Welcome to Ridgy-Didge!

Ridgy-Didge is Australian colloquial for 'just right' or rather 'fair dinkum!'

When we bought the property over 7 years ago, it only had a number and no name. It needed a name as the place certainly has a personality. Well, it sits on a ridge with a grand view northwards to the Bunya Mountains, so what could be more 'all right' than sitting on the veranda with that view, whilst you have your breakfast or in the evenings with a glass of Australian wine? Or even watching the amazing stars at night or the tail-end of a storm as the lightning flashs in the vaste banks of clouds. Or maybe seeing a pair of Wedge-tail eagles as they soar in circles in the high thermals of the vasteness of the azure sky?

This house is a 100 year old Queenslander cottage. Quite small and unpretentious, but it has a gentle atmosphere and we have had many friends and family members come to stay and have enjoyed the peace and quiet of the place.

Friday, 14 January 2011

Re-turning to a More Normal Existence.

Well it has certainly been a week of strange happenings and some very tragic. Thankfully, other than being cut off on the roads and a very marshy garden, we have not been personally affected. On Monday a friend and I were to have gone into Toowoomba. I am very glad we didn't' as they had the dreadful tidal wave wash through the main streets and cause tragedy and destruction. It was truly amazing to see all the videos people had made of places that we knew and frequented. A number of T.V. channels had 24 hour coverage of the events. Thankfully some places had warning, as in Brisbane, so it helped to a certain extent.
The main problem is, that we have had so much rain in the last few months that the ground couldn't absorb any more and the dams, meant to hold the water, were full to capacity. But what can one do when there has been 10 years of drought, with dams almost empty and people in the towns on water restrictions, then, sudden out of the blue (or grey) the rain hammers down? You can't really have loads of empty dams waiting for the once in a decade flood. Or may be you can. That is up to the politicians
The road to our house is broken up and the tarmac washed away in ,any places leaving the bedrock. We couldn't get out for a few days and I had to change my work shifts.
Yesterday, going into a supermarket, I found no milk, no bread or potatoes, very little toilet paper, fruit and flour. This is partly due to the transport system being help up in places where the main roads have been damaged and bridges down. Also the Lockyer Valley, which is along the road to Toowoomba from Brisbane, the Warrego Highway, is one of Australia's fruit and veggie markets, and it has been flooded - so no harvesting. Terrible for the farmers. The Australians are from a hardy stock of survivors, so they will survive and the will power and caring that is coming through is amazing to see and read about.

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