24.3.09 At last we are back on the internet, at least in some form. Dale from Telstra re-connected our second landline yesterday and it runs dial up slowly in much the same way it worked before the fires. There have been other big gains too. Last Wednesday a wonderful company donated old demountable classrooms for homeless people in Steels Creek . We got one delivered and installed next to the site office. This is truly fantastic and I am now having fun planning how I can set it up as our home for the year or so it takes us to rebuild.
At present we have a spiders web of cables trailing across the ground from the builders pole. Our electrician has been over to look and thinks he can put up a better form of temporary power next week. Gary and Andrew have been hard at work knocking down and rebuilding walls at the old house site. The idea is to set up a toilet that taps into the existing septic tank pipes.
The toilet issue has been an increasing problem for me as more and more men turn up each day to work on the property and all hope of a private corner is lost. The big battle last week was to try and get the tennis club to leave the women’s toilet unlocked. This turned out to be a big ask but as the Shire has set them up as our local relief centre they intervened and at present if I drive 4 km down there a toilet is available.
I am now sat down in front of my new apple computer. It is very glossy and a bit over whelming but not so different to the old one in basics. At least I know how to start. I have a printer too but I have not set it up yet. Josh is giving me lessons on the use of memory sticks and plug in card readers. He is so far ahead of me in computer use that I can hardly follow him. The big idea is that now I am able to write a letter to our insurance company who are obviously playing for time and setting themselves up for a fight.
Everyone tells us that the RACV have been wonderful to deal with and have offered money for alternate accommodation up front and even given out checks easily. Our company now has a reputation for being much tougher. A horrible man came down from NSW and tried to tell everyone that their houses were over valued. At least with so many of us affected in the same area we can compare notes and share helpful advise.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Shelter and a new river
17.3.2009 Tuesday.
Once again I am awake early in the morning and dying for a cup of tea. I really must buy an electric kettle next time I get near a shop. There has been lots of progress here. On Sunday Caroline , Mark and their friends arrived again for a working B and by the time they left the back of the old house was cleared, the septic and drainage pipes were exposed so that the burnt bits could be mended and the goats were all warm and dry in their new quarters in the poly house.
The latter was an enormous relief because on the day before we had had a violent rain storm and all the animals were left shivering under an inadequate tarpaulin. About lunchtime on Saturday it had started to rain very heavily. With in moments water was flowing everywhere in streams down the paddocks. Something strange seemed to be happening in the bottom gully so Edd and I braved the storm and walked down to investigate.
The scene that met our eyes was beyond belief. We literally had a New River charging through our property. It was not like any river I have ever seen before because the swirling waves were black and oily with all the ash washed down from the forest. Several wombats had escaped their burrows and were wandering along the waters edge in confusion wondering why their homes had disapeared (I know the feeling). We took photos ( no one would ever believe this unless we had some proof) and walked down the property following our “river”. At some points it was 100 feet across and was in such spate that anyone who had fallen in would have been washed away in a moment. I imagined our river joining similar run offs all down the valley and flooding and polluting the Yarra River all the way to Melbourne!
This apparently did not happen. I have no idea where our river went but in a couple of hours it had disappeared and left a flat new landscape that we would never have recognised as being on the property where we have lived for thirty years. Even then the weather had not finished with us. When we had fed the animals and milked the goats the red of the sun set sky was almost obliterated by a deep purple cloud. Then once again we heard a roaring sound similar to the noise the firestorm made. Edd kept asking, “What is that” but I rather hoped it was a jet plane, or several jet planes one after another. We soon found out because we were hit by a massive wind that almost blew me off my feet.
At this point we decided enough was enough and drove off to Yarra Glen for dinner at Bo’s place. Things looked about normal by the time we reached Yarra Glen and I began to wonder if we were living in a separate reality zone. Bo says of course we are and it is called a disaster zone and any one with any common sense would move out and find somewhere else to live, safer.
After the dramatic weekend it was a real blessing to get up on Monday and milk happy warm goats in a dry place. The guy about the temporary housing arrived to inspect the sites where people need housing. He has old school classrooms and he is giving them away, which suits us well. It may even come on Wednesday this week! With this good news I went off in high spirits for a massage at a local spa that my friend Beni had given me a voucher for. It was wonderful and after two hours of treatment I came out feeling well oiled and relaxed.
Back at camp Edd and josh had moved the caravan yet again to a new position next to the site office. We needed to move it so that we can make an outdoor run for the goats to get exercise and later hopefully go out to graze. This is not so far off now. All down the Steels Creek valley the paddocks are turning green after the rain. Heavy machinery is at work everywhere flattening the ruins of houses and cleaning up and the council have workers along the roads moving dangerous trees and other debris.
There have been lots of meetings and tonight Simon has been invited to a cabinet meeting that the state Government is convening locally. Bo’s restaurant has been booked as a venue and I assume other local places as well. Really everyone is trying hard to put things right and there is help available. It is disappointing not being able to accept all the wonderful things that are being offered but as yet we have no where to store anything much. I tried to store stuff when we camped out here when we first brought the property but I have learnt by experience that things like washing machines and sewing machines do not survive outside houses.
Once again I am awake early in the morning and dying for a cup of tea. I really must buy an electric kettle next time I get near a shop. There has been lots of progress here. On Sunday Caroline , Mark and their friends arrived again for a working B and by the time they left the back of the old house was cleared, the septic and drainage pipes were exposed so that the burnt bits could be mended and the goats were all warm and dry in their new quarters in the poly house.
