The fires you guys are experiencing made national news again.. How close are they to you???
{{{HUGS}}} and prayers for your safety.... and for those who have not been able to escape these fires.

Thanks for thinking of us over here. Weather hey? If it's not one thing it's the other.

The fires are mostly in Victoria and in New South Wales. They're States south of me. I forget how long the Victorian fires have been burning, but it'd be close to 55 days without let up. Sound unreal I know, but it's true.

Sydney copped a blast in the last couple of days and they had fires very close in a national park in the suburbs. Scary to watch on the tv. I lived for a number of years in the Hinterland here and one year I had fire burned around my property. The house was old colonial style wooden thing (very beautiful but fire fodder). I, fortunately, was the only property in my area to have slashed and cleared the acres and the fire brigade was able to use my fenceline and backburn from there. I also had a little dam. It was very scary at the time, and esp. so for the donkey I had living there who ran amok while all this was going on. It was so scary to watch the embers burning in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep of course and even after it was out, I kept looking at the landscape. It was so foreign. All the lush green was gone and it was just black and red and bare. 6months later, it was lush and green again. Amazing.

I'm further north and we have a bit of a different climate up here. In the south they have like a temperate climate where they get most rainfall in their winter months. We're more tropical and get most rainfall in our summer months. The temperatures down south this year have been awfully high.

We have those water bearing helicopters now. Called "Elvis". You all in the USA send them over I think. I don't think we have many of our own. I heard yesterday that lots of firefighters here from the USA and of course, our neighbours in New Zealand have been giving a helping hand.

Australia has always burned. The Aborigines used to do it on purpose to revegetate. Lots of our species of eucalypt seeds have evolved to the degree where they actually need fire or intense heat to open. Many other species have developed underground root systems that allow revegetation. The tree might burn to a crisp, but the roots will be cool and safe underground and they'll sprout anew. Problem is these days, that lots of people choose to live in areas where it can be pretty dangerous in fire seasons. The love of the bush can be a hazardous thing.

All those little animals ... so sad.

55 days..... wow...... I bet those poor firemen are exhausted. That is one job that i would NOT want to do... fire gives me the creeps.

I dont watch or read much of the news!
I'm so sorry to hear about these fires though...
Stay safe Lara~

(((Lara))) Keep a water hose nearby because we wouldn't want to lose you! I'm so sorry to hear about all the fire. I thought of you the other night when the old old movie "Quigly Down Under" was on.

I thought about you almost all day yesterday too.... at work we try to have a day full of activites about what is going on that day... like national pie day, or national pencil day etc..... WELL yesterday was Austrailia day so we talked about Austrailia, and watched a movie about a train ride through Austrailia. i said a prayer several times yesterday that the firemen would be safe, and get those nasty fires out...
{{{HUGS}}}}

LOL Doody, I'm not sure I've seen that movie. It rings a bell. I just looked it up on the net and saw it was called an "australian western" lol which really gave me a chuckle. I should check it out one day. Thanks so much for thinking of us, but in no danger at all in my area. Have woken up to a very cloudy day here this morning (it's 6.11am now on Sunday) and so I'm hoping for some rain.

Goofy, that's so neat that you did that for our Australia Day. It was a great day here. Everyone seemed to be at the beach or playing cricket or having a barbie in the parks at the edge of the beaches. It was stinking hot though. I'm wondering if the train was The Ghan? Now that's something I'd have liked to have done myself. So, did you play cricket or have a barbeque or have any cane toad or cockroach races too??? These fires down south have been burning so long, they don't mention them much on the news anymore, except when they get too close to a township. It's weird.

trying to find a decent webcam. try this one this morning. It's very overcast and muggy here, so won't be very clear pictures. Note it shuts off after 5 mins. Have to reset it.

http://www.coastalwatch.com/camera/c...plet&state=QLD

p.s. I just noticed when it reset for me that it goes back to Burleigh Heads. The one I posted just now is a few beaches south at Rainbow Bay. geez, I just made a double post. Had to delete one of these.

http://www.coastalwatch.com/gallery/...es.aspx?Page=2
Image gallery page 2. of 1-19.

Looking for a pic. of my favourite surfer... *dash
No pop-ups on my computer in case anyone is worried about clicking the urls.

test: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200511/r63685_175777.jpg

they get better.

http://3degree.cci.ecu.edu.au/attach...e/24?width=185

those waves look to stinking scary to me LOL

i dont think i'd make a very good surfer. heck, i dont even make a very good ocean wader... i've got this thing about not being able to see what i'm walking on. I remember when we were in Florida and my family was way da heck out into the ocean and i was wading up by the beach. my daughter let out this yelp and came running toward me, like to have scared the crap outta me. i honestly thought a jelly fish or shark or something got to her LOL. She got pinched by a crab....

I will admit though the ocean, and even those waves are very pretty.
and thanks for the links.... they're pretty neat. OH and the train... i dont remember the name of it, but its the one that goes all the way across Aurstailia. They said it is the only one that has a 200 and something mile stretch without any curves...

Glad you enjoyed them!
Waves aren't too scary. Sharks are scary.

Thanks to Curious, I just got Photobucket set up.
I'll try not to go overboard now but it might get a little compulsive.

If it was The Ghan it's a little like The Orient Express except it's through desert lol

OK, just checked. It was probably the Indian Pacific across the Nullabor Plains. Site says "where the train travels the world's longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kilometres)"

http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/the...he-journey.php The Ghan
http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/ind...he-journey.php Indian Pacific
http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/train-routes.php Train routes