The bushfires(or more accurately - firestorms) out in the State of Victoria are shown on the news programs as dots on the map.OK.....I know there is video footage of the places too...but because of the fire and the smoke it is difficult to get a real picture of the places that have been destroyed by the flames.
When places are shown in video footage on TV it is difficult to get a feel for the place, even when you know that place well....it always looks a bit different on film.
Because we have family in Oz, these places are more than just dots on the map to us....they are the places where family and friends have their homes... their livelihoods, and are part of the communities.
Kinglake, Maryville, Beechworth......these are all places that we have(over the years) visited and spent time.
They are places that hold memories of very happy times.
It must have been in 1980 that we first visited Kinglake.
It was exactly this time of year to
ur relatives drove four hours from the city to go to a barbecue.
It was at the house of my sister-in-laws brother-in-law(hope I'm not confusing you here).
The house was a huge homestead set in the rural country side......it was a beautiful weatherboard house with many rooms.
Having left our draughty terraced house back in Lancashire it seemed like a mansion to me.
There were paddocks out the front and a fenced in in-ground pool.
The barbecue was set up on the front paddock and there was more meat than you would see in a well stocked buchers shop.....steaks, sausages, chops, patties.....meat of all kinds.
There were bowls full of different kinds of salad veggies that you could help yourself to......there were potatoes to bake, there were wedges to thrown on the barbie to heat up.
Tables were set up and seats were placed all around.....everyone helped themselves and we were having a lovely time eating al fresco.
The problem with this arrangement was the uninvited guests......flies...and parakeets.The flies were the worst though.There was a creek on the homestead and I can remember the chaps in the group getting some bacon and some bits of fishing line.
They went up to the creek and tied bits of bacon to their lines and dangled them in the water of the creek.......before very long they were pulling fat Yabbies(a kind of freshwater prawn) out of the water......these would later be thrown on the barbie and eaten with great relish.....tasting so much better because they had been caught by the person who was eating them.....so fresh that the water hadn't missed them yet!
While the guys were catching Yabbies, I was picking blackberries....and marvelling that I could be picking blackberries in February......even though they were seasonal to that part of the hemisphere, it still seemed strange to me.
In the field by the creek was a white pony, now I have never ever ridden a horse.....but I was encouraged to try and ride this pony.....I was told that he was docile and friendly....and that I didn't need a saddle or anything like that....I could climb on his back and hold onto his mane.....he wouldn't mind.(you wanna bet?)
I was helped onto his back and he trotted around the paddock nicely for all of five minutes with me hanging on for dear life.....then he took fright at something and pitched me into the brambles.......I was shaken and scratched, but my pride was hurt more than my bones.....especially that everyone laughed at my misfortune.
When the barbie was over, everything was cleared away and we all adjourned to the house......and the heart of this house was the kitchen......Doss, the lady of the house had baked so many cakes and scones you would have thought that she had planned to feed all of the Australian Army single handedly......and despite what we had all scoffed earlier in the day, we tucked into the feast before us.
Doss and Ken told us how they had come by the house.......they had been driving through Kinglake and spotted that this lovely house was up for auction.....they had a large family and also fostered some disadvantaged children too.......they thought the place looked ideal for growing children and decided that they would attend the auction.Doss told us that they had set a ceiling on the price that they were prepared to pay......I can't quite remember what it was, but it seemed an awful lot of money to me.
Ken got into the bidding and their ceiling price came and went and the bidding was still going furiously......Doss told me that when Ken was bidding she was mentally planning what they would have to sell to come up with the money.......and by the end of the bidding she felt quite faint at the price they had actually bid up to.
I never did really find out what it took to pay off that huge chunk of money, but suffice it to say that they raised their children there and were very happy......and were always ready to offer hospitality to the friends of their children, and to folks like us who were just visiting Oz.......so it is with great sadness that I watch the news footage of the destruction of such a beautiful place.
When places are shown in video footage on TV it is difficult to get a feel for the place, even when you know that place well....it always looks a bit different on film.
Because we have family in Oz, these places are more than just dots on the map to us....they are the places where family and friends have their homes... their livelihoods, and are part of the communities.
Kinglake, Maryville, Beechworth......these are all places that we have(over the years) visited and spent time.
They are places that hold memories of very happy times.
It must have been in 1980 that we first visited Kinglake.
It was exactly this time of year to
ur relatives drove four hours from the city to go to a barbecue. It was at the house of my sister-in-laws brother-in-law(hope I'm not confusing you here).
The house was a huge homestead set in the rural country side......it was a beautiful weatherboard house with many rooms.
Having left our draughty terraced house back in Lancashire it seemed like a mansion to me.
There were paddocks out the front and a fenced in in-ground pool.
The barbecue was set up on the front paddock and there was more meat than you would see in a well stocked buchers shop.....steaks, sausages, chops, patties.....meat of all kinds.
There were bowls full of different kinds of salad veggies that you could help yourself to......there were potatoes to bake, there were wedges to thrown on the barbie to heat up.
Tables were set up and seats were placed all around.....everyone helped themselves and we were having a lovely time eating al fresco.
The problem with this arrangement was the uninvited guests......flies...and parakeets.The flies were the worst though.There was a creek on the homestead and I can remember the chaps in the group getting some bacon and some bits of fishing line.
They went up to the creek and tied bits of bacon to their lines and dangled them in the water of the creek.......before very long they were pulling fat Yabbies(a kind of freshwater prawn) out of the water......these would later be thrown on the barbie and eaten with great relish.....tasting so much better because they had been caught by the person who was eating them.....so fresh that the water hadn't missed them yet!
While the guys were catching Yabbies, I was picking blackberries....and marvelling that I could be picking blackberries in February......even though they were seasonal to that part of the hemisphere, it still seemed strange to me.
In the field by the creek was a white pony, now I have never ever ridden a horse.....but I was encouraged to try and ride this pony.....I was told that he was docile and friendly....and that I didn't need a saddle or anything like that....I could climb on his back and hold onto his mane.....he wouldn't mind.(you wanna bet?)
I was helped onto his back and he trotted around the paddock nicely for all of five minutes with me hanging on for dear life.....then he took fright at something and pitched me into the brambles.......I was shaken and scratched, but my pride was hurt more than my bones.....especially that everyone laughed at my misfortune.
When the barbie was over, everything was cleared away and we all adjourned to the house......and the heart of this house was the kitchen......Doss, the lady of the house had baked so many cakes and scones you would have thought that she had planned to feed all of the Australian Army single handedly......and despite what we had all scoffed earlier in the day, we tucked into the feast before us.
Doss and Ken told us how they had come by the house.......they had been driving through Kinglake and spotted that this lovely house was up for auction.....they had a large family and also fostered some disadvantaged children too.......they thought the place looked ideal for growing children and decided that they would attend the auction.Doss told us that they had set a ceiling on the price that they were prepared to pay......I can't quite remember what it was, but it seemed an awful lot of money to me.
Ken got into the bidding and their ceiling price came and went and the bidding was still going furiously......Doss told me that when Ken was bidding she was mentally planning what they would have to sell to come up with the money.......and by the end of the bidding she felt quite faint at the price they had actually bid up to.
I never did really find out what it took to pay off that huge chunk of money, but suffice it to say that they raised their children there and were very happy......and were always ready to offer hospitality to the friends of their children, and to folks like us who were just visiting Oz.......so it is with great sadness that I watch the news footage of the destruction of such a beautiful place.