Storm Ciarán & Friends
By Tuesday the TV news is full of it. Never mind the wars raging in both Europe and the Middle East, there is, it seems, a storm heading towards Britain which is akin to the four horsemen of the apocalypse powering across the Atlantic to wreak devastation on our forlorn shores. Storm Ciarán, somebody somewhere has decided.
With Ciarán due to enter the fray Wednesday night into Thursday, we bring our plans forward by 24 hours and make the 350-mile 6-hour drive to Cornwall ahead of those “essential travel only” messages which will no doubt soon boom across the nation. We hole up, batten down, listen to the wind as it starts to howl and then to the rain as it starts to lash.
In the end, it’s not too bad here – Cornwall’s north coast turns out to be lee side of Ciarán’s venom and the other, southern, coast fares far worse. One guaranteed consequence of the battering winds round here is a violent, powerful Atlantic which is a joy to watch, its immense power reminding us every second that an ocean at its most playful is an unbeatable and deadly opponent. And a joy to behold from afar.
To watch is to thrill, surf crashing over the rocks, waves tossed high by jarring collision, balls of foam lifted by the wind and strewn along the coastal path. The conjoined roar of wind and sea is a deafening combination. Below us, the sea writhes, wrestles and pounds; above us, gulls fly one way, wings beating hard but making no progress against the onslaught, then oyster catchers hurtle in the opposite direction like mini jet fighters at full throttle.
The Atlantic is the star of this spectacular show. Steel grey meets brilliant white, beauty meets unstoppable force, rage meets frivolity. For a while we want to watch this all day, until horizontal rain pounds our faces with icy darts and sends us running for shelter; laughing, exhilarated, energised.
Later, sipping Tribute in the Old Custom House, our meeting with Ciarán gets us talking, soon remembering storms we’ve encountered on our travels around the world…
Korcula Town, Korcula island, Croatia, 2020, and without doubt the wettest Michaela’s ever been with her clothes on. We’d gone our separate ways, Michaela shopping and me exploring, when the sky turned as black as night, lightning flashed…and the heavens opened. I made it home while Michaela sheltered in a church, waiting for a lull in the storm in which to dash home. She mistimed it, arriving at the the door completely, utterly drenched – and cursing. I laughed, of course.
Gytheio, Greece, 2021, the last night of our long Greek summer. The storm raged for hours, through the evening and overnight, trees bending and thunder crashing. Come morning, there were no breakfasts, cafe owners more concerned with clearing collapsed awnings, wrecked furniture and smashed signs than heating up spanakopita or making coffee.
Veracruz, Mexico, where trees fell and the rain lashed the windows all night, and in the morning we came downstairs to find the whole of the ground floor of the apartment under several inches of water.
Luang Prabang, Laos where a mini cyclone turned the roads into rivers, where shopkeepers used whatever implement they could find to push the floodwaters away from their doorways.
Volos, Greece, where from the deck of the ferry we were able to watch a thunder storm rear up and rage immediately above the orange of the setting sun, every passenger running to port side to see the incredible spectacle.
Saigon, where the storm presented Michaela with one of her most notable photographs…
Quepos, Costa Rica. Unable to even get out of the bar with the torrential rain pelting down, we took up the offer of our kind host and called him for a ride home. Full of excitement, Reymar took us out into his garden where, in the torrential rain, two sloths were balanced on the wire, their typically slow movements even more enchanting in the dark and the rain.
And finally, and most dramatically, Kuala Tehan in Malaysia, the ultimate storm experience, where we were struck by lightning and lived to tell the tale. Struck by lightning in the jungle, our home blitzed, in the all too literal meaning of that word. Now that WAS a unique experience. You can read about that one here….
Storms can be great to watch, great to see, as long of course as you come out unscathed. And with a story or two to tell…
29 Comments
restlessjo
I love to watch a stormy sea, but there are limits to enjoyment if you’re bailing water out of your front door, as our son was recently. We had a minor hurricane here which uprooted numerous trees and left debris everywhere, but fortunately no fatalities. I sit here in pleasant sunshine wondering where it all went 🤗🩵
Phil & Michaela
Ugh, not good for your son, hope things are OK now.
