Yeah I think so too Marg. There is also a snap somewhere on the net of a CFA volunteer doing a similar thing to a kangaroo.

The few fire burnt animals we looked after for those first few weeks just showed such response
to kindness- keep in mind nearly all of them were wild. They all lived too so that gave me a smile. The hardest part is releasing them into the wild again- some are way too cute!!!!!

The good news is that the federal Rudd government is donating a chunk of money to animal rescue shelters that were burnt down in the fire as well as $$ towards gear to be replaced, so that's a positive thing too. I try not to think about how many animals were killed-
so depressing. I know a lot of bird life made it out- over the past few weeks we seem to be feeding double. Yesterday Kookaburras arrived all with burnt feathers but apart from that healthy..and lots of black cockatoos-from yellow tails to the rarely seen Casuarina Black Cockatoo- Ailsa Craig looked like some exotic bird sanctuary!! It was good to see.

Gryph

and for Linda J, keep an eye open for the mail, we just mailed off a parcel of a few bits and pieces to help re build your collection- just a small parcel to brighten your week
PG

Hi PG, I saw your email earlier- thank you thank you thank you
It's certainly made me feel better and has given me something to look forward to. You're a gem

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon:
Yeah I think so too Marg. There is also a snap somewhere on the net of a CFA volunteer doing a similar thing to a kangaroo.

I know a lot of bird life made it out- over the past few weeks we seem to be feeding double. Yesterday Kookaburras arrived all with burnt feathers but apart from that healthy..and lots of black cockatoos-from yellow tails to the rarely seen Casuarina Black Cockatoo- Ailsa Craig looked like some exotic bird sanctuary!! It was good to see.

Gryph

Those photos are so precious. To think that under normal circumstances, those animals would panic and run/hop at the sight of a human, goes to show just how desperate they are- so trusting


PG, I like to think that some of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos and kookaburras that once frequented our garden are now in yours

quote:

Originally posted by LindaJ:

Please send some of that weather this way via express post!

Will do!

no sleep for us last night, outside as the sun came up and it rained, not a lot, just a short burst but after nearly 2 months that felt amazing.

Nearly all of the mountain is evacuated, no cars and we saw 3 people at breakfast.... winds are picking up but still safe.

and Linda totally our pleasure, the best gift is to make someone happy.
Cheers
Gryph

i woke up to a strange noise this morning-and it took me a while to figure out what it was.....Yes a little rain here in Eildon also.
The strong winds have started now.
Our town is deserted too ... lots of strike teams milling around though.

Hi Old Frenz

I hope you're ok there at the moment

I had almost forgotten what rain was, let alone what it sounded like Was lovely to get some this morning. We need heaps more though, don't we?

It's very quite around here too (I'm in the Diamond Valley area at the moment). I even drove to my usual swimming class today and the roads were quite. Had my lights on due to dust blanketing the roads.

Thanks LindaJ

Things are much better here today.

The fires are almost classified as 'contained' yay thank heavens.After almost 4 weeks of this nonsence I was about to blow a valve.

Kids are back at school again - buses are running and the township is starting to wake up.

Now we can all get on with the job of healing.

I made the Bushfire donation from the club today, I allowed $4000 for this- which is brilliant- so thank you. The extra I am holding over the next week,a s it will go to one of the animal rescue places. The reason I'm holding back, is that I want to make sure it goes to one that needs it. The Rudd government in Australia has been giving funding to a few of the animal shelters that burnt down , even covering their gear I hear, so I just want to make sure the extra dollars go to the right ones. (will post more on this.)

Any last minute or late donations I'll give to the animal rescue people. So I guess for the next week people can donate via the clubs paypal (petergr@netspace.net.au) but please remember to send me an email with full name/address and that you donated via paypal.

I'll also post a full thank you list of names, just walked in, totally exhausted so will do this after Sound Relief show is over.

Thank you again to those of you who supported the clubs bushire fund.

That's great news, and what a total - I'm sure it'll be of help.

To all who are going - have a great time tomorrow

yeah so brilliant- as soon as I reclaim my life back from Sound Relief I'll post a list of thank-you's too
PG

