This bus trip was organised by the Mansfield Probus Group. They had booked a coach from Benalla Coach Lines but only filled half the bus so they extended an invitation to Benalla and Swanpool CWA and Red Cross people to join them. The Benalla people got on at the bus depot and it picked the Swanpool and Mansfield people up en route so it was all very convenient. It was a full bus of chatty senior ladies with the youngest of us being in our early 50’s. The only male was the bus driver! The pictures are currently uploading and I will tell you more through the day.

bluegreen said:

This bus trip was organised by the Mansfield Probus Group. They had booked a coach from Benalla Coach Lines but only filled half the bus so they extended an invitation to Benalla and Swanpool CWA and Red Cross people to join them. The Benalla people got on at the bus depot and it picked the Swanpool and Mansfield people up en route so it was all very convenient. It was a full bus of chatty senior ladies with the youngest of us being in our early 50’s. The only male was the bus driver! The pictures are currently uploading and I will tell you more through the day.

oops – here we go – good good – poor driver!

Like the pictures pepe is showing, a foggy morning highlighted spider webs along the way. There were hundreds of them in the roadside grasses and the paddocks. I don’t know if it was just a matter of perspective but it seemed that they were all facing the same way and the paddocks looked like fields of large ghostly flowers all greeting the sun. I don’t have any pictures of these as they were viewed from a moving bus, but pepe’s photos reminded me of them.

First stop and morning tea was a tour at a place called “Crystal Journey.” The 90 yr old house built by the father of the owner survived the fire in 2009 with the owner utilising an old water tank on a truck that the firies sneered about before the fire but have been strangely quiet about since.

The garden itself was not a great one but they did have some lovely rock and crystal and shady nooks. The owner also liked to restore old Massey Ferguson tractors and even had a couple painted bright pink after his wife contracted and was successfully treated for breast cancer. He also had collected a few burnt out vehicles and objects that had gone through the fire so that people could see its effects.

A display shed was full of photos from the fire and in the back he had a huge work shop set up as a Men’s Shed which has been effective in helping many of the men recover from the psychological trauma of the fires. At first the men would sit around a table with a councellor and say nothing, but in time they were able to interact and laugh again and in the workshed they are making rustic furniture from goods donated by Bunnings and Mitre 10, and from trees killed in the fire. A school that was refurbishing its trade shed donated about $30,000 worth of industrial woodworking equipment they were replacing and would have otherwise just been thrown away. The group now has a contract with the Marysville Council to build new tables and benches for the community to replace those that had been destroyed in the fire.

The dawg and garden

items that went through the fire. The motorcycle was brand new. The 4th photo shows what was left of a rotary hoe. The “puddle” was originally the engine. The host when showing us the photo display talked about how things were just melting away in the heat. Apparently there was a road sign that was dripping molten metal but the wind was so strong it was just been blown away. Trees up to a hundred metres away were later found to have shards of the molten metal embedded in them driven in by the ferocious wind.

some of his engines and tractors

you can’t resist a cute dawg can ya?

those fires that melt metal are 1,000+C – i have no idea what can be done apart from digging a hole and hiding from it. i melt in 40C.

some of the ladies were well dressed – a white suit whoaa!.

After Crystal Journey we went into Marysville itself.

The proprietor of the Caravan Park joined us and gave us a commentary as the bus took us around town, pointing out where buildings used to be and what is being rebuilt. It had been some time since I had last been in Marysville, well before the fire, and the rubble had all been removed, but it was obvious that there was huge gaps where there would have once been buildings.

Only a small percentage of buildings survived and with no rhyme or reason to why they were spared. What was once a community of about 400 permanent and another 200 temporary residents is now reduced to about 150, with another 80 in a temporary village nearby that the govt provided. Many have just left, deciding it was too hard to rebuild and stay were there was so much devastation. Some were insured although many are still waiting to find out how much they will get. Permanent residents that did not have insurance still got relief money but the temporary ones that had holiday homes there have not been given any money at this point, although the locals are hoping that they will as the town survives mostly on tourists and holiday makers.

One of the strange things was that in places where there was holiday accommodation, even though the building was completely burned down the sign at the front would be standing apparently unharmed. No one really knows why although it was suspected that it might have been the type of paint used or something like that.

P1 View across now empty town properties looking at the epicormic regrowth on the trees.
P2 Not a gum but still struggling to produce new growth on blackened trunks and branches.
P3 & P4 Japanese windflowers on the edge of an empty property.
P5 All that is left is a concrete slab and a picket fence. If you look at the bottom of the fence you can see the lower part has been burnt away.

pepe said:

you can’t resist a cute dawg can ya?

those fires that melt metal are 1,000+C – i have no idea what can be done apart from digging a hole and hiding from it. i melt in 40C.

some of the ladies were well dressed – a white suit whoaa!.

apparently temperatures got to something like 1600^o^C.

P1 site of the Anglican Church. You can see the sign survived.
P2 Memorial Park and Playground being built courtesy of donations. Opening soon.
P3 Couldn’t resist a photo of some King Parrots in a feeder. This strip of shops looks new.

