We were lucky ...some of the roads we took on our road trip are now closed ....

Our last leg back to Nicky,s we had extra 7 hour drive .... because the main road back had been closed ...

Canberra is full of smoke ....the winds are blowing it in ...

All New Year Celebrations cancelled ...

Nicky is staying indoors....

Sending love to all involved.... awful...sad ....and very scarey ....

Nicky is relieved I'm home ...but I worry she's there ....

She'll be right Doreen....don't worry...it's gotta ease up soon. 

LB has been at fires all week in SA... Melbourne has been smokey for a few days now but was clear today...still sporting that smoke affected voice though.

Thanks Jo....

This is the view from her balcony now....and what it should be ...

Those fires are horrible, I feel so bad for our Aussie friends 😞

Victoria is having what we had in NSW Freak Hot Winds and instant break out of fires. I have 2 brothers and a son in Victoria, All ok. Other friends in Gippsland lost their homes, but not their lives. The NSW fires are a good distance from me this time. 

- Eight fires burning at watch and act level in NSW

- Seven fires burning at emergency level in Victoria

-Father and son confirmed dead in NSW south coast town and fears for another man

- Dozens of homes and a school lost in towns of Buchan and Sarsfield in Victoria

 

The fireies down here (Vic) think we are in for bigger issues late Feb and early March than we are right now.

I am so lucky, a close call but nothing so devastating as their losses. The forecast for this weekend is one feared by everyone in Australia at the moment. I don't think I have seen or heard anything quite so bad as these numerous outbreaks before. 

I remember Ash Wednesday and I was only a little kid...I remember watching the roos jumping into the ocean off the cliffs at Anglesea...on the news..kinda traumatic....Ash Wednesday was like this..west of the Adelaide Hills all of Victoria up the coast and southern NSW....but it wasn't as prolonged and sustained as this.

 

This has been constant since August and every time you think it can't get worse it does.

 

Tomorrow and Saturday are looking real dicey.

 

Worried and sad.  The land, the animals, the lives, the air, the forest.  Worried and so sad.

1 hour ago, Sazerac said:

Worried and sad.  The land, the animals, the lives, the air, the forest.  Worried and so sad.

 

The land and forest don't fair too badly. There are a large number of plants here that need fire to propagate, they don't even seed unless they are burnt at the right temperatures. The worst thing we did was stop controlled burnings, seriously the Aboriginals have been doing them for 60 million years. Within a year there will be so much new growth you wont believe it was as bad as it was. Within 5 years there will be no physical reminders. Its amazing the way nature recovers herself.

 

The animals do it hard, the air is pretty unavoidable, the loss of lives, you kind of feel them all, even though they are total strangers.

 

We have 2 confirmed dead in Victoria and 17  28 still missing. Our Premier (kinda like your governors) has declared many zones to be under a state of disaster (this is the next level up from emergency) which means forcible evictions from property if evacuations are called. There are still over 3,000 people stranded on a beach in Mallacoota with no roads open in or out, surrounded by fire. The navy have evacuated 1100. 

Edited January 3, 20206 yr by notsmokinjo

Praying Saturday won't be as disastrous as they are predicting.....

It was sad watching to see all the folks standing on the beach ...for safety ....

That I was standing on only a short time before enjoying my Birthday ......with a glass of bubbly...

I feel very thankful ,I'm back home safe ...

New fire has started a bit closer to me...still miles away but it's in an area I visit pretty regularly so hits home a bit more. 

https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/#!/incident/ESTA:200101306

 

Just watch Nick Kyrgios lose his shit and cry because "we" have the most toxic air in the world at the moment....so until yesterday I was a bit anti Kyrgios...he's just always seemed a bit of an ego tosser but today changed that.

The hills outside Euroa last night...wind change saved the town, this is Ned Kelly country. Omeo was also saved by the wind change.

 

Dunno what it's like in other states but don't be walking into a Coles or Woolies in Melbourne thinking to by bottled water....it's all been pulled from the shelves and sent to fire effected towns and CFA staging zones as donations...love how everyone down here does what they can...even big business.

 

Saddly NSW towns didn't fare as well yesterday and there were hundreds of houses lost when the wind change hit...biggest issue is one of the Victorian fires looks like it's going to jump the boarder and join one of the NSW fires. 

 

A drizzly rain front just passed Melbourne heading the way of the fires...hoping it's enough.

Weather is helping with the Vic fires...just hope it's enough as there are still many out of control.

