Justin's new metal work

Time for change

29.1.2013

It rained a little last night, and when we woke the dry, bleached grass was a stronger gold colour and all the trees seemed to be sighing with relief. It was Edd’s first day of off farm work since the fires so we got going a bit earlier than usual and as I could miss out on the vegetable morning watering work it was more peaceful than usual here. Beni and I milked the goats and fed the animals before separating to tackle other issues. For myself I had a mountain of washing to sort and iron and Bernie went off looking for a job.

It was Australia day on Saturday and we hosted a party for the members of Edd’s Welsh choir and their wives. Luckily the day was slightly over cast, so although it was dry it was not too hot. The ruins are a perfect venue under these conditions and I think between fifty and sixty guests shared the day with us. Bo did the catering and that left Edd and I free to work on the venue. Everyone was interested to look round the underground house so that had to be cleaned up too. It was all very possible and went as well as I could hope for.

This concludes all the festivities around the turn of the year and we can now get back to sorting out farm issues. Edd fixed the fence between the hill and us yesterday so that we can move the horses there for the next half-year. It is a good place for them with a hill for exercise and shelter in the ti-tree thicket around the dam. I checked last week and there is very little grazing left. Kangaroos, rabbits and wombats seem to have eaten everything low growing. One day I even spotted a herd of about a dozen deer up there! The horses are still fat and a little hay each day keeps them going through the colder months.

Once we move the horses we can start feeding the sheep barley, if we tried now the horses would chase the sheep away and make themselves sick on it. We are waiting for John to do the shed wall foundations so that we can get a wall up to protect the hay and fire wood before the weather changes. A change has already started. The goat’s milk has dropped enormously this week and it is time to wean the kids and make sure the bucks cannot get near the does.

Justin came today with the metal screen door for our only west-facing window. It is designed to reduce the light if needed and give some protection from fire. Once again he has used a bull rush design and it is a wonderful artwork even when pulled back to the open position. He really is a very talented young man.

India phoned yesterday asking if I could pick her up from Alexandra and give her a lift down to the Yarra Valley. She first said Friday, then Thursday, but today I hear from Bo that she really meant Wednesday, which is tomorrow! I am not sure if her car will be ready by then, Edd is checking tonight. It has needed a lot of work doing to get it in good running order. Once I have sorted the ironing and packed away all the party table clothes.  I now need to concentrate on the accounts. I do not feel like starting new jobs or doing any art until everything is ship shape.

India safe

21.1.2013

India phoned tonight. She has been taken out of the camp and is away from where the fires are heading. The relief for everyone here is enormous.

My biggest worry is that I myself may have been part of the problem. We have all tried to keep going after the fires here and stay optimistic. What we have not done is clearly communicate exactly what it is really like to be in a fire storm. Perhaps we should have stressed how bad it was instead of focussing on how we coped. I say this because even now we hear people on the radio stating the sort of mythology that we trusted before we had the experience. I am pretty sure that they have never faced a tsunami of fire approaching with the noise and apparent speed of a jet plane.

Have they struggled to find their way in air that is so thick it blankets out all light and totally disorients you whilst you struggle to breathe? Have they discovered that in a valley a fire front may pass over, but that you will still be bombarded with fire bombs for hours after all your water pumps have run out of fuel or died for lack of oxygen. Have they known what it feels like when is neighbour is burning to death just down the road because they made a wrong choice at a critical moment?

It does not end there either. Problems with health, mental and physical continue in our valley even after four years. The climate has changed. The problems have increased and I applaud our PM for acknowledging this.

Now that this drama seems resolved we have to try and remember where we were at before we dropped everything except our concern for India.

The ground water table seems to have dropped suddenly in a way it did not even do at the end of the drought and we are having a battle to keep even the established fruit trees alive. The feed is also burnt off in the paddocks and because the fences are not yet all replaced after the 2009 fire we have limits on usable space. We have all the materials now to build new stockyards but the ground is rock hard and friends report that if they try to knock in posts they just shatter. This job might have to wait.

I will deal with it all tomorrow.

map

• This map shows the black hatched area where the fire has burnt and the first red line to the north shows this morning where the fire was, the second red line shows were the fire is expected to reach in the next 24 hours. India is just to the left of where the second  red dotted line crosses the road and river .

We imagine that everyone will be very busy there now and do not expect to hear much over the next few hours.

worry

20.1.2013

It is 2pm now. We woke to find our valley smelling of fire and very smoky. We are told on the internet that this is from the fires where India is. Al spoke to the CFA there this morning and the fire is moving towards the camp but fairly slowly in the cooler conditions. They hope it will stay at this rate as it moves through the camp at some time before tomorrow morning.

