I guess the fires here have been in the news over there, it’s hard to say what an effect it has had here. In a land where fire is a fact of life, this is the worst disaster ever.
A series of fires have left whole towns in ashes across the state of Victoria, over 300 people have lost their lives, nearly 2000 homes gone, countless animals, hectares of national park and livelihoods gone. It’s simply horrible.
Unbelievably some of the fires were deliberately lit, it’s hard to find words for the contempt these people are held in, but arson in bushland is a serious problem here. Seriously hot days, bone dry forests and strong winds are bad enough…an idiot with a petrol bomb is the final straw.
Today the police got hold of a guy who will be charged. If it is him, he should be grateful the police got to him first. Similarly with the handful of people who have been charged with looting.
Adelaide has been really lucky that a similar thing didn’t happen here. We’ve got very similar conditions – houses surrounded by trees, a drought which has left fire fuel everywhere, a record heatwave (Jeez, that was tough), and for a few days some very strong and hot winds. We’ve had fires, lots of them, but fortunately they have not turned into something as devastating as those over the border.
We’re not out of the woods yet though, there is plenty of hot weather to come yet. And the fires are still burning in Victoria. A bit of rain and a cool change has eased conditions but it will take weeks to get all the fires under control.
Meanwhile as half of the country is in unprecedented drought and with fires burning across huge areas of the south and threatening the rest, the north of the country is totally flooded.
Queensland, at 688,000 square miles – 7 times the size of the UK – is flooded across two thirds of the state. However, as the drought has hit parts of Queensland as well, apparently over 50% of the state is still officially in drought. Even though it is under water.
One side effect of floods in this area is that large crocodiles will come further inland and wading through the main street of your town suddenly becomes highly perilous. Tragically a five year old boy was taken by a croc last week.
A town called Katherine in the north was flooded a couple of years ago, when the waters resided a large croc (large is 4m of more!) was still wandering aimlessly along the main street.
And they call this the lucky country!
But the fires are all the news here and now incredible stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances are starting to emerge. It’s a huge tragedy but I can’t help thinking this is a great country with great people with a great spirit.
Back to Adelaide and the fires and floods have knocked the other great Aussie summer story of sharks off the front page.
Great whites have taken at least one swimmer recently (near Perth) with several other limbs chewed off and various close shaves. My favourite was a swimmer who punched a shark on the nose and escaped with a couple of cuts and grazed knuckles. His interview outside the hospital was priceless, ‘I saw this big thing come from nowhere, so I smashed him’.
In Adelaide there are sightings every day of 4m+ sharks at the beaches, usually in chest deep water only 20m from the beach. And in Sydney this week two people have lost arms in separate attacks.
However, while summer in Adelaide is, as ever, hot and full of sharks, much has changed for the girls and me.
Jasmin is nearly two, she is running, jumping, has plenty of words and is very cheeky but also charming and beautiful. Mandy can’t run or jump so well, but has even more words and is even cheekier. And of course charming and beautiful too.
We’ve also moved house a little further into the hills. We still get koalas, possums, huge spiders and, a couple of nights ago, the biggest stick insect I’ve ever seen on the front door. It must have been 6 inches long.
There are some truly weird things in my overgrown and mysterious garden. Mandy and I had a beer on the veranda a few nights ago, as dusk came a baby koala frolicked in one of our trees, possums jumped from branch to branch and kookaburras cackled to eachother from the old gum tree. It was a beautiful evening.
Then the sun went down and suddenly there were unexplained rustles nearby and flying bugs crashing into us; the garden became a menacing and scary place. We retreated to get a refill and stayed inside watching hairy spiders march across the lounge room window.
So that’s it for now, I hope this finds everyone well. It’s been a good while since we put anything here and I’ll try to be a more regular correspondent. If you’re still out there, there are more pictures of life here on Facebook and it would be great to hear from you.
Cheers
Will, Mandy & Jas
A series of fires have left whole towns in ashes across the state of Victoria, over 300 people have lost their lives, nearly 2000 homes gone, countless animals, hectares of national park and livelihoods gone. It’s simply horrible.
Unbelievably some of the fires were deliberately lit, it’s hard to find words for the contempt these people are held in, but arson in bushland is a serious problem here. Seriously hot days, bone dry forests and strong winds are bad enough…an idiot with a petrol bomb is the final straw.
Today the police got hold of a guy who will be charged. If it is him, he should be grateful the police got to him first. Similarly with the handful of people who have been charged with looting.Adelaide has been really lucky that a similar thing didn’t happen here. We’ve got very similar conditions – houses surrounded by trees, a drought which has left fire fuel everywhere, a record heatwave (Jeez, that was tough), and for a few days some very strong and hot winds. We’ve had fires, lots of them, but fortunately they have not turned into something as devastating as those over the border.
We’re not out of the woods yet though, there is plenty of hot weather to come yet. And the fires are still burning in Victoria. A bit of rain and a cool change has eased conditions but it will take weeks to get all the fires under control.
Meanwhile as half of the country is in unprecedented drought and with fires burning across huge areas of the south and threatening the rest, the north of the country is totally flooded.
Queensland, at 688,000 square miles – 7 times the size of the UK – is flooded across two thirds of the state. However, as the drought has hit parts of Queensland as well, apparently over 50% of the state is still officially in drought. Even though it is under water.
One side effect of floods in this area is that large crocodiles will come further inland and wading through the main street of your town suddenly becomes highly perilous. Tragically a five year old boy was taken by a croc last week.
A town called Katherine in the north was flooded a couple of years ago, when the waters resided a large croc (large is 4m of more!) was still wandering aimlessly along the main street.And they call this the lucky country!
But the fires are all the news here and now incredible stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances are starting to emerge. It’s a huge tragedy but I can’t help thinking this is a great country with great people with a great spirit.
Back to Adelaide and the fires and floods have knocked the other great Aussie summer story of sharks off the front page.
Great whites have taken at least one swimmer recently (near Perth) with several other limbs chewed off and various close shaves. My favourite was a swimmer who punched a shark on the nose and escaped with a couple of cuts and grazed knuckles. His interview outside the hospital was priceless, ‘I saw this big thing come from nowhere, so I smashed him’.
In Adelaide there are sightings every day of 4m+ sharks at the beaches, usually in chest deep water only 20m from the beach. And in Sydney this week two people have lost arms in separate attacks.
However, while summer in Adelaide is, as ever, hot and full of sharks, much has changed for the girls and me.
Jasmin is nearly two, she is running, jumping, has plenty of words and is very cheeky but also charming and beautiful. Mandy can’t run or jump so well, but has even more words and is even cheekier. And of course charming and beautiful too.
We’ve also moved house a little further into the hills. We still get koalas, possums, huge spiders and, a couple of nights ago, the biggest stick insect I’ve ever seen on the front door. It must have been 6 inches long.
There are some truly weird things in my overgrown and mysterious garden. Mandy and I had a beer on the veranda a few nights ago, as dusk came a baby koala frolicked in one of our trees, possums jumped from branch to branch and kookaburras cackled to eachother from the old gum tree. It was a beautiful evening.
Then the sun went down and suddenly there were unexplained rustles nearby and flying bugs crashing into us; the garden became a menacing and scary place. We retreated to get a refill and stayed inside watching hairy spiders march across the lounge room window.
So that’s it for now, I hope this finds everyone well. It’s been a good while since we put anything here and I’ll try to be a more regular correspondent. If you’re still out there, there are more pictures of life here on Facebook and it would be great to hear from you.
Cheers
Will, Mandy & Jas
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