F1000074

Happy New Year.

Thanks Jaap, and the same to you and yours.

Happy New Year Graham. I hope you are fairing well in your area.

Thanks David, and the same to you and yours.
Fire hasn't been a problem for us this time. We had fire 30-40Km north and also a bit to the east of us a couple of months back but nothing like the area, intensity and ferocity of these current fires.
I understand this summer has had 500,000 hectares burnt with more to be counted as burning continues.
Research these earlier bad fire seasons:
Black Friday fires 1939
Ash Wednesday fires 1983
Black Saturday fires 2009.

This old film image has lasted well. Thank goodness the fires now are finished, so sad at the extent of damage.

We stayed about a week at Mallacoota then. The forests were luxuriant and back then there was plenty of litter. I wasn't surprised at the ferocity of the fires, but a terrible event, except possibly for the reduction of tick numbers.

An update here. I was surprised at how well most of the forest around the Mallacoota area has recovered from the fires. Clearly some areas burnt hotter and were more seriously damaged, but they are relatively few.

Thanks for your update. Does the fresh water lake still have no development around it?

Yes, it's still undeveloped - i think largely National Park.