To celebrate Australia day I’m taking part in the Australia Day Blog Hop sponsored by Book’d Out and Confessions From Romaholics. In total 55 Aussie Bloggers are taking part so it’s a great opportunity to discover some new blogs and wonderful writers. Just click on the following link to go to the Book’d Out site and follow the links to the various bloggers.
http://bookdout.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/australia-day-book-giveaway-blog-hop/
And as a special giveaway for those who leave a comment on my blog post you will go in a draw to win a copy of my debut novel Blackwattle Lake. The winner will be selected at random and must reside in Australia. Entries close at midnight on January 28th and the winner will be announced within 7 days
Thanks to Shelleyrae at Book’d Out for coordinating the hop. Enjoy!
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I’ve spent the last month chilling out on my farm on the south coast of NSW, or should I say heating up. It’s been a hot summer, hotter than last year, when we all cursed the dismal weather and lack of sunshine. But this year it was the heat we were cursing, at least on a couple of occasions. With bushfires burning about 30k’s to the north and a timber house surrounded by bush that was dry and ready to roast we spent a nervous few days as the air around us lay heavy with heat and our normally gorgeous view was obscured by smoke.
On the first scorcher I was wary of leaving home in case the fires spread and the roads were blocked and we were unable to get back. But empty stomachs groaned so I headed into town for supplies. I’d done the same thing in the fires of 2006 and that time the roads had been shut before I could return home. We were forced to set up camp for the night at the local showground and as fortune would have it I was driving my kombi camper so it wasn’t too much of a drama. As it turned out we were allowed to drive home later that night. Crisis averted. But I still remember the glow of the fires over the ridges when I woke in the middle of the night, how close they seemed (even though they were further away than they looked) and the fear that crept through my body as I pondered the possibility of being trapped with my three daughters.
It was this earlier experience which inspired me to include a bushfire in Blackwattle Lake. I won’t go into details of what happens in the novel other than to say it was definitely a case of art imitating life in those chapters, although I’m happy to say not to the same extent.
But last week I felt like life was imitating art. In 2006 we’d had no horses to worry about and although this time around the fire was further away and we didn’t get caught in a roadblock there was real concern about how we would get all the humans, a dog, cat, bird and six horses including a foal out if the fire hit. I thought about Eve, my protagonist in the novel, and marvelled at her courage as if she were a real person. I knew the anxiety she felt about leaving her horses stranded. Luckily the fires didn’t get any closer and we didn’t have to evacuate but my heart went out to all those in recent weeks and in the past who had been caught in the fires, who lost property, livestock, possessions and in a few tragic cases their lives.
Thankfully I didn’t experience their suffering. But just the threat of having to make those decisions – stay or go, what to save, when to leave – was strong enough to help me empathise with what the bushfire victims must have gone through. I could only imagine the fear, the adrenalin, the courage you would have to muster to stay and face the flames not to mention the physical sensations of the searing heat, the suffocating smoke and the raging wind.
While the advice “write what you know” is often one sometimes just using your imagination and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can be inspiration enough. It’s certainly as close as I ever want to have to come to experiencing this situation and I pay tribute to all those Australians who have had to endure the trauma of bushfire and to those brave men and women who have fought the flames.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Australia Day.
Cheers!
Loved your post Pamela – very heartfelt.
Thanks Marcia.
Have a great time on Oz Day!
I would love to read Blackwattle Lake – awesome giveaway! My hop giveaway is here: http://daystarz.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/australia-day-book-giveaway-blog-hop/
Cheers Jennie
Thanks Jennie. Will pop over and check it out.
Great post Pamela:) And from someone who knows firsthand how special the RFS are I say ‘ditto’ to your thanks:)
Thank you for the opportunity; I’d love this!!
I would love to enter your giveaway. I live in Queensland. I have not personally experienced the fear brought in by a bushfire but the 2011 floods caused us to be stranded and home bound for about 5 days. I will never forget the horror of watching the news and learning about people drowning in their cars and whole townships being swept away.
I remember watching those horrific news scenes too. Sadly sounds like there’s similar events unfolding right now.
Congrats on your book! Sounds like it would be a great read. Happy Australia Day!
Thanks so much for the opportunity to win Blackwattle Lake! Happy Aust Day weekend, and keep safe from those bushfires! I’m in NSW and we’ve had a few too:(
I’ve been on the south east coast of NSW myself Brenda. Luckily not too much damage from fires so far but fingers crossed it stays that way.
