Sunraysia's Big Wet - February 2011

I have lived in the Sunraysia district all my life and I have never seen the amount of rain that happened here on Friday 5th February.

The morning was very humid due to the tropical cyclone Yasi that had crossed the Queensland coast several days before. I went cycling with a friend and by the time I got home a storm was brewing.



Late afternoon the heavens opened up and dumped 150ml of rain over Mildura and surrounding areas. Houses and streets were flooded over the district and worst affected areas of Irymple and Red Cliffs had in excess of 200ml. The rain was so heavy at times you couldn't see across the street and reminded me very much of a tropical thunderstorm.

It continued to rain all night and all of Saturday when it finally ceased. The official rain total was 189ml but some areas measured 250 to 300ml.

Sunraysia had its yearly rainfall in 2 days.

Sunday dawned and was clear and cool and we went on our usual Sunday morning cycle ride.
It was amazing to see all the water lying around. The Murray river that is very swollen at the moment, had risen about 8 inches. Mildura's Apex Park which has a lovely sandbar has been underwater for many weeks now, the water there is very close to going over the road and inundating the park, and could still do that with a lot more flood waters to come down the Murray yet. Many parts of our cycling track are under water and huge holes have appeared.



I am sure it will take several weeks to clean up the streets and houses that were flooded. The effects of this rain will be felt around the district with devastating results for our grape industry. Many fruit properties were almost completely underwater and many growers were already dealing with the worst outback of Downy Mildew in the area for many years, and I am sure this rain will be the last straw. Tropical cyclone Yasi didn't just affect Queensland, it's affects were felt all over Australia.



2011 has certainly been the year for amazing weather events.

The photo's that I have included are of Apex Park and the bike track that follows the Murray around to the Marina. If you look back at some of my older blogs on cycling, you can see the difference in the river.

The ride continues...but here's a little something I prepared earlier

With all of this rain lately, the rivers are flowing and I do hear the fish are also coming back. Apparently, now is a great time to try your hand at fishing. Some friends went fishing the other day and the river looked amazing.



I'm not a big fisher myself, but I love the atmosphere of being down by the water and the peace and quiet. Diesel loves a swim to cool down, although this year summer is not quite here yet. All of this rain is a blessing but also a disaster for many people on the land. The wheat farmers & fresh fruit producers have what appears to be a great season only to be hampered by the wet conditions. I hope with the windy conditions and keeping the vines trimmed and thinned out, the air will dry out the vines and prevent things like downy mildew. It's the humidity that is so harmful.

My thoughts are with everyone and I will look forward to seeing the lush green country side of Mildura (that's if I haven't seen enough of course whilst riding 500 + kms!)

Port To Port Cycling Race

Last weekend I competed in the Port to Port Cycling Race from the Mildura Wharf to Echuca with an overnight stop at Swan Hill.



You ride as a team and I was in the mountain bike team named the Dirty Dozen and we were using the ride as a training exercise for the RACV Great Victoria Bike Ride at the end of November.

Teams come from all over Victoria to compete and there were some serious riders amongst the 300 plus riders.

All teams were on the road from the Mildura Wharf and then you could decide how far you would ride before you got in your support vehicle. Our team was riding for 20kms, then in the support vehicle for 20 - 30kms and then back on the bike. Most of the other teams rode longer distances than us, and some teams rode all the way.

There were two compulsory stops to Swan Hill. One at Wemen, the other at Boundary Bend.

Our first stop was RedCliffs, where we all managed to get there easily. We then bussed to Hattah and then rode again. The going was tough as it was a strong head wind and I was mighty glad to complete the 20kms and climb in the bus. We continued like this to Boundary Bend for lunch.

The going continued to be tough with the wind and the temperature, which was about 27Cel. We arrived at Swan Hill after riding 90kms out of the 250kms. We all were very tired and a bit sore and I was wondering how I was going to get back on the bike the next day.

Our overnight accommodation was in the dormitories at the Pioneer Village. Our catered dinner of pasta arrived at 7 pm and by 9pm most of us were in bed exhausted.

