About twenty minutes ago. Lighter skies to the north. Mongrel to the south.
Expected to clear. Might be the last day in this spot; depends on the wind.
Here’s what the above looks like on radar:
Certainly not rain to worry about. While I enjoyed the storm, and could have done with greater ferocity, it’s good to see it clearing up.
Lost the severe weather warning yesterday afternoon, these remain at the moment:
While the storm was a bit of a dud, and I enjoyed it nevertheless, seeing the sun was most welcome. After peeking through clouds, captured here, it dulled, so this was a few minutes of magic.
Woke a couple of times to feel and hear the van buffeted, shaken by the wind’s force. Still too dark to see anything, but this thing is fierce.
I’m sheltered here. Unbelievable severe consequences if I had remained exposed to its full impact.
6.30AM
About media coverage.
It’s only roughly helpful although there’s an abundance of it.
Reports are vague or outright confusing about areas to which they refer. This is due to the widespread region affected and the copy-paste inclusion of information from previous reports – and due to bad writing.
Outlets are also unclear about, for example, which evening they reference, or which morning. They’ll begin a report referring to a particular day then include quotes through it, and the piece becomes a confusing mess.
Some reports are useless because of the bad composition and inclusions.
These are major news outlets. Not good.
7AM
7.30AM
It’s a lot colder now than it was at 4AM. Here our refugees, and while the van isn’t buffeting now the wind nudged me off balance taking this shot:
8.35AM
Just an example of bad ‘information’. Uncclear, confusing reports are rendered all but useless due to issues with the text, this from the BOM suffers also from that as well as bad layout.
Clyde River. Tuross River. These get a mention, but there they are sitting on their own and I ask, So what?
9.05AM
Something I’ve been wanting to do since yesterday. A food dash to Woolworths nearby, but through exposed territory. Got wet.
Woolworths is cold because the centre’s doors won’t close, a lady said. She has a long day ahead.
Decided to go for it in case of a blackout. Bit of a relief in the weather, and now to warm up.
Two day’s food in the fridge.
10.50AM
Wind is strong but not buffeting. Rain still coming but not threatening. A bit lighter, so the clouds are a little less dense. Too early to hope it’s moving away, going, but a reprieve is welcome. I must exercise, which entails sacrificing dry clothes and relative warmth in the van.
Where’s the island?
1.30PM
Had to shower. I’m not going to live like this so to become dirty and unhygienic. I need to cleanse and freshen each day, and moreso my eyes need to be under clear water to work properly for the day. Why, I don’t know.
So I was that one day of unable sensibly to wash, yesterday. Today, even if I had to walk through cold rain and wind I would wash. Which is what I did.
I put on swimmers, one sacrificial T-shirt, wind stopper that soaks me, and thongs, and walked.
The Batemans Bay Aquatic Centre has showers that are a joke. They were hot some months ago, broke down and delivered freezing water, then they tried to fix them, broke again, and now the showers don’t make it to the temperature of warm. They rise from freezing at the start to cool or tepid. You get cold using them.
..Back, warm, dressed, met a beaut bloke as fellow traveller (who sleeplessly suffered the night at Moruya) who’s spending the night also in refuge under the bridge.
The weather has eased, but warnings firmly remain.
4.50PM
Steady rain and strongish wind setting in again. Apparently the storm is coming in for a second bite tonight. No worries.
Back out and about safely tomorrow, I hope. Bit stir crazy, and fed up with the arseholes who obviously use this spot for a haunt. Been a couple of arseholes today with extremely loud music playing for a long time.
If the same as last night, more arseholes tonight, but kid versions. As long as they let me be, and fuck off quickly.
Wet before the forecast deluge. Sheltering in Batemans Bay, early, before deciding what to do. Might also go for a cold shower (unless they’ve gotten their act together) at the aquatic centre, since the gas shower today and tomorrow, at least, isn’t an option.
At 7.30AM. Worse up north.
U⁶PDATE 8.50AM
In a matter of the minutes needed to pack a bag for the short drive to the aquatic centre, wind noticeably increased. After a bit of toss up, I put away the bag and car keys.
It would be okay to go, but the risk is losing this protective spot under the bridge, which is primarily why I came here since the entirety of Moruya is hopelessly exposed.
I need to keep the van and solar panels safe. On the latter, the downside to this spot is the panels are out of action. With such heavy cloud, there’s no real benefit being exposed above anyway. I can also run the engine to address the fridge and insulin if needed.
So, playing it safe. I’ll wash somehow later in the day.
10.15AM
This is called a “vigorous coastal low” not an eas coast low: different structure and moves earlier.
Copy pasting this from phone notes:
9.25am 1st July 2025. White pulsating flashes in my left eye for a few seconds. Disorienting, disconcerting. Am quite cold and had been in the wind and rain, filling water bottles (at The Boatshed, bbay.) The eye sporadically has been irritating last few days, most recent this morning early.
2.20PM
More like a basic cold, wet southerly, this. To worsen, they say, variously, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow.
5PM
Shit day. I was hoping it might be exhilarating in the manner and memory of Turner, who loves storms as I do. But it was just shitty. Cold, windy, wet.
I’m protected here; even so, looking downriver out to sea there are whitecaps heading crossrivper, northwards, but you get that without these incessant major warnings.
The nomenclature doesn’t help. Different agencies and media outlets have different regions for “south coast”. Up north, in Jervis Bay, for instance, it’s horrific- also referred to as south coast.
We’re pretty forgotten down here.
I got out of the van a few times, but don’t want to risk getting wet, freezing, then sick. There is another day and two nights of this, worse, they reckon.
So just being an old homeless guy in a van trying to get out of the weather, perhaps to some in the guise of a traveller. More down and out, though, than anything else.
Quite dark now after a comparatively dark afternoon. Dinner is cooked. This spot is a haunt, so we’ll see how it goes settling into a cold wet windy night.
8.40PM
P-plate pains in the arse. Hooning up the street lacking car control skills, banging car doors now about 150 times, whatever that’s about, doof doof brainless music and aggro inanity. Fuckwits.
Two days of rain coming. And wind; could be pretty fierce. It’s visible this morning as portent.
High drama about the coming low. Warnings are all over the newspaper websites as well as at the BOM. We’re outside of the main impact zone but squarely inside the warning area. Gale force wind gusts and tons of rain, Tuesday (tomorrow) and Wednesday mostly, they reckon. Abating Thursday.
Not much I can do to dodge it, except head up to Canberra, although Cooma they predict is going to cop it.
I love it. High energy. Nature in your face, a reminder of who’s boss. Replenishment. Renewal after it’s spent.
The main concern for living in the van isn’t rain-I’ll just get wet and freezing cold-it’s a branch through a solar panel. So I’m in a spot now, in case it comes earlier in the night, where hopefully I’ll be okay.
Driving with the panels in strong wind is troubling too; these upright vans problematic enough without panels, like sails, on the roof.
In many ways this East Coast Low is what I’m here for. Often the warnings don’t produce the weather expected, but you never know each time.