The latter was an enormous relief because on the day before we had had a violent rain storm and all the animals were left shivering under an inadequate tarpaulin. About lunchtime on Saturday it had started to rain very heavily. With in moments water was flowing everywhere in streams down the paddocks. Something strange seemed to be happening in the bottom gully so Edd and I braved the storm and walked down to investigate.
The scene that met our eyes was beyond belief. We literally had a New River charging through our property. It was not like any river I have ever seen before because the swirling waves were black and oily with all the ash washed down from the forest. Several wombats had escaped their burrows and were wandering along the waters edge in confusion wondering why their homes had disapeared (I know the feeling). We took photos ( no one would ever believe this unless we had some proof) and walked down the property following our “river”. At some points it was 100 feet across and was in such spate that anyone who had fallen in would have been washed away in a moment. I imagined our river joining similar run offs all down the valley and flooding and polluting the Yarra River all the way to Melbourne!
This apparently did not happen. I have no idea where our river went but in a couple of hours it had disappeared and left a flat new landscape that we would never have recognised as being on the property where we have lived for thirty years. Even then the weather had not finished with us. When we had fed the animals and milked the goats the red of the sun set sky was almost obliterated by a deep purple cloud. Then once again we heard a roaring sound similar to the noise the firestorm made. Edd kept asking, “What is that” but I rather hoped it was a jet plane, or several jet planes one after another. We soon found out because we were hit by a massive wind that almost blew me off my feet.
At this point we decided enough was enough and drove off to Yarra Glen for dinner at Bo’s place. Things looked about normal by the time we reached Yarra Glen and I began to wonder if we were living in a separate reality zone. Bo says of course we are and it is called a disaster zone and any one with any common sense would move out and find somewhere else to live, safer.
After the dramatic weekend it was a real blessing to get up on Monday and milk happy warm goats in a dry place. The guy about the temporary housing arrived to inspect the sites where people need housing. He has old school classrooms and he is giving them away, which suits us well. It may even come on Wednesday this week! With this good news I went off in high spirits for a massage at a local spa that my friend Beni had given me a voucher for. It was wonderful and after two hours of treatment I came out feeling well oiled and relaxed.
Back at camp Edd and josh had moved the caravan yet again to a new position next to the site office. We needed to move it so that we can make an outdoor run for the goats to get exercise and later hopefully go out to graze. This is not so far off now. All down the Steels Creek valley the paddocks are turning green after the rain. Heavy machinery is at work everywhere flattening the ruins of houses and cleaning up and the council have workers along the roads moving dangerous trees and other debris.
There have been lots of meetings and tonight Simon has been invited to a cabinet meeting that the state Government is convening locally. Bo’s restaurant has been booked as a venue and I assume other local places as well. Really everyone is trying hard to put things right and there is help available. It is disappointing not being able to accept all the wonderful things that are being offered but as yet we have no where to store anything much. I tried to store stuff when we camped out here when we first brought the property but I have learnt by experience that things like washing machines and sewing machines do not survive outside houses.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
more news.tuesday march 10
Tuesday March 10th
Yesterday our new start began with our sons, Al, Wayne and Josh, and Wayne’s partner, Delisa, helping us put the plastic cover on the poly tent. Wayne was foreman and he and Josh stood on ladders and pulled the plastic from one end. The ladders were a bit precarious so Delisa and I had the job of standing on the bottom rungs as weights. Neither of us are really built for this job but the ladders stayed upright so we were good enough. Edd and Al fed the plastic from the ends.
It took the whole team to fold the plastic and baton it down at the ends but we did a much neater job than we did four years ago on the one where we dried the barley. Al has started to use his architectural skills to get us working out what to rebuild. We are all agreed that new housing must be energy efficient and fire proof. Edd and I want to be at least partially underground like the cellar that survived so well.
The demolition work continues. On Sunday Mark brought over some friends and they completed the clean up of the ruins. I was extremely grateful for this because my back and knees were giving out under the stress of heavy wheelbarrows. We now have rubbish sorted into piles. Copper, iron and aluminium separate and bricks in piles away from the general burnt rubble. There was very little in “finds”, but I have saved some tiles and broken tiles for mosaics.
Friday March 13th
It is a beautiful Autumn day with clear blue skies and the mist rising from the valley as the sun rose. The air is now clear of smoke and the grass is starting to regrow. Every day another apparently “dead” plant shows signs of recovery. Even the mandarin tree has new shoots so I am still hopeful that other citrus trees might recover.
Mike continues with the clean up and we have discovered that because he started work early we are covered by the bush fire clean up funds. This is good news because only the demolition work on the house and cottage are covered by our insurance. It is amazing how many neighbours were under insured or had no insurance.
We got together with other local residents ( and prefire residents ) for a memorial service for our closest neighbour on Wednesday. Lindy read a really good eulergy and sufficient people turned up to make a good show. Memorial services have to replace funerals because the bodies are still not released and people need some form of closure in order to get on with their lives.
Yesterday it rained . This is big news because rain has been conspicuously absent this year. Josh discovered the lost buffalo lurking with cows on Dave’s property so we hope it is now back home and we are no longer in danger. Josh said it looked pretty intimidating and was not friendly. Our other animals are managing well given the circumstances. The goats are still milking well and the calves growing. Donna the cow has lost weight but her calf is almost round and has legs like tree trunks.
Our next project is to set up electric fencing so that the animals can have more area to move in. Also we need to put the rest of the hay and the goat set up into the dry area under the new poly house. Our big question is still whether to try and rebuild our host farm business or move on to something new , more suitable to people in their sixties. The host farm was great fun and we met wonderful people but all the resources I used are now gone and it was a lot of work to run.
