Hervey Bay Gossip

… Hervey Bay is the place to be.

Currently the Queensland coast – from Rockhampton in the north all the way down to the Gold Coast is experiencing some very rough weather. Beaches are closed as big waves pound the coastline and, when they combine with high tides around lunch time, the Weather Bureau expects that in some parts of the Gold Coast and Fraser Island the waves will extend beyond the beach zone.

But here in Hervey Bay, even though we’ve got wind gusts up to 57 km/h at the moment, the water is quite calm as you can see from this image taken from the Aquavue Cafe Watersports webcam just a few minutes ago.

With a current temperature of 24.3 C and that calm water Hervey Bay is definitely the place to be in the rough weather that the rest of the coast is experiencing today.

Update at 5.22pm

At 4.40pm today the Bureau updated it’s Severe Weather Warning for the east coast from south of Rockhampton down to Fraser Island and on to the Gold Coast. It seems that there has been little change in their previous forecast although the Bureau now expects coastal areas from Sandy Cape to Cape Moreton to experience wind gusts of up to 100 km/hour on Sunday.

Currently the weather in Hervey Bay is fine and sunny and 25 C. The wind is blowing from the south-south-east with gusts up to 48 km/hour and the barometric pressure is 1009 hPa and rising.

The Weather Bureau continues to forecast little change in the low pressure system that is currently bringing high winds and rain to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. At 10.55am this morning the low was centred approximately 420 km north east of Sandy Cape and is expected to remain there for the next 24 hours.

When the low pressure system does begin to move it is expected to head northwest.

There seems little likelihood of the low pressure system developing into a tropical cyclone at this stage despite the dire predictions that are coming from the media.

The system is generating gale force winds and high seas and these conditions are expected to spread south to Tweed Heads during Sunday. The Bureau is expecting high tides on the east coast of Fraser Island to exceed the usual high tide mark and some waves during high tide are expected to extend beyond the beach zone.

 

While the Weather Bureau continues to warn of the potential for a tropical low pressure system to form off the coast of Queensland at 8pm this evening this system had still not formed.

If it does form it is expected to move southeast and develop into a tropical cyclone but computer models developed by the Bureau have been unable to conclusively indicate which direction the tropical cyclone would track.

At 2.38pm today the Bureau issued a Tropical Cyclone Outlook that indicated that the chances of the low pressure system developing into a Tropical Cyclone on Friday, Saturday or Sunday were low.

However the Bureau is warning of abnormally high tides and dangerous surf around Fraser Island and the Sunshine Coast together with gale force winds.

Currently (9.20pm) there are several bands of heavy rain showing on the radar around Hervey Bay.

Earlier today three Danish sailors were rescued from a yacht off the northern tip of Fraser Island.

Hervey Bay is facing the possibility of a tropical cyclone hitting the city on Saturday. At 3.11pm today the Weather Bureau’s three day cyclone outlook included this warning:

At the present time there are no significant tropical disturbances in the Coral Sea. A low pressure system is expected to develop over the western Coral Sea within 180nm of 20S 153E during Thursday and then further intensify into Friday as it moves southeast.

The likelihood for Tropical Cyclone development within the next three days is:
Thursday: low
Friday: Moderate
Saturday: High

While the low is expected to head south-east it is expected to turn towards the coast as the cyclone forms. If the cyclone does eventuate the Weather Bureau warns that we should expect big seas along the coastline.

If you drive along The Esplanade you’ll see that the caravan parks are beginning to fill up but there are still some empty spots and there still plenty of Vacancy signs up at the resorts and motels here in Hervey Bay.

So just how popular is Hervey Bay at Christmas?

Well according to Wotif.com a website that each year compiles a list of the top holiday 20 destinations around Australia based on accommodation bookings for December 24 and 25 Hervey Bay comes in at number 19. That puts us behind other holiday destinations such as Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie in New South Wales and Glenelg in South Australia.

 

Here’s the forecast for what we can expect the weather to be like here in Hervey Bay on Christmas Day.

Windy with showers is the overall forecast.

Temperatures should range from 21C to 27C

Strong winds bringing showers throughout the day will blow from the south east with speeds of up to 45 km/h by the afternoon.

So if you’re planning on doing Christmas lunch outdoors – as we so often do here in Hervey Bay – then it may be a wise idea to have an alternative plan ready just in case.

If you’re looking for some unusual gifts for your family and friends this year here are some suggestions for gifts from local businesses here in Hervey Bay.

How about a gift certificate? Obviously there’s nothing unusual about that but what they can get with that certificate might be out of the ordinary. Aquavue Cafe Watersports – opposite the Torquay Post Office – have gift certificates for everything from a mystery jet ski tour to a ride on the their Banana.

There’s no doubt that the family who receives a gift like this is going to have a lot of fun!

A towable for your boat or jet ski. Speaking of fun here’s an idea for a fun gift for the whole family. Jet Ski Hervey Bay have some great towables in stock this summer and riding behind your boat or jet ski on one of those is a real blast for the whole family.

Gel or Acrylic Nails. Now you may not think so but this is definitely something for the blokes to think about. Manicures etc. may not be a blokey thing but if a bloke gives a gift like that to the special lady in his life then he’s going to score many points. So for you blokes out there who might want to give this gift to your significant other talk to Lucia at Roxy’s Hair Works in the Fraser Shores Shopping Centre … she’s definitely the best in town.

Exercise. Yep there are plenty of gyms around and there are even those crazy people who run up and down the cycle path carrying logs but if you want to get into some exercise that does even more for you then think about a kayak or surf ski from Hervey Bay Kayak Sales at Aquavue – opposite the Torquay Post Office. Not only will you get the exercise you need but you’ll be able to watch turtles, dugongs, dolphins at the same time.

It’s a great way to enjoy the beach and the bay and get fit at the same time.

A new computer. There’s only one place to go this year if you’re thinking of a new computer for Christmas and that’s Fraser Coast Computers. You’ll find them in their new store at 6/17 Liuzzi Street Pialba. Rick will do you a great deal on a new or refurbished computer.

The new traffic lights at the intersection of Central Avenue and Boat Harbour Drive in Hervey Bay are set to be turned on next Friday.

The lights and the associated roadworks are reported to have cost $1.7 million. It will be interesting to see how the new lights work for traffic coming down from the Main Street roundabout.

This year’s Carols by Candlelight will be held at the Seafront Oval on Saturday December 15 starting at 5pm and finishing up around 8.30pm with a fireworks display.

My adult kids like to tell me I’m a real grandpa because I’m ready for bed by 8.30 almost everynight … but then that means I can make an early start to the day and see views like this from my office window every morning.

These two photos were taken out of my office window … about 5 minutes apart last Saturday and with views like this I’m sure you won’t mind the neighbor’s truck getting in the way