Pink Bats and Bush Fires - OMG

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I forgot to tell you in the last blog about something that happened when we were with Owen and Vicki who we met in Halong Bay a few weeks ago. So whilst having a brew (that is a cup of tea) with Owen and Vicki I asked why do a lot of Australians houses have tin roofs and not tiles.



Owen tells me that it is quite traditional that roofs are tin and then went on to explain why they did not attract heat - as my first thought was surely tin roofs would make the house really hot. So Owen explains that there is like a foil insulation and then they have what I heard as Pink Bats as additional insulation. I look really perplexed and say “you put Pink Bats in your loft?”, Yes says Owen. “Pink Bats” I say again really looking weirdly at Owen. Now Owen looks at me as though did she say “Pink Bats” and laughs out loud, no I mean pink insulation - we call the insulation bats. I thought thank god, number one that would be cruel putting bats in your loft and number two where do you find Pink Bats - I am sure the gay community would also like to know and would be calling to parliament to legislate against this or even Pink Bats would be the new pet. Tell you these Ozzies have a different language than us.



Anyway last night we get back to Jenni’s and after a while Mike comes into the kitchen where Jenni is making tea and I am on the internet looking for car hire for our next leg of the trip in New Zealand. Mike says you know the smoke from the bush fires is getting much thicker and closer. Well if you know Mike sometimes he can appear to exaggerate things. So both Jenni and I keep on doing what we were doing and ignore Mike - well probably not ignore him but pacify him, even after he says about the brilliant sunset and the sun is really red.



After a while Steve rang on his way home from work and says that he is 30k from home and can see the smoke toward Springfield Lakes - how bad is it with you? To which both Jenni and I go to the lounge and think OMG Mike (dad) was not exaggerating the smoke is quite thick now and the sun is really red as it is picking up the colour from the fire.



We still do not panic as although the smoke was getting thicker you could not see any flames and there is still apparently a long distance between the house and the fire (including a lot of other properties). So Mike and I go back to what we were doing and Jenni goes next door to ask the neighbour who has a fireman friend if everything is ok.



Steve arrives home and he and Mike go off to the petrol station to fill his car. The petrol station is only a 5 minute drive away. Whilst they are away both Jenni and I have a bit of a laugh as we thought not only have you got dramatic Steve you have risk averse Mike together not a good combination as they will be winding each other up.



Imagine our reaction when they come back and tell us they could see the flames from a spot close to the petrol station - we thought they had wound each other up and this was not the case and now had to calm both of them down. Then a neighbour arrives and her information not only confirmed what Steve and Mike had been saying but also started to make us all more concerned. At this point Jenni suggested to Steve that he should ring their insurer to check they were covered for bush fire damage. Steve rings the insurer and asks the relevant questions to which the lady says “you are covered for fire as long as there are flames”. This leads to us all thinking how can you have a fire without flames. So Steve asks the lady “how can you have a fire without flames?” but is laughing as he says it to her. To which the lady starts laughing as well. Steve then comes up with the classic comment have you ever heard the expression “there is no smoke without fire” to which everyone cracks up - remember all 4 of us have worked for CIS/CFS/CBG. Steve using his knowledge of insurance companies asks the lady to make a note on his file about the conversation. I can only imagine that the recording of the call is being passed around colleagues at the insurer today for a good laugh.



So about half an hour after this conversation the situation turned a little scary as we could now see flames although they were still a really long way away - this is when we all really started to reassess the situation and started damping down the house on the advice of true Ozzie neighbours who were doing the same thing. We also packed essentials just in case - Jenni had 2 priorities everything for Sophia and the families collection of 7 passports - English, Irish and Ozzie. We were lucky as all our stuff is packed into rucksacks. Anyway after another few minutes or so the wind changed and the flames could not be seen - so we all sighed a huge relief but were still alert for any further wind changes. Of comfort throughout was the fact that the emergency service reports continued to state at the present time no properties were in danger.



The fire brigade had set up a facebook page on which some of the comments were so wild it was quite funny in one respect but could have started a panic reaction if not responded to immediately. For example one lady commented that the local DIY store was on fire - this is adjacent to the petrol station Mike and Steve went to earlier - the immediate response to this was that the fireman congregated there for a break from fighting the bush fires. Someone else commented I am looking at the DIY store as I type and it sure is not on fire! This shows the negative and positive side elements of social media.



Anyway we woke up this morning and we can still see smoke but it looks like it is completely under control just like the fireman said it was last night. Being brutally honest there was quite a lot of humour in the situation but there was also a period of genuine concern that lasted for an hour or so.

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Comments

[Barb]

too funny
I cannot believe you forgot to mention this... Paula, all this r&r is turning your brain to mush!

[PJandMike]

Pink Bats
I know mush for brains, ha ha