Floodwaters have caused a weekend of havoc at O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards, ripping out all of its Semillon vines destroying the 2008 crop, inundating the wine cellar and lapping at the floors of the historic homestead. Amazingly however the Chambourcin vines on the other half of the vineyard escaped major damage and will be scheduled for harvest in the coming weeks.

At O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, in Lamington National Park, an amazing 800mm has fallen in a week – almost half the average rainfall for a year – but aside from some fallen trees on the Border Track and several washed out bridges across creeks, the rainforest has withstood the wild weather and the waterfalls are now at their spectacular best.

The week of wet and wild, which saw 273mm deluge the mountain at O’Reilly’s in the 24 hours from Friday to Saturday alone, has brought mixed blessings to the O’Reilly’s.

The normally peaceful bubbling brook at the back of the vineyard turned into raging torrent as it swelled with mountain rain on Friday night, inundating part of the vineyard, stripping out the Semillon vines and leaving behind a mess of logs and other debris in its destructive wake.

Vineyard Manager Arwen McGregor said it appeared they had lost just about all of their Semillon vines and sustained stock and other damage.

“We had our Semillon vines netted to keep the birds out and a mass of big logs have been pushed through by the sheer force of the water, catching on the nets and pulling the vines from the ground in virtually a total loss of the Semillon,” Ms McGregor said.

“The cellar had a foot of water through it and everything up to this level, including stock, is caked in thick mud, but thankfully almost all of the stock above flood level will be salvageable.”

“Fortunately our larger section of Chambourcin vines have been largely untouched so if we can clear the debris quickly we should still get a good vintage at harvest.”

Amazingly the fledgling Verdelho vines were also spared as the water carved out a channel of destruction, which ran around the homestead and cut a swathe through the middle of the property. The platypus viewing platform and a bridge were literally carried away, while several trees were also brought down.

A major cleanup is underway but some of debris can’t be cleared by heavy machinery until the waterlogged ground dries.

2007 was one of the driest years on record, with just 1195mm recorded for the entire year, well below the average of 1650mm and the rainforest around O’Reilly’s was showing the signs of stress from below average rainfall over the previous decade.

Fortunately the strong winds came before the heaviest rain so that the trees were not easily uprooted and the dry ground was able to soak up most of the early downpours, limiting damage in the forest. Around six trees came down across the Border Track, which is still passable.

With the rains persisting the creek flows started rushing faster, flooding several bridge crossings. Elabana Falls will be closed for several days, but Moran’s Falls is now looking stunning and is easily accessible.

The road to O’Reilly’s is also fully accessible.

The famous Tree Top Walk along with the Flying Fox and other Adventure Rides held up well in the winds and big wet.

O’Reilly’s Activities Coordinator Tim O’Reilly said it had been a chaotic week of wild weather but the rainforest would now rejuvenate to its luxuriant best.

“The flow over Moran’s Falls is one of the biggest, if not the biggest I’ve ever seen, so it is quite spectacular to watch,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“Over the next couple of weeks the rainforest and the wildlife will really come alive, especially following such a dry year, and this will be perfect timing for our Wildlife Week activities (Jan 20-26th).”

The first O’Reilly’s Wildlife Week is a combination of the Frog Week activities normally held in December and the regular January Mammal’s Week, with activities focused on reptiles also added to an exciting program.

“The frogs naturally will be singing very happily after all the recent rain and all the wildlife will be very active,” Mr O’Reilly said.

Whilst counting the costs of the Canungra damage, the O’Reilly’s are grateful the rains came after completion of the main stage of their Mountain Villas development, which opened to acclaim from owners and visitors last October, while the final completion of their Lost World Spa is not expected to be delayed by the wet weather. Stringent stormwater planning has proven its worth with no rain damage to the Mountain Villas development.

With fine weather returning there will be plenty to enjoy in ‘Nature’s Theme Park’ for the rest of the school holidays, as the forest dries out a little and the wildlife become active again.

For further information, please contact O’Reilly’s on 1800 688 722 or O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards on 07 5543 4011, or visit www.oreillys.com.au.  

ENDS.

Further information on O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat.
Further information on O'Reilly's Mountain Villas.
Further information on O'Reilly's Canungra Valley Vineyards.

MEDIA:
For further information on this press release, please contact:
Amanda Tidmarsh
Phone: 07 5502 4900
Fax: 07 5502 0988
E-mail: communications@oreillys.com.au
Or
Kathy Bourke
Phone: 07 5539 9883
Mobile: 0419 757 622
E-mail: kathy@articulatecommunications.com.au