Australia is a country of extreme weather.
It has floods. It has drought. Bushfires scorch the earth and cyclones flatten the houses on it.
A perfect example of these extremes was evident last week when the south-east coast of Australia was hammered by ferocious storms that literally ate away at beachfront houses, and flooded others.
Three people died in floodwaters.
Here’s a look at the devastation it caused.
Collaroy Beach in Sydney’s northern beaches was one of the hardest hit
Photo: Daniel Munoz/ Getty Images.
Photo: Daniel Munoz/ Getty Images.Powerful sea surges hammered the coastline
Photo: Daniel Munoz/ Getty Images.
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.
Photo: Heath Holden /Getty Images.Coogee’s surf club copped a beating too
Photo: Brendon Thorne/ Getty Images.
Photo: Ryan Pierse/ Getty Images.Meanwhile just a two-hour flight north of Sydney, Cairns and Port Douglas remained untouched, if not had better weather because of the southern weather system.
Business Insider flew in a helicopter over this northern region in the wake of the Sydney storm, as it moved into Tasmania — where Launceston copped the brunt of it.
This is what we saw in Cairns.
From the air over Cairns, it was nothing but cloudless sky and pristine water
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.Flying over the Great Barrier Reef, it was so clear we could spot eagle rays and pods of dolphins
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.With next to no wind, the sea was calm and crystal clear
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.We took the land route on the way home. A few clouds but still idyllic conditions
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.
Photo: Sarah Kimmorley.The pilot of the chopper said he thought the unusually still conditions, and pristine waters were due to what was happening in the south-east parts of Australia.
Business Insider reached out to the Bureau of Meteorology to find out if there was a correlation between the weather conditions.
We’re waiting to hear back.
* Business Insider traveled to Cairns as a guest of Airbnb.
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