It’s the first day of the New Year, and I am writing by candlelight, while my dog and cat snooze at my feet.

Yesterday, after an eerie dawn revealed an ominous glow along the coast, I continued my fire plan by watering around the house as I watched sinister black leaves slowly drift to earth. They were very elegant actually, falling in graceful spirals, but I wondered about what was to follow. The smoke worsened, and my neighbour appeared in the gloom and said we’d been advised by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to leave, because Karbeethong was on fire. Karbeethong is the area of Mallacoota to the north-west of my place, and I turned around to look at another orange glow in the sky. Fire ahead of me, and fire behind me – it was time to go.

Trying to stay calm, I stuffed the rest of my emergency supplies into the car, put the disgruntled cat into his transport box and shoved it into the station wagon, then got my dog, Tilly, onto the back seat. With one last glance and a whispered, “Good luck, little house,” I began to follow my neighbours’ car around the inlet towards the main campground where I knew fire trucks were defending our ‘place of last resort’. Continue reading “Facing the monster” →