I’d like to be counted in for this giveaway. Have a happy and safe Australia day.
It is certainly a scary scenario when having the question of stay or go run through your head. 2 years ago, I was visiting my parents in Brisbane when the floods hit, luckily they didn’t get flooded, but we still had to pack up the house and move to a safer location until the threat died down. Thank you for this awesome giveaway, I have heard great things about your book and would love to win a copy. Happy Australia Day weekend!
Katie – ktturner111(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Amazing pics, Pam. I am happy to let a reader win your book, so you don’t need to include me in the draw. 🙂
Thanks Jenn.
Happy Australia Day. Stay safe.
Would love to read your book. We were in Tasmania at the time of their fires and it was scary stuff
I’m actually saving your book to a time when I am not in a mad editing/procrastination state – and can read it in one go. I need a weekend and a beach.
Hi Pamela, I live on the south coast of NSW too! Beautiful region (which is why I posted about it for my Aus Day blog hop!). Before that I lived in the Blue Mountains where we had to evacuate once due to bushfires that came within 15m of the house, but luckily it was able to be stopped. Very scary.
All the best!
Thanks Juliet. Will check out your blog. Where on the south coast are you?
Having friends who are on brushfire alert I understand what you are going through. Our volunteer firefighters are worth their weight in gold.
Loved your post, those photos where amazing, just such a shame it had to be such a dangerous time to see them, its such a crazy country when half of it is burning and right now Queensland has floods!!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter your competition from Melbourne. Great post and would love to read your book.
I haven’t read Blackwattle Lake, but your thoughtful blog post makes me want to do so.
Firefighters are my heroes – and I think the nations unsung heroes.
On another note, I’ve heard nothing but brillant reviews about your book and have had so many people recommend it to me that I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. This is such a great giveaway; thank you so much for the opportunity.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to win Blackwattle Lake! Great pics have a good Australia day.
I’m glad you’re safe. Bushfires are terrifying. Glad, so glad, I’ve never had to live through one. Take care.
Happy Australia Day!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks Pamela for taking part in the Australian Day Hop
Hasn’t our weather been so hot here in Australia this past month. Can’t wait for winter where all is green and lots of new things grow.
Hope you’re having a relaxing day – pretty warm and sunny in the West (but we didn’t expect anything else)!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you for the chance to win your book! I have been close enough to bushfires to know people who know people who have been affected but fortunately not so close to be personally affected.
Thank you for the chance to win your book! I’ve never been close to a bushfire, thankfully, but the big Victorian Bushfires a few years ago were pretty scary and came quite close to the homes of my aunt and my brother and sister in law.
We were experiencing unbelievably hot weather & bushfires & now we have cyclones, tornadoes (of all things) and floods.
Through it all we Australians stand tall & pitch in. It makes me so proud.
Thanks so much for the giveaway! I love your pictures, and god bushfires = scary.
jessicamariesutton(at)msn(dot)com
Poignant blog. It is so Australian preparing for bushfires or floods (or both) in summer. Growing up in Engadine, there were always fires close by in the Royal National Park – I remember the smokey sky and the thought the road could be cut at any time. This latest lot affected friends and family in Bungendore, Colbargo, Coonabarabran and Bungonia.
Too often it is forgotten about the risk that bushfires pose to native animals.
We should all be thankful that there are people who are willing to risk their safety to help protect our own.
Very true Caroline. I read a very sad story about the decimation of a bat colony in the recent south coast fires. Thankfully committed carers were on hand to help those that survived.
I hope the rain that is coming down from Queensland with help to easy the bush fires in both NSW and Victoria. It has been a very wet Australia Day for Qld this year. Looking forward to reading Blackwattle Lake. Happy Australia Day to everyone.
Love your blog. Very beautiful words and pictures were incredible 🙂
Love the Blog and love the pictures from down under in Paringa , Riverland , South Australia and heres hoping that everyone interstate is safe from the floods and hoping that the Murray river will also recieve some of the flood waters as she is getting very low down here in SA 🙂
I could never imagine the fear faced by those who encounter raging bushfires. We have had the occasional small fire on the hill nearby and the smoke plays havoc with my allergies but nothing like those you see down south. In Bris it’s the floods we mostly encounter though we are pretty safe on our little hill apart from what comes in the windows and into the house when he ground is waterlogged.
Some beautiful photos, Pamela. All the best with Blackwattle Lake, Joe Jeney