Home again ...

and I'm so happy to be here. Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed, and tomorrow I get to drink proper Melbourne coffee again. Most importantly, my laptop and the internet and talking again, and over the next few days I'll publish all the posts I wrote while I was away.

Flying home from Sydney today I saw something I've never seen before. We've got bushfires everywhere in Victoria again, and from the plane, I could see multiple towers of smoke. At the base of each smoke tower, the smoke was tinted a dark red, then orange, and then faded to pink and then grey. As the plane approached Melbourne and landing, we could actually see the masses of red flames. I've never been close to a fire before, and that is as close as I ever want to get. Watches the red tongues flick in and out was strangely compelling, and quite eerie.

The country that wasn't on fire was still so dry - it would be so easy for the whole state to go up in flames. I really hope that those fighting the fires can remain safe, and that includes all of the guest fire fighters from New Zealand, Canada and the US.

Burning Up

While I write this, Melbourne's beautiful 24 degree summer day is covered by a foggy haze. There are horrendous bushfires all over the state, and the forecast tomorrow is for 37 degrees, Dry and Smokey. The fire authorities expect some of the fires to join up to create a 100 km fire front.

I've posted before about the drought, and the impact that I saw it having while we were away. Now all I can think about is the people that we met when we were away, and the effect that these fires are having on their lives, their communities and their livelihoods.

All I can do is hope that all of the firefighters, the volunteers and every one trying to protect their homes stays safe and is reunited with their family and community as soon as possible.

*Image sourced from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14005