We then headed to the park which was beside the North Creek. The Creek was expected to flood that night from all the rain and water coming in. But that wasn't the main concern for the town - North Creek runs off the Richmond River which - if flooded - had a far greater cause for concern. At the park we met a couple of people who lived in Lismore who had been evacuated from their homes.
As we left Ballina we drove out to Lismore to check out the flooding. Lismore is low-lying and consequently was directly affected with flooding. It was devastating to see the town street under water knowing that the same water had made its way into the shops as well. Sadly, these same floods took the lives of a number of people across NSW. So tragic.
We spent the afternoon back at the caravan and the kids enjoyed playing games / watching movies with the other kids there.
This was how we worked out which camp the kids were at...
Opposite our camp site was a man who made leather whips. He saw Chad trying to crack his home-made whip and gave him one to try and crack. All the boys came out to give it a go. It was more difficult than they expected. Chad got himself a good welt on his back!
Axel kept himself amused on the skateboard
Sunday morning we had a small dilemma... we had two girls who wanted to come to church with us but only room for one! Unfortunately we could only squeeze in one, which left the other one rather upset. This time we went to Presbyterian Church in Alstonville, held in a local school hall.
Although it was more casual than our own churches we did feel comfortable in this church. They had Lords Supper that day, after which came the collections and / or an opportunity to take the kids to Sunday School. I took Brenton and Margaux to the Sunday school then stayed to watch a little while as they learnt a new Bible text and listened to the Bible story about Peter denying Jesus 3 times before the rooster crowed. The kids were then able to decorate a paper rooster with feathers.
After church we enjoyed a coffee with the church members who were very welcoming. Our tribe was even invited to lunch with an old lady who lived near the Showgrounds where we were staying! It was a very nice thought but I just couldn't imagine bombarding her!
We made our way back to the caravan for some lunch. We were so glad to be undercover, despite the echoing of Axel squealing and kids yelling. The neighbours without kids didn't seem to mind too much though.
The younger kids were able to have good naps and the older ones played card games. In the evening we enjoyed being able to socialise with other adults!
Monday morning we started packing up quite early, as we were heading North again. After saying our goodbyes to our new friends we left about 9am.
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