Just Back From Stockton Beach Caravan Park

[arpie]

Hi guys

We (make that, my husband) was supposed to be doing a duathlon in Newcastle tomorrow morning (Sunday) so we headed down on Wed, to 'check out the course' & me do a bit of blackfishing whilst he rested up for it. We took advantage of the book 5 days & get 7 ... so the plan was to 'veg out' till next Wed!

Well, someone once said "life wasn't meant to be easy" but I am sure it wasn't supposed to be as difficult as the next 3 days!!

Wednesday evening started with heavy rain & reasonable wind. Nothing to be concerned about - been in worse before!

Thurs morning started with heavy rain & big wind. We basically stayed inside our VW campervan all day, reading & waiting for it to stop! It Didn't! Then the weather took a turn for the worse & it really started bucketting down & huge winds!! Tents around the campsite were being pummelled & virtually all were collapsed within minutes, then saturated with the torrential rain that was happening simultaneously!

two demolished tents

Our tent at this point in time was the only one that was still standing. We had it held with so many guy ropes, it was beginning to look like a spiderweb! Our awning only had one side to it, so I contacted Oztent in Sydney to see if they could send another one up to us, so we could close in the other side. We had 'jury rigged' a tarp, but it was not very stable & also bellowed a lot in the wind. Thought it would be safer with a proper 'side.' After about 15 calls trying to organise an overnight courier from Sydney to Newcastle as the initial salesgirl said it would not arrive till Tues, being a long weekend & all & only metropolitan Sydney gets the overnight service..... (at $65 for a small package under 5kg, I was a bit hesitant, as the product only cost $100!) the newest salesman said ..... No worries, we can just send it Express Post & you'll have it tomorrow for the same price as the Sydney delivery $10!!! Why hadn't the first person said that??

5am Fri morning, Keith had to get up & add a few more guy ropes to the tent & re-tension the others. All still good. Sat around reading & eating, waiting for the wind & rain to die down ..... Huge Seas now - saw the 2nd boat in trouble off Stockton Beach. The waves out there looked like Surfing Waves but they were 400m out to sea, so must have been 30-40ft or higher! Impossible to stand upright in the wind - almost 45 degrees to be able to walk in it.

Got the awning side on Friday pm (in between rain & wind squalls & coal tankers running aground on Nobby's Beach!) Set it up & thought .... You little ripper! All set now!! Still the only freestanding tent in the campground!

We had our Engel & stove in the awning, pretty well protected from the elements & I started cooking dinner at 3pm Fri afternoon (whilst the weather seemed to abate for a little while, I thought I would take advantage of that, plus we'd been up since 5am & wanted an early night.) Keith went for a walk! Then the wind & rain started in earnest! Then it hailed! I tied a tarp around the front of the fridge & stove so that the rain didn't hit it & all seemed relatively ok. Keith returned looking like a drowned rat & had a quick change of clothes. My wonderscarf was now a permanent fixture around my head ....Yes! In the Full On Position!

Finally served dinner & settled in for a long night, as we'd heard on the news that 100kph+ winds were expected during the night. Still the only tent standing in the camp ground. Dozed fitfully on & off until 1.30am when we both awoke simultaneously to ask "Is the tent still there?" The wind sounded like an aeroplane trying to take off & Keith looked out the window of the campervan & said "Yes, No! The front pole attaching the awning to the camper has just snapped in half! It is swinging around & will demolish the tent!" We both jump out of bed (in our t shirts & nothing else - not a pretty sight, I can tell you, but no-one else was watching!) to grab the flying awning & try to secure it safely. It wasn't going to happen. The rope had been ripped out of the awning, leaving a hole & the broken pole had slashed the awning roof. We had to undo all the awning poles & try to use the ropes to tie the awning in a big knot to cover the fridge & stove, as the tent was now in a sea of water & the insides of it was under water! At least the fridge & stove was on the slab & off the ground (on wheels.) Bloody hell it was cold, as the wind & rain was relentless & coming from a totally different angle than before at about 100kph! It was icey cold. It has now been confirmed that the winds peaked at 120kph! We were both saturated to the bone!

Half an hour later, we snuck back into the van & wiped ourselves down as well as best we could & climbed back into bed, turning the electric blankets up full bore, to get some warmth into us. Our feet were like icicles. Then, it stopped!!! There was not a single noise - no wind, no rain - just silence. The Calm following the Storm, really does happen! Why couldn't our pole have just lasted 1/2hr longer than it did?? We didn't sleep after that - just kept checking the tent to see if the rest of it was OK, let alone, still there! Also just pleased that other flying debris had not hit the campervan & knocked out a window or other damage.

