When the farm workers came down the hillside, burrowing under a barbed wire fence to bring boxes of water and bananas to the hundreds stranded by flood waters on the highway below, they were a little surprised to find everyone so well fed.
And in such high spirits.
Forget Lord of the Flies. This was a thriving community of shared resources and resourcefulness, where truck drivers dished out food that had been destined for supermarkets to waylaid holidaymakers who cooked it on camping stoves.
Not everyone has been so lucky, however.
Potentially thousands of vehicles are stranded on the M1, the main motorway between Sydney and Brisbane.
Several hundred have been stuck between Ballina and Tweed Heads for at least 30 hours since the road was cut south of the Tweed River about 7.30am Monday. On Tuesday, more reports came through of drivers becoming stranded between Ballina and Coffs Harbour as the deluge tracks south.
Those stuck further north had to work together to arrange their vehicles on to a series of “road islands” as flood waters rose around them in various pockets overnight.
How people have fared depends on how well stocked the fellow travellers on their particular island have been.
When the Guardian joined Duranbah farm workers bringing fruit and water down a steep, rain-sodden hillside beside the highway, we stumbled upon one of the lucky groups.
For one thing, this group of 100 vehicles, stuck on a stretch of road about 800 metres long, had the benefit of a short road tunnel that had provided shelter from the pouring rain as well as some lighting after nightfall.
They also had Rahjah McNae, who was driving a truck full of raw chicken bound for Aldi. By dinner time on Monday, the truck doors had been thrown open and the chicken was being shared around.
“Thankfully the four-wheel drive guys had the cooking equipment, they’ve been fabulous cooking for everyone. Everyone’s getting a hot breakfast, everyone got supper last night,” McNae says.
Clark Luckman, from the Central Coast, was part of a convoy of five vehicles bound for Fraser Island. Luckman and his friends were set up under the tunnel running the impromptu community kitchen.
“People were bringing up sausages and whatever they could,” Luckman says.
“But they weren’t bringing it up for themselves, they were bringing it up for everybody. It’s been a real coming together, a team effort.”
Formula for a four-month-old baby was sourced by truck drivers getting on the two-way radio. Fold-up chairs have been shared around, with elderly people or those unwell getting first choice. A raided removal truck provided a few more seating options.
Despite the relative positivity, everyone is clearly weary and there is frustration at the lack of responsiveness from authorities.
McNae says they were told by transport officials in person yesterday not to drive through the flood waters up ahead, but then the officials left and didn’t return.
“We’re invisible to the authorities,” McNae says.
“They’re very busy, I can appreciate that. But phone calls went unanswered to various government departments. The SES and NSW police are buried basically and we’re not on their radar.”
Further along the highway, many are furious, as much at the lack of information as the dearth of food and water.
Sheree Guyder, from Brisbane, spent the night with her three children aged eight to 16 after their holiday was cut short.
“Google Maps said it would be a four-minute delay here … 24 hours later!” she said.
Her comments are reflected widely. Locals lamented on Monday that Google Maps showed the Gold Coast was still within reach for travellers, despite the roads being closed.
Darcy Chadwick is stuck further south near Pottsville, in a group of 50 people who spent the night on an overpass above the highway.
Food there was in short supply, but still shared widely.
“Someone – a local farmer I think – brought down a box of bananas and a box of passionfruit and then someone who was also stuck had like a tray of prawns in an esky. So we all got one prawn, a banana and a passionfruit,” Chadwick says.
“And then a lady was offering what she had, which was like non-alcoholic gin spritz things. She was handing them around.”
Chadwick, a Tweed local, knew the highway was closed but expected it to retreat with the high tide as has happened previously.
What she couldn’t know was the sheer deluge of water coming their way.
In Chinderah, near where the highway is cut, the major flood level is 2.0 metres. Last night it reached 2.95 metres, well beyond the floods of 2017 and 1954.
By Tuesday lunchtime the river had retreated to 2.7 metres but there was still the prospect of people spending a second night sleeping in their cars.
Kym and John Hardcastle have it better than most, having been camping with their dog Molly in their motorhome at Evans Head when they set off back for their Gold Coast home.
“We’ve got luxury here, with the motorhome. Although I can’t say I’ve ever free-camped in the middle of the M1 before,” Kym says.
“This is probably the riskiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
