Cut off again

[JDNSW]

Well, after making it home on Wednesday after waiting for a week, I am now more or less cut off again, as the Talbragar River rose two and a half metres again, putting it well over the bridges.

With no significant rain since Thursday night, though, the creeks are pretty low, and the ground is drying rapidly, so there will be alternative routes by Monday, and it is likely the river will be below the bridges by then.

John

[vnx205]

Have you ever been on the wrong side of the river when the river became impassable? Is there another way home?

[JDNSW]

Have you ever been on the wrong side of the river when the river became impassable? Is there another way home?

Yes, for example when I got back from the USA ten days ago - it was a week before I could get home.

There are several other ways home, and strictly speaking, at the moment I can get out by travelling thirty kilometres further upstream. In addition, I can get out through the forest, crossing the river near its confluence with the Macquarie, and there are others.

The problem with these alternatives is that they all involve crossing either creeks subject to local flooding, or areas that become impassable due to soft ground, or both, when you have the sort of rain event that floods the bridges over the river.

Currently, I can get out via the bridge 30km upstream, because it is long enough since the rain that the creeks have gone down - but it does involve 14km of farm track and twenty km of unsealed rural road, some of both very badly washed away, and one creek that is about 40cm deep. I expect the forest road will be hard enough to drive on, although I have no idea how bad the washaways are on it.

John