Feb 18 - More on the bush fires...and some catching up

The bushfires continue to capture the nation's minds and media. The death toll is now past 200 and predicted to go higher. The fundraising appeal has already topped $100 million. An arsonist has been arrested and charged with lighting one of the fires that killed 25 people. We have been experiencing a lot of smoke in the city and the days are marked by what they call a smoke haze. All of the cars have a fine layer of ash on them and we awoke the other day with sore throats - a symptom of breathing the polluted air. The sunsets have been wild and the other day the moon was more red than white - I'm not sure the picture does it justice. To offer some perspective on the proximity of the closest fires to where we are - picture living in the Annex and having half of Caledon up in flames. That's about how far away they are, so we are feeling relatively secure with about 60 kms of concrete infrastructure between us and them. I noted there are fire crews arriving from Canada soon to aid in the fight - and that's a good thing because there are at least 8 that are still out of control.

The drama is moving in many directions at once. Currently, one of the biggest crises is the fact that several of Melbourne's freshwater reservoirs are at risk of being contaminated by the fires. Given that they are already at historical lows, 31% capacity, and this has been the driest summer on record, the authorities are suitably concerned. I'm not sure that the general citizenry as a whole is all that concerned, but the experts are saying that there are things at play with respect to Melbourne's water supply that could affect the area for the next thirty years!

Which brings me back to a conversation Linton and I were having yesterday. One of the biggest things that living in Australia has taught us is that we are "fortunate" in respect to our chosen geography back home. Though we have cold and snow and ice storms and the odd tornado or wind storm, by comparison, Toronto is a climatalogical centre of calm. Melburnians, and more specifically, people who live on the outskirts of Melbourne have just experienced horrendous bushfires, an unbearable heatwave, are in the middle of 12 years of drought, have stringent water restrictions, and the list goes on. By direct contrast, the people of Queensland and New South Wales are under water right now having received endless weeks of rain, storms and the odd cyclone. In addition, to those natural tragedies, not a week goes by without reading about shark attacks, deadly crocs, or snake bite victims. Last week, two people were attacked by sharks on Sydney beaches, a small boy was taken by a croc in Queensland, and a star athlete was in hospital with a deadly snake bite suffered his backyard. This country seems to bare its teeth every single day.

And it all seems to be happening with more frequency. That may be as a result of more people pushing into places where they didn't go before. It may also be that the world's climate is changing far more rapidly than our current lifestyle is willing to adapt. Or it just might be that even though people choose to live in challenging environments, they are not willing or don't know enough to give nature the respect it deserves. A case in point, would be the tragic story of the two brothers who climbed over a retaining rope at a glacier in New Zealand recently in order to get a better picture. They were both crushed to death when the glacier calved. Whatever is the reason or cause of all of this human tragedy, the experiences of Australians dealing with their climate and geography are teaching us about our own good fortune as well as the need to protect and conserve the resources we do have. No wonder Stephen Harper won't sign Kyoto, the nimrod has never tried to breathe in 46 degree heat! Why is it that we all fail to act until the devil is at the door?

On a happier note, a few other things have happened recently, in between the holidays and the bushfires, that missed the initial chance for a blog. Not wanting to miss the firm documentation of a single memorable Melburnian moment, herein lie a few more tasty morsels from some of our more recent adventures...

Melbourne Victory Game

A few weeks ago, Colin and I trammed our way down to the Telstra Dome - now the Docklands Stadium - to watch Melbourne's major soccer league team, the Victory, play host to the Central Coast Mariners. The dome is a fantastic and relatively new stadium with a natural turf field and retractable roof. We had great seats and watched the hosts thoroughly dominate the visitors 3-0. The whole experience had the same vibe as a Toronto FC game though perhaps a little more subdued as the 60 000 seat stadium was about one third full. The quality of soccer was excellent and Melbourne recently earned its place in the Grand Final two weeks from now. That's another distinct difference between Melbourne and Toronto is that there is always a team winning some sort of championship down here! Ouch. Anyway, a firm fourth behind Aussie rules, cricket, and rugby, soccer has a strong and loyal following and Australia is considering a serious bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Melbourne Symphony at the Sidney Meyer Bowl

Another great night out recently was the Saturday we spent at the concert bowl in Melbourne. Sponsored by one of Australia's great arts philanthropists, the free summertime concerts in the park have been a tradition for 50 years. The night's program was a series of four pieces - from Tchaikovsky to Rachmaninoff and from Mahler to Ravel. They were all chosen for their loose connection to love - it being Valentine's Day and all! We were told to arrive early and that we did getting a prime spot on the grass in the middle needing only to beat back the advances of one elderly couple to come up with it!

We were meeting up with some friends from the neighbourhood and once they arrived we settled in - serving up wine, cold steak, and other great munchies along with close to 13 000 other people! The kids did well and as long he could retreat under his sweatshirt for a little Nintendo fix from time to time, Allie was happy. It was all so civilized and free! People were allowed to bring in their own wine, as long as it could be argued that it was a "reasonable" amount, and we laughed as we watched the two "older" couples in front of us stumble through at least 4 bottles! This was a great way to expose the kids to some classical music as well as a cheap way to have a night out.

Carlton Blues Family Day

The following day we noticed a lot of cars and commotion along our street and decided to strap on our scooters and check it out. Turned out the Carlton Blues - our local AFL club - was hosting a family day at the stadium in Princes Park and 10 000 club supporters (and us) showed up for a chance to meet the players, get a few autographs and bounce in a jumping castle. Even though we would admit to being Hawthorn fans first, it was fun to soak up the vibe and enthusiasm of this oh-so-ever serious group of fanatics. Footy is a passion for most of Melbourne and big business for some of the country's richest people. We were impressed with everything about the day - except for Lint's 20 minute wait in the hot chip line!