Day 70-72, November 24-26, Agnes Water / Bushfires

Saturday, November 24

In the morning, I woke up and after having breakfast, I headed to Agnes Water. I also made a stop in Bundaberg, the city famous for Bundaberg Rum (Bundy Rum), where I bought a new pair of sunglasses. I checked my bank balance there and realized, 'oh dear, it's getting low!' Then I continued to Agnes Water to visit Anthony Bonney. As I drove along the streets, I suddenly felt at home when I came across a bridge called 'Buchbach Bridge'.

What a crazy world! A few kilometers before Agnes Water, I noticed some strange smoke that looked more like a dust cloud but with a slight burning smell. However, I didn't pay much attention to it. When my sister Monika was in Australia in 2012, she stayed with Anthony from October to December and told wonderful stories.

I drove into Anthony's yard, introduced myself, and immediately felt the charm of his character. T-Bone, as his friends call him, runs an electrical company with his two sons. He used to be a surf instructor and is a really relaxed and likable guy. He warmly welcomed me, showed me his large property and his house, and we enjoyed a cozy coffee together. I also met Jaylan, his younger son, as well as Ripcurl, a very sweet dog that Anthony got as a young puppy when Monika visited. I set up a small camp on the grass with my tent and then had a conversation with Jaylan over a couple of beers about video games, electrical engineering, and philosophized about the world and the energy problem. After that, Anthony, Jaylan, and I went to the garden, first found a large iguana on the tree that Ripcurl barked at, and then watered the plants and trees. His water dam is already quite dried up due to very little rain in the past few months.

In the evening, after a nice shower, I got ready to go out because Jaylan, a friend, and I wanted to go to the pub to celebrate. But before that, Jaylan and I went to the drive-through bottle shop to buy beer and liquor.

We bought a case of beer and as a thank you for a short conversation with the cashier, I got an extra free bottle of beer. On the way there, I was the driver because Jaylan was still on his probation period, and we took a very bumpy shortcut. Jaylan has a nice pickup truck, so it's not a big deal if it gets scratched. And that's exactly what happened on the way back when Jaylan directed me to another, let's call it a 'shortcut.' It was a route that goes through a forest path. However, the city has placed two concrete posts and an iron chain between them to prevent cars from passing through. I was quite skeptical when Jaylan said, 'oh, just drive next to it!' 'What do you mean, next to it? But there are trees there?!' (About 10cm diameter trees) 'Yes, of course, just go around, no problem.'

Okay, I thought to myself, and so we simply drove past the trees because with the bullbar at the front, it was no problem at all. That was an amazing feeling.

In the evening, I met Bob, who came by for a beer. He is a freelance artist and painter and is usually quite high, but he has interesting and exciting stories to tell. Then Jaylan, a friend, and I went to the only pub in Agnes by bus. However, Jaylan was denied entry because he had received a four-week ban for a minor altercation last weekend. So, we took the bus back home and had a cozy evening there. That evening, we also realized that there was indeed a bushfire, and I have to say, 'Damn, it's huge!' At night, we could see a bright glow in the sky and a lot of smoke.

In the morning, I woke up, prepared a small breakfast, and wrote a lot on my blog that no one knew about yet. Then Tony and I drove to a nearby mountain because a friend asked him to bring his boat and car to safety. The bushfire is reported to be out of control, and every resident nearby should prepare their documents and important belongings in the car. Also, water the properties as much as possible, and move valuable items to safety, but above all, not endanger themselves and animals. So, we took a motorboat with a trailer and a Mercedes A-Class down the hill and placed them on Tony's property. The view from the top of the mountain was quite impressive, but also frightening.

In the night, we went to the lookout mountain several times with beer and a dog named Jägermeister, and we were not afraid of being checked because the police had other concerns than intoxicated residents.

Fire data on this evening: 90km²

Fireline: 50km

Wurmsham community: 28.15km²

I woke up very early, and shortly after waking up, I smelled the scent of smoke. As soon as I stepped outside the house, all I could see was smoke in the air. I went to the mountain and drove up with my car. From there, I could see the fireline, which was only about 1km away. Shortly after, a resident, about the same age as me, came and told me about his night. Covered in ash, he told me that he had spent the whole night trying to protect his property from the fire with water hoses, an axe, a chainsaw, etc. In the end, he had to flee, got into his car, and came up the mountain again. Then he drove inland because he works in a mine there. That's a crazy mentality that I experienced there, but it's true. No matter what happens, life goes on and you shouldn't be too attached to possessions.

I drove back towards Bundaberg, crossed the Buchbach Bridge again, and then stopped at a rest area that I already knew.

In my guidebook, I read about a turtle breeding station and signed up for an evening tour there. Mon Repos, which means 'refuge' in French, is a place where many loggerhead turtles come to lay eggs at this time of year. In January to March, thousands of baby turtles will hatch.

When I arrived in the evening, we watched a movie and were informed about turtles and their behavior patterns. At night, we saw two turtles coming ashore.

A large turtle crawled onto the land, dug a big hole, and laid over a hundred eggs in it. It was very impressive and exciting, but the whole tour lasted from 7 pm until 1 am in the morning. But that's nature, you can't predict it.
Exhausted, I drove to the next rest area and slept in the car.