[lettie]

I am so glad that your sister is ok Margaret and I do have to add that having spent the last 6 weeks in Australia, the last 2 weeks of which were in various parts of Queensland, these floods are nothing short of horrendous. Tal is right when he says that most of the state is flood affected in one way or another. Places north of Rockhampton such as Townsville, Cairns etc, although they are not flooded directly, are having problems getting supplies into shops because major roads in the South of Queensland are under water. We went into Woolworths in Cairns last Friday to find empty shelves, hardly any fresh fruit/veg, meat and canned goods.

Mining in the state has been heavily affected with mines waterlogged and inaccessible. This will have a knock on effect on the economy and recovery. Harvests have been destroyed, snakes and crocs are in the water in places because their normal habitats have been lost and because of the increased water and humidity, (because this is not East Lancs, it is still bloody hot over there), the whole area is one large mosquito breeding ground, so there may be an increase in Dengue Fever in weeks to come.

I have nothing but praise for how the ordinary man on the street is handling all of this. Australians really are as tough as old boots, and I suppose that living in a country with such harsh extremes of climate would tend to toughen you up a bit. Some of the interviews on TV over there showed families rescuing animals, helping each other and generally just getting on with things with a "no worries" attitude. One newscast showed an extremely chipper family drinking beer on the verandah of their Queenslander while water flowed like a river down their street in Rockhampton. They claimed that they would start to worry when they ran out of beer.

I have to admire that kind of attitude because there are plenty of people who would be weeping, wailing and demanding help from UNICEF and WHO in other countries. It is making me wonder just how much international assistance Australia is getting in comparison to other countries...

Me and Sparks were very lucky, yes, we had a couple of travel glitches and only just got out of Brisbane before the CBD flooded, but we had a fab time in Queensland, all things considered, and our hearts go out to the people we met, who are trying to make the best of a bad situation and retain the 'no worries' attitude that Australians are renowned for.