Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
A pair of kippers.
So... last night we abandoned Blue Moon for Frogknot as our bedroom in the new house was too smoky. The breezeways we have built in do not yet have a way to seal them off but we will get those done before Winter comes.The morning found us once again in the drifting smoke which I find worrying not only because of the poor air quality but surely it means the wind is blowing the fire in our direction.I was at the Book Cave for the morning and this afternoon we just hunkered down in the house to avoid the smoke. We have the wood for the deck roof and we have the steel risers for the steps up to the deck waiting to be installed but it would be silly to be outside as it is.
We had a little scare this afternoon when they upgraded the fire danger to its highest level of 'Emergency Warning' and were telling the people of Eukey to evacuate after the fire had breached efforts to contain it but it has been downgraded to 'Advice ( no immediate threat)' this evening. It is the fifth day of the fire and it has burnt 125 square miles of bushland and National Park. Tonight the 'Firies' are working late creating fire breaks with bulldozers and back burning ahead of the approaching fire and appear more confident that they are in control of it. It is presently spreading West rather than North West as it was earlier but these Westerly winds are still forecast for days yet. We need it blown the other way back over the burnt land or some decent rain to put it out but there appears no hope of that in sight.Tonight it seems less smoky outside but once again we will sleep in Frogknot in case the wind changes direction during the night.
Girraween burns.
So...two days ago a fire started at Wallangarra on the border of Queensland and New South Wales which has since spread into Girraween National Park. Yesterday the smoke billowing into the sky in the East looked like some terrible volcanic eruption. Today the wind brought the smoke our way. I used to like the smell of burning wood during the Autumn 'Up Over' but here 'Down Under' it is more sobering. It is the way of life here, so much so in fact that many plants rely on fires to germinate and many trees have adapted to quickly recover after fires. With this fire no property or lives have been lost thus far but when you read that it has been spreading over 6 kilometres an hour I think of all the wildlife caught in the middle of it all. The fauna is not as resilient as the flora.When Phoebe was here a few weeks ago and we were driving back from our day up Mount Norman a Lyrebird suddenly ran out of the bush and ran along in front of the car for a brief moment before darting back into the bush. The fire has passed through that area where we saw it. I am worried about that Lyrebird tonight.
Smokey Sunset.
We got the power!
Guess where we are?
No...it's not Hollywood. We have come down to the river for the weekend to catch up with Tracy and Jen.