Starting along the East Coast to Sydney and Canberra

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We have now started our month trip along the East coast up to Sydney and Canberra. We were rather later than we meant to be leaving on Tuesday because I was still clearing up for Brent and Felicity and packing my clothes. We left around 3pm and only went as far as Sale, where we arrived at 7.45pm. We spent the night in the Showgrounds Caravan Park ($21). I was exhausted so we had Subway for dinner (but only ate half each – we saved the rest for lunch tomorrow).



On the way we passed road signs saying “80 – smoke on road” near Morwell and the power stations. There was a lot of burnt bush all around us and the smoke was quite thick. We found out later it was coming from the old Hazelwood Power Station’s Open Cut Coal Mine which had caught fire during the bush fires last week. As the plant has been de-commissioned for more than 10 years, some idiots had removed all the fire fighting equipment and big sprays (without covering the coal face with soil). This kind of fire can burn for years. The locals are having a lot of trouble breathing and the primary school is busing kids to a nearby town for classes. The fire must have been really intense as there were a few road signs that had warped and were back to bare metal, no colour. One had got so hot there was a large melted hole in the centre!

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Photos

bushfire damage
Fire damage caused by recent bush fires near Morwell

Comments

[Snap Shot Stacey]

coal fire
So if that's the kind of fire that can birn for years does that mean that people will have to leave their homes permanently? There must be a way to stop it!

[dragonlady]

Burning Coal Fires
I was speaking to someone with a relative living in Morwell. She said the smoke has mostly gone and the school is back in its own premises. Mind you, that doesn't mean the fire is out as they can smoulder and burn underground.