Rockin n rollin

The Safari didn’t get out this morning, not for fear of having our eyeballs blown out of their sockets – although that was a consideration – but those dreadful tram people had closed off the access before it got light enough to warrant even thinking about braving the elements.

By lunchtime the tide was dropping but the wind had increased to a sustained 40mph with gusts to over 60mph so anything coming out of the bay southwards should have been well inshore but still we couldn’t cross the road. Not that we’d have been able to hold the scope steady anyway!

This time tomorrow we could well be experiencing even worse wind with sustained gusts to Hurricane Force 11 – if ever there was a time to batten down those hatches it’s probably now...some snow is forecast too.

Wonder if we’re missing anything going by. Wonder if there are any birds left in the Irish Sea - we wouldn't be surprised if they've all been blown clean across the country and are now battling their way down the coast of Holland or Belgium!

In the absence of anything to report may we draw your attention to last week’s fires in Western Australia. Aussie Glen’s picture is very distressing and be warned if you have a queasy disposition but it is a stark reminder of the casualties uncontrolled fires can cause and all the more reason for you to download our story as a proportion of the proceeds will go to help AG and the volunteers at Maroo care for the survivors so that they can be released back to the wild once fully fit.

It is important to realise that fire is very much part of the ecology of many areas around the world and the plants and animals and even the people native to those areas are in many ways adapted to it. What is less natural is that western ‘settled’ societies which have moved into those fire prone areas now have a fear of it and prevent it from happening until there is too much fuel and any fires that do occur are often too fierce to manage and become far more destructive than small faster burns would have been. Fire management is a high priority for WA’s Dept of Environment and Conservation but sadly in this instance it seems that it was one of their controlled burns that got out of control 60,000 hectares is approx 15 miles x 15 miles or in a local context just about all of the Fylde, a square from Blackpool to Preston and from there north almost to Lancaster ie the bit of Safari-land we spend almost all our time in!

Where to next? Hopefully we’ll be able to get across the road for some more fury watching but don’t count on it.

In the meantime let us know what the wind’s blown in in your outback.

No pictures? You are jokin aren't you???