High drama!

After a fairly quiet day trying to keep out of the ferocious south-easter (local wind), we were rather alarmed to be told to pack a bag of 'essentials' and evacuate our apartment because of a bush fire which was dangerously close.

We weren't allowed back until about 9.30pm when all the fire engines and crews had left the street. The apartment was smoky and the window sills covered in soot, but at least we were safe.

The blip, taken while we took refuge in a café on the beach, shows some of the smoke on the hillside. All day we had been aware of helicopters trailing huge water containers emptying their load onto the fires.