Aftermath of Bendigo Fires

Here are some photos of areas that the fire swept through yesterday. It was a very sobering sight to see houses that had been burned to the ground and the washing was still hanging on the line. We saw two people sitting on the back of their ute in the driveway where their house used to be and they just looked lost. Our Spotlight store had a lucky escape with burnt grass right up to the wall but no damage to the building. There are a lot of photos but I hope that it gives a realistic view of a portion of the devastation that Bendigo suffered yesterday and the huge scale of clean up and rebuilding that is to come. Where we looked today was just one of the smaller fires. There are larger ones a bit further away that are still burning.

Bendigo Fires

Here is the view from our front porch yesterday afternoon. At one stage Wayne saw a large orange fireball rise up in the smoke. Bendigo lost approximately 50 houses yesterday and a sports stadium according to the news.
Today we can't see any smoke and the fire is contained within perimeters that they are managing to hold on to.

Start of another school year

Here are the two girls about to embark upon another school year. Natasha is Grade 3 and Emily is Grade 1 this year.

Heatwave and the Australian Tennis Open

We have been sweltering in over 40 degrees temps every day for the past four days and the coming week is not looking any nicer. We get cool twice a day, a cool shower in the morning and a swim at the local pool in the late afternoon. Other than that it's sticky clothes and everything in the cupboards is hot. Hot shampoo, hot glasses, hot deoderant, hot towels etc yuck! The other hot thing this week is watching Rafael Nadal at the Australian tennis open. He played a semi final match last night that lasted over five hours and he is playing a final match against Roger Federer on Sunday night which I am eagerly anticipating. He is an amazing player to watch in action.

Australia Day

We went to Lake Weeroona for Australia Day. They had a great art and craft market and the kids enjoyed painting some ceramic animals. Here are some pics of the fun.

More Kid pics

Kid pics

Happy Holiday

We had a great time in Warrnabool. Our happiness was lessened by someone who thought that our Navman would be better off in his pocket. Also Natasha got stung on the foot by a bee on our second to last night. Her foot has swelled up and looks really sore. Here are some pics of boats and hosing off sandy kids.

Rhys the train driver

Rhys was very proud to drive this train around with his sisters as passengers.

Thunder Point

Thunder Point was an interesting area to walk around. It was a bit like walking on the moon. We were there just as the sun was setting.

Flying Fox

The playgrounds at Warrnambool were fabulous. Here are some flying fox pics.

Warrnambool

Here are some photos of inside Settlers Cottage which we rented for three nights and out first sight of the waterfront area when we went sightseeing the first day. What do you think that is in the water behind the kids?

Star Spider

Here is a wee friend that Wayne found spinning webs in Wayne's ute. Does anyone know what sort of spider it is and if it is poisonous or not? Wayne sees them in the bush all the time when he goes prospecting.

Update:
It is a Austracantha minax (with common names including Australian jewel spider, Christmas spider and spiny spider)and it is a distinctive Australian spider. Although it has a painful bite it just causes a temporary local reaction.

Happy New Year!

Hope that everyone had a good time last night and that the hangovers are not too traumatic for those of you that drank to excess. We took the kids into town and wandered around the various children's amusements. We headed into Rosiland Park at about 11.10pm and waited for the fireworks which were certainly the highlight of the evening. First year ever that none of the children cried which was fabulous!
2009 brings lots of things to look forward to. Emily is Grade One this year and Natasha is Grade Three. Grade Three brings with it a school camp at the end of the year which will be a new experience for us. Rhys is starting PreKinder this year on a Friday afternoon and swimming lessons. It is my last year studying with Massey University as I will complete my BA this year. Wayne has more Gold Prospecting with another trip planned to Western Australia mid year. We all will be in NZ for Kelly's wedding in October. So a year with lots of excitement to look forward to.