Rain and Wild Weather at Last

For those of you who are not up on the weather Down Under, Southeast Queensland has been in the midst of horrible drought. Last summer's usual rains never really arrived resulting in low dam levels and ever increasing water restrictions. Several or the measures includes: four minute showers, no watering lawns, recycled or gray bucket water for gardens on alternating days, pool covers and weekly use targets.

For us Seattlites used to copious amounts of moisture, the parched brown landscape was getting pretty depressing. The grass in the parks was brittle and dusty, the soccer field more sand than turf. Even the drought resistant gum (eucalyptus) trees seemed to be withering. We hadn't really had any rain to speak of since June and even that was only a few days of showers after months of sunshine.

All that changed about a week ago, and it's been stormy and rainy every day for the past week! The Sunshine coast, up by Noosa, has experienced severe storms and even flooding. The farmers, surfers and pretty much everyone, other than those who live in river banks, have been rejoicing. Hopefully, the rain will keep up and replenish the water tables and dams around Brisbane.

The wild weather has also whipped us some awesome surf for those who dare to go out.