In twenty years as a TD it has been my pleasure and privilege to meet many Australian clients, many from the areas affected by the fires. My thoughts are with you at this dreadful time.
Paul

Paul that is very thoughtful of you....great the way you see us as friends.
Al

Having travelled with many, many Australians my thoughts are also with them.

This morning our paper showed photos of people who lost their lives and the devastation the fires have caused - war zone is the comment. A photo that touched me was of a firefighter giving a wild koala a drink of water from his bottle and the koala trustingly holding his other hand with his paw.

The courage and determination shown by people who have lost everything is humbling.

That picture of the koala being given a drink really did it for me too Yon Yon. The whole thing is just beyond belief.

Hello All

The situation is horrific... and just so gut wrenchingly sad. We live about 45 minutes drive from a number of the fires and are under no direct threat, but 45 minutes away whole towns have been wiped off the map. It is really staggering. The scenes on the news last night had to seen to be believed. One of Victoria's best loved former newsreaders (on prime time news for nearly 30 years) and his wife were two of the victims... along with at least 170 others... and that number continues to rise.

I feel just so sad and so guilty to have so much to look forward to - we fly out to London in just over eight weeks. We spend time in London before going to Istanbul and then Gallipoli for the Dawn Service on Anzac Day, and on April 28th we begin our Insight Tour - the 27 Day European Grandeur. Of course I am still excited, but at the moment there is just so much sadness and that is what I feel - 'bloody sad'...

Best wishes to all - Liz

Dear Liz

Watching the news - people who have lost so much and their children or partners let alone houses, it makes me cry, you really see the horrendous damage, and I cant even think of the animals .... So many awful things happen in many parts of the world (in our lifetime) but this is our beautiful country, already burnt and crispy with the summer, we are saving for our trip but we have donated what we can today.

Liz I was thinking of you, as I said in our email I didnt know where you were down there and when I hadnt heard from you since the Friday I was worried - for you.

Yes we are fortunate, we have a trip to look forward to, but all the Aussies affected are in our thoughts and prayers just now.

We have had bush fires in the Menai area, with streets blocked off and schools closed and people trying to get home...and I remember the Christmas we moved here early 2000s and we had ash falling like rain with a red haze around the sun and this weird light, and the smell..for days and days. That was scarey for us. How I feel for these poor people.

Debra J - Illawong NSW Australia

I, like my colleague Paul, have met and made friends with many, many Australians over the last 30 years with Insight. The devastation is beyond belief and the suffering caused must be unbearable. Not only do I pray for the safety of all in the affected areas but I salute the courage and determination of those fighting these horrific fires. I hope that soon your dreadful situation will end. Dawn Simonelli

Hi all, its just a horrific sight and very heartbreaking to see all this happening right in your own backyard.
Many townships have just been razed right though without any hope.
I come from the outer eastern Suburbs of Melbourne very close to the Dandenongs and have lots of Friend and family who have been affected by the fires.
There is now the worry when the weather warms up again with the North wind next week that the two big fire fronts will merge and hit the Yarra Valley in the Warburton area ,Yarra juction and the fringe of the Eastern Suburbs towards the Dandenongs which would be a very big concern. So far over 800 homes have been destroyed and with threats therr could be more and the death toll is horrofic with so far 182 dead, but it could go up to 300 or more as there are still so many unaccounted for.
I congratulate all the REAL HEROES which are the firefighters,SES people , police and medical people and so on who are doing every bit to help the victims.
Its would be grate full if you insight people could do your bit to help donate to the Red Cross and you should find it on the Red Cross Australia website to help the victims
How ever like some others i am planning( which i booked 12 months ago) on an insight trip on the Northern Capitals and Russia in June and excited about that but at the moment that is the futher's thing on my mind with al the heart break that is happening. I did the Romantic European with Insight in 2006 and that was great.
It seems like the weather is going wild around the world and has to be something to do with Global warming. Its time we all have to act now and stop all this. South Eastern Australian hasnt had any decent rain for 2 months while North QLD is Drowning in floods and my sympathy goes to them too, while europe going through wild wind storms. Soon we will have to convert to Solar and Wind power and stop driving our cars around too much and use public transport to ease the carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere.
with Thanks Tennis Ace

Hi Debra 7 Lizzy M.

The Victoria bushfires are just so dreadful it brings tears to your eyes just thinking about the loss of lives and devastation. We live in North Qld but the town where we live in is not badly flooded although it is raining constantly. We had our town severly flooded on February 15th 2008 - you would have maybe heard about it. Our Home was flooded, our Mother & mother -in-law's home was flooded and our business premises was flooded badly also. It took months & months to get everything liveable once again and our business operational but we didn't loose everything as these bushfire victims have. Lives were spared thankfully. Floods are devasting but Fire only leaves you with ashes. I feel so much sadness for the fire victims as does everyone -some of them have lost loved ones and others have lost everything. Hearing the horrific escape stories just made us cry and it is so hard to get your head around so much disaster. We wish with all our hearts we could send some of our rain to Victoria.

We are also feeling very sorry for the Flood Victims a little further North than we live.

Lizzy M. - We hope you and your family continue to remain safe from the bushfires and hope the weather is kind to Victoria so all the fires can come to an end as soon as possible.

Debra - Thanks for your concern. Your packing list would be great thank you -even though I haven't thought about the trip the last few days. You can email me direct if you wish. dmutch2@bigpond.com.

Deb & Gary.