A wind and the return of the catastrophic conditions are predicted to return around Thursday but we hope that by then they will be in the black or evacuated. So far there has been no reports of them on the news but the fact that 10 people have remained at the little town of Licola up road to  the north of them is widely reported. I have decided that if I am not sure that India is safe by Tuesday I will get involved, and then the media will know.

The road access is very difficult from the south but it would be very possible to get a helicopter in. Some of our neighbours were rescued by helicopter in 2009 , One of their children chartered some one to go in during the fires which was very risky. Luckily the rescue was successful so we know it is possible. For now we are all in communication and just waiting hoping for better news.

India this morning

19.1.2013

The weather is cooler today and the winds have died down. The CFA in Licola sent someone in to the camp where India is last night and everyone was safe though they are still aware that the fire could go through any time. I think we can relax a bit today as the situation is less dangerous.

We have been in e-mail correspondence with some members of the camp committee. They feel that it was OK not to evacuate everyone because they have done all the right measures for fire action.  According to Al no one even knew there were people left in there until last night. Beni had informed everyone in the morning but maybe the message failed to get through.

The good preparations do not actually reassure us very much as both Beni and I had well prepared friends who were in the CFA and died in fires.  Beni was part of the CFA team who went up into the country around Licola during the 2006 bush fires so she knows what it is like. We both think that the only people who should stay to defend property are those who own the property or business and will suffer enormous loss if they are burnt out.

Edd and I had to fight our guests to get them to leave in 2009. We asked them to evacuate before there was much sign of danger and I remember talking to our woofer from Germany and explaining to him that his duty was not to risk his life trying to save our buildings but to think of his own family and friends and not take chances.

It is now four years after the big fires here but I have spent this year trying to get help from people still struggling. If you face death or have to wait for hours not knowing if your loved ones are alive or dead you release adrenalin through your body. This can persist for several months and can actually make people ill in ways that seem unrelated to anything.

It has been hard for us loosing our business, our stuff, and our home, but I am so glad that I put other peoples’ lives as the priority and I would make the same decision again if the need arose. I can understand India being willing to stay and fight and would probably have done the same myself as a young person in that situation. Basically young people do not understand the effect their actions have on others in the same way people do who are parents or partners.

Bo went through a terrible time in 2009 until she knew that we were still alive. The first week after the fires it was awful as we struggled to find out which friends and neighbours had perished. Normally I would have grieved more for the dogs but with such huge loss of human life it seemed insignificant.  We all love India so much and it is pretty terrible having to go through all that again.

5pm fire update

18.1.2013

5pm

So far the fires have not reached Wollangarra.

We are, of course, terribly worried about India but at least for now we know she is still O K. They are still very much threatened by the fires around them. This has been a day of sitting by the phone and trying to make sense of the generalised reports on the CFA web site and TV news. Luckily some one from the Wolangarra team is still up dating their own web site. They thought the fires were 3 kilometres away and expected them at any time mid way through the afternoon but we here that they are waiting.

Beni has found out that tomorrow Jimmy from Steel Creek is going up there with the fire fighting team and has briefed him to send back news. Right now we just have to sit and wait. It is interesting to discover that in my experience it is much harder to be on the outside wondering what is going on than actually being in the fires.

I think Al has had more stress than any normal person could possibly cope with over the last few years and I am as worried about him as I am about India. 

FIRE FEAR FOR INDIA

18.1.2013

There is nothing more that we can do for now.  Last night the phone lines to Wollangarra were down but this morning India managed to get through to us for a short time.  It was a terrific help knowing that she was still OK. Last night we heard on the news that the fires in that area had dramatically increased and that it was too late to evacuate. I found out on the Wollangarra web site this morning that most of the children there had been safely evacuated in the night from the place they were camping but India was named as one of the five people still remaining at the cabin.

Beni helped us get through to various sites such as the CFA and the police and as far as we can make out they were unaware that a small group still remained at the main cabin. They promised to notify fire crews, but there has just been a wind change and the whole area is in panic mode. We do know that there is a solid dug out shelter by the river there and that everyone has suitable clothes. They have moved stores down to the dugout so that they have food if the worst happened and the river has some water in it. Luckily it is low enough that they could wade across it if the flying fox burnt down.

It will be a dreadful weekend of waiting until we get more news.

It is still very hot here but the wind change has brought in cloud cover. It is getting increasingly hard to keep trees alive even old ones that survived the drought and the fire. In my eyes the land now is worse than it was at the end of the last 13 year drought. The gravel pit dam has dried out completely and earth has gone to dust.

Yesterday I drove Al for a check up at the hospital in Melbourne. The surgeon was a beautiful young woman who looked far too young for the job! This is a sure sign I am getting old! She is pleased with the way Al is healing but has warned him to expect three more weeks of total discomfort with the hard collar and then six weeks of pain with a soft collar. She told him it could be a year before things get anywhere close to normal and that it could take a long time for the nerves in his right arm to heal.

