Grafton behind us , off up the Summerland Way to Casino . The ute is booked in for a service on thursday , so that's good - Grafton was unable to do it for a few weeks - the floods are still causing a lot of problems , and getting cars serviced is just one of them !!
All set up , we headed out for a ride , crossing over the river - it had been above the banks here and certainly did some damage to the concrete road down to the river's edge .
Trees are leaning over - those that are still there - a lot have been washed down the river .
There's a mural on the water tower , it appears to be unfinished , there's still a section to complete on the right hand side - not seen in this photo . It was also difficult to get photo's of it , there's no where to stop unless you're underneath the tank .
Days have been spent catching up with Garry & Robbie at Grevillea - out from Kyogle , then Garry & Kelly at Lismore .
The floods have caused so many problems with the roads - some roads have been washed away completely , others just missing a lane , potholes & rough roads everywhere !!
The flood damage in Lismore was brought home when we were talking to Garry & Kelly - they told us about the flood being the dirtiest flood they've seen - so much water coming down with so much force brought a lot of topsoil & rubbish down from the mountains and everywhere , not to mention the amount of rubbish that also got washed down , animals , shipping containers - you name it , it probably came down the river . There's a barge working on the river with an excavator on it , just removing rubbish from the edges of the river and the trees that are still there . Lismore CBD is a ghost town , shops are boarded up waiting on repairs , businesses closed down that will probably never reopen . Houses in South Lismore are all open , no-one living in them , they're just drying out , Toyota Dealership went underwater - it was new and built above normal flood levels , it's still not open , Bunnings is only just getting close to reopening . Big W in the main shopping centre has only just reopened . Then there are the displaced people - they are living wherever they can , all those jobs not there any more . People are living in motorhomes that have been provided , presumably by the government - there were 80 motorhomes in the park we are staying at , others are living in their own caravans or tents , or with friends . If you want to shop in Lismore , good luck , there aren't any supermarkets open - people have to go to Ballina or Casino , so they are flat out .
It has been devastated !!
And for a change of pace , we headed out to Mallangalee Lookout , it provided an overgrown lookout area with trees in serious need of a prune - like most lookouts . The phone tower 50m away provided a better look around - no trees up there !
This is the view down over Mallangalee village - about 30 kilometres west of Casino on the way to Tenterfield .
Here's one of the old farm houses near the lookout - seen better days .
This is just west of the village down on the river flats .
A White Spoonbill having a snooze .
This is the local garage - like the fuel pumps !!
This is the guard dog , letting the owners know we were stopped across the road - yes it is up on the roof of the car .
We had plans of going up to Richmond Range NP , however it was closed - probably roads washed away at a guess . So another road was chosen to the southeast instead , through the Hogarth Range Nature Reserve . It was a great drive through the bush .
Wattle trees were out in flower .
This is the main street of Casino , with trees pruned to allow vehicles to pass , a lot of this part of town also still getting over the flooding that came into these shops .
Some more of the older buildings in Casino .
This shot is from the west side of Casino , gives you an idea how spread out Casino is . You can see where the river flows through town - just follow the tree line from mid right of photo .
And that's our week in Casino , we did get out on the bikes a few times , I managed a game of golf - 1st one since early February - I said that to the people I played with , they laughed and said it's only the 2nd or 3rd game that they've had in the same time . In fact they had only just reopened the full 18 holes of the course - 2 holes had been too wet to get machinery on to mow the fairways & greens until last week .
Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1i9FDcyIzB0BJ760V3xUNBWlAd1ZBFL0&usp=sharing
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