When we arrived back in Yamba we were greeted warmly and then instructed that we had to remain until the following Friday as it was Kellie’s (one of the hostel owners) birthday. We considered our options and decided it would be rude not to. Justin, Kellie’s husband, had planned to hire a boat for to go out for on the day followed by a meal for the girlies with Kellie’s friends. Unfortunately in the days leading up to her birthday a cyclone hit and Yamba was flooded in. None of Kellie’s friends could get to Yamba and nobody could leave.
Justin decided that it was to sharky and rough to go out on the boat but that he, the family and some of the backpackers could come aboard the boat for some food, drinks and poker. We spent about 3 hours on the boat doing exactly that. Jo and Justin were on the Bundy rum, Kellie and Ruth were on the Malibu. The boat was amazing and very top of the range with all the latest 3-d imaging on the water below. It was mind blowing how anyone could ever afford such a big boat.
Bundy Jo, Malibu Kelly and Rummy Jan
While sat on the boat we were watching the already swollen river rise with the incoming tide. In the end when our plank started to go under the water we decided that it was time to leave and we all hopped off and waded to the shore. The drive back to the hostel was interesting as the road had flooded again whilst we had been aboard. The police had stopped all traffic coming through but let us off the jetty as otherwise we would be completely stranded. Jo had to get out and walk through the water to find the shallowest bit to take the car through. We were so glad that it wasn’t our car!
After getting back to the hostel safe and sound the festivities continued and we made our way up the pub. It was a great night and the flood just added to the atmosphere. The hangovers the next day were very amusing, especially to Jo who was fine despite him & Justin putting away stupid amounts of rum.
