Port Douglas - Cyclone Nathan

So what do you do on a cyclone day? Well, first thing in the morning you check the latest forecast track which fortunately still predicts it will approach the coast a bit north of here then strengthen and move back out to the Coral Sea. It is surprising at how little people seem to be alarmed at this meteorological event. When we were at the marina, boats were tied up as usual, nobody is making a rush to the Miter 10 (the equivalent to our Home Depot) to buy plywood to board up their windows. The only indication of adverse weather is that all of the tours out to the Great Barrier Reef have been cancelled for the next few days.

The rain seems to come in intense waves interspersed with short periods of no rain. We did a quick trip to the beach which is now covered with seaweed during one of the brief dry periods.

It is surprising that there are no huge waves. Apparently the reef does a good job of attenuating any damaging surf during these times.

During the torrential rain periods, we were able to do some future trip planning and booking. We managed to get our flight booked to Adelaide on Monday, three days accommodation in Cairns and a car rented for when we get to Adelaide.

This is our view of the ocean from our balcony (unfortunately with an Aussie TV soundtrack in the background). Pretty much what it looked like for 80% of today....

We connected with Jenn on FaceTime around mid day and after that, took advantage of a lull in the rain to head to the Post Office to mail a couple of postcards. As soon as we got there the skies opened up like I have never seen and we ended up taking refuge at the Post Office plaza for a half hour watching the water flow down the street. Hard to capture in a photo on the iPhone but that is not excessive grain in the photo, it is heavy rain! Note the muddy water running through the front wheels. Jenn, do you have the two spare tire brackets on the back of your new Land Cruiser?

It finally let up and we did a walk down the main street doing some window shopping. Finally an Irish Pub lured us in and we stopped for a beer/wine. On the way home we noticed another dark wall of rain approaching and got home just in time.

After waiting out the weather for a few hours, we ventured out for supper and ended up at the Central Hotel for a nice pizza. Again we found a brief gap in the deluge to make our way home.