3 February. A Bitter / Sweet Aussie Day

My house was quiet, clean and orderly...not something that has been familiar!

However, my peace was short lived.

Wed arrived and so did Cyclone Yasi and two young Aussies: Alex and Lachy. It was to become a bitter/sweet Aussie Day for me!

Cyclone Yasi was category 5 and heading straight for Tropical North Queensland. The eye was predicted to pass almost directly over Cairns, my Queensland home territory. Knowing I didn’t have internet access, GT fed me regular updates and so did many of my dear TNQ friends who were securely battened down, anxiously awaiting its potential devastation.

This was the first time I had been away from home during a disaster of this magnitude. It was horrible knowing their predicament. I realised just how much I really missed my dear friends and families. Fortunately Trinity Beach was spared as the eye passed further south. Sadly Cardwell and Mission Beach took the brunt: 2 of my favorite places! Wendy messaged me the following day and her relief was evident as she rightly expressed:

“We certainly dodged a bullet!”

Our second swimming lesson with NFE and I was all alone but the girls were ready and waiting! Today was all about putting our mouths and faces in the water, keeping eyes open and just above the water line the blowing bubbles! Sounds easy! One hour of practise, mixed with games and simple kicking drills, the girls were finally able to cross the width of the pool pretending they were ‘bubble fish’. There was so much pride reflected in their beaming faces.

During this lesson I learned that Alex and Lachy had arrived in Morogoro. Alex is the second son of my dear friend Prue. Prue and I met o the first day of Uni (just a year or two ago!) and have been through thick and thin together. Alex and Lachy, his mate from Melbourne, had been travelling South East Africa since November. It was so exciting to see the two boys strolling across the school grounds. The NFE girls greeted them with typical SEGA friendship – hugs and greetings for all.

Wednesday evening we organised with Mustafa to take the boys hiking up into Choma and sleep out at Morning Side on Fri/Sat.