SOTR - bushfire clean up

January 2020

Heading to Buchan to assist in a bush fire clean up project, helping the locals clean up of their properties. Read more

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- Jan 24, 2020, 7:30am
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 51 m
- Australia Victoria Casey Lyndhurst South -38.132488, 145.20495638°7’57” S 145°12’18” E
Day 1
Off we go
January 24, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
So we are heading off on a road trip to Buchan- 5 hours and 351 kms.

We wanted to do something practical to help those impacted by the recent bushfires in Victoria so we are heading to Buchan to assist in a bush fire clean up project. We hope that assisting the locals clean up their properties will help them move forward after the devastating fires.

Instead of a relaxing long weekend ours will be hard work and very dirty but we will be spending it with a group of like minded people and it will be fun and very rewarding.Read more
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- Jan 24, 2020
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 24 m
- Australia Victoria East Gippsland Bruthen Greg Ridsdale Memorial Camping Park -37.707008, 147.83216937°42’25” S 147°49’56” E
Day 1
The convoy....
January 24, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
.......traveling to and through Buchan.

Our base for the weekend was Buchan Recreation Reserve located next to the football and netball club and just a short walk to the main strip. There we met others that had travelled from all over the state to help with the clean up, both individuals and groups, and for the weekend or longer periods.

Once set up we were spilt into teams and given details of the farmers and properties we would be assisting over the next few days and with nothing left to do other than get to know the other volunteers we headed to the Buchan pub, well it would have been rude not to and we were supporting the local economy!!Read more
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- Jan 25, 2020
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 763 m
- Australia Victoria East Gippsland Gelantipy Gelantipy Airstrip -37.198135, 148.26908937°11’53” S 148°16’9” E
Day 2
Gelantipy - our first property
January 25, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
A beautiful start to a very busy day. Our team headed off to Gelantipy to meet Keith Davis, a local farmer that had saved his property but his fence line faired less well. We spent many hours cutting and pulling down fencing, rolling posts and wire and clearing paddocks. It was such a hot day but we heard no complaints and everyone just got stuck in.Read more
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- Jan 26, 2020
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 14 m
- Australia Victoria East Gippsland Bete Bolong -37.69405, 148.39117437°41’39” S 148°23’28” E
Day 3
Beta Bolong North- our 2nd property
January 26, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Australia Day, a day to reflect on what it means to be Australian and we couldn’t think of a better way to spend it.

This morning our team headed to meet James, a young farmer living with his wife and 4 boys in Beta Bolong North, an area of 5 farmsteads all but one raised to the ground by the fires. James told us how he and his wife were well prepared to protect their property but despite this he lost his home, a 1/3 of his cattle and his contracting business. Lunch was had by a very dirty looking snowy river and where we met his lovely wife and 4 beautiful children.

Another hot hard day, but we did have a cute little supervisor keeping an eye on us from afar.Read more
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- Jan 27, 2020
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 79 m
- Australia Victoria East Gippsland Buchan John Flynn Memorial Reserve -37.496174, 148.17352337°29’46” S 148°10’25” E
Day 4
It's a wrap
January 27, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
We, like most, had seen media footage of the fires but nothing had quite prepared us for what saw and experienced this weekend.

The resilience of the farmers that we were helping was amazing. They had all been well prepared to protect their properties, families and livelihoods, but the stories they shared of the ferocity of the fires, what they were faced with, and what some had to do to survive were so confronting. Some saved their homes, others lost everything.

We met some amazing people; those that had volunteered their time to assist others, locals that welcomed us and allowed us to join them at their club house and the farmers whose generosity was still abundant even when they were going through the toughest of times. We have made new friends this weekend and we intend to keep in touch with those we have helped and return to do more in the coming weeks and months.Read more
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SOTR - bushfire clean up

Off we go

The convoy....

Gelantipy - our first property

Beta Bolong North- our 2nd property

It's a wrap