The weekend that was,...

Well I didn't have a good weekend at all. The temperature reached 46 in Geelong, I have no idea when we reached the max. temp or if it was measured correctly, but I can tell you the soles of my feet were burning inside my runners, it was just so hot. I have been in some remote outback towns in Oz, in the middle of summer and I have never been known the heat to be so bad. The winds were amazingly strong, we thought if we had to evacuate, the little car would be blown from the road. There was a tense couple of hours waiting for the news the fires had breached the town, I live on the last street bordering the city and as far as the eye can see are sunburnt fields. The area is a new release of land so both houses bordering ours are partial new builds, just wooden frames. If the fires were near, our place was a gonner. Luckily, the fires didn't come anywhere near us. The sky was ashy, but we were safe. The last major, devistating fires were the 'ash wednesday' fires, they came much closer to us back in 1983. I can remember those fires; everyone was pale and quiet, talking in whispers. I was only a tiny kiddie then, what I remember the most was the errie feeling, and the adults looking scared. The death toll is more than double ash wednesday, 104 people and counting, they just couldn't get out fast enough. It's a sad, sad time in Victoria right now.