One of the most popular shops in Marysville was the old fashioned lolly shop. They have continued operating out of a temporary shed with a pocket garden in front. When I asked the lady if it was OK to take pictures of the garden she said yes, and told me that originally the magnolia (right edge of photo 3) used to completely overshadow the garden. The fire burnt it right back to the trunk. It has since produced regrowth but is a fraction of its former size. However, now that it doesn’t shade the ground, it has allowed all these other plants to spring up of their own accord. They will start building the new shop next month.

Lovely, BlueGreen, thanks!

Our next stop was Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden.

Bruno is a delightful man with a great sense of humour and, after we had had a wander round his garden he told us his story.

He started off by telling us how he moved to Marysville with two daughters and two wives… (did he say two wives? He meant one!) The girls now 28 & 26 yrs old have since married and he now has 17 grandchildren. “Ha!” he says. “I got you there! I have two grandsons, 5 & 2 yrs old.”

Bruno is a talented painter and sculptor and his sculpture garden has for many years delighted visitors to Marysville. Just days before the fire he had installed an airconditioner in his gallery. On the day he was enjoying the cool in the gallery with a friend when he noticed that a strong wind had picked up outside. He thought he would check on the garden and opened the door and only then realised the intense heat that had built up outside. He went outside and saw a wall of black smoke in the distance, but it was blowing the other way. He spared a thought for Alexandra which was in that direction while he checked his garden. Then suddenly the wind changed direction and the smoke was coming his way!

At this point all reports were indicating that Marysville was in no danger so there were no evacuation warnings but he thought he might just move some of his paintings to where he could take them if he had to leave in a hurry. He and his friend took some of them to his car but he could only fit so many in. By this time it was obvious that the fire was heading their way and the air was getting very smokey but there were still no warnings. His friend decided they should go down to the oval which was the designated emergency area, but he still wanted to try and secure as many as his paintings as he could so he sent her on ahead, promising that he would only be 15 mins.

He stacked about 30 more paintings and decided that the safest place for them would be inside his kiln he uses for firing his terracotta statues so he put them in there and sealed the door and figured his 15 mins were up. He want back to the car and saw a neighbour walking down the hill towards the oval in her high heels. He asked where was her husband and the car? Her husband, she said, would not come and she could not drive. He was a hefty fellow, a champion wood chopper and had been through 2 fires before and was not worried. After the fire he was later found dead beside his car.

At this stage Bruno could barely see and had to don the gas mask he had for such an emergency. By this time embers were making holes in his T-shirt and his was thinking his friend would be getting worried about him. He went to get in a car and there beside him was a big black dog looking hopefully at him. No one else was around. He thought what the heck and invited the dog to jump in. Next thing he knew the dogs paws were making holes in the paintings in the back seat. Oh well, he thought, at least I will have saved the dog. As he drove to the oval the streets were deserted and everything was very eerie due to the smoke. When he got to the oval, expecting to see a crowd or at least his friend, no one was there. Just after she had arrived they had evacuated everyone to Alexandra and couldn’t wait even though she said he was coming soon.

He didn’t say much about waiting out the fire except that when the fire was on both sides of Marysville it was like all the oxygen was just being sucked out by the flames. Afterwards, he rang one of his daughters and tried to tell her how everything was gone she thought he was making one of his jokes because on the news they were still saying that Marysville was in no danger.

What happened to the dog? someone asked. At some point he went to look at the paintings the dog had trodden on so he called it out of his car and told it to stay, then propped the paintings up on the back seat. When he turned around again the dog was gone. Then a lady came up who had also gone to the oval came up and said, there is a big black dog in my car! Really? Bruno said. I think he should be OK! So the dog then went with that lady!

Next installment: The aftermath, and some pictures.

6 weeks later…

Residents were not allowed to return to their homes for 6 weeks until all bodies had been found. Bruno returned to find that the house that held his gallery and the garden had been completely burnt out. Anxious about the paintings he had left in the kiln, he was pleased to see it was still standing. Then before his eyes the remnants of the house collapsed on top of the kiln! After he removed the rubble he found that the door to the kiln had warped in the heat and he expected to find his paintings had burned. To his amazement they had survived due to him sandwiching them between sheets of glass. They had been affected by smoke but to his eyes that had improved them and thinks that perhaps one day it might add to their value (after he dies!) Some materials in the house that were for making kilns and are made to withstand extreme heat had been burned to ash. The temperatures were said to have reached 1600 degrees. Even after 6 weeks there were still stumps and roots smoldering in the ground. Although he had hoped that his terracotta statues would withstand the fire, many were broken due to large gum trees falling on them. The extensive garden was a mess of charcoal and ash with broken and burnt out trees and branches all over the place. He was going to have to start all over again.

Although the building that was his gallery was destroyed, the rental house he lived in across the road had been spared so he was among the first residents able to return and start rebuilding. His gallery was not insured because of the kiln built right next to it (insurance companies did not want to touch it.) However friends and supporters and even people he had never met rallied to help. A group of Russian ex-patriots offered to come and help. Some artists decided to put on a show to raise funds for him and about 120 artists donated works, many of whom he did not know. Over $40,000 was raised and this has enabled to him to start rebuilding his gallery and garden.

