Two days after the day after.

So...the Stanthorpe/ Applethorpe fire is still burning but is apparently contained and causing less concern. I drove into town yesterday and though the flames had got quite close to parts of the town the devastation was not as bad as we were imagining on Friday night. It had jumped the highway in a few places but had been put out before it could do further damage.Some schools were closed today in town and to the north of Stanthorpe.I was back at the 'Book Cave' and this afternoon heard that there was now a fire at Ballandean. This fire is to the south of us and a bit more worrying. The winds have been terrible today but are supposed to die down a bit tonight.They always seem to spring up while I am at the 'Book Cave'. Perhaps I should stop going.We had a wander in the dark after dinner to see if we could see the flames from this new fire across the valley and yes, there was an ominous orange glow upon the horizon. The wind is supposedly blowing away from us and yet it did feel like it was blowing at us from the direction of the fire! It is a long way away but we are just a little spooked by the wind and the tinder dry surroundings.There is a bad fire down on the coast near Tracy too. Looking at the map it has almost reached Angourie where we went walking with Tracy the last time we were down visiting her. Apart from the devastation to the bushland I just fear for all the wildlife caught up in it all.As if Australia wasn't bad enough with all it's flippin' deadly creatures. What has this new Australian citizen gone and done by joining this crazy gang of people who think living here is fun?

A picture taken last night from Mt Marley by Amanda McKettrick and put on Facebook.

The day after.

So...we are fine. We did manage to get some sleep last night, Will more than me. Earlier the rumours were fife and reports were changing fast and it was all a little scary especially with the wind picking up over night. The wind, however, pushed the fire away to the north of the town.We were hearing reports of evacuations and friends were posting on Facebook that the were evacuating. People north of Stanthorpe were told to evacuate to Warwick as the highway was blocked back towards Stanthorpe. We heard tales of loud explosions and burning schools and could only just sit and imagine what was going on. We knew of people evacuating near the Cheese Factory and wondered if Will would have a job anymore.This morning I was supposed to head into town and open the 'Book Cave'. My colleague had spent much of the night on ember watch and was now out of town at The Summit with family. She said that she had been able to drive there when they opened the highway this morning. She said it was not as bad as it had seemed. Applethorpe school had not burned down and the people evacuated last night north of Stanthorpe had been allowed to return to their homes. She said Will was not to worry about the Cheese Factory. Apparently the town was still without power so after checking with my boss didn't go into work and stayed out of the way.The fire is still burning. About five homes have been lost but there are no reports of fatalities as yet. Last night the fire risk was set at Emergency Level but has been downgraded today to 'Watch and Act'. More high winds are forecast tonight and tomorrow and they are not expecting to have the fire under control until Monday. This is just one of many fires in Queensland at the moment but the State Premier has said it is the one that is causing most concern. There have been water bombing planes attending today.We have gathered together our important documents in readiness and basically our Bushfire plan is to just 'Get Out'...with a car load of chickens.Report in the Warwick Daily News

Nightmare!

So...I doubt we will be going to sleep tonight.As you know we are in the midst of the worst drought in memory in these parts and today there was an extreme fire warning because of strong winds. I was at the Book Cave in town and just after lunch we heard the sirens from the Fire Station and saw smoke out to the west of Stanthorpe.

I took these pictures from the Book Cave. We kept an eye on the fire on the Queensland Fire website and saw it moving closer to Stanthorpe. I left the Book Cave at 5.00pm but we headed back into town at 6.00 pm to go to a Trivia Night at the Art Gallery next to the Book Cave.It is dark here by 6.00 and we could see the glow of the fire as we headed towards town. When we got to town we could see the forested hills just to the west of the town were ablaze and Stanthorpe had no power. It seems that an electrical sub station has been lost in the fire and the power is out across the whole area even back here at Glen Aplin.The Trivia Night was cancelled so we headed back home but made a short detour along the road from the Book Cave towards where the fire was and were shocked to see huge flames right at the edge of town. The main Highway has been closed south and north of Stanthorpe and since getting back home have heard that it has jumped the highway and there are rumours of houses in the town burning.The wind has picked up again in the last hour or so which will not help one bit. We at least have power as we are off grid and have solar batteries.The wind is blowing away from us so we are fine but if the direction changes in the night it will be another story. The fire is about 15 kilometers north of us but there is nothing but lots of dry firewood between us and it if it starts to head our way.We shall stay awake tonight to keep an eye on it.

Handfed Possum.

So...tonight just before bed there was a possum on one of the deck posts. It posed so nicely for me that I went and got it some banana....I never for a moment expected that it would just sit there and take it from my hand but it did before jumping up the tree to eat it.