One Year On

I was conned with the promise of lunch and quality time* into going with Mum down to Dunalley to take some photos for a local agricultural publication. They're running an article about how the village is recovering after the horrendous fires last year. I know they made the news in at least the UK, but driving through the area showed so much better than a map like this just how terrible they were. There's something spectacular about gum trees after a bushfire though - they explode with growth, running up and down their trunks. The sides of the roads are lined with a mixture of bright green trees and blackened stumps, interspersed with an occasional ruined brick chimney next to an untouched weatherboard house. There is nothing more fickle than a bushfire.

In terms of fences this area was hard hit, with miles of fencing still to be rebuilt. There are signs along the roads warning of roaming animals. This farmer lost most of his fences, and we didn't like to ask about his livestock. You can see the stripped hills in the background, and some blackened trees a little closer. But he has a new flock of sheep and is rebuilding.




*It wasn't a con. And there was some financial incentive offered as well, not that quality time and lunch aren't a good deal. And the lunch was incredibly delicious.