Blackheath, Blue Mountains declared disaster zone after Cyclone.

Never had I experienced a wind like it with trees bending beyond belief under its will. The sky changed from an apricot morning blaze to a wet and weighty dappled grey. The wind picked up during the day and by evening it whipped and gushed, throwing objects from its path. As Patrick and I sat in our humble home, warm and safe with our wood fire and solar power, others up in the village on the mountain shivered in their beds. No lights, no heating with most heating systems running on electricity. There was a rumour that an old man died of hypothermia after being stranded in his house for three days. This was later refuted, as the old man had apparently survived the trauma.  My mother who lives in Blackheath described the wind as sounding like a freight train going through a tunnel. She relaed a rather humorous story of losing the lighter and having to crawl on her hands and knees out of fright and lack of sight to the kitchen at the other end of the house. In our paddock, corrugated iron thrashed around threatening to slice open livestock. It was terrifying. Two days later I made my way out of the Valley, once the trees had been cleared off the road. India and I drove into Blackheath with our jaws dropped to our knees. The derby was overwhelming and a shock to see. People were missing roofs, there were tress leaning on cars, train lines down, a train crashed at Medlow Bath. Blackheath is overgrown with Radiata Pine which was strewn from arsehole to breakfast along with gigantic branches of eucalypt. The clean up was epic with free wood chip for the community and the opportunity to lend a hand to a neighbour.  

The cyclone occurred around mid-winter, a winter which was also spent slashing and burning off Tea Tree close to the house and clumps that presented as a fire hazard. We've spent many a weekend evening sitting by a campfire under the Milky Way. Our first spring harvest was bountiful, and summer was spent swimming in the dam, entertaining and at times working hard. Given Patrick and I both work jobs, any work on the property has to occur on weekends. We picked up an old caravan from a neighbour only costing us a trip in the tractor which is Patricks next project. We love our vans and already have a 1971 Franklin 12 footer. She has a mural of Betty Page on the side painted by a dear friend of mine. We travelled through outback Queensland in Betty who has been converted into a four wheel drive and is totally sustainable with solar power. India read her first adult novel on that trip and and we all fell in love with the beauty of the outback. I don't think the new caravan will go on the road given she's 18ft long.  

Pic1. Tree down in the village of Blackheath after freak cyclone which majorly damaged many houses and large trees (the town was left for 9 days without power) pic 4. Afternoon in Katoomba before the cyclone. pic 5. Morning before the cyclone. pic 6. One of the latest toys. pic 7. Water tank in vege patch (picked up out of garbage). pic 9. Summer bounty. pic 10. Purple Congo potato mash, potatoes grown by me :) last pic. My daughter India training her horse Shannon.