Birthday Floods!

My birthdays are becoming more and more difficult to handle, and it isn't just becuase I turned 35 this year! Already we have the whole birthday grinch issue (i.e. my husband, who doesn't believe in celebrating birthdays or having fun! And while it's refreshingly non-consumer society, I do like to do something a bit special on my big day, even if it's just a bit of time off with my peeps!). Thank goodness for my adorable girls, who are always willing to help me eat some cake and blow out a few candles!

Anyhow, I'm beginning to think I'm jinxed. Last year, very unfortunately, my father-in-law passed away on the 11th, this year it was a natural disaster rather than a family tragedy. A freak storm hit Rurutu on tuesday evening and we had more than 12 hours of seriously heavy rain. There were powercuts and lightning to top it all off - Matotea and Heimana, inspired by Peppa Pig, decided to provide some light entertainment while the lights were off, Matotea put on her own TV show, and Heimana just liked wearing the cardboard box!

It did eventually stop mid-afternoon, after we had watched Titanic for the second time that day (even with the powercuts), then there was the inevitable cleanup afterwards. Even our new guttering couldn't stop the terrace from getting more than a little damp.....

The airport and runway were turned into a marshland (above and below), so that the regular flight was canceled and our poor guests were stranded in Tahiti until thursday afternoon, when things had dried up a bit.....

.....it reminded me a bit of a rather amusing time I spent trying to get to Cairns in a rental car with my good friend Amy, a few years ago now. It was the rainy season and predictably enough there were very heavy rains in Queensland, we were driving north from Brisbane and suddenly got to a spot in the road where someone was kayaking towards us down the highway between stranded trucks!! Needless to say we didn't get to Cairns that day! I guess the upside of all the drama is that I got the evening off, and there was a really beautiful watery sunset!

 

However I am a little worried about next year!