Saturday
It is very early in the morning and still dark. Edd is still asleep in the caravan . I would die for a cup of tea but do not want to wake him up. Life is hard and every bit of sleep possible is precious. A museli bar and bottled water has to do. It is quite possible to live like this but it all takes so much time that forward progress is slow. There is a good toilet available at the tennis courts about three kilometres away and Bo continues to welcome us for showers in Yarra Glen but driving to and fro takes up a lot of the day.
There are also lots of meetings. Jo told us yesterday that politicians were coming to Steels Creek to discuss the problems here . We have no way of knowing when this sort of thing is happening. I greatly miss having the internet as it is my usual source of information. Edd went to the meeting which was good and he raised the issue about the lack of communications. One neighbour said we should just get a sattellite disc but this is not that easy because the company need a permanent building to attatch it to and we do not have one.
I can find no one who knows how to catch the buffalo either. There are so many issues here that are not being dealt with. I am not sure how our own issue with the insurance is going. I rang up earlier this week but did not get anywhere. A lawyer is prepared to help us but I am not sure how to start.
The other issue I need to address is how we are to get back to reliable food. The flies are so bad during the day that we have to stick to things like sandwiches and in the evenings we have had Chinese take away or Bo has prepared something. I am extremely grateful for this but we do need to find a way of preparing and storing our own food. Craig is still trying to get us school buildings to live in for Winter so perhaps if that comes up we can have more space for domestic work.
Yesterday the Council delivered square tanks of water for drinking and washing. This is good but these tanks have a big tap at the base that suits buckets not hose pipes so it is difficult to connect the water to anything . I have decided that if I buy a replacement for my tea urn that I used for cheese making I could put it on the site office sink and bucket water into it. Being an urn I could then even have hot water . At first showers were esssential as the soot made us impossibly dirty but now with all the demolition work it is getting cleaner and a bucket wash could replace a shower on most days.
Also yesterday three men came from a fire research group and got us to tell them our memories of what happened . This was an interesting exercise because I discovered that there are still large gaps in my memory. Until Edd talked about it I had forgotten that I put the taps on and filled the bath with water . He recalls rushing in and out getting buckets from the bath to try and stop the fires. I can vaguely recall remembering at one point that I had not turned the taps off and then deciding it was not important .
Our main feelings now are that there was no clear warning for our area and that over the last few years we had learnt to rely on the radio and internet for information . This meant that although I felt we were under urgent threat none of our guests or Edd saw the same danger and saw no reason to go into immediate action until it was almost too late.
We both feel that having a fire cellar should be compulsory for people building in the bush areas and that research needs to be done on the best and cheapest way these could be constructed. Once again we also tried to explain that reliable communication systems were essential during and after fires. This time the speed with which everything happened left us no time for the usual actions one takes.
NOW A WORD OF THANKS . To all my dear friends who have sent us stuff and offered support and good wishes I hope you will see this and know it is appreciated. I have an old computer here that I can write on and I give Josh my blogs on a memory stick so that he can post them at his friend’s place. I have no printer yet to write you all letters and Life is too hard to do anything but deal with day to day issues. I will get back to you all when we are bit better sorted out so until then please accept our very grateful thanks.
Yesterday our new start began with our sons, Al, Wayne and Josh, and Wayne’s partner, Delisa, helping us put the plastic cover on the poly tent. Wayne was foreman and he and Josh stood on ladders and pulled the plastic from one end. The ladders were a bit precarious so Delisa and I had the job of standing on the bottom rungs as weights. Neither of us are really built for this job but the ladders stayed upright so we were good enough. Edd and Al fed the plastic from the ends.
It took the whole team to fold the plastic and baton it down at the ends but we did a much neater job than we did four years ago on the one where we dried the barley. Al has started to use his architectural skills to get us working out what to rebuild. We are all agreed that new housing must be energy efficient and fire proof. Edd and I want to be at least partially underground like the cellar that survived so well.
The demolition work continues. On Sunday Mark brought over some friends and they completed the clean up of the ruins. I was extremely grateful for this because my back and knees were giving out under the stress of heavy wheelbarrows. We now have rubbish sorted into piles. Copper, iron and aluminium separate and bricks in piles away from the general burnt rubble. There was very little in “finds”, but I have saved some tiles and broken tiles for mosaics.
Friday March 13th
It is a beautiful Autumn day with clear blue skies and the mist rising from the valley as the sun rose. The air is now clear of smoke and the grass is starting to regrow. Every day another apparently “dead” plant shows signs of recovery. Even the mandarin tree has new shoots so I am still hopeful that other citrus trees might recover.
Mike continues with the clean up and we have discovered that because he started work early we are covered by the bush fire clean up funds. This is good news because only the demolition work on the house and cottage are covered by our insurance. It is amazing how many neighbours were under insured or had no insurance.
We got together with other local residents ( and prefire residents ) for a memorial service for our closest neighbour on Wednesday. Lindy read a really good eulergy and sufficient people turned up to make a good show. Memorial services have to replace funerals because the bodies are still not released and people need some form of closure in order to get on with their lives.
Yesterday it rained . This is big news because rain has been conspicuously absent this year. Josh discovered the lost buffalo lurking with cows on Dave’s property so we hope it is now back home and we are no longer in danger. Josh said it looked pretty intimidating and was not friendly. Our other animals are managing well given the circumstances. The goats are still milking well and the calves growing. Donna the cow has lost weight but her calf is almost round and has legs like tree trunks.
