Cyclone Oswald....we've had enough of you!

 This last week has been an interesting one.  I'm very glad that we have flexible travel plans and didn't book anything after our time in Lady Elliot (except a cheap flight to Sydney, which we missed!)  Up to this point Australia had been hot and full of fires, but this week another side came rearing its ugly head.  We planned to spend five nights on Lady Elliot diving with turtles and manta rays.  When we went to board our flight to the island the no fuel light wouldn't turn off, so we were delayed 2 hrs waiting on a new tiny single engine aircraft - have I mentioned that I HATE tiny planes!  The new plane arrived and landed us safely on Lady Elliot's dirt runway.  We had our orientation and decided to eat lunch instead of push for a dive since we had 5 full days to dive (we thought).  Our reef room turned out to be more of a garden view then a reef view which was disappointing, but we soon recovered and snorkeled in the lagoon.  That night we noticed a storm brewing in the distance.

The next morning we awoke to pouring rain.  Luckily you can still dive in the rain and we got 2 dives in.  We were lucky enough to see multiple turtles and sharks as well as a couple manta rays (and I saw an octopus!!).  At the end of the second dive Adam and I had mantas circling our head as we tried to hold our breath since our air tanks were running low.  We were really glad we stayed down that extra few minutes as it turned out to  be the last time we would dive at LEI.

We figured the rain would pass in a day or so, apparently we should check the forecast more often.  The "storm" ended up being ex-cyclone Oswald, and Oswald must have loved LEI because he hung around for the next 3 days!  Our second full day on the island was spent seeking shelter in the main dining area as the wind and rain whipped around the island.  The staff did an amazing job of entertaining all of us with trivia, bingo, and a belly dancing class.  It was a bummer missing out on being in the water but we still had fun.

Day 3 on the island was more wind and rain.  Diving was canceled again.  We decided that the rain didn't matter and snorkeled in the lagoon to try and stave off the insanity that was beginning to take hold.  While snorkeling we found a ton of turtles and got to pet them.  They were just like dogs, they would turn into you and wait for  a scratch on their shells, and when you stopped they would follow you around.  I love turtles so had a great time.

By day 4 we were losing it.  We'd played approx. 500 games of slap jack, 500 games of 3 handed Euker and spent countless hours reading.  We tried snorkeling in the morning but visibility was terrible, you could barely see your hand in front of your face.  They offered to take us out in the boat to try and find better vis.  We hopped on the boat with about 10 other people and headed out.  The current in the normally still lagoon was ripping.  Within 30 seconds of entering the water people were freaking out.  Six minutes later we had drifted the entire length of the lagoon and half the group was freaking, ready to be back in the boat....that was the end of boat trips!



Day 5 we awoke to sunshine, and of course it was departure day.  While we were eating breakfast Maggie, the activity director, came in and said that a turtle nest was hatching.  I pretty much stopped everything I was thinking and ran to the nest.  All you could see was a couple tiny heads poking out and we thought they were going to wait until sunset (when we would be gone) to come out.  Luckily about 30 minutes later a couple turtles crawled to the top and made the run to the water.  It was amazing to see, I was in heaven!  Around 30 minutes after the first two left, about half the nest decided it was time to make a run for it.  It was basically a mosh-pit of little loggerhead turtles as they all pushed their way out of the sand and headed for the ocean!  I even got to get into the water for a swim with a couple of the baby turtles, a truly amazing experience.  It was really nice to end on a positive note.

We caught a flight back to Bungaberg with plans to drive our camper back to Brisbane and return it.....not so much.  We flew over the town and discovered people being plucked off roofs by helicopters.  Oswald LOVED Bundaberg and created the worst floods in the history of the town.  We our now stuck on a new island named Bundaberg.....all the bridges out of town are underwater so there is no way out.  Luckily we found some food at the grocery store (gummies, soda, and pasta are good right!?!?)  We are spending another night in Bundy, hoping the water crests tonight and maybe, just maybe, we can make it towards Brisbane tomorrow.  Right now 1 of the 20 roads we need to take are open, so we shall see.  Although we are supposed to be in Sydney right now we are happy to be safe and dry, with no real need to leave town for a few days.  We do have a flight to catch on Feb 8th, but things should be better by then, fingers crossed!