Monkey's Tale
It is funny that these storms are so horrible to be in, especially when travelling, but then often result in the most memorable stories. Maggie
Phil & Michaela
They do indeed
grandmisadventures
Glad you had somewhere cozy to batten down and watch the storm roll by. You have certainly had an amazing array of stormy days in so many places around the world 🙂
Phil & Michaela
It’s good when it gives you stories to tell!
Mike and Kellye Hefner
A good storm hypes us up too, but not lightning strikes. Yikes! (WTF full form would’ve been my reaction too.) I don’t think we’ve ever seen a roiling ocean though, so I enjoyed seeing your photos – all of them. Michaela, your Rain in Saigon photo is absolutely stunning, and I also love the one from Gytheio. You crazy kids take care.
Phil & Michaela
Crazy kids?!…..it’s a long time since we’ve been called “kids”!
Mike and Kellye Hefner
Haha. It’s an endearment because you two are some of the most adventurous and energetic people I “know”.
Phil & Michaela
😊
Travels Through My Lens
You are an absolutely amazing writer; it is a true joy to read your posts. I shared it with my husband theTravelsketcher, (https://peninkandpaint.com/) and we took turns reading your words out to each other while we were waiting for the power to come back on here in Normandie. The storm has been pretty bad here too. However, reading about all your stormy experiences around the globe was intriguing and captivating. Thanks for sharing your adventures, and we Iook forward to your future posts.
Phil & Michaela
Wow thank you, I’m very flattered! We’ve had some storm experiences on our travels, but they give us stories to tell, so it’s all good!
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
That is quite a collection of storm photos and experiences to go with them! As a pilot I have spent a lot of my working life avoiding them! (Although now retired as of last Tuesday. 🙂)
Phil & Michaela
Congratulations! Retirement comes highly recommended from this corner!
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
No storms here, but the full moon last week, exceptionally high tide and strong winds created some magical moments at our favorite beach. With all the storms you guys have witnessed, I’m beginning to think your blog name should be Storm Chaser.
Phil & Michaela
I think it’s the storms that chase us!
Lookoom
Keep telling us where you’re going, to give us a chance to escape the storms you seem to attract. I also have some terrifying experiences while driving, in rain or hail, Canada, La Paz, Morocco or recently arriving in Batoumi, Georgia. Glad to see this photo of Saigon again, so striking!
Phil & Michaela
Ha ha we do get the occasional sunny day too!
Alison
Good to see you’ve weathered all storms and brave enough to be out in them taking photos! I’ve seen many typhoons in Hong Kong and that wreaked absolute havoc. At least you made it to Cornwall 😊
Phil & Michaela
Storms are good when the only lasting effect is stories to tell and photos to show!
Toonsarah
Glad you made it down to Cornwall OK. I share your fascination with a stormy ocean. I think that’s why I prefer the English coast in winter to summer! And what an array of storms from around the world you’ve experienced 😯 We’ve never been struck by lightening although I’ve seen some dramatic thunderstorms. We did dodge a hurricane in Florida (it was downgraded to a tropical storm just as it made landfall).
Phil & Michaela
The Atlantic coast is in my book the best UK coastline for a stormy day..
Helen Devries
After that experience in Kuala Tehan storm Ciaran must be pretty small beer….but what wonderful photographs!
Phil & Michaela
Oh yes, totally. I am working hard on how to reply to your cenotaph post today, but I have so much that I could say that I’m not sure if I can fit it all in and still get some messages over…
WanderingCanadians
Good call on travelling to Cornwall before the storm arrives. I love the stormy waves, but I’m not sure I could handle the rain or the wind! Sounds like you’ve handled your fair share of storms while travelling!
chirurgie esthetique
Nice post
wetanddustyroads
Although a stormy sea can wreak havoc, there is something magical about the sea on such days. And that photo in Saigon is stunning … maybe one day it will be used in a movie😉.
leightontravels
Jesus this was already a month ago. I enjoyed your overview of storms survived around the world. For me the most intense have been across Asia. We recently had a few whoppers on the coast of Croatia where we did a month outside the city of Zadar. Lovely to witness from the safety of our apartment.
Phil & Michaela
Well yes we witnessed two colossal Croatian storms, one in Split and the one on Korcula. Singapore on our first visit wins the award for “storm punctuality”, big thunder storm same time every afternoon.