Our next project is to set up electric fencing so that the animals can have more area to move in. Also we need to put the rest of the hay and the goat set up into the dry area under the new poly house. Our big question is still whether to try and rebuild our host farm business or move on to something new , more suitable to people in their sixties. The host farm was great fun and we met wonderful people but all the resources I used are now gone and it was a lot of work to run.
Saturday
It is very early in the morning and still dark. Edd is still asleep in the caravan . I would die for a cup of tea but do not want to wake him up. Life is hard and every bit of sleep possible is precious. A museli bar and bottled water has to do. It is quite possible to live like this but it all takes so much time that forward progress is slow. There is a good toilet available at the tennis courts about three kilometres away and Bo continues to welcome us for showers in Yarra Glen but driving to and fro takes up a lot of the day.
There are also lots of meetings. Jo told us yesterday that politicians were coming to Steels Creek to discuss the problems here . We have no way of knowing when this sort of thing is happening. I greatly miss having the internet as it is my usual source of information. Edd went to the meeting which was good and he raised the issue about the lack of communications. One neighbour said we should just get a sattellite disc but this is not that easy because the company need a permanent building to attatch it to and we do not have one.
I can find no one who knows how to catch the buffalo either. There are so many issues here that are not being dealt with. I am not sure how our own issue with the insurance is going. I rang up earlier this week but did not get anywhere. A lawyer is prepared to help us but I am not sure how to start.
The other issue I need to address is how we are to get back to reliable food. The flies are so bad during the day that we have to stick to things like sandwiches and in the evenings we have had Chinese take away or Bo has prepared something. I am extremely grateful for this but we do need to find a way of preparing and storing our own food. Craig is still trying to get us school buildings to live in for Winter so perhaps if that comes up we can have more space for domestic work.
Yesterday the Council delivered square tanks of water for drinking and washing. This is good but these tanks have a big tap at the base that suits buckets not hose pipes so it is difficult to connect the water to anything . I have decided that if I buy a replacement for my tea urn that I used for cheese making I could put it on the site office sink and bucket water into it. Being an urn I could then even have hot water . At first showers were esssential as the soot made us impossibly dirty but now with all the demolition work it is getting cleaner and a bucket wash could replace a shower on most days.
Also yesterday three men came from a fire research group and got us to tell them our memories of what happened . This was an interesting exercise because I discovered that there are still large gaps in my memory. Until Edd talked about it I had forgotten that I put the taps on and filled the bath with water . He recalls rushing in and out getting buckets from the bath to try and stop the fires. I can vaguely recall remembering at one point that I had not turned the taps off and then deciding it was not important .
Our main feelings now are that there was no clear warning for our area and that over the last few years we had learnt to rely on the radio and internet for information . This meant that although I felt we were under urgent threat none of our guests or Edd saw the same danger and saw no reason to go into immediate action until it was almost too late.
We both feel that having a fire cellar should be compulsory for people building in the bush areas and that research needs to be done on the best and cheapest way these could be constructed. Once again we also tried to explain that reliable communication systems were essential during and after fires. This time the speed with which everything happened left us no time for the usual actions one takes.
NOW A WORD OF THANKS . To all my dear friends who have sent us stuff and offered support and good wishes I hope you will see this and know it is appreciated. I have an old computer here that I can write on and I give Josh my blogs on a memory stick so that he can post them at his friend’s place. I have no printer yet to write you all letters and Life is too hard to do anything but deal with day to day issues. I will get back to you all when we are bit better sorted out so until then please accept our very grateful thanks.
Monday, March 9, 2009
*
7.3.2009 Saturday
Life gets more bizarre by the day. Yesterday one of our neighbours dropped in to tell us that one of his buffalo is still on the loose and is not to be approached, as it is dangerous! Then, when I was in the site office in the evening I felt a tremor under my feet. Then the computer started to shake and I guessed we were having an earth quake somewhere. I was a bit cautious about telling Edd when he got back but it was OK because the quake had been reported on the radio. I had begun to think that who ever is writing the scrip round here was going a little bit over board and it was no longer believable!
Yesterday Edd’s friend , Trevor ,arrived on his motor bike and helped Edd clean up in our ruin. Today I went on with this work and we now have the bathroom and toilet clean down to the bricks. That leaves a corner of my kitchen and the patio at the front. Todays work was hard because it was all tiles. the Lofthouse bathroom was directly above our bathroom and both were fully tiled. Tiles are very heavy even when shattered.
Beni came at lunchtime with all sorts of good food and we had a party. She explained how the smoke enters the leaves and is stored in the grapes . It alters their chemistry so the wine tastes awful. It is looking as if all the wineries in the Yarra Valley will have a very hard time this year.
Edd is wrapping up the ribs of the polyhouse with felted tape which needs doing before we put the plastic tent on. The radio anounced tonight that another cyclone is heading into queensland . lets hope we can avoid getting lashed by the tail of this one or we will never get the polyhouse up!
Our remaining buck Rubicon has been very good and has stayed in his own pen even though the fences are no longer any good. He is getting smellier every day which means that the mating season is near. I expect he will feel the urge and break out to look for his does soon. The trouble is that there is so much that needs doing that important jobs are having to wait. Sorting out after your house burns down takes a lot more time than I would have imagined.
Life gets more bizarre by the day. Yesterday one of our neighbours dropped in to tell us that one of his buffalo is still on the loose and is not to be approached, as it is dangerous! Then, when I was in the site office in the evening I felt a tremor under my feet. Then the computer started to shake and I guessed we were having an earth quake somewhere. I was a bit cautious about telling Edd when he got back but it was OK because the quake had been reported on the radio. I had begun to think that who ever is writing the scrip round here was going a little bit over board and it was no longer believable!
