Destruction and Rehabilitation

In 2009, wildfires ripped through large swathes of the Australian State of Victoria, destroying large areas of forest and razing a number of towns. Many people died defending their homes against the blazes.

This week, Penelope joined me and a friend on a visit to Kinglake, one such town that was literally burnt to the ground.

Following the tragedy, a rehabilitation and reconstruction program was swiftly instituted by the government. Now, under two years later, we were witness to the intense building program underway. It was fascinating.

A flurry of activity was going on as houses were in various stages of construction. At one point we passed the remains of a Greek Orthodox church damaged by the conflagration, waiting to be rebuilt.

The local Kinglake National Park was so badly damaged that it was closed to the public. Most of it still is. One track, however, has had sufficient regrowth to be reopened to the public. A walk through the one open trail was eye opening. The forest looked totally different to normal.

All trees in the forest are totally charred, clearly showing the damage. However, new stems and regrowth shoots out of the otherwise dead looking trunks, giving the appearance of something out of a Dr Zeus book. Eucalyptus trees, containing flammable oil, are known for thriving after fire which helps its seeds to germinate.

Insects of all sorts flit amongst the stunning wildflowers and weave webs that form curtains in every direction. The bushes beside us rustled loudly and we managed to spot a huge echidna (indigenous spiny anteater) ambling in the other direction through the undergrowth.

What seem like thick low bushes are actually baby eucalyptus stems rapidly growing in the now intense summer rains.

The issue of natural regrowth is particularly relevant today for people like me, following recent massive forest fires in Israel's Carmel forest. The automatic Israeli response is to plant new trees. As if on cue, my parents receive a letter from the Jewish National Fund of Australia with the subject title Operation Carmel Renewal: from Black to Green, requesting donations so that replanting can take place 'as soon as possible'.

In the meantime, I have been reading that allowing natural regrowth is a much healthier

approach. If mid-east flora has anything in common with that of southern Australia, then it certainly seems to be a logical approach indeed.

Kinglake township and national park. Still beautiful. I am glad we went.

Broken Records

The drought in Australia has finally broken after years of little rainfall. Desalination plants, water restrictions, recycling techniques and a politically controversial carbon tax to combat greenhouse emissions that supposedly are leading global warming - these have all been at the forefront of the news over the last few years.

And now this.

Tropical downpours and unseasonal rain throughout Australia. While 2 years ago whole towns were destroyed by wildfires with large losses of life, some of those same towns, now in the process of being rebuilt, have suffered flood damage. I heard one resident of such a town challenging God on the news - "You gave us fire, you gave us flood - we've had it all, throw us what you got. We can take it".

I went for a walk with my uncle this week - a kindred soul when it gets to wanderlust - and we followed the banks of Melbourne's Yarra river. While heavy rains had occurred in areas some distance away, the river now periodically burst its banks downstream. We fought the mosquitoes while attempting to traverse the trail, in places a now muddy marshland.

Red barked trees stand out in the landscape, bearing markings that must surely be interpreted by the uninitiated as Aboriginal art. Caterpillars and gumnut flowers provide a beautiful decoration.

How stunning is nature in both its cruelty and and its kindness.

The Sydney Oprah House

That’s what the world famous Opera House has been called this week in honour of a visit by the illustrious Oprah Winfrey to Sydney.

Her Australia visit began in Melbourne.

A radio blared in the background as I donned my bicycle helmet. The radio announcer advised motorists to avoid Melbourne's Federation Square downtown, as Oprah would be making an appearance there and the streets would be clogged.

I pulled my bike out of the garage. Instinctively I looked up at the helicopters buzzing around in circles, hovering over the downtown area about 5km away. Well, I reasoned, a spectacle is always worth a gander*. I mounted the bike and headed down to the Yarra River trail, a stunning, leafy path that would lead me unhindered directly to Fed Sq.

She really is amazing, that Oprah. This bastion of women’s pride is so popular that she even brought 300 of her US studio audience with her to Australia to film two episodes of her show. While here, the audience members were showered with free gifts such as laptops, handbags and jewellery. Imagine how popular politicians would be if they gave free gifts to potential voters. Oh, I forgot, they do.

But she’s no fool that Oprah.

She managed to arrange for Tourism Australia to sponsor her 300 strong US audience entourage. A special Oprah tram rumbled down to Fed. Sq. with her special guests. Meanwhile thousands of Australian fans packed into the area.

My bike skidded to a halt in front of the now empty stage which bore a huge motif welcoming the mega star to Australia. Although I was only 15 minutes late, the short lived spectacle was over and only a few stragglers remained. A woman with a small camera approached me. “Just knocked off work and thought I’d pop by for a sticky beak**. Apparently she only stayed ten minutes and then left. People were pissed. Wanna photo in front of the stage? You can show your friends overseas that you were at an Oprah event!”

Behind me a weary young woman and her son stood holding a home made banner extolling their love for Ms Winfrey. A TV crew filming a live report for the nightly news used the attractive Oprah fan as a backdrop. The cameraman counted down with his fingers and then pointed to the woman to smile for the camera. She smiled on cue and another trustworthy TV broadcast was successfully made.

So now I can really say it. I was at an Oprah performance (sort of).

My life is now complete.

* A look

** Cockney rhyming slang meaning "a peek"

Summer Rain

I remember sitting in my office in Jerusalem mid summer when a colleague raced through the corridors screaming “It’s Raining! In the Summer!”

This phenomenon is so rare in Israel that its occurrence always causes a stir.

The weather is so consistent that in my first few years in the country a forecast was only given every 3 days, and it was virtually always the same. “The weather is forecast to be HOT”.

Not so in Melbourne. The temperature moves in a cycle, building from fresh cool sunny days to those that are warmer and more humid. The sunny days are followed by weather that is hot, cloudy and humid with thunderstorms that clean the air and break the cycle.

In the meantime, the skies vary from clear bright blues to being pregnant with dark and menacing clouds. Sunsets are the best.

This week, at dusk, our house was suddenly bathed in a bright warm light, as if lit up for a concert. My mother and I went outside to investigate and the burning orange sunset transformed everything to brown and purple. It took a few minutes until I managed to grab my camera, but as you can see, an ethereal purple glow still washed the rainy streets when I got there.

Wonderful.