One Week Later
Home Page
Saturday 25 January
It's exactly a week later and the excitement
and adrenaline is starting to wear off. Canberra
has been warned to expect a weekend of high
fire danger and is petrified it will happen
again, but we are in limbo, stuck in a hotel.
Me, with my foot in the air, waiting for
the swelling to go down (I haven't been a
good or obedient patient - there's been too
much to do) and Lyndsey just waiting.
Waiting isn't quite the same as relaxing,
not when you want to make things happen.
Our house still hasn't got electricity yet
and judging by the state of the power poles
down our road, it's going to be a few days
yet. We have contacted the insurance company
and will get the house cleaned on Monday
3 February, assuming the power is back. Phones?
who knows (see below for how wrong I was).
When we were at the house yesterday, we noticed
that the phone cable had broken and fallen
down. There's a lot of work to be done getting
all the basic services up and going again
and everyone concerned is working as hard
as possible, for which we are grateful.
Talking of being grateful, we have many to
thank. My company, IBM, who have paid for
our hotel accommodation and unlimited sick
leave. This benefits not only us, but frees
up scarce resources such as evacuation centres
for others.
The Griffin Hotel in Kingston, who have made
space for us and other families with not
a word of complaint about how difficult is
has been to fit us all in at a time when
they are fully booked.
Friends, colleagues and strangers who have
sent messages of support and offers of help.
But it is getting harder. After the relief
of having a house and contents undamaged
came the realisation that we had lost a mature
and beautiful 25 year old garden. One reason
we bought the property last year was because
of the wonderful range of plants and trees
that the previous (original) owner had so
expertly planted and cared for.
We used to live in Sydney until about ten
years ago. We had lived there since we emigrated
in 1972. We tried moving back about eighteen
months ago and lived in an apartment in the
sky. It was then we discovered that what
goes for modern living is, for us, little
more than existing. We missed having our
feet on the ground, soil to plant things
in and living plants to nurture and appreciate
as they grow and mature..
So we were somewhat upset to discover that
the garden is not covered by insurance. This
was followed by the realisation that what
has been lost cannot be replaced as easily
as houses, electricity, phone lines. In fact,
it is rather like losing one's possessions,
and as hard to rectify, This time next year,
many houses will have been rebuilt, services
will be working again but not many quarter
century year old gardens will have been replaced.
We have not yet had a full year of watching
the different trees, shrubs, plants and flowers
emerge and show their particular beauty.
We were especially waiting for autumn when
the deciduous trees in Canberra usually give
a magnificent display, Not our trees. Not
this year.
Our trees are now blackened skeletons, more
stark than in mid winter and without having
displayed all the wonderful autumnal shades
of red, yellow, russet and brown.
And then there is Lyndsey's pride and joy,
a weeping mulberry. All we have left are
some frozen mulberries that we rescued from
the freezer on a return visit, and a tree
that might -- with hugs and what water she
can give it in our current drought -- just
might, recover.
Click photos for larger images
There is some little hope that the garden
will regenerate, even if it is only a few
small things. We found a couple of strawberries
lurking under the hay we had put down to
protect the bed against the frost - such
irony. And we have a crown of rhubarb that
has been brave - or foolish - enough to send
out an exploratory green tip. However the
signs of new growth are few and far between,
since most of the garden is a black ash,
with no evidence that plants were ever there.
Even the lawn has been burned away in parts.
The soil will not be in a fit state to plant
this autumn, and it is unlikely that there
will be much planting in our, or any other
fire damaged garden, before next spring.
The Australian Capital Territory government
is performing miracles getting the city back
on its feet. The community is responding
magnificently and it is amazing to watch
things being organised so quickly and so
well. But nothing yet seems to be available
for rescuing the many gardens. People and
homes, rightly, come first, but quality of
life, connecting with nature and peace and
tranquillity often come from being close
to the ground.
