we live in Gladstone a few hrs north of Bundy , and all i can say if the poor buggers are getting what we are getting, it sure won't be a nice time for them.
I live just inland from Bundaberg at Biggenden. Hasn't stopped raining for 3 days. Can't even go out the front door and the backyard is a lake. I understand some of the roads are closed to get out of Biggy so won't be going anywhere for a while. At least our house won't go under like the poor Bundaberg residents.
Many of the blazeaid sites are closed today due to rain etc in their areas. Some crews went out but had to return as they could not get through to the farms.
We had a site being setup at Gin Gin but now this looks in doubt as the show society have put a spanner in the works.
They are frightened that the fencers may make too much noise and they may use too much power as well as will there may be rubbish left after they leave as well as other little items to stop the site.
It is easier to move the site and the volunteers to another town so another town that has stopped a lot of farmers getting help after the flood due to narrow minded people.
We are coming up against these problems a lot lately as some councils / groups don't want people outside their area coming in and taking THEIR money.
We supply all tools /safety equipment and the morning meal for the volunteers and pay all power bills etc but we have theses problems in some areas. One other site is closing early due to restrictions being placed on the continuation of the base.
Local charity groups receive money from their flood relief fund for supplying the night meal for the volunteers but no money is taken out of the area and much is put into their area.
Many of the volunteers are grey nomads (people on the wallaby) and many have done work every year since 2009. Some people leaving TAS next month had planned to go to QLD but we are now considering of transferring /advising them that they might be better to stay on VIC or NSW.
Another case of a small town shooting themselves in the foot with narrow minded thinking.
Regards Brian
__________________
11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
Gee - that makes me so mad!!!! Short sighted, narrow minded people - and as they say "a little bit of power goes to some people's heads" - how true - they think only of themselves, and not the work that has to be done - and I would bet that a lot of the members of the Show Society are farmers, who will only benefit from Blazeaid's efforts in and around their district, surely they can see this!!!
Keep up the good work on your end Brian!!!
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
This is just another slap in the face for the poor people who need this unselfish help you people give and give with all your heart and hard work.But then we are asked to give money to help the people in flood/ fire ravaged area's.Well what is the money used for ?? The company my wife and myself work for here in QLD have given many $$$$$$$ as some of our workers have been effected re flood's.So it is ok to hand money over but hard cold labour is not valued ???. Another thing that strikes me as very strange is that in a lot of these country towns the members of the show organization are farmers......
"Granville Bridge may be cut on Tuesday night, council says"
THE approaches to the Granville Bridge could be cut by late Tuesday night rather than Wednesday as first predicted.
"Due to the heavier-than-expected falls in the local catchment the Mary River is rising faster than first predicted," Fraser Coast Mayor Gerard' O'Connell said.
we will see how it all works out I Hope it's not as bad as a few weeks ago
Most of you would be surprised at some of the problems we have GIVING free help in a community.
We have to comply with large egos of Mayors and other councillers who must be seen in any publicity or they spit the dummy and the number of request we get to vacate the sites for a time so people can play bingo or train and they like to have a drink in the rooms and don't want other people there as well.
We expect our volunteers to be able to settle into a site and then be able to come back from work to the same site each night and do their reports and have a drink and a meal before they retire for the night. Believe me if you have been walking up and down hills all day and lifting fences and hitting them with pipes etc and raking them to get rid of the rubbish as well as copious numbers of dead stock you don't want to be running around trying to find somewhere else to get prepare a meal.
After the meal at night the co-ordinators have to finalise the days activities and prepare for the next day. There is farmer requests to be discussed and reports from people who have been out to check what has to be done. Then they decide where the free volunteers will be allocated and who is in each team to ensure there are experienced people in each team etc. Also there is tools to organise etc as the teams meet for breakfast at 7:00 and after the morning muster they leave at 8:00 to travel to their site and leave there at about 4:00 4:30 to return back to base which often can take and hour or more.
Many of these volunteers are aged between 50 - 80 while there is a few younger ones but on an average the ages would be close to 60. Many have not been involved in this level of activity whilst working for many years so it is tiring work but then we get a great kick out of what we do.
If anyone is in an area of a camp and you ahve any farming tools or work clothes etc and can deliver then they would be appreciated. Also a home cooked cake etc goes down very well as lots of the ladies go out fencing as well so there is not the little goodies they have been used to. As well many of the farmers have lost everything (especially after a fire) and they often have to live in tents or vans for a long time after the disasters.
With floods in QLD we often work on the same farm several times in the one year. We fix it and then another flood comes and away it goes again so we go back and out it up again.
Also anyone travelling you will get an experience you will not forget if you call in and give a day or 5 as there are jobs of all types to do from cooking, office work, cleaning etc in the base and then there is tasks such as cleaning museums and attractions that the town survives on as well as the fencing. Even people who are good at talking to go out and give comfort to people who are stressed and think their life has been a waste etc and are at their wits end. Just to talk to someone is the start of the recovery. This is one of the tasks we all partake is to converse with the farmers and give them a future. The fencing is just one of the tasks.
Regards Brian
__________________
11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
