Pageant, Flooding and Flinders.

The other day a   storm front showed up on the radar out in the Bight. It hit Adelaide and caused a lot of damage. Lastr night I  saw another storm building up in the Bight and  now at 07;31 it has just started. I could see it in the far distance when I was out with Benji.  Yes, I thought I could get back before it hit and I did, but I kept a close eye on things. The bulk of the storm is below us but we are still getting a bit of a hit. I feel sad at this because today is the day of the  Children’s Christmas Pageant in Adelaide and it’s not looking very promising. It’s a big storm and we here are just getting a bit of a side-swipe with the bulk of the storm beneath us. According to the forecast this  wet weather will last until  late Tuesday.

This morning we did not use the stroller and we did not  do the three mile hike – we just walked to the end of the road and back about a mile and a half. This is generally what we do together  in the evening, Depending on the weather I might try and get down to the Gardens for a bit.. The morning in Adelaide started off  fairly reasonable but it didn’t take long before the rain started. Surprisingly enough  very few people left the pageant and it continued despite the rain.  One family made things quite clear,  “it’s been three years since we were here and rain or no rain we  came for the Christmas Pageant and we are not moving” And this was a sentiment throughout the morning and  it is estimated that about 280,000 people lined the route.

Elsewhere in the state the flooding caused major damage to infrastructure. Roads  north have been cut off and  truck drivers have been advised to get north  – “The Long Way Round”-  which is a major detour of about 3000km. and about 30 hours. – from Glengambo back to Port Augusta – from Port Augusta to Broken Hill – from there through the Queensland outback across  to Tennant Creek  and from there – north. Within the peninsula there has been major damage and the rail service to the west  and, of course, the north, have both been cut off. None of this is expected to improve over the next couple of days. If anything it will get worse as the flood waters make their way down the River Murray from Victoriia  to

South Australia, There is still a lot of rain out in the Bight, but by the looks of things it will miss us.

At their meeting last Thursday, Flinders decided not to make any changes to Annabell’s treatment for the moment. The Scan was good and they  have determined that,  while the cancer has not declined ,  it has not grown, nor has it spread. Although things have not done what was expected, the  current program is keeping it  contained. That being so all they have decided to do  for the moment is increase her medication from 100mg to 150mg and we should be back down again in mid March. By that time the new Lodge should be in use. I am looking forward to it but also quite sad since I will miss the Sulpher Crested Cockatoos at the Flinders Lodge. However, the new lodge is much closer to the city centre so it should be easy to get away when we have to leave for home.  In the meantime, she is very limited in what she can do and she has slowed down considerably. She really  has three speeds, slow, dead slow and stop.  However, if I even make mention of a wheelchair, I  just about get my head removed  :o) I walk a mile and a half with Benji faster than Annabell walks from the car to the supermarket  :o)