Looking back

WITH the first anniversary of Black Saturday almost upon us, we've been reflecting on our first year Down Under. Yes, time flies, but I didn't think it did that quick.

We left Manchester Airport at a jaw-juddering -7C temperature last February and arrived in Australia just in time for one of the most infamous days in Australian history.
With temperatures soaring to a blistering 43C, bush fires ravaged across parts of Australia, taking in their paths the lives and properties of people who never thought it would be as bad as it actually was.

Prince William was in Melbourne last week spending the morning of his third day in Australia visiting bush fire victims. Two thousand homes were destroyed and 173 people killed in the fires that swept through Victoria, fuelled by 100mph winds. And it seems like just yesterday.

The Prince talked to people who'd been affected by the fires, met with John Brumby, the Premier of Victoria, and was shown a book with pictures of the disaster.

Prince William then went on to Flowerdale, another community badly affected by the fires. John Burgess, chairman of the Flowerdale Recovery Committee, noted that the Prince's visit was a welcome distraction from the constant grind of disaster recovery.

So as the emotional and structural re-build goes on, the threat of a repeat performance seems all the more real now summer is well and truly here.
It's nice that we can eat dinner in the garden, it's even nicer to hang out washing only to bring it back in bone dry within the hour.

But the thought of another natural disaster that was purely brought on by the catastrophic combination of blistering heat and ferocious winds is always there at the back of our minds.