A huge thank you to the following people:
Fiona Clark, Fiona Russell, Jeremy Los, Neil Staughton, Sansanee Sermprungs, Cath Higgins, Jennifer Sciacca, Deanna Ramse, Kate Vose, Jennifer Granozio, Matthew Glass, Tabatha Voss, Kirsten Brewster, Meredith Trunk, Jasmine Nunn, Neil McDermott, Jacquie De Vita, Martin Berglund, Melissa Schmidt, Scott Mackenzie, Jason Theros, Jim Pierce, Darron Yearsley, Sarah Grimston, Alison Scougall, Dawn Salsbury, Joyce Ito, Mark Stevens, Sarah Grimston, Melissa Chun, Lisa Elfering, Wendy Chouinard, Matthew Blaikie, Beth Fine, Martine Dahlke, Stuart Saunders, Jennifer Jones, Jessica Resnick, Katie Bird, Henri Hochstrate, Poly Prime, Jenni Holman, Margaret & Sean, Ingrid Bruce, Liz Post, Jana bedlewski, Tracy Nicol, Jeff Lewis, Rebecca Wise, Caroline Smit, Peter Green, Mark Goulding, Mike Swift, Tania Limmer, Scott Mackenzie, Colin Barton, Lila Chwee, Eric Thunstedt, Kelly Sharpe, Susan Schickedanz, Kimberly Kelly, Rory Craig, Claire & Dot Conaghty, Jeremy Ansell, Rachel Fairbanks, Heath Knowles, Vincent Pennel, melinda Hawthorne, Suzanne Buurman, Val Bartley, Linda Grudgings, Diane Waugh, nancy Kho, Elaine Williamson, Heath Knowles, Janet Berry, Adam Samuels, Danny Martin, Angela Tuohy, Jennet Lee, Helen Watson, Claire Newman, petra Weber, David Schaechtel, Tabatha Voss, jan McQueen, Carolyn Bedwell, Ayisha Brimah, Bruce Anderson, Neal Stockwell, Tracy Coakley, Christopher Byng, Sean Power, Amy Stone, Tania James, Mary Kathleen Holmes, William Allen, Kiersten Frankowski, Karen Redolfi, Cindy Heath,Shannon MacGillivray, Rory Craig, Deb & Iarla.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gryphon,

I'll be up in Kinglake playing footy on Sunday morning. Should be an interesting drive up.

quote:

Originally posted by Greatfox:
I'll be up in Kinglake playing footy on Sunday morning. Should be an interesting drive up.

It's quite a shock when you first see it . Which way will you be going up?

Through Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground and St. Andrews, the Heidelberg-Kinglake Road, and from what I can see it goes right through the fire area

Went there today after going to the St Andrews market. All the newspaper and television coverage cannot prepare you for the devastation.

It was good to see people in Kinglake, going about their businesses, but right opposite the grocery store, the burnt out petrol station in ruins, with the petrol bowsers melted. And of course all the houses along the road, burnt out.

And it was good to see greenery beginning to show in the ground, and the new growth on the tree trunks, but otherwise, just black trees and grey earth. Going on hill after hill.

Unimaginable what those people went through.

Is ther musch of St. Andrews left?

Yes, it's all ok from what I saw. As you drive out of St Andrews, towards Kinglake, there is a clear demarcation of where the fires were stopped - it's very spooky, almost a clear line. You drive (back) from total devastation of black and grey, into a green and lush environment within a matter of seconds.

The market has been back for three weeks and yesterday was the first one that had real numbers returning - all the victorians heeding the plea of officials to go back to the ravaged areas, and spend and be visible, I guess. A few of the stall holders have lost everything, I was told, and a couple haven't returned, and no-one is quite sure why that is.

But you'll see for yourself when you're up that way today I imagine. I think it's great that there is a resumption of (relatively) normal activities in Kinglake.

I know we're being urged to go spend, help businesses get back on their feet, and to try and bring some normality back to these areas, but it's a fine line between being supportive, and gawking at the devastation. We didn't drive through Kinglake, just in, spend and out. All a bit too raw.

It's interesting though to see some houses that are surrounded by trees, safe, and others, with no trees at all, burnt down. Also that the road is completely burnt out - the trees alongside. You simply would have been driving into a tunnel of fire.

Anyway, Greatfox, hope you had a great game, and that your match brought some laughter and fun to the area. Good for you.

I'm still in shock. You can't really understand how bad the fire was until you see it, and I saw the full extent of the damage today going up (and down) the valley from St. Andrews onwards. hk, you were right about the split of burnt and unburnt forest was stunning, it's all green and suddenly you turn around a corner it's scorched earth and black trees. The burnt out houses and cars in the driveways and what once were garages were particuarly shocking.

But, when I got to the oval it was great to see amid all the destruction in Kinglake, there was life and a great sense of spirit within the locals. For the record we won the game, I was secretly hoping that Kinglake would give us a hiding, but it was probably the most enjoyable match I've ever played, and it's great to be able to help out the community recover in this way, my football club donated $15,000 to the Kinglake football club, and there was also a $9000 donation to Kinglake Primary School from my high school.

I'll post a couple of photos I took, I avoided taking any of property out of respect for the owners.







LindaJ, after seeing all this I can still only begin to imagine what you've gone through, I hope you're getting back on track and rebuilding your life like I saw the rest of the town doing in the short time I was there