You guys are lovely.

[Robin4]

I have had some private messages from CC members from around the world wanting to know if we are being impacted by bushfires currently burning in the Adelaide hills. Dear Jo from Durban asks if there is any way she can help!

We are fine, it is now 11.00pm, standing outside and looking to the north there is a noticeable red glow in the sky and neighbouring towns to the north of us have been given instructions to leave for safe areas! 

This morning there was a lot of air traffic and many sirens, and when I went outside everything had a really yellow appearance, and looking to our north this was what the sky looked like.......

We did not get to our expected maximum here today, it only got to 44.2c but a change has come through, the winds have stopped to dead still, the odd thunderstorm has rolled through with a sprinkle of rain and the temp has fallen to 19c,  so I think the emergency services have a good chance of getting on top of things tonight.

We are totally safe and immune from a fire threat here. We are in the centre of a town of 30,000 people. On two sides our property is bordered by the local high school grassed ovals and on another side we have our linear park with 100's of acres of well watered and kept grass and a large lake. There is no possibility of a fire ever impacting us here, but I feel terribly for those to the north of us, quite a few of them have lost their properties and there are stock all over the place. Farmers just opened their paddock gates and herded their stock out onto roadways so they could escape the fire front.

There are at least 8 Airbnb hosts in the areas that are being directly impacted by this fire and I am trying to contact each of them and see if they need any assistance.  

We will get around this in good condition and live to fight another day.

I would like to thank all of you, this truly is a great community!

Thanks....& see ya.

Cheers.......Rob 

[Robin4]

@Lizzie 

86 homes were lost here in our area last Friday, but Lizzie we are a strong community. The Mt Barker high school  which borders our property has become a relief centre for those who have lost everything. The Gymnasium has become sleeping quarters for those who are now homeless. 

This morning I went and bought $200 of basic foodstuffs, and this afternoon Ade and I took that plus all the older clothes of ours we could carry up to the Admin building, and there is a mass of people there who have slotted into this situation like a well oiled machine making sure that everyone has food and the necessities before the government assistance package can kick in. 

I have one couple in the front bedroom....the room you stayed in Lizzie on that visit of yours to us last year. 

I would have them in the listing cottage, but Airbnb will penalise me if I cancel confirmed reservations to accommodate homeless people so, I am doing all I can do in any way I can! 

Lizzie, we are OK, there is no threat to us, I feel a bit guilty, while those around me have lost so much, it doesn't seem fair. I water the garden, deadhead a few roses, pull out a few weeds and life seems to go on as normal for me when just a few Kms away hell has broken loose and people have lost everything!

On a brighter note I got a text from Kate our youngest daughter this evening who is in the midst of the terrible fires in NSW......

This is a view from her ground floor balcony........It's pouring, rain they have not seen on the Central Coast for three months. One of the 'mega-blazes' is burning in her area! Hopefully this will get the Gospers Mountain fire under control!

She was so exited to tell me, I could literally feel it through the phone!

I said in another post we are so thankful the Americans and Canadians have come over here to help us in our time of need. There is no doubt about it, when the chips are down we humans know how to support each other! 

Cheers.......Rob

[Robin129]

The son of my father's good friend is down there flying planes that drop the fire retardant. I don't know the official name of those planes. Dad just told me at Christmas Eve Dinner.

[Robin4]

Just an update if I may, the current bush fires have burnt through an area larger than the United Kingdom and there appears to be no way to stop them. We desperately need the intervention of nature in the way of rainfall! 

News services are now just filled with reports on the latest victims. But one thing is for sure, these bush fires will end.....eventually!

It's that the aftermath is as hard to cope with as the actual event!

I won't call them friends as such but, I came across a couple I had a bit to do with when I was with Meals on Wheels....they were volunteer deliverers, and this morning I saw them in the local supermarket. We talked for a while about what was happening, and she told me,  each morning they used to sit outside and have a cup of coffee and feed the birds that would come up to their deck. They lost their home, just rubble now, but the last few mornings they have gone back to see if there was anything they could salvage. They found a couple of metal drums to sit on and, just sitting there, it suddenly struck them......the vibrant community of life was gone! As they sat there, there was ....silence...not a sound, not even the rustle of leaves in those burnt trees! All those bird calls, the sound of nature has gone, nothing of life remains!

That is the sad part about a bush fire, it destroys everything, it leaves nothing behind.

Their house will be replaced, it was insured.....but it's a bit harder to replace nature. All I could do is give them a hug and have a little cry with them! 

Rob 

[Ria16]

My heart goes out to you all over there Rob, the devastation of nature is such that I have no words. Kia Kaha ;( 

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Robin4 it must be so horrible for you all. I find it hard to imagine from just the news reports what it's like.

So little we can do from over here. 

I can pray for rain though.