Yesterday Edd’s friend , Trevor ,arrived on his motor bike and helped Edd clean up in our ruin. Today I went on with this work and we now have the bathroom and toilet clean down to the bricks. That leaves a corner of my kitchen and the patio at the front. Todays work was hard because it was all tiles. the Lofthouse bathroom was directly above our bathroom and both were fully tiled. Tiles are very heavy even when shattered.
Beni came at lunchtime with all sorts of good food and we had a party. She explained how the smoke enters the leaves and is stored in the grapes . It alters their chemistry so the wine tastes awful. It is looking as if all the wineries in the Yarra Valley will have a very hard time this year.
Edd is wrapping up the ribs of the polyhouse with felted tape which needs doing before we put the plastic tent on. The radio anounced tonight that another cyclone is heading into queensland . lets hope we can avoid getting lashed by the tail of this one or we will never get the polyhouse up!
Our remaining buck Rubicon has been very good and has stayed in his own pen even though the fences are no longer any good. He is getting smellier every day which means that the mating season is near. I expect he will feel the urge and break out to look for his does soon. The trouble is that there is so much that needs doing that important jobs are having to wait. Sorting out after your house burns down takes a lot more time than I would have imagined.
*
Monday 2.3.2009
It has been a calm sunny day and the skies were clear and blue again. The surrounding hills look more naked everyday as the burnt leaves fall to the ground and only blackened trunks and ash coated ground remains.
The demolition gang returned and now both the brewery and the Studio cottage are levelled to the ground. Edd spent the day raking the shed floor looking for tools and the remains of his horse carts and Josh and I worked on the house. Some walls are still standing but the internal walls were too badly damaged by fire to be left in place. Even the bricks have been baked into a new brittle form . It is odd. They were always so tough to drill if I wanted to hang a picture.
Josh carted the bricks outside and I shovelled the remaining rubble into wheel barrows so that I could check it through for any remains. There were slim pickings today but I did find the little pot I used for salt in untouched condition as I worked in my former country kitchen. It was really my best room. I loved the old oak furniture and simple table and chairs. Big shelves at the tops of the walls housed my collection of pots and I liked to have the brick floor gleaming. My poor Aga has collapsed at the sides and spilled out its stuffing and now all my pots are in tiny pieces. I collected odds ceramic scraps. Perhaps one day I will make a mosaic with them like my mother used to make patch work quilts from our old clothes.
Tonight everyone is in a kind of panic because high winds are forecast to coincide with heat again tomorrow. Four big fires are still burning and many local towns are still in danger. At least we now have a telephone working under the big old gum tree so we can stay in touch with family. Yesterday so many friends dropped in that our work slowed a lot. It was really a tonic to see people who we have been missing. Caroline got stuck in and helped me shovel dirt until she looked like a bush fire victim herself. It is very, very dirty work.
Our demolition crew were very considerate and we can have more time to clean up the house. For no reason that I can think of a logic for, I really need to clean the ruin. Sort of a respect thing for what has been a wonderful home and centre for our family for so long. I want even the ruin to look cared for. I think it will be rather nice to have my own ruin . They are really very rare in Australia but I grew up with a lot in the UK and they can be restful contemplative places.
We recaptured our cow and calf yesterday with help from Wayne and Delisa. She was visiting a neighbours bull and he was not pleased.(the neighbour not the bull that is ). The fences are still all down but there is so much else that has to be done that no one has replaced any yet. Now we have power we could by another electric fence unit which would help with containment…..when we get time.
Tuesday march 3.
We woke around 5 am when the winds really got going. I decided being in a van under a gum tree was not a really clever place to be in these conditions. Edd found rope to try and secure the caravan awning and then we fought through the flying ash to replace the tarps over the animal feed. It was hard to see anything as the air was thick and it seemed as if some one had opened the gates of hell and let loose horror. Edd and I felt it was all to aweful to be happening. Luckily Beni arrived with food and cheer and even found time to help us with the tarps. She could not stay long because she was still on active duty with the CFA and it was yet another horror day for fires. She kept repeating that if we could get through the day it would be Ok and things would get better. I am not sure if this was to reassure us or herself.,
We were all worried that more trees would come down and block the road again but Mark , my friend Caroline’s partner, got in with a big truck full of pallets that we needed to keep the hay off the ground. By this stage we had fed all the animals and it was obvious that it would be impossible to do any work so Josh and I followed Mark out and went shopping. Edd stayed on the farm and Wayne joined him. They could not do much work except lash things down every time they sprung loose.
Even in Knox city the conditions were still rough. No one could walk outside easily even there as the winds whipped ash and dust into eyes. I managed to find a handbag and some shoes that I will need to go to the memorial service for Ray on Thursday. She perished trying to save her goats and will be sadly missed as she was always so willing to help everyone.
I was so tired that I was very grateful for Josh’s support. He did the driving and steered me round the shopping centre. I usually get lost on my own. Some how he managed to be extremely patient whilst I selected women’s things. All he needed was food at regular intervals to keep him going.
On our return we found a very dirty exhausted Edd . He said that although he and Wayne wanted to do things the conditions were just too bad. They just sat by the caravan and retied up everything that broke loose. Luckily we managed to do the evening milking and animal feeding before the rain started. That was not forecast either! Now lashing rain and a sudden and massive drop in temperature cascaded us into the next set of problems. It was hard for us but we knew the rain meant massive relief for everyone still in danger from the fires.
