Bush Fires

Things we used to read in the local paper about the rest of the world whilst we were back in England did what they were supposed to do, shock us, interest us, yet never affect us. Of course reading about all the doom and gloom in the world was the norm, since being here in NZ I now never go near a newspaper or watch the news - in a way if I don't know about it, then I wont worry about it.

Yet one thing we can't escape being on the other side of the world are the issues that affect our every day lives. Things like earthquakes, landslides and flooding are all every day occurrences here in New Zealand, but worse still on the hot days we are plagued by bush fires.

Of course most of you will know about the horrific happenings in Australia - our neighbour. The unbelievable bush fires that ripped through most of Victoria is just unbearable to think about. Being so close, New Zealand is affected deeply by what happens there, I have ran into numerous people who had family caught up in the disaster and we have donated to the appeals to aid recovery. But the most devastating is the story of a family of 6 who originally decided to move to New Zealand but then changed plans last minute and moved to Oz. After only being there for 2 weeks in their new home their life journey was cut short when they were killed in the fires.

In our previous home here in Wellington we witnessed many bush fires, some sadly were deliberately caused. You may remember this story from April 2007 when upon returning from Kindergarten we weren't allowed into our street due to a bush fire opposite our home. At the time it was all new and interesting to us (hence the light hearted blog post) but it isn't until you are part of it that you realise how scary it can be.

Just the other day the forest land to the back of our home was the victim of it's most deadliest enemy, and fire raged for many hours. The streets were lined with people taking photos and watching it - always amazes me why people do that?

I took photos from our garden instead!

Our thoughts are with the people affected in Oz, despite the silly 'we hate our neighbours' thing that the Kiwis do, it's something we can sympathise with endlessly.