5.30am & we are up, checking out the damage. The whole campground is a swimming pool. The pumps are not working, so the toilets aren't working ... well, sort of ... what you put in comes back out again, very quickly!

There is devastation all around the camp. Lots of permanent caravans with awnings attached have had them ripped off. One had the entire roof ripped off & dumped across the yard. WIndows have been punched out along with guttering & downpipes. One material covered carpark has been flattened.

Our tent is still the only tent that survived the previous 3 nights activities - even tho the awning was down.

Word to the wise - make sure you have plenty of guy ropes attached at all angles to your tent, in case, like us, you get the 'once in 30 year storm.' Last one dumped the Sigma on Stockton Beach & it is still there. This one dumped the Coal tanker on Nobby's beach & it may still be there in 20 years time.

The race was cancelled Fri afternoon! We packed up this morning & came home!!!!

Not my idea of a fun weekend!!

Cheers

ROberta

PS Hope your weekend was better!!

more photos

New Water feature - yes! Those are tents at the top of the photo!

Cooking dinner last night - difficult circumstances!

Some were worse off than these - others don't know about the damage yet!

One of the casualties

Thank God for my scarf - I slept in it last night!!

Edited June 11, 2007 by Roberta

[mrsswordfisherman]

OMG Roberta you made the right decision to return home!

I remember being in something similar as a child when my family were on our annual camping holiday at Windang. The campsite was completely demolished and the winds picked up whole caravans and deposited them up on top of the hill.

It is very scary being at the mercy of the elements isn't it.

Glad you and hubby are safe and home.

Donna

[Flightmanager]

Glad to hear you were able to survive the storm , camping in that sort of weather would not have been my first choice of amusement for the weekend !!

One of our members , Hobbit ,sent me these pics from Lake Macquarie , I was only up there a few weeks ago , and it was perfect . Now however.....

Dora Ck Ramp Access Rd

Dora Ck Boat Ramp

Dora Ck , wharf underwater

Ross

[arpie]

Thanks for your concern, guys - also lost all mobile phone contact from yesterday afternoon, so bad luck if you were in serious trouble. My God - That Windang storm must have been a horror, Donna! Our story is nothing compared to that. We thought we may be knocked over, so dropped the roof down.

I knew (like most) that there would be strong wind & rain, but this was (& currently still is) much more serious than we ever anticipated. We would have cancelled ourselves if we knew it would be that bad.

So very sorry to hear of the 10 probable deaths related to the storm - the family of 5 down the hole in the road & 2 couples swept away on flooded roads. Also the good samaritan who jumped in & also missing. A real shocker. Just watch out when & where you travel - if you don't have to, don't!

Kiss your kids goodnight tonight & tell them you love them!

Cheers

Roberta

Edited June 9, 2007 by Roberta

[james1990]

We not long ago sold our on-site caravan at portstephons.

Glad we did as iv heard that the park is abit of a mess.

There has been so much damage and 7 lives lost so far,,,it's been a sad few days.

cheers james

[roosterman]

Glad to hear you and keith came out of it ok roberta. tents and things are replacable and is sad to see so many lives have been taken by these horrible storms..

on a lighter note maybe those local blackfish had a word to mother nature and conspired together to save thier taste little morsals from ending in that beaute smoker you have...

great pics,that would of been a sight to see with that big coal tanker,the swell was measured up to 17mtrs by the waverider .. i had my back awning destroyed here at avalon and the area looks like a war zone...

anyway keep it safe raiders and only go out if you must till it dies down abit.....

prayers and thoughts to those who died / missing and thier loved ones..... steve

Edited June 9, 2007 by roosterman

[sails]

Hi Roberta,

thanks for the post about Newcastle. I seem to remember that last year it was not a good w/e weatherwise for the duathalon, so I suggest next year just stay at home!!

Glad to know you are both at home and safe.It was just unbelievable to listen to the news and hear of the tragedies that were happening on the roads at the start of this w/e.

There is a lot of damage down here on the northern beaches to the trees, and the beaches have had a good scouring. Just about everyone has a tree down in the yard, including us. Our big pawpaw is leaning at 45 degrees across the trampoline, and it should have been cleaned up this afternoon, but I went for a surf instead!! For every dark cloud, there is a silver lining.!!

Havent had the chance to wet a line since the blackfish w/e, but I suspect the lake should be fishing well soon.

Heard from a fish PRO at church this morning that he had been cleaning up on the tailor about 2ks' off Narrabeen in the wee small hours, so I am going to have a session in the evening some time soon to see if I can lock into them on the beach. Might also take the kayak out and see whats biting on a lure after this swell dies down.

tight lines

Sails

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