Wednesday 4.3.2009
We woke to a new calmness and a back wet sticky world. Yesterdays winds had blown all the fire dried leaves off the trees and every where they piled on the ground covering the blackened earth with ochre and russet. It reminded me of an English winter scene. The tarp we had used to shelter the goats had dipped in the centre under the weight of the dirty water that had filled it. At least all the smoke and ash has dropped from the air and it is easier to breath.
Milking goats in the drizzle was not much fun but cleaning up in our ruin was much less stressful and it was no longer necessary to wear masks. A friend of Edd’s from the Welsh choir arrived and rigged up phone cables so that I now have a phone in my office and the plastic box phone is near Edd’s caravan.
Our dear friends keep turning up with goodies. Today Ingred arrived with a hot chicken and fresh bread for breakfast. It was fantastic. Each day more plants are showing signs of life. At first everything looked totally dead but obviously their life force is strong and the desire to survive great. The apple trees have flowers as well as new buds, Some herbs have new green leaves and things look hopeful.
Thursday 5.3.2009
Today we had the memorial service for Ray in the hall at St. Andrews. Ray was about my age and another serious goat lady. She had always helped me with advise and inspection of goats for registration . It seems so unlikely that such a wonderful warm person could just go so fast . We heard that she was a member of the CFA and knew all about fire fighting. She had a mudbrick house that had sprinklers and underwater pipes so she believed her place could be protected. This fire was in a new category and a new set of rules applied that none of us knew.
A huge group of family , friends and goat keepers turned up to pay their respects. Her family told stories that made us laugh and I expect it was all recorded for her husband who is in hospital badly burnt. I was cold, I had brought clothes for the occaision on Tuesday when it was still stinking hot and at that stage it was hard to imagine it would ever cool down again.
In the evening Josh , Edd and I sat on the floor of the site office and ate Chinese take away with Beni’s fantastic wine. It all seemed very familiar as we did this so often in Alice Springs when we came in from the desert to do our shopping. The only difference was that in our demountable , Donger, home in the NT the dust that blew in under the door was red and what comes in here is black! We are returning to some sort of comfort zone.
It has been a calm sunny day and the skies were clear and blue again. The surrounding hills look more naked everyday as the burnt leaves fall to the ground and only blackened trunks and ash coated ground remains.
The demolition gang returned and now both the brewery and the Studio cottage are levelled to the ground. Edd spent the day raking the shed floor looking for tools and the remains of his horse carts and Josh and I worked on the house. Some walls are still standing but the internal walls were too badly damaged by fire to be left in place. Even the bricks have been baked into a new brittle form . It is odd. They were always so tough to drill if I wanted to hang a picture.
Josh carted the bricks outside and I shovelled the remaining rubble into wheel barrows so that I could check it through for any remains. There were slim pickings today but I did find the little pot I used for salt in untouched condition as I worked in my former country kitchen. It was really my best room. I loved the old oak furniture and simple table and chairs. Big shelves at the tops of the walls housed my collection of pots and I liked to have the brick floor gleaming. My poor Aga has collapsed at the sides and spilled out its stuffing and now all my pots are in tiny pieces. I collected odds ceramic scraps. Perhaps one day I will make a mosaic with them like my mother used to make patch work quilts from our old clothes.
Tonight everyone is in a kind of panic because high winds are forecast to coincide with heat again tomorrow. Four big fires are still burning and many local towns are still in danger. At least we now have a telephone working under the big old gum tree so we can stay in touch with family. Yesterday so many friends dropped in that our work slowed a lot. It was really a tonic to see people who we have been missing. Caroline got stuck in and helped me shovel dirt until she looked like a bush fire victim herself. It is very, very dirty work.
Our demolition crew were very considerate and we can have more time to clean up the house. For no reason that I can think of a logic for, I really need to clean the ruin. Sort of a respect thing for what has been a wonderful home and centre for our family for so long. I want even the ruin to look cared for. I think it will be rather nice to have my own ruin . They are really very rare in Australia but I grew up with a lot in the UK and they can be restful contemplative places.
We recaptured our cow and calf yesterday with help from Wayne and Delisa. She was visiting a neighbours bull and he was not pleased.(the neighbour not the bull that is ). The fences are still all down but there is so much else that has to be done that no one has replaced any yet. Now we have power we could by another electric fence unit which would help with containment…..when we get time.
Tuesday march 3.
We woke around 5 am when the winds really got going. I decided being in a van under a gum tree was not a really clever place to be in these conditions. Edd found rope to try and secure the caravan awning and then we fought through the flying ash to replace the tarps over the animal feed. It was hard to see anything as the air was thick and it seemed as if some one had opened the gates of hell and let loose horror. Edd and I felt it was all to aweful to be happening. Luckily Beni arrived with food and cheer and even found time to help us with the tarps. She could not stay long because she was still on active duty with the CFA and it was yet another horror day for fires. She kept repeating that if we could get through the day it would be Ok and things would get better. I am not sure if this was to reassure us or herself.,
We were all worried that more trees would come down and block the road again but Mark , my friend Caroline’s partner, got in with a big truck full of pallets that we needed to keep the hay off the ground. By this stage we had fed all the animals and it was obvious that it would be impossible to do any work so Josh and I followed Mark out and went shopping. Edd stayed on the farm and Wayne joined him. They could not do much work except lash things down every time they sprung loose.
