15/01/2020
* Warning long post but the Community of KV needs your help.
As a family we find ourselves living with one shoe planted in a big city and the other foot out of a shoe and deep in the soil of Kangaroo Valley (KV). We are drawn to its natural beauty and love the property we have, nestled in this valley. We believe KV is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. A valley set in sandstone escarpment which acts as the back drop to the green landscapes, rivers and creeks that are the home to the plentiful wildife that colour the landscape and fill the air with their sounds. In addition to this natural playground is a body of indivuals that also inhabit this valley…..I will touch on the humans later.
The fires of the past months have affected many natural landscapes around different pockets of Australia. At times the fires in NSW had a front of up to 21 km wide when they travelled engulfing everything in their path.Kangaroo Valley saw the fire front come across the Shoal haven river and travel through West Kangaroo Valley on the 4th Jan . It was contained by the brave before it reached the Hampden Bridge . This travelling fire caused havoc to both the natural landscape we cherish with its wild life, and peoples properties that is their livelihood. Kangaroo Valley welcomes many travellers, but a fire of this magnitude is NEVER welcome to travel anywhere.
Despite this unwelcome traveller and the disarray it left behind, the people of KV are busy working to rebuild both the physical and natural environment. Hours after their own losses they were gathering, sharing ideas , fundraising, asking for professional guidance in how to best look after those who need the most assistance. 11 days after these events this proactive community have organised feeding stations for all types of wildlife, set up a drop in centre in town for support and with tears in eyes cleared land of ashes and debris. As the saying goes “ without a sense of caring there can be no sense of community” .
Many of you have reached out to see if our property was affected and how you can help. Your generosity, kindness and willingness to offer support to help those in KV is overwhelming- Thank you. Omaroo must have had lots of four leaf clovers hiding in the grass, as it was luck that saved us. I write that with half measure of guilt that others have lost so much, the other half of incredible relief. Even though our property was not affected by the unwelcome, I and many others in the community were affected by the consuming state we found ourselves in during this period. The overall feeling of helplessness and waiting is awful. Lets face it we have all been affected in one way or another, in a local community and as a nation. The Silver lining is that everyone is showing their human spirit in wanting to help others.
Now to the Humans….This community of incredible humans who are not only working around the clock to look after wildlife but also run business' both in the village main street and run produce business from their properties have a message: “We’re OPEN”.
I would like to help share this message through our instagram page . We intially set up the Instagram page for people to explore KV and surrounds with some tips on what we enjoy locally to enhance your experience when staying at Omaroo. After this incident, I feel more compelled to share with you more of the amazing business that flourish in and around KV.
Follow us on and feel free to share , comment on business tagged and give a shout out to show your support from afar. Hopefully It may even entice you to come and explore KV for yourself. The best way everyone can help is to visit small communities who need an injection of travellers, be it a weekend away or day trip. ( 2 Hour drive from Sydney)
We have been fortunate to travel many corners of the globe but there is no spirit that compares to the Australian spirit of helping those in need. Its WORLD CLASS!!!
Photo credit: Byron Ross ( 1st Photo)