 

Just wanted to point out that the vast majority of fireies fighting these fires are volunteers. The chicks n sticks of the CFA/CFS are frickin heros...the Salvos and Red Cross and Country Women's Association members keeping everyone fed, clothed and councilled...heros...and to our mates from NZ, Canada and the USA who are over here lending a hand....all these mob are heros, every day people who put their lives on hold and on the line, feeling a bit humbled.

 

 

On 1/5/2020 at 2:07 AM, notsmokinjo said:

The hills outside Euroa last night...wind change saved the town, this is Ned Kelly country. Omeo was also saved by the wind change.

 

Dunno what it's like in other states but don't be walking into a Coles or Woolies in Melbourne thinking to by bottled water....it's all been pulled from the shelves and sent to fire effected towns and CFA staging zones as donations...love how everyone down here does what they can...even big business.

 

Saddly NSW towns didn't fare as well yesterday and there were hundreds of houses lost when the wind change hit...biggest issue is one of the Victorian fires looks like it's going to jump the boarder and join one of the NSW fires. 

 

A drizzly rain front just passed Melbourne heading the way of the fires...hoping it's enough.

I visited this town Jo on my travels ...some of the lovely little town have now gone ....this is very sad for me ...I'm so happy to see it survived ....thank you for the update ...

I thought it was over Red Rover, but not so. Spot fires from embers are effecting some of us day and night, the smoke haze is still around, but bot as bad here as before Christmas.

 

My relatives in Victoria are very anxious but have not yet evacuated, we are all still holding our breath. We are some of the lucky ones, others not so lucky.

 

Finally getting money and help from our Government, which was late in starting, but the people effected were very angry in our small bush towns.

 

Fire alerts all down  Eastern Coast of Australia, mostly controlled near me. We had a small amount of rain yesterday, but not enough to put out the fires completely. Amazing so many people want to help us, loads of rescuers putting their own lives at risk to do just that.

 

The biggest rescue operation in all states of Australia that I have ever seen at one time. Thanks to everyone. 

One of the fellas at work was evacuated from the beach at Mallacoota on the Navy boat. Came in with his kids yesterday and omg huge shout out to our pussers..."best holiday ever, even better than Disneyland"...Mr 8. .."yeah that's why you have nightmares everynight and wake up crying like a ***** bit yeah the boat was awesome"...Mr 12

So the Navy staff onboard went over and above to make the best of a bad situation and give the kids as much fun as they could. So while their holiday was scary and hellish the Navy did what they could to make the last hours of it good memories. 

 

@forestgreen... Stay safe, keeping you and yours in my prayers.

 

G’day 

Stay safe all. I’m in Forster NSW. Wow. 

Been coming to Forster all my life, never believe what has happened. 

The lakes way ( main way in and out both ways) is all but burnt from one end to the other. Houses and properties are burnt and damaged. Places I’ve known all my life gone!  Dozens of houses gone at rainbow flat and halidays point. Breaks ya heart.

Had odds and sods of rain which has slowed things down even though the smoke haze is ever present the sirens going past have stopped over the last few days.

Recon the fire’ys have a chance for a rest. But a rest only. It will dry out soon enough. 

God bless all

Chris 

Saving The Dinosaur Trees

Nicky says she may get rain ...bless...never hear anyone more excited over rain ....fingers crossed she is not disappointed....

We have had steady drizzle over the last 8 hours, HOW GOOD IS THAT.  My garden is now on my to do list, "I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, etc) Poem by Dorothy Mackellar.

 

If she was alive today the flooding rains would definitely be out of the picture maybe some other words like parched dry barren cracked shrivelled useless, unforgiving, desolate, burnt-to-a-crisp would be on the agenda. We might write something with these words included. Come on Aussies lets do the poem. 

We are a land of extremes.... its drought or flood, very rarely anything in between... at least that's the case for my 43 years. 

 

I hope you mob up North (including Our Doreen's Nicky) cop what we had last night... Melbourne was smashed with a 6 hour thunderstorm... yes 6 hours of thunder, may have been more but I fell asleep. Which included 2 huge down pour, my area got 38mm in 20 minutes. The suburb 3 over got 66mm in 35 mins, which is a whole month of rain in less than an hour. The wetlands looked magnificent this morning.

 

So the wetlands near me are a breeding ground for the Bin Chickens... but they have been awol with all the smoke, not sure where they have buggered off too. Si we have a few days reprieve from the smoke but are expecting it to kick up again on the weekend.

This is a Bin Chicken...

 

That is a scary looking beak on that chicken @notsmokinjo!!!