The impact of the devastating flood is awe inspiring - the massive height of the river is evident on the hill overlooking the park and up the few trees that remain. Everything else has been smashed and levelled.
Stunned locals have flocked to the park since the Colleges Crossing bridge opened yesterday. A group from the army were also on hand today to survey the damage - as a Navy helicopter flew overhead. This is not a mop and bucket job - this is a clearance job worthy of our military.
The media were also on hand - from the press and tv - recording the devastation. Even when the cafe was taken to safety on the morning of the 10th - the river while rising through the park didn't seem to have much power behind it. What happened since then was that a relentless torrent of water has ripped and stripped the parkland. The height that the river reached is hard to imagine until you stand in the middle of the park and see metal wrapped around posts - posts bolted in concrete ripped out and twisted, wood and metal toilet blocks just washed away.
We've survived floods at the cafe - the latest 10m efforts in October and December, and after the water subsided - it was back to work, brewing the coffee.
This time, the cafe will be sitting on the side of the road on the top of the hill for sometime.
We've donated ice creams which were put into storage, to the Australia Day celebrations in Ipswich. We'll now have to wait for our own reopening celebrations - watch this space.
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