Thursday, March 13, 2025

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

Word On The Street Now That The Sun’s Out And The Floodwaters Have Receded, What Are You Doing?

Kiera: “I can now get to work – by car! I don't have to get a helicopter or catch the train-bus to work, which is what I was doing for a little while. We were stuck for like a week. And then, well, I was there from Tuesday and we got stuck on Friday, so however long that is. But yeah, I caught a helicopter to Ayr one day, and then on Wednesday and Thursday I caught the Q-Rail-bus from Ayr across Plantation, to then catch the courtesy bus. Because the bus stops across the road at the Comfort Stop, I could then just walk to work. I did that for a few days.”

Lorelle: “I just finished work and now I'm going for lunch, but honestly, not a lot. I’m just waiting for the grass to dry so I can possibly mow it. But mostly I’m just working again after being stuck in Ayr from Saturday to Tuesday. Once the rail-cart bus was up and running, I started taking that to get to work again but that’s about it.”

Spiros: “I’m just travelling home from a week's worth of work down in the Bowen basin. When the roads got cut off, lucky for me I had the vehicle at work on site. So I drove that to Mackay and booked flights from Mackay to Cairns, which were a bit of a mess. With the roads cut off, when it came to flights, the airlines price gouged on the tickets and the prices went up by twice to even three times as much. Usually they’re pretty cheap. That was frustrating and annoying when a lot of the flights automatically went higher but because there was no other way to get around the only way was to fly.”

Jane: “Yeah, we’re cleaning mould off walls. We’re out near Osborne. We had leaks in the roof. While it’s not that bad compared to some places you see, that’s what we’re doing right now. Other than that, we’re also out in the garden where I’m helping out mum. I’m unemployed right now because of epilepsy, so I can’t work. So yeah, we’re just cleaning up the yard, cleaning up the house. It’s a pretty boring life right now.”

Adam & Debbie: “We've got our own pest control business, and the rain basically… well, it didn’t shut us down but I’ve been parked up for three weeks because nothing works in the wet. And we couldn't get across the bridge to come to Home Hill, so at the moment we're just waiting for everything to dry out and then we're back in the business full time. We also had up to go to Townsville after one of my dogs bit my finger. The dogs were fighting over a chicken and silly me put my hand there. He bit through to the bone. But other than that, we’re all right.”

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