Sydney under smoke as fires rage

Thursday 5 December 2019, 6:30pm

A Jetstar A320 heads towards Sydney Airport through the murky sky. More than 10 fires are classed as extreme (red indicators on map). The closest to Sydney CBD are 50km north, 40km west and 60km south.

Friday 6 December 2019, 6:00pm

The cameras don’t depict the sun as red as the eye sees it, but the picture is similar. All the fires still burn, but have been downgraded. Dedicated fire crews, including from interstate and a contingent from Canada, fight to save properties.

Saturday, 7 December 2019, 8:00 am

The fires still burn – yellow markers signify “watch and act”, blue signify “under control”.

Source: NSW Rural Fire Service

[Since fires commenced this season in September, four lives have been lost, 680 homes have been destroyed, as well as over 2000 outbuildings]

Reporting in for Six Word Saturday

Sydney, December 2019

Smart thinking to preserve the signage

As well as preserving native plant species, Inala (which means ‘a peaceful place’) is home to many species of birdlife, several of which are endemic to Tasmania and listed as endangered. For more about the garden, see Inala and my post here 

More gardens for Six Word Saturday

Bruny Island, Tasmania, November 2019

A new garden for ancient plants

Created by biologist Dr Tonia Cochran is a “Jurassic Garden”, Inala, highlighting the Gondwanan connections of a range of plant families. The ancient ancestors of these plants thrived in the Jurassic period, when the Gondwanan super continent started splitting apart, around 183 million years ago, forming the land masses we now know as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and New Caledonia.

Across about five acres of former cow paddock, the garden,  is served by a wheelchair friendly pathway. In excess of 600 plants, representing some 50 plant families, are grouped according to species. In the proteaceae group are many plants indigenous to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America. 

Inala is located on South Bruny Island. Bruny Island is a fifteen minute car ferry trip from Kettering, 36km south of Hobart, the capital of Australia’s island state, Tasmania. The separation of Tasmania from the Australian mainland is believed to have been the last occurrence when Gondwanaland broke up.

Travelling again for Six Word Saturday

Bruny Island, Tasmania, November 2019