Back in Black
Possibly "Back to Brown" would be more accurate but that isn't the title of an AC DC album. Having got the word that the road to Mallacoota was open to residents we loaded up the car and left Bunda St about 1000 hrs on 21 January. The load included doco to show we owned a house at Mallacoota.
The drive down to Cooma was very dreary with dry hillsides in every direction. Needless to say that continued on the way to Nimmitabel. Which is normal for that area at the best of times.
However then a patch of green appeared. Irrigation from a bore or have they had rain?
Heading down Brown Mountain (as all roads South of Bombala are still closed, and the first "Road to Victoria Closed" was at the top of the mountain - about 100km from Eden) the mountains behind Bemboka were burnt out, which surprised me as I thought that area had suffered a wildfire only a couple of years ago.
Getting close to the village and the fire had obviously jumped the road. This map, based on Fires Near Me amended by our observations, shows how close to the village it got. It says something about how disastrous the fires were that this near-miss didn't get any media coverage
Once on the Princes Highway we soon found a couple of ADF vehicles.
The actual carnage started a bit further (5 km) out of Eden than I had expected. Even then there seemed to be patches of unburnt crown on the trees. I assume that these were a different species.
The first Victorian Police block was right on the border and was handled in a very professional manner. That included spelling out Angophora using the phonetic alphabet more quickly than I have ever heard it used! Soon on our way.
The fuzziness of this sign is partly due to the camera focusing on the windscreen but mainly because the sign had nearly melted.
Work is being done to widen the gap between the trees and the road.
Approaching Genoa the road is bordered by bipinnate Acacias, which appeared to be largely unburnt. The second road block at the Mallacoota Rd was also very well run and had obviously been told we were coming. Some good advice and we were on our way. The Genoa Flats were still green but once past Gipsy Point Cemetery everything was incinerated. The lych gate at the cemetery was OK but the fence beside it was gone.
I am not photographing houses around Mallacoota: people don't want to find photos of their heap of rubble on the internet. However it seemed that as usual the fire had hit and missed with two solid homes being followed by three heaps of twisted tin. The centre of town seemed quite normal but Lakeside Dr had been more severely and extensively burnt than I had expected.
Getting to our street and everything seemed normal. Very quiet, but normal. Now we get to the "awfulising": a word Ingrid invented to cover the situation where one invents or imagines the worst things that could occur.
My weather station had recorded on and I have a full data set for December and January. Very good D-cell batteries in the console I think!
Finally, our tomatoes have held up well!
Jobs for today:
The drive down to Cooma was very dreary with dry hillsides in every direction. Needless to say that continued on the way to Nimmitabel. Which is normal for that area at the best of times.
Some houses appeared totally untouched while others had been totally destroyed A very sad sight was a place which had been notable in the past for having a pair of tailor's dummies in 20s costume on the verandah. The house was gone, but they had saved the dummies. According to a fuel price site the Kia Store was still open and selling fuel but in fact the bowsers had been removed.
The third Road Closed sign just before the NSW road block. That block was just before Imlay Rd and run by Traffic Controllers rather than police. No problem once we said we were going to Mallacoota and confirmed we were going home. Another sign.
The fuzziness of this sign is partly due to the camera focusing on the windscreen but mainly because the sign had nearly melted.
I am not photographing houses around Mallacoota: people don't want to find photos of their heap of rubble on the internet. However it seemed that as usual the fire had hit and missed with two solid homes being followed by three heaps of twisted tin. The centre of town seemed quite normal but Lakeside Dr had been more severely and extensively burnt than I had expected.
Getting to our street and everything seemed normal. Very quiet, but normal. Now we get to the "awfulising": a word Ingrid invented to cover the situation where one invents or imagines the worst things that could occur.
- I have occasionally had difficulty locking the front door. As soon as I heard about possible looting (1 January) I started to imagine someone finding our front door open and cleaning the house out. It was locked.
- A couple of people have got a tad cranky with me on FB and I awfulised them chucking a rock through our huge stained glass window. (Frances reckoned if that happened she'd hunt them down and give them a slab for the help!) It was intact
My weather station had recorded on and I have a full data set for December and January. Very good D-cell batteries in the console I think!
Finally, our tomatoes have held up well!
- Schlep bin full of manky food to the tip;
- Finish cleaning freezer;
- Mow lawn, hoping not damage any water buffalo lurking in the moister areas;
- Clean out filter on rainwater tank.
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