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Victoria

Victorian Bush Fires

News of the Victorian Bush Fires seems to be getting good coverage around the world now. 

Whole towns have been lost to fire, with hundreds of thousands of hectacres burnt.  The death toll so far has exceeded that of the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983, with the toll expected to rise further as the emergency services begin to get into affected areas.  This make this Victoria’s worst bush fire so far.

The CannibalRabbit family have not been directly affected by the fires.  Mrs CannibalRabbit’s parents are in country Victoria, and like us are surrounded by nothing more than smoke at the moment.  We have had some fires around 25 kilometres away from us at Yarra Glen, but other than the smell of smoke on the air and the loss of our view, we have nothing to worry about here in suburbia.

There are a number of reliable sources for news:

In response to requests by the CFA and the DSE that web-traffic too their sites be kept to a minimum, Google have created a flash-based map for people not threatened by the fires. The Victoria Fires Map [^] is based on live data received from the official sites.

Out thoughts go out to those affected by the fires, and our thanks to everyone involved in fighting the fires and those that are supporting them.

View Upstream From Princes Bridge

Princes Bridge 2

This is the second view from Princes Bridge, this time looking upstream.  The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) takes pride of place, the lights are on for the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) game between the Carlton Blues and the Adelaide Crows.

Birrarung Marr [^] is on the left, on the City side of the River, is the most recently created major park in Melbourne.  The Aborginal name Birrarung Marr translates to “the banks of the river of mists”.  The park acts as a link between the CBD and the major sporting area of the MCG and the Rod Laver Arena, the home of Tennis Australia’s Australian Open. 

The 50 metre Ferris Wheel in Birrarung Marr is the southern hemisphere’s largest travelling Ferris Wheel [^].  A full-scale observation wheel, similar to the London Eye, is being constructed in Docklands, and is expected to open towards the end of 2008.  It will be known as the Southern Star Observation Wheel [^], and will rise to 120 metres, 15 metres less than the London Eye.