364.25 days ago - Black Saturday 7th February 2009

I was trying to sleep and couldn’t – I realised what I was planning to do was possibly suicide and I could possibly end up dead – but I HAD TO DO it.

I left Whittlesea at 2.30am in the morning and got to Marysville at daybreak – I don’t remember very much of the trip – other than what I have recalled in My Story – I drove with eyes ONLY for the road, I didn’t have a choice. The dangers were many, the sights from my car window too scary to comprehend.

The smell is something that will never leave my mind. Driving over electricity wires is scary even when you know that the power is off – it’s unnatural.

Then seeing some animals alive and looking fine and to see others either dead or near dead – was heart-wrenching.

To see cars and trucks ‘parked’ in the middle of the roads was strange – like an apocalyptic movie, where you know the people have gone mad and just run off into the distance chasing some figment of their imagination. That was what it felt like.

To see burnt out shells of vehicles – you dared not look, just in case. Power poles cut at the knees, where the fire had burnt them through and they fell across the roads.

I did what I did because I am me.

Some people have lost everything they have loved for as long as they can remember – their loss must be enormous. Some people have come forward and have shared their stories; I congratulate them on being so brave. By sharing their stories, they are trying to make sure you don’t suffer the way they have. I can’t thank them enough; the pain of retelling must tear at their already broken hearts. I hope if I was in their shoes – I’d have the guts to do the same.

May the next 12 months be better than the past 12 months and may every year that passes be better than the last.

On that note:- thank-you to all the people on the ground fighting these fires, thank-you to those people who after the fact, stepped up the mark and assisted with everything from toilet paper to cars and accommodation. You did a wonderful thing.

Let us hope that we never again suffer as we did on February 7th 2009.

Let us be vigilant of our surroundings and of people who may pose a threat to our homes, our families, our lives. If you see someone acting suspiciously please make a note of anything and if you feel it necessary report it to 000. Lives, maybe your life could be a risk for not doing so.

Take care out and remember Mother Nature talks to each and every one of us – perhaps you might need to turn the music down a little and listen once in a while.