We met at 8:30AM at Rotary Park for the trip to Diamond Creek. Saying farewell to new friends who have opened up their homes and hearts to you is never easy. Saying goodbye to the folks in Alexandra was difficult. With these goodbyes we were leaving one of the hardest hit areas of Victoria due to the recent fires.
We passed through Marysville, the quaint community that could not be recognized by people who had regularly visited this place. The random selection proved hard to comprehend, but the scenes told the tale.
We moved on to the Healesville Sanctuary. The fire had moved from near here to Marysville, a distance of 10 kilometers in a matter of six minutes. We also learned that fires move across a flat level at a fairly rapid pace, but they move down hill at half of the speed and up hill at twice the speed. The contradictions of fires like these were ever present. The eucalypt tree needs a fire to generate new growth and sprout new seeds. The ‘fuel’ inside the tree in the form of oil and/or gas adds tremendous fuels and flames to any fire. Eucalypt trees and fern trees were seen growing within two weeks of the fire. There were always fires….there will be more.
The Sanctuary was exactly that. A place to put aside, for a temporary period of time, the horror of what we had just seen. From koala ,to kangaroo, to lace monitor (lizard) to platypus, to wombat, to Tasmanian Devil….the animals were as varied as they were interesting.
Even the ‘pretend’ animals received attention from Ryan and Chris.
The raptor show proved most interesting with everyone in the audience ducking as the birds flew low over our heads.
We moved onto King Lake with our new host families Diamond Creek. As with Marysville, the damage was extensive and the loss of life, devastating.
From there it was on to Diamond Creek, just beyond the suburbs of Melbourne. On Thursday, we’ll go to a local mall and finish buying the sports items for friends and family back in South Dakota. Then, Thursday night will see our final presentation. Again, there will be the surprise of the Black Hills of Dakota song being requested…
On the northern outskirts of Melbourne…..the final different bed…….G’Day!
