Sunblock sales plummet . . .

. . . as does the rain - steadily without cease for more than 24 hours. And the worst is yet to come, according to the latest forecast: "dangerous" rainfalls, winds and seas.

This afternoon, I splashed down our street to Wimbie Beach for a squizz, and this is what I found. Our peacable little creek had become a turbulent (and wide) torrent, gouging into the beach and carrying a large swathe of it into the ocean. The tide is on the ebb in the picture, and the waters relatively calm; it will be interesting to see what havoc tonight's king tide visits on the beach - and indeed on the whole of the New South Wales coast.

The rain had eased off a tad when I was out, but it is battering down again now. I was drookit by the time I got home - "wringin' through and through", my dear old Granny would have said. It's the first time I've uploaded my blip in my PJs and dressing gown. Well, the thunder may be crashing directly above me and rattling our roof, but I'm home and dry . . . and the tantalising aromas of a lamb curry are drifting through from the kitchen . . .