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I know we had the "Where's Falcopops" thread a little while ago, and he popped in to tell us it was 40 odd degrees and he was too bloody hot to bother doing anything, but he lives in the Melbourne area and he's not posted since 1st Feb..
Hope all is OK with Dale and the others down under.

I can't speak for any other Aussie on here, but I'm safe and sound. I can see the smoke from the fires from my house, but they're a long way away and it would take a pretty huge fire to put us in any danger.

The fires around Melbourne have destroyed over a thousand homes, killed at least 180 people, and left huge areas of bush a total wasteland.

It also appears that several of the fires (including the one that destroyed the town of Marysville and killed one fifth of it's population) may have been deliberately lit.

Last Friday we hit a record temperature - 46.4 degrees Celcius, with winds gusting to over 100 km/hr (about 60 miles/hr). It's been in the mid-20s all week, but is expected to go into the low 30s next Monday. No rain is forecast.

The fire-fighters are afraid that a change in the wind direction will cause two large fires to merge into one mega-fire that would be almost unstoppable.

If you want to read more, try the online edition of 'The Age' newspaper: http://www.theage.com.au/national/bushfires

I've ridden / driven through the area many times. The best bike roads go through there, and a favourite stop was the bakery at Marysville (and the lolly shop, too!) for their pies and coffee. It's really saddening to see the pictures / video of what was once a beautiful town.

Thanks Viking.
Brings it a bit closer to home somehow, media reports are somehow much more impersonal although they have already invoked more than a few prayers.

I spoke to my sister a couple of days ago, we'd been worried cos we couldn't contact her but she's fine at present. She says that they are about 50 miles from the bad fires but with things the way they are, and the high winds, that's not a great distance so they are not out of danger.

She's spent hours on the phone trying to contact friends to make sure they are ok.

Still here. Thanks for your concern. As Viking says, we're pretty much OK in town.

I was at a mates birthday bash last Saturday (in Cranbourne North) and when the power went out (no more aircon) we stumbled outside into the heat mid 40's. after a while this really hot wind picked up and we could smell smoke and saw it soon after. Had I not been so pissed I might have been mildly concerned. As it was we drank bravely on into the night only to discover the following day that we'd been quite close to a fire.

These were taken very nearby!




This wan't near us, but give an idea of the enormity of it all.

glad folks are ok

my few aussie friends and family are in brisbane but they seemed a little shocked when i spoke to them at the weekend

nice to here your ok falcopops , if your feeling the heat i recomend a wee trip over here to scotland

joecrx wrote:nice to here your ok falcopops , if your feeling the heat i recomend a wee trip over here to scotland

My Mum and Dad just went home to Penicuik (10 miles S of Edinburgh) a couple of weeks ago and had a bit of a shock. They called last night and reckoned that in the highlands they are getting temps of -18.

Nice to hear from you Dale, glad to here you're fine, other than the headache!
Same goes for Viking and others.

Keep your chins up, as we say in good old Blighty.













It's easier to pour the ale straight from the tin into you mouth that way!