This is my account of the unexpected storm that turned Dad's Mexican themed wake into something truly extraordinary. Ben As you may be aware, everyone was having a lovely time eating and drinking all things Mexican while enjoying the intimate atmosphere the marquee provided. The Mariachi's played soulfully as everyone caught up with the years that had past between old friends. Dark clouds loomed and rumbled with authority nearby and soon it began to rain. Just as we were closing one side of the marquee to protect from the elements, the heavens unloaded their fury. Hundreds upon hundreds of chunks of hail began to pelt down upon the marquee and the ground below. Just as everyone was in awe of this unusual event, the intensity increased threefold and the rapping of the hail on the marquee's roof began to elevate the level of fear and excitement in the marquee. All the while, the Mariachi's continued to play not fazed or at least not letting on. One of the many hailstones punctured it's way through the marquee leaving a rip in the roof. Everyone feared that what within moments the whole marquee would be gone. As if to answer that fear, the marquee began to lift off the ground on one side. People rushed to hold down the posts with their own weight despite the pounding they were receiving from the hail. It was only then that a large tree was completely uprooted and fell beside the marquee only metres away from causing serious bodily harm. At this stage I was among the people who had decided to weigh down the windward side of the marquee. Hail hammering my back and head. It was then that I had noticed that the Mariachi's had stopped playing, the gravity of the events too serious for their frivolity. What was going to happen next?? Would we lose the roof of the marquee entirely? Would one of the other even larger trees fall down and crush the marquee? Fortunately the storm began to abate it's previous intensity and quite quickly it was gone entirely. We were able to survey the damage and reflect upon what had just happened. The kids all scaled the overturned tree as if they were tiny conquistadors claiming their prize. The caterers were left completely unsheltered as their smaller marquee had been left in a twisted mess. The fear in the atmosphere was replaced by a sense of exhilaration and speculation of Neil's posthumous involvement in this event. After catching my breath for a little while, it became apparent that a number of the minivans that had gone to tack guests to the top of the hill still hadn't returned. When we raised them on the radio we were told that the road was blocked by trees and they couldn't get through. We assembled a convoy of four wheel drive vehicles to take a load of guests back towards the minivans and see if we could get past the road blocks. There were fallen trees everywhere, small and large ones. We had to stop several times to clear the road with nothing more than a foot long hand saw and the muscles of the guests and the four wheel drives they came in. When we came to the final blockage it became apparent that it would be a difficult one. Several large trees and a large number of smaller ones blocked the way and a torrent of water at least 50 metres wide had begun to flow across the road like a new part of the river. A number of vehicles went off to find chainsaws but none could be found as the track was blocked by trees heading back to Neil's house too. It was down to the ingenuity of the group to come up with a solution. The local lads played a huge part in this along with a local lass who's four wheel driving techniques astonished the crowd. After cutting through part of the tree with the all but hopeless hand saw, a chain was wrapped around the tree and connected to the closest vehicle. This is when the local lass let her true colours shine. With an intensity that infected the whole group, she ripped and yanked at that tree as hard as she could with the vehicle ripping backward and sideways, all four wheels spinning. After a couple of attempts it was clear that more power was needed. Since the vehicle I was driving was the next in line they hooked me up to the vehicle in front with a strong but elastic strap. I yanked the the vehicle backwards and she yanked the tree as hard as she could and after several goes we were successful in snapping the tree and clearing the road. We knew by that stage that freedom was just the other side of the water covered road so we drove them to safety leaving them with an experience they will remember forever. One thing was for sure, Dad would have been proud.