Even in Knox city the conditions were still rough. No one could walk outside easily even there as the winds whipped ash and dust into eyes. I managed to find a handbag and some shoes that I will need to go to the memorial service for Ray on Thursday. She perished trying to save her goats and will be sadly missed as she was always so willing to help everyone.
I was so tired that I was very grateful for Josh’s support. He did the driving and steered me round the shopping centre. I usually get lost on my own. Some how he managed to be extremely patient whilst I selected women’s things. All he needed was food at regular intervals to keep him going.
On our return we found a very dirty exhausted Edd . He said that although he and Wayne wanted to do things the conditions were just too bad. They just sat by the caravan and retied up everything that broke loose. Luckily we managed to do the evening milking and animal feeding before the rain started. That was not forecast either! Now lashing rain and a sudden and massive drop in temperature cascaded us into the next set of problems. It was hard for us but we knew the rain meant massive relief for everyone still in danger from the fires.
Wednesday 4.3.2009
We woke to a new calmness and a back wet sticky world. Yesterdays winds had blown all the fire dried leaves off the trees and every where they piled on the ground covering the blackened earth with ochre and russet. It reminded me of an English winter scene. The tarp we had used to shelter the goats had dipped in the centre under the weight of the dirty water that had filled it. At least all the smoke and ash has dropped from the air and it is easier to breath.
Milking goats in the drizzle was not much fun but cleaning up in our ruin was much less stressful and it was no longer necessary to wear masks. A friend of Edd’s from the Welsh choir arrived and rigged up phone cables so that I now have a phone in my office and the plastic box phone is near Edd’s caravan.
Our dear friends keep turning up with goodies. Today Ingred arrived with a hot chicken and fresh bread for breakfast. It was fantastic. Each day more plants are showing signs of life. At first everything looked totally dead but obviously their life force is strong and the desire to survive great. The apple trees have flowers as well as new buds, Some herbs have new green leaves and things look hopeful.
Thursday 5.3.2009
Today we had the memorial service for Ray in the hall at St. Andrews. Ray was about my age and another serious goat lady. She had always helped me with advise and inspection of goats for registration . It seems so unlikely that such a wonderful warm person could just go so fast . We heard that she was a member of the CFA and knew all about fire fighting. She had a mudbrick house that had sprinklers and underwater pipes so she believed her place could be protected. This fire was in a new category and a new set of rules applied that none of us knew.
A huge group of family , friends and goat keepers turned up to pay their respects. Her family told stories that made us laugh and I expect it was all recorded for her husband who is in hospital badly burnt. I was cold, I had brought clothes for the occaision on Tuesday when it was still stinking hot and at that stage it was hard to imagine it would ever cool down again.
In the evening Josh , Edd and I sat on the floor of the site office and ate Chinese take away with Beni’s fantastic wine. It all seemed very familiar as we did this so often in Alice Springs when we came in from the desert to do our shopping. The only difference was that in our demountable , Donger, home in the NT the dust that blew in under the door was red and what comes in here is black! We are returning to some sort of comfort zone.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
SOS
27/2/09*
(*Posted in proxy by Josh W. Thank you all for the support, sorry we cannot reply until internet is re-established)
Help. It is almost three weeks since we lost everything in the fire storm. We are in a remote area and we still have no phone access. Friday the fire danger is so high that all schools and preschools are closed but we have no connection to help from here.
We have a phone connected to a builder’s pole that worked intermittently when first installed, but it has now been disconnected. As far as we can make out the underground lines are burnt and there are not enough left to service this area.
We have a caseworker, legal help and plenty of people willing to hug us but we can not contact any one with out a phone. We are in a black spot so there is no mobile coverage. We have been given heaps of mobile phones but they are no use to us.
We do thank the thousands of people who have donate money and tried to help. We are especially grateful to people like Scott and his brother Mathew who have just taken things into their own hands and brought us essentials like stock food and bottled water.
The situation here is like a war zone. Many of our neighbours are burnt out, several are dead and all normal life and income sources are suspended. The Yarra Valley is a tourist area and all the local operators are in financial crisis wether they were affected by fire or
Not.
Any one reading this please contact Get Up Org or political / media people. There was no warning about this fire here and emergency services were unavailable for family members that tried all night to get us help. Australia is totally unprepared for any crisis. Do not be deluded, insist on action now.
FRIDAY.
All schools and preschools are closed as temperatures sore again and the winds return. I woke to a dust filled dull red sky and the now worrying sound of wind. Then before I had boiled the billy the demolition guys arrived stirring up another cloud of dust with their truck. From then on all dissolved into chaos.
Two diggers began symaltainiuos attacks on the remains of the cottage and the twisted wreck of the shed. Dust flew in all directions and huge piles of contorted corrugated iron began to build up. I still had the goats to milk and animals to feed but could not start until the work focus moved to the main house site. Josh handed out dust masks and he and Edd struggled to move the caravan we have been loaned to safety. The diggers ignored our feeble efforts to maintain order and relentlessly plowed ahead.
The remains of our buildings have been something of a comfort. Old paths could be walked along and it merely seemed as if a new reality had super imposed itself like a vale over our former home. Now everything was being destroyed. The last thirty years of life wiped away along with any hope of retaining anything from the past.
I wonder if this is how old villages get their curves and little garden spaces. Old buildings must have collapsed or burnt down and their ruins incorporated into the village topography. Before bulldozers foundations and ruins remained and were recycled as walled gardens and so on.
We still have no phone. Every p0litition for miles around phoned Bo this morning with platitudes but any real action seems beyond anyone. Even the numbers Josh was given by Telstra for sat phone information refused to work. Our lives are dissolving into protracted hell.