On the dark side, we had a note from the
hotel yesterday that said : "Dear Guest,
We have been advised that crime rates across
Canberra have increased dramatically in the
last week. It would be prudent not to leave
any valuables or any items in your vehicle,
parked either at the Hotel or anywhere in
Canberra"
And here I am sitting in a hotel room with
my aching foot in the air, unable to move
around freely or do anything useful like
start to clean the house, clear the carbonised
garden and just get on with life. It's not
easy.
I guess it is the feeling of helplessness,
and all that work and effort facing us, that
is becoming difficult to deal with. Psychologists
no doubt would recognise it and have a word
that describes it. Just because it is to
be expected and happens to others, doesn't
make it easy to deal with.
The Next Day
Sunday 26 January
And then the local community kicked in..
We had a phone call from Ross James at Number
30 Percy Crescent. People from Jim's Mowing
Service and been past and offerred to take
all garden refuse off to the tip, provided
it could be put on the nature strip. So,
resouceful Ross rang up the local ABC radio
station (our primary source of news) and
found himself live to air asking for volunteers
to help clear up gardens. He rang us at the
hotel and we were off like a shot.
When we got to our house we discovered a
number of amazing things.
The phones were actually working. What I
had assumed was a broken line, was in fact
a brand new cable, loosely laid over the
garden, but fully connected and waiting for
the power poles to be replaced.
The other thing was a brand new steel power
pole - well part of one. Because the ACTEW
people could not get their gear close enough
through the rubble, they had put one up virtually
by hand. This is what it looked like when
we arrived:
The guys who put up the rest of the pole
and transferred all the wires to it deserve
a medal each. The temperature was about 40C,
it was windy, they were in protective clothing
and gloves, but they did a magnificent and
professional job.
This is them working away on the pole.
And when they had finished, they started
again, on the next one along. According to
the radio, they and their mates will have
put up about 1,000 poles in 8 days. That's
125 a day. The normal rate is 20. And if
anyone suggests that they don't normally
work very hard, an awful lot of Canberrans
are likely to leap aggressively to their
defence. They have borrowed equipment and
people from all over the place and staff
who were rostered off for the long week end
(today is Australia day and tomorrow is a
public holiday) have called in to help. They
have all gone above and beyond the call of
duty.
The other thing that astounded us was the
volunteers who had just turned up to help.
One helper who wielded his chain saw around
our garden was from the north of Canberra.
He was the property manager at a college
and because his place and the college were
not at risk he just came down to help. He
looked exhausted when he left after a full
day's work in high temperatures and difficult
conditions.
We also benefitted from the efforts of another
chainsaw wielder Mark, who just seemed to
be wandering round performing minor miracles
and then disappeared into the sunset. There
were other wonderful mysterious strangers
who turned up with cold drinks, iceblocks
and other goodies.
We were not overly amused or impressed by
the large number of tourists and sightseers
who wandered up our street, driving slowly,
looking left and right and blocking the road.
None of these characters ever seemed to think
of stopping and helping. I guess they might
have seen and appreciated the extent of the
devastation. We just hope that it has encouraged
them to make donations to the bush fire appeal
and to realise just how impossible it was
for anyone to stopped it happening.
Ross James had not only organised helpers
over the radio, but his three sons and their
friends/partners also mucked in. So had other
neighbours, and at the end of the day our
front garden was a blackened mess, but this
time it was deliberate and was waiting to
be transported to the tip.
At the end of the day Ross arranged a few
beers, in the best Australian fashion.
This is his son Simon and partner Cathy who,
instead of spending the day gardening in
their new place in Sydney spent it clearing
ours (and others) in Canberra.
So, once again things change rapidly. We
now expect power to be back tonight, the
phones are already working. We will return
to the house tomorrow and switch the mains
back on and get the fridge going. We will
try a little vacuuming and cleaning - after
the exertions of today we might not be up
for a lot. Not that I did a whole lot just
sitting there like Lord Muck with my stupid
foot in the air while everyone else got exhausted
and dirty. However, Lyndsey slaved away with
the rest of them and got back to the hotel
covered in ash and very tired.
Bernard and Lyndsey Robertson-Dunn's Canberra
bushfire website
Home Page
