Hi everyone,

Cyclone Ita did turn into a severe one - it means not only that anybody camping in the area should know where to shelter, but also that it will very likely stuff the plans of many April travellers, and the later travellers of this year will see some significant cyclone damage unless we are saved by an unpredicted miracle.

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In This Issue:

• Ita Category Three and Predicted to Be Four When Hitting the Coast

• Feedback Always Welcome

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ITA CATEGORY THREE AND PREDICTED TO BE FOUR WHEN HITTING THE COAST

This is not our average Cat 1 that we are used to: http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/index.shtml (link deleted once BOM removed the page)

This cyclone is in the class with the infamous Yasi (2011) and Larry (2006) - the ones that rip the roofs, devastate the rainforests and flatten the banana fields.

It is still a few days away, things could happen, but by the sounds of it the chances now are not so big.

We have been lucky up here, all the big ones have happened south of us, and locally this has even created some false thinking that 'big cyclones go south' even though, in line with Darwin, we are in no way outside the cyclone belt.

So all we can do now is to get ready to get hammered and hope it's not our roof...

For travellers this means get to a town and get to a shelter if camping out there; expect very possible floods and closed roads if you planned to come up shortly; and the travellers later this season will see cyclone damage unless a miracle stops it.

Yasi and Larry left behind some extensive damage not only in form of ripped roofs but also many homes flattened, and dense green rainforests turned into heaps of bare brown tree skeletons.

It looked like a war zone and you will most likely see it on the landscape this year.

It looks by all means that this is a disaster knocking on our door, but we still have a few days to go and some hope that this far into April the ocean waters would be cool enough to unpower this beast (and it doesn't sound like that when listening to our radio!).

Fingers cross and I will keep you posted!


UPDATES IN THE DESTINATION GUIDE

The price updates in the Destination Guide are going ahead cyclone or not.

It has slowed them a bit, and with the cyclone so close I don't want to promise or predict, but I will not disappoint you.

 
FEEDBACK ALWAYS WELCOME

I really appreciate any kind of feedback on the Destination Guide.

Please let me know if you enjoyed it while planning before the trip, and while using the information once on the trip.

If you get any questions about anything, please feel welcome to contact me.

That's all for this time - happy planning everyone :-)

Katrin


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