Once the animals were done and the caravan moved Josh and I retreated to Bo’s place in Yarra Glen to wash away as much dust as possible. Simon was taking the boys to his parents in Ringwood and Bo and the baby were staying to run the restaurant though there is little hope of many customers today. Josh and I had lunch there to keep her company and then returned to our land with sandwiches for Edd.
Now it is Edd’s turn to shower and I am in the sanctuary of the site office on guard duty. The office is great but we have an ant plague, which needs to be dealt with. They keep running up my arms as I am typing. It is very hot but thanks to the free store in Yarra Glen I now have a sleeveless dress for which I am very grateful. It is so amazing that so many people donated their clothes and stuff. At least I have not had to rush out shopping every day.
Saturday
The wind has dropped and the air cleared. We have the week end to sift through the rubble our buildings now that the corrugated iron is no longer in a position to fall on us. Don has arrived to help and by the end of the day he has the rest of the poly igloo frame assembled . Simon from Steels Creek Estate Vineyard used his tractor to help us move good building materials to our new demolition yard. He has just got his power on today and like us has no phone .
I got extra shovels and rakes from the free shop and Josh and I began sorting through the rubble and wheel barrowing waste outside the “house”. There is little to find. Some of our gem stone collection survived and odd ceramic pieces. Two little ceramic door knobs I brought for my wardrobe look about new. Better finds are part of a brass horse shoe made by Edd’s Grandfather and a letter knife Al made for me at school.
(*Posted in proxy by Josh W. Thank you all for the support, sorry we cannot reply until internet is re-established)
Help. It is almost three weeks since we lost everything in the fire storm. We are in a remote area and we still have no phone access. Friday the fire danger is so high that all schools and preschools are closed but we have no connection to help from here.
We have a phone connected to a builder’s pole that worked intermittently when first installed, but it has now been disconnected. As far as we can make out the underground lines are burnt and there are not enough left to service this area.
We have a caseworker, legal help and plenty of people willing to hug us but we can not contact any one with out a phone. We are in a black spot so there is no mobile coverage. We have been given heaps of mobile phones but they are no use to us.
We do thank the thousands of people who have donate money and tried to help. We are especially grateful to people like Scott and his brother Mathew who have just taken things into their own hands and brought us essentials like stock food and bottled water.
The situation here is like a war zone. Many of our neighbours are burnt out, several are dead and all normal life and income sources are suspended. The Yarra Valley is a tourist area and all the local operators are in financial crisis wether they were affected by fire or
Not.
Any one reading this please contact Get Up Org or political / media people. There was no warning about this fire here and emergency services were unavailable for family members that tried all night to get us help. Australia is totally unprepared for any crisis. Do not be deluded, insist on action now.
FRIDAY.
All schools and preschools are closed as temperatures sore again and the winds return. I woke to a dust filled dull red sky and the now worrying sound of wind. Then before I had boiled the billy the demolition guys arrived stirring up another cloud of dust with their truck. From then on all dissolved into chaos.
Two diggers began symaltainiuos attacks on the remains of the cottage and the twisted wreck of the shed. Dust flew in all directions and huge piles of contorted corrugated iron began to build up. I still had the goats to milk and animals to feed but could not start until the work focus moved to the main house site. Josh handed out dust masks and he and Edd struggled to move the caravan we have been loaned to safety. The diggers ignored our feeble efforts to maintain order and relentlessly plowed ahead.
The remains of our buildings have been something of a comfort. Old paths could be walked along and it merely seemed as if a new reality had super imposed itself like a vale over our former home. Now everything was being destroyed. The last thirty years of life wiped away along with any hope of retaining anything from the past.
I wonder if this is how old villages get their curves and little garden spaces. Old buildings must have collapsed or burnt down and their ruins incorporated into the village topography. Before bulldozers foundations and ruins remained and were recycled as walled gardens and so on.
We still have no phone. Every p0litition for miles around phoned Bo this morning with platitudes but any real action seems beyond anyone. Even the numbers Josh was given by Telstra for sat phone information refused to work. Our lives are dissolving into protracted hell.
Once the animals were done and the caravan moved Josh and I retreated to Bo’s place in Yarra Glen to wash away as much dust as possible. Simon was taking the boys to his parents in Ringwood and Bo and the baby were staying to run the restaurant though there is little hope of many customers today. Josh and I had lunch there to keep her company and then returned to our land with sandwiches for Edd.
Now it is Edd’s turn to shower and I am in the sanctuary of the site office on guard duty. The office is great but we have an ant plague, which needs to be dealt with. They keep running up my arms as I am typing. It is very hot but thanks to the free store in Yarra Glen I now have a sleeveless dress for which I am very grateful. It is so amazing that so many people donated their clothes and stuff. At least I have not had to rush out shopping every day.
Saturday
The wind has dropped and the air cleared. We have the week end to sift through the rubble our buildings now that the corrugated iron is no longer in a position to fall on us. Don has arrived to help and by the end of the day he has the rest of the poly igloo frame assembled . Simon from Steels Creek Estate Vineyard used his tractor to help us move good building materials to our new demolition yard. He has just got his power on today and like us has no phone .
I got extra shovels and rakes from the free shop and Josh and I began sorting through the rubble and wheel barrowing waste outside the “house”. There is little to find. Some of our gem stone collection survived and odd ceramic pieces. Two little ceramic door knobs I brought for my wardrobe look about new. Better finds are part of a brass horse shoe made by Edd’s Grandfather and a letter knife Al made for me at school.
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