Australian couple find a gold lining to their mud-covered home

Tens of thousands of Queenslanders lost countless irreplaceable items during the recent floods, but for one lucky couple the floodwaters miraculously returned a long-lost treasure which disappeared five years ago. The chance discovery came after Gaele and Trevor Hare were cleaning their home at Fernvale, west of Brisbane. The Poole Rd house lived up to its street name after it was inundated twice, halfway up the walls. Mrs Hare said after the floodwaters receded last Wednesday they began a massive clean-up operation.

The couple was helped by about 50 volunteers, including 10 defence personnel from Ipswich's Amberley RAAF base. While members of 1 Squadron were clearing mud from the hallway floor Mrs Hare noticed something out of the corner of her eye. "I looked down, through the mud, and thought: `Don't tell me that's what I think it is'?'' she said. "I could see a gold circle filled with mud and just could not believe it, it was Trevor's wedding ring.''



Mrs Hare said more than five years ago she thought it would be a sensible idea to hide the ring while they were holidaying. "We were going on holidays and hid it so burglars, if they broke in, wouldn't steal it,'' she said of their trip to the United States. "When we got back we looked for it everywhere. I did such a good job I even hid it from myself. I had given up ever finding it again.''

Mr Hare also could not believe their good fortune and said he had also lost all hope of ever finding his ring. "Really, I had just expected to never see it again,'' he said. Although the couple said they were devastated by the damage caused by the flood, they managed to stay positive because of the generosity of the volunteers who had helped them start all over again.