REDLYNCH VALLEY FLOODING Sunny outlook returns for park
IT TOOK just minutes for floodwaters rising through the caravans and villas to create a post-apocalyptic scene fitting for the silver screen film.
Almost five months and plenty of elbow grease later, the BIG4 Cairns Crystal Cascades Holiday Park is unrecognisable. Bookings are back in full swing, the park is bustling with activity, and the resident curlews are in fine form.
“It’s all come back together nicely here,” owner Phil Drayton said. “I’ve still got a few bits and pieces to fix up on some cabins. We’ve been working our butts off — I’m a bit buggered actually. But the light’s at the end of the tunnel.”
Rescuers plucked a combined 42 people from water at the Redlynch caravan park and, to a lesser degree, Brinsmead’s Cool Waters Holiday Park during the March 26 downpour that coincided with Cyclone Nora.
Holiday-makers later told the Cairns Post they had called family to say their final goodbyes, with reports of a Dutch couple punching their way out of a motorhome and climbing along a clothesline to safety. There were no lives lost. Mr Drayton hoped the park would never face such a situation again.
“We’ve been here for 23 years and it’s never happened before,” he said. “We’ve spoken to cane farmers that have lived in the area all their life, and they’ve never seen anything like it.”
Things are looking up at the Redlynch Valley Tennis Club as well, despite the loss of two courts during the floods.
Club president Jason Christopher said passionate members had worked hard to get the lights back on, salvage busted fences and spread fixtures among other Cairns tennis facilities.
“We’ve managed to get back two courts but we don’t have courts three or four anymore,” Mr Christopher said.
“We’ve got a really good committee and we’ve just been applying for a heap of grants.
“We’ll get back up there.”
WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR 23 YEARS AND IT’S NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. WE’VE SPOKEN TO CANE FARMERS THAT HAVE LIVED IN THE AREA ALL THEIR LIFE, AND THEY’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.