Once in a century storm
I took this screenshot Wednesday night (Au. time) just as the storm hit. I'm the little green circle on the mainland directly north of Tasmania. Power went off before having a chance to post it and has only just come back on again.
Keep in mind that our high and low pressure systems spin in opposite direction to the northern hemisphere. More than half of the state of Victoria was seriously affected by this storm; really big trees are down everywhere, some towns flooded badly and the water is still making it's way down to the coast.
Ironically, most mornings I walk the dogs at Wreck Beach on the coast of Bass Strait. In 1901 a ship called The Artisan was washed onto the rocks, luckily with no loss of life, in what was called a 'once-in-a-century' storm. The next day the captain, his wife and the crew of 'Manilla Men' stepped onto the rocks and walked ashore. The ship was stripped of most things of value by the locals. 
The anchor is still in a far out rockpool along with a couple of jury-rigged sea anchors made from old bits of machinery.
The storm and gale force Easterlies rages all of Wednesday night and much of Thursday. I couldn't help myself - the dogs and I drove to Wreck beach Thursday morning and could barely walk a few metres into the wind. I still have sand embedded in my scalp! Hopefully there will be no more storms like this on in my lifetime.
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And here I thought that we had bad storms here - I'm in the Northeast (NE NY) and we've has some rough ones, including just this week with teeming rain, wind and thunder, lost power briefly. And just last week, we were also hit, branches down all over and even a few uprooted trees. Such storms, especially in the winter, aren't uncommon in these parts. My Dad was manager of te local power company, so I often had a front row seat. I remember the worst one when I was a kid, we had to evacuate (except for my poor Dad) when the power was out for days and there was widespread damage.
But it looks like this one dwarfs ours, yikes! Glad to hear that you and the pups are okay and thanks for checking in... 
I chuckled this week when National Geographic *formally recognised the Southern Ocean. We've been calling the space under Australia and above Antarctica that for years.
It's the only unbroken stretch of water circling the globe. With no land in the way to deflect, the winds get pretty severe. Winter solstice is in ten days.
Much of the time it is a warmish, pleasant, temperate climate. Every so often.... WOW.
Somehow, I never thought of your part of the world as having the miserable weather that we do here in the Northeast U.S. - But I learned today that you get hit, too!
BTW, I've never been to Australia, but my parents have. In fact, my mother liked it so much that she went twice, accompanied an old college friend who had never been and wanted to go. And the one thing I remember is that you have opposite seasons. My Dad planned their trip when we weren't having the best weather here. And I used to serve as a DU mod with a DUer from New Zealand who used to pick on the rest of us when we were experiencing snowstorms, he'd brag about his great weather. And since we're almost experiencing summer here, the mountains of snow are finally melted, you have my sympathies about what's to come for you... 
The Daily Show: Biden Visits The U.K., Toobin Is Back On CNN, Scientists Discover Another Ocean
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017661199