colin wrote: "I was wondering how our Aussie friends were doing, especially those in Sydney. It is very serious out there."
and Jimmy: "ME TOO!!! John Low, are you doing okay? I saw that there were some fires in the Blue Mountains which is near you. Hope you Vanessa and the kids are okay!" Hello, Colin and Jimmy, thanks for your concern. Yes, things have been pretty tense around Sydney since Christmas with serious fires burning from the Hunter Valley in the north right down the South Coast, even in some suburbs of Sydney and, of course, in the Blue Mountains where I live. Living in the upper part of the Blue Mountains we have so far been relatively safe from the fires. Tons of smoke though and two weeks of tension and high alert. But, working in the lower Mountains, Ive had to travel down through the 'danger' zone each day. Fortunately the firefighters (many from inter-state - weve had a number of South Australian units here in the Mountains) are highly trained and this, plus the technology available, has resulted in less property damage than expected and no loss of life at this stage. There is a big American designed helicopter called Elvis that has become a bit of an icon here in the last couple of weeks holds an absolutely phenomenal amount of water and two more have just been leased. They arrived from the US yesterday. My brother and his wife were evacuated from their home in the lower Mountains on Boxing Day and came within a whisker of losing their house. They have lived in this area for nearly 30 years and this was their worst fire experience all their garden, fences etc. burnt but the house saved! The weather has been so hot and dry since before Christmas but last Sunday night we had a very heavy fall of rain that has relieved the situation here quite a bit. For the moment anyway! Serious fires are still burning on the South Coast however. Thanks for your thoughts though guys. Theyre really appreciated. John. __________________________________________________________________ Get your free Australian email account at http://www.start.com.au
