A former Timaru teacher did not expect his start to Aussie life to include a looming category 3 cyclone and the threat of evacuation.
Two weeks after starting a new job at a school in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Ross Godwin found himself staring down the incoming Tropical Cyclone Mitchell.
While the cyclone ultimately did not reach its forecast heights, he said it was still quite the experience.
‘‘The scary thing was at that time, it was only a category 1.
‘‘It was only expected to be a category 1 and then later that day, it was updated to a category 2,’’ Mr Godwin said.
‘‘As it was happening, it was updated to a category 3.
‘‘I kept checking the weather app every half an hour just to see what the updates were and at one stage it was forecast to have 30mm of rain in one hour but then it never happened.
‘‘It was all really exciting, like what could have been, but it sort of just ended up being really windy and not even that much rain.’’
He said there had been warnings that he would need to evacuate.
‘‘I got a text saying you’ll be given a 24-hour notice.
‘‘I’m at a caravan park in a wee wooden cabin in a place called Point Samson, so I had a couple people message me and ask if I wanted to come in to town.
‘‘I went and checked with the people who run the park and they said that it should be all right because the buildings were apparently designed to withstand a category 3 cyclone.
‘‘I ended up going inland to a place called Wickham and stayed with a friend. We were just inside and really, really excited for what was to come, but like I said, it never really did.’’
It had been interesting speaking to locals about the event, Mr Godwin said.
‘‘There was such a mix [of opinions].
‘‘I had people who were probably quite overdramatic come to me and go like, ‘you’ve got to prepare for the cyclone, it will be massive, you’re in real danger’.
‘‘Then you had your typical Aussie blokes that were like ‘it’ll just be a bit of rain’.
‘‘The only time I was really concerned was when I kept hearing the category going up, since I was still in my little wooden shack.’’
Despite the weather scare he had been enjoying a new challenge in Western Australia.
‘‘It has been a very tough couple of weeks, just getting in the new school. It’s a totally different world.
‘‘I’m working in a full Aboriginal school in an Aboriginal community and it’s quite sad. There’s a lot of broken homes.
‘‘There’s a bit of mistrust [with] a white fella coming into this Aboriginal school. But I have heard that it does take like a term to build up that trust and once you show that you are there to help, the community warms up to you.
‘‘I’m really enjoying the country and the area, though. If people ever get the opportunity to come over, I would highly recommend it.’’
