “flooding”, which means that people could (in theory) claim that this is their second, or maybe even third flood of the wet season.

I begin with this tone because, simply, it is wet. Having caught a lift to Townsville airport (from the friendly hostel people – Foreign Exchange Townsville Accommodation might be a bit of a mouthful, but they certainly do a good hostel ), I then had my flight down to Brisbane. After a turbulent landing through the gathering storm clouds, we touched down on the runway to be sadly informed that due to the high number of flights being delayed, there wasn’t currently a docking bay available for our plane. An apologetic pilot also added that the next available bay wouldn’t connect directly to the terminal, so we’d have a short walk to make in the rain.

Half an hour later, we edged forward to our bay, and… Nothing. Brisbane, like many other airports in Australia promote an altogether sensible policy of ‘closing’ their tarmac when the centre of a thunderstorm is within 5 nautical miles of the airport, which meant that no-one could bring us any steps. Another 20 minutes elapsed, and the tarmac was reopened for about 4 minutes, long enough for the first 30 or so passengers to get off the plane. Then the next storm centre moved over, and once again, the airport shut down. In fairness, Jetstar were very apologetic about something they couldn’t control. Eventually, 70 minutes after landing, I disembarked, to be greeted by a further 30 minute wait for baggage.

Never mind, I felt particularly calm today. I had nothing planned after all. Catching the train down as far as it would go, and then a bus for the final leg of my journey, I was within walking distance of my next hostel.

Except, OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT!!! I kid you not, I nearly fell over my suitcase. His web stretched almost entirely over the pavement, and from the ground to a couple of feet about my head. He was the size of my face, and had a web big enough to hold me. Needless to say, I walked around, and far away from it.

The local news tonight is all about floods. The centre of Brisbane is flooding. They think this will be worse than their previous benchmark, the 1974 floods. The City-Cat, an inner city “bus-boat” service has been closed because a number of its docking points have been washed away. People in the CBD are sandbagging their homes and businesses. The Wyvenhoe Dam to the NW of Brisbane is at 190% capacity. The flood waters spreading towards the city have been described as an “inland tsunami” by the residents of the towns it has already destroyed.

As it was, the Gold Coast looked set to avoid any flooding. Bilinga (nearly Billingham!) was where I was staying, about 600m from the beaches, but the weather wasn’t on my side. When I wasn’t engrossed by watching the latest news of Brisbane, I was trying to guess the upcoming weather, which rapidly cycled between hot, humid sunshine and sudden, heavy downpours. Because of this, I didn’t really manage to explore much of the area. I instead took the time to alter my future plans, with a trip to Brisbane now seeming pointless and dangerous – on the morning that I typed this, a 300 tonne concrete walkway broke away from the riverbank, and began to drift downstream – I decided just to head straight to Melbourne. The Brisbane Roar game had been called off anyway: Suncorp Stadium was flooded, which had in turn started an electrical fire in one of the stands, hardly the best conditions for any sport.

I did manage to explore my local area one day though, and it did seem a nice place. The beaches were long and sandy (though there were signs that the storm drains were filling the sea with flood water), and the towns were small and quaint. I called in a local chip shop to grab some lunch, before menacing dark clouds persuaded me again to head back to the safety of the hostel. On the above photo, you can just see Gold Coast to the right, in the distance. I’m heading from Bilinga to Coolangatta, and I sincerely hope Bilinga was once called Billingham.

Skilled Park
Attendance (Capacity): 2,514 (27,400)

Gold Coast United 4-0 North Queensland Fury

Free travel across the whole of South Queensland made this journey much easier than expected, as I headed to Robina to watch a confident Gold Coast side. New Zealand’s World Cup hero Shane Smeltz had returned to his former club to attempt to boost their ailing strikeforce, and he was given a rousing reception before kickoff. Skilled Park was peculiar though, with only 2,514 fans in for the game, two main stands hadn’t even been opened for the game. To prevent such a feeling of emptiness, a microphone had been placed in the main vocal group of the home fans, and was then pumped through the stadium stereos… Although this worked with surprising success, it did ruin any chance the travelling support had of making themselves heard.

Gold Coast made light work of it – Smeltz’s return inspired his side to a 4-0 win as he weighed in with one goal, and assisted in another two as they won back the Nickel Cup, perhaps the least glamorous rivalry nickname ever found. With 1354km between the two Queensland teams, they claim to have the most long-distance local derby anywhere in the world.

Getting back to my hostel was slightly more of a challenge – direct buses between the stadium and my hostel had stopped earlier in the night, so I had to take a detour via Pacific Fair, adding another hour to my journey. Nevermind though, free transport meant I had no troubles getting about.

And finally, before I leave you all, here is a photo of Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, the day before they were due to play Wellington Phoenix. You’d certainly need your Wellies to play on that!