(no subject)
Today I took a load of sammiches and cookies and muffins and such to Healesville and Yarra Glen... Was not nearly what I expected it to be.
Driving around the Yarra Valley you drive through burned and blackened fields and forests..saw a bunch of..things in one which I think used to be sheep.. But I did not drive through the worst of areas, I didnt need to and dont think I wouldve been allowed to anyway even though it was foods for needies. Im not looking forward to seeing the worst of places but I will soon enough..
Yarra Glen was just like business as usual yet meters (literally) from the shops (the first of which is a petrol station..) its all burnt and black.
Healesville is all bustling and stuff but not with the urgency that I was expecting. There was bunches of firies and their vehicles at both ends of town and occasionally a bunch of them with lights going speeding right through but the ppl were calm. It surprised me as I was actually expecting to be driving into a cinder attack from what the radio was saying. It was a massive relief as I really dont know how I wouldve dealt with loosing Healesville on top of Kinglake, Marysville and possiblymaybyprobably Murrindindi Scenic Reserve.. Most of the mountains around had fires. Couldnt see flames, but smoke on many made it clear enough there was burnings happening and on others you could tell from the smoke that there had been burnings.
Finding out this morning that a friend was alive and safe was a relief too... I honestly didnt really believe I would get good news on that topic considering where she lives..
I still cant believe Kinglake, Marysville and Murrindindi are gone..I try to picture a world without them and cant. I spent the arvo in Kinglake last Thursday, about 40mins of that talking to a woman who works for Parks Vic about the area and how scared they were of a fire..and 48hrs after that conversation she may have died, I dont know. She's almost certainly homeless. My little friend the Dragon who put on such a great little show for me is probably dead. The takeaway food joint I got a chicken roll from is no more, the dude who made me my chicken roll..??
On a different topic Ive realised that I dont always hate the majority of city ppl (when I say I hate ppl I generally mean city ppl). I still think there is WAAAAAAAAAY too many of us and that needs to change but as individuals they can actually be amazing. The money and time and effort that average city dwellers are putting into helping ppl theyve never seen or spoken to before, ppl they wouldnt choose to socialise with is impressive.
I was luck though- my original plan for the weekend was to camp in Kinglake Nat Park Fri night and Marysville Sat night...at the last moment I decided I wanted a beach to swim in..
One of my brothers good friends was exactly the opposite- he was going to go away for the weekend but decided to stay home and relax there. He lived in Kinglake West. He died in his house on Saturday.
For the coming months I plan to be even more useless to you all than I normally am. On top of starting my new job next week Im planing to contact Parks Vic, DSE and Land Care to find out how I can help with revegetation and rebuilding of the forests and such on weekends. I may even be volunteering in helping with the towns too. I would ask and recommend that all of you do a lil something too (either time, money or both) cos these ppl and their amazing communities survive because they all stick together and their neighbours help them when theyre needy..at the moment they are all needy and they need us to be their neighbours.
Driving around the Yarra Valley you drive through burned and blackened fields and forests..saw a bunch of..things in one which I think used to be sheep.. But I did not drive through the worst of areas, I didnt need to and dont think I wouldve been allowed to anyway even though it was foods for needies. Im not looking forward to seeing the worst of places but I will soon enough..
Yarra Glen was just like business as usual yet meters (literally) from the shops (the first of which is a petrol station..) its all burnt and black.
Healesville is all bustling and stuff but not with the urgency that I was expecting. There was bunches of firies and their vehicles at both ends of town and occasionally a bunch of them with lights going speeding right through but the ppl were calm. It surprised me as I was actually expecting to be driving into a cinder attack from what the radio was saying. It was a massive relief as I really dont know how I wouldve dealt with loosing Healesville on top of Kinglake, Marysville and possiblymaybyprobably Murrindindi Scenic Reserve.. Most of the mountains around had fires. Couldnt see flames, but smoke on many made it clear enough there was burnings happening and on others you could tell from the smoke that there had been burnings.
Finding out this morning that a friend was alive and safe was a relief too... I honestly didnt really believe I would get good news on that topic considering where she lives..
I still cant believe Kinglake, Marysville and Murrindindi are gone..I try to picture a world without them and cant. I spent the arvo in Kinglake last Thursday, about 40mins of that talking to a woman who works for Parks Vic about the area and how scared they were of a fire..and 48hrs after that conversation she may have died, I dont know. She's almost certainly homeless. My little friend the Dragon who put on such a great little show for me is probably dead. The takeaway food joint I got a chicken roll from is no more, the dude who made me my chicken roll..??
On a different topic Ive realised that I dont always hate the majority of city ppl (when I say I hate ppl I generally mean city ppl). I still think there is WAAAAAAAAAY too many of us and that needs to change but as individuals they can actually be amazing. The money and time and effort that average city dwellers are putting into helping ppl theyve never seen or spoken to before, ppl they wouldnt choose to socialise with is impressive.
I was luck though- my original plan for the weekend was to camp in Kinglake Nat Park Fri night and Marysville Sat night...at the last moment I decided I wanted a beach to swim in..
One of my brothers good friends was exactly the opposite- he was going to go away for the weekend but decided to stay home and relax there. He lived in Kinglake West. He died in his house on Saturday.
For the coming months I plan to be even more useless to you all than I normally am. On top of starting my new job next week Im planing to contact Parks Vic, DSE and Land Care to find out how I can help with revegetation and rebuilding of the forests and such on weekends. I may even be volunteering in helping with the towns too. I would ask and recommend that all of you do a lil something too (either time, money or both) cos these ppl and their amazing communities survive because they all stick together and their neighbours help them when theyre needy..at the moment they are all needy and they need us to be their neighbours.