Up at 5am,(I must be crazy) and was surprised to be not sore or achy at all. All of those spin classes must be paying off. We had breakfast and were on the road by 7am.

The ride to Echuca is only 153km's and there were two compulsory stops at Cohuna and a service station 30kms out of Echuca.



The riding appeared easier today. Not sure if we were accustomed to it but we all rode strongly. The conditions were a bit easier but there were times when we were confronted with strong head winds.

We arrived at the oval in Echuca at 1.30pm tired, hot but elated that we rode so well. We completed 70kms today, and that took us to 160 for the weekend. Many teams commented to us that we done it tough as it is extra hard on mountain bikes versus a road bike.

We climbed in the bus for the 4hour ride home tired but very happy and proud that we completed the ride fairly easly with no injuries, sore spots or bike worries.

The weekend gave me the confidence to know that I can tackle the big ride in a few weeks.

It was a wonderfully organized weekend with Police, ambulance and lots of volunteer marshals all working together. Peter Mills from Body Business Mildura was the tour director and a great job was done by him. Thank-you to all for a great happy and safe ride.

The Love Of Life

A little bit of a change of pace today for my blog. It is supposed to be my gardening blog day, but I have lost the motivation to garden as I have had a little bit of bad news...

I popped in to visit my Dad who is in a nursing home and noticed his friend of 30 years wasn't in his room. I mentioned this to Dad, but he said that he had a virus. I wished him well and thought nothing more of it.

I left the nursing home after lunch and headed into Mildura to finish some shopping. Coincidentally, I bumped into his daughter in the city and she said that her Dad was in fact suffering from cancer and the out come is very dim. It was such a shock. He was the healthy one, putting the bib at lunch onto my father. At first, it was thought to be a virus...

I came home and reflected on my life and how lucky I am. I am very grateful for my precious life and I think now I'll wander out into the garden and water my Capital Pears as they are a little wilted...just like me at the moment.

Training by the Murray.

Sunday morning was one of those Sunraysia mornings that makes you glad you are alive. Started off a little overcast, a bit chilly but half an hour into our ride, sunny and gorgeous with a light breeze. Perfect cycling weather. We can only hope we have weather like this on our big ride.

We have been stepping up our cycling distances as we only have 8 weeks to the Great Victorian Bike Ride. My fitness has improved heaps, mainly due to the spin classes and the extra distances we have been completing on the bike.

Mildura doesn't have many hills but the ones that were bothering me months ago I can tackle confidently now. I am sure that I will struggle through the Strathbogie ranges though.

This morning we have ridden through the bike tracks between Johnsons Bend and Apex Park then onto the Mildura Marina and back through the streets to the must have coffee, before going home.



The Murray River looked magnificent this morning. The sun was shining off it, and due to flood waters upstream it is quite high and flowing strongly. The Sandbar at Apex Park has disappeared completely and a lot of boat owners have moved the position of their boats. There seemed to be a lot more paddle boats moored this morning and they are a lovely site.



Apparently we are in no danger of a big flood, but it is a long time since the Murray has had that much water in it, due to the prolonged drought. It is lovely sight to see.

Cycling around Mildura

Sunday was delightful, but freezing. We started around 9am and cycled along the bike track from Johnsons Bend through to Apex Park. From there we continued to the new Mildura Marina.

We're apart of the cycling club at Body Business in Mildura. It's such a great social group. I don't mind the odd spin class also.

I must admit when we were cycling down by the Murray, it was magical and it reminded me why I love living here.

Rapt Up is completely online

After 21 years in my retail store in Mildura (Vic), the transition to run my gift store online is complete. After an exhaustive 10 days of moving into a new home, closing the shop and creating a workspace at home, I'm pleased to let you know that it is business as usual...just all online. www.raptup.com.au

New stock that has been all personally selected, is arriving continuously. The biggest problem I have is where to store everything now!

I must say, the thing I love most about working from home is I can be around Millie and Diesel - my two delightful dogs. Millie in particular, loves being indoors with me. Her favourite spot is on the couch near the TV. Millie is an aging 13 year old, blind, black poodle!