Travels with the Highland Drover: Strathmerton - Seymour

We've been on the move this past 2 weeks - firstly 3 nights at Strathmerton getting some work done at Murray Valley Motorhomes where Daryl and the team provide really excellent service at a reasonable cost - if your travelling south (or north) it's worthwhile visiting them.

Onwards to Seymour to attend the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo - we arrived the day before and were fortunate to secure a great overnight parking spot in the swimming pool carpark next to the showgrounds. The Expo (it's really more like a Field Day) is HUGE with over 400 exhibitors

Anyone need a hose?

Although some people may find it difficult to believe this, I managed to get ready by 9AM and then Laurie and I wandered around for a couple of hours - the dogs in the meantime stayed and guarded the home front.

Skye & Timmy alert and on guard

I was very disciplined and didn't buy too much only purchasing a small 2x2.40 metre EnduroMat mate to use when only stopping somewhere for a couple of days and I don't want to put down the larger groundsheet. I really love this mat - it's light and easy to manage and folds down to a very compact size - ideal in the motorhome.

The next stop was at a friend's home at Kinglake - this, of course, was the site of the horrific bushfires in February 2009 - at it happened we were there nearly one year to the day. It was very moving driving through the area - so many dying and dead trees, remnants of burnt out homes, Australian flags flying in the breeze and here and there a proudly newly constructed home.

The following quote from the We Will Rebuild website gives an idea of how much more work needs to be done still.

RECOVERY TO DATE

To date 472 properties have been cleared in Kinglake and Kinglake Central. A total of 268 properties have been cleared in Kinglake West and Pheasant Creek. A total of 524 building permits have been issued for bushfire-affected properties in the Murrindindi Shire.

Of the 2439 kilometres of fencing damaged across the Murrindindi Shire, 1641 kilometres (67 per cent) have been repaired to date.

Commercial water tankers and CFA water tankers supplied water along with supplies of bottled water for drinking, until Yarra Valley Water were able to deliver, install and fill a large centrally located tank for public use.

People who retained serviceable water tanks were able to have them cleaned and partially refilled by council and the State Government.

A temporary village has been constructed at Kinglake to ease the housing situation for some of the residents who lost their homes in the fires. The village houses 56 families in self contained moveable units and 20 individuals in single persons' quarters. The village has showers, toilets and laundry facilities for local residents, a large communal kitchen, landscaped gardens and an outdoor amphitheatre.