At long last, the dry arrives. The towering clouds of approaching thunderstorms are gone, and in their place, the black, acrid smoke of grass fires drifts slowly across an otherwise bare sky.Deliberately lit, the fires play an important part in managing the environment here, getting rid of the 12 foot high spear grass that covers much of the Territory, and preventing a huge fuel load from building up year after year.
Yet despite their significance, there seems to be little structure or science as to where the fires will be lit, when and by who. On several trips out bush over the past week, I'm asked to pull over, not, as I first think, for passengers to take a pee break, but instead for someone to jump out, cigarette lighter in hand, and set fire to the grass.
Of course, it doesn't matter that we might actually be driving back on the same road or that the wind is blowing towards our destination...just as long as the grass is alight and the black smoke is rising, the job is done and we're on our way.
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3 comments:
G'day Digs!
Lovin it as always! Glad they got you out of the formaldahyde and into the fire.
Does this mean you've got to travel more now seeing as you're no longer "embedded"?
And good to see you're up for hunting/enduro challenge! They'll get more than they bargained with from you! I dare say not too many interventionists have the same level of fitness as your good self, and I'll bet that comes as a bit of a surprise to the black fellas!
But the real question is... can you match them at drinking?!!? Perhaps I should pay a visit! hahaah!
Havin Scotty n Britt over for tea tomorrow night - well overdue. I'll give Julia a buzz too. Gotta look after her for ya!
Go well mate!
G'day mate, and thanks for the kind words! Yep, travel even more travel now (14,500kms in two months!) but at least I've been given an aprtment in Darwin and a swag for the truck, so at least it's not too hard to find somewhere to crash each night.
And yep, these blokes have been very, very suprised about just how well us whitefellas can hold our own in the bush, but as I mentioned yesterday, they're perplexed about our obsession for safety, particularly around handling firearms and other 'dangers'. I can't help but think how horrified Neet would be if she saw the approach to the annual burn-offs - completely random, and although there's bugger all fuel-load, and the fire passes through quickly, I can assure you that 12 foot high spear grass (like bamboo) burns damn hot and damn high, and I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle of it.
Ha! I reckon Neet would be loving the approach. No permits required to light an experimental burn. Just TORCH it! If we had that sort of approach down here, we might have significantly less fuel load too! But we don't get the rain to replenish what gets burnt out. Such an impressive and dramatic climate up there!
Well, thanks to your surprise visit, I didn't get the pleasure of Julia's company last night. "Too distracting" was Julia's comments about you and why she didn't get her assignment done. I'd hope so! ha!
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