We had to wait ages in the waiting room and when we got back to the car the steering wheel was red hot. I did not mind sitting around as I had a good book to read and it was far too hot to do much constructive work back on the farm.

woolies for winter

Fires again

11.1.2013

It is searing hot outside. All the apples have dropped off the apple trees and other deciduous trees are shedding their leaves. The lettuces are just about cooking so I cannot see them lasting much longer. We picked the first cucumber today and there is an eggplant ready so at least we will have something left. 

The good bit is that th e house is staying beautifully cool and we have started working on the wet room.

Al is coping well with his injury but he cannot even sit up for long. He came here to stay earlier in the week when the fire danger level was very high in Warburton. He even finds being a passenger in a car difficult, but on the good side he is getting feeling back in his fingers. I think we are in for weeks and possibly months of difficulties here.

Edd has also been to the doctor. His knee has got so bad he can hardly walk which is making it difficulty for him to do even simple things. He has already had several tests but he will probably need scans and x-rays next week. Pia injured her hand by hitting it with a hammer (not deliberately), but luckily it was not broken. I had visions of having to nurse everyone! Arden and Ti are on holiday at the beach with their mother so apart from watching fires in their area we do not have to worry about them for two weeks.

The fires are a big problem. Australia is getting higher temperatures than normal and the grass is burnt to a crisp. Tasmania has been badly affected, but luckily not where our friends live and so has NSW. As a country we seem to have learnt something and so far there has been no reported deaths. This is only a slight consolation to people who have lost their homes and their animals.

Life is slowly getting back to normal after the holiday season. We have had committee meetings for the fire group and another for permaculture. I think I will have to reduce my involvement now that I have two family members struggling with health issues. The fire group has been awarded the grant we applied for and employed our neighbour Eva to sort things out so  this is probably the best option to drop. There has been an awful lot of energy wasted on squabbling over a coffee machine. I really joined this group to try and get help for people who are still struggling with basics and we seem to be being dragged further and further from that aim.

Interestingly when the group considered how we could help people in Tasmania we were all in agreement that things like plants were given much to early and were often wasted. We all know for a fact that giving money as donations spawns its own industry before helping individuals, so we decided to start by just sending over an advise letter about things that were good and things that were not. Then at least people can benefit from our experience.

Bo and family have booked tickets to fly to England in February so I am madly knitting jumpers and hats. I have the three kids sets ready and have started on one for Bo. She has her own design ideas so I am trying to do what she wants.

india getting her luggage to her work

India leaves home in style

8.1.2013

Happy New Year everyone. We are off to an interesting start here. On Monday Edd and I borrowed Bo’s car and drove India to Woolangarra up near Licola where she is starting her new job. It is a three-hour drive to get there but the fun bit came at the end. Luckily we had advised India to make sure she had exact instructions about how to find the outdoor education centre. These made interesting reading. Apparently we had to find a gate after two creeks and undo the padlock using a hidden key. Then they said there was a 20-minute hike down to the river where there was a flying fox. At this point we were to Cooee for help.

These instructions proved surprisingly accurate but did not mention that we would find a wooden cart for luggage that had to be dragged along a goat track on a crag face beside the river. This worked fine until it became too steep and we had to carry things by hand. We had to fetch two cartloads anyway, so Edd and India went back for a second load whilst I stood on the flying fox platform and cooeed as instructed. The river was very wide but not full, so that it was mostly a river of rocks. At the other side the gorge rose steeply with trees clinging to the rise but no sign of habitation.

Eventually two figures appeared dragging another handcart. It was impossible to see exactly who they were, or hear them, but they both got hold of a seat that hung from the wire and ran flat out towards the river before letting go. This energetic performance resulted in a wooden seat shooting out to the centre of the river. It did not stop there because the figures had by then started running with ropes to pull it up the sloping cable to the platform where I could catch it. I had found a rope anchored into the bank behind and I also found a point on the seat that I could hook it over to prevent it sliding back again.

It was not a very large seat, but we got India on with two of her boxes and a bag. I was not sure boxes with wheels are the ideal thing for these conditions but we released the seat and India shot off to the centre of the river and then was hauled to the other side by our helpers. I went over with the next set of luggage and Edd came holding on to the guitar and the final load. The helpers turned out to be two very nice young men and they helped India put her luggage onto a hand cart that looked as if it had been made from old bicycles so that it could be dragged up the bank, through the trees into a clearing on a flat area. We then reached a wooden cabin and India was introduced to the rest of the team and given a room.

Every thing seemed Ok so Edd and I had a drink of water and then everyone helped us go back across on the flying fox. India will work for a year with various groups of school kids. There is no electricity, computers or mobile phone contact and they cook on a wood stove so it is really back top basics. India was worried that she had left her phone in the car but we could not find it and going back was not an option. By the end of the year I think she will be very good at not forgetting things!