Some of the statues that had been broken he thought beyond saving. A friend visited soon after and was upset about his favourite statue that had been smashed. It was a group of six children and was in many pieces. In Brunos eyes it was not salvageable but he suggested to his friend that he could take it home if he wanted to try and piece it together. Three weeks later his friend returned to Bruno’s amazement with it almost complete. He and his wife and spent day and night putting together the jigsaw puzzle of pieces with the final assembly to be done in the garden. With a bit of touching up you would never know it had been damaged.

The success of the restoration of one of the most badly damaged statues encouraged Bruno to do the same with the others that were also damaged. Some of them have been returned to the garden but there are still many others waiting to be repaired. The garden itself was badly damaged. Once situated under a small forest of gum trees with an extensive canopy, 40 of those trees were completely destroyed and had to be removed while those left standing are little more than trunks with some epicormic growth on them. There was some regeneration of the smaller plants and tree ferns, but in some parts of the garden up to 85% had to be replanted. He had some fibreglass statues that were completely destroyed.

Bruno’s statues can be quirky, humourous, poignant, spiritual and more, the faces have so much expression in them they could be alive. The fellow in the 4th picture here was sitting in a wheelchair which was burnt away leaving just the twisted frame.

Fantasy is also a strong theme in his work but some are very realistic too, and some have a little twist to them. If you look closely at the little girl in P5 here you will notice that her garments incorporate sleeping bats! One fellow (no picture as I didn’t think I could do it justice) had 17 mice on him as part of his clothing or anatomy! The challenge was to find them all.

Bruno wasn’t restricted in his use of media. Although his principle material was terracotta, his would use it alongside the natural forms of dead and living trees and plants and recycled metal pieces. P1 is a fountain made from a pieced of dead wood and with live plants growing over it. Note the other statuettes in the pond. P3 is a crocodile with head, legs and lower body made of terracotta, but with a piece of knobbly log as the back. The last picture is the upside down trunk and roots of a dead tree with a figure incorporated into it.

My favourite. It is like the couple have embraced for so long that they have taken root and vines are growing over them.

The Lady of Shallot

a couple more…

There were many more that I didn’t take photos of. Where statues had had major damaged and been restored again he had photos up of the fire damage to that particular piece and there were others that still showed minor damage but he gradually touching them up and restoring them while at the same time rebuilding his gallery himself.

Postscript.

I mentioned what a lovely fellow Bruno is, and his manner suggests that he takes almost child-like pleasure in things, without being childish.

One of the ladies needed a cane to walk with as she has had a knee-cap removed and has difficulty walking and standing for any length of time. While Bruno was telling us his story she was standing with some other ladies leaning against a bit of post-rail fence. Near the end she started going pale and anxious and looked like she was going to collapse. Her legs were giving way and she was slipping down. Bruno jumped down and caught and held her until a chair was brought over for her. He announced with delight a few times that he had saved her. A big discussion ensued as to how we were going to get her back to the bus. Bruno announced that he had a solution and disappeared. When he returned he had a large wheelbarrow with a blanket draped over it. He and the bus driver lifted her into it and Bruno wheeled her off, only he took her the long way for her own private tour! She arrived at the bus looking much happier and relaxed and was able with the assistance of the driver get up the stairs and into her seat.

The whole the day was very interesting and informative, but I must say that Bruno and his garden was the highlight of the day. He also claimed that we were the best group he has ever had through (but I’m sure he says that to all the ladies!)

Bruno has a website Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden and he has a book for sale with his garden before the fire, with some of the aftermath as well.

The drive home was peacefully uneventful.

Thank you Bluegreen, that was a wonderful read :)

Happy Potter said:

Thank you Bluegreen, that was a wonderful read :)

thanks :)

thanks BG…

Has been a brilliant read Bluegreen, and have had a look at all the photos at full size. Thank you very very much for going to the trouble of writing it all up and posting all the photos, must have taken you ages.

Yeehah said:

Has been a brilliant read Bluegreen, and have had a look at all the photos at full size. Thank you very very much for going to the trouble of writing it all up and posting all the photos, must have taken you ages.

What she said…

Yeehah said:

Has been a brilliant read Bluegreen, and have had a look at all the photos at full size. Thank you very very much for going to the trouble of writing it all up and posting all the photos, must have taken you ages.

Ditto. :)

thanks everyone. I enjoyed the trip so much I just wanted to share :)

I’m thinking I would submit it to the Swanpool Snippets – the local booklet that goes out monthly. They are always asking for submissions.

bluegreen said:

thanks everyone. I enjoyed the trip so much I just wanted to share :)

I’m thinking I would submit it to the Swanpool Snippets – the local booklet that goes out monthly. They are always asking for submissions.

Absolutely, do it :)

Happy Potter said:

bluegreen said:

thanks everyone. I enjoyed the trip so much I just wanted to share :)

I’m thinking I would submit it to the Swanpool Snippets – the local booklet that goes out monthly. They are always asking for submissions.

Ooh, everyone is gonna get published, how exciting!!

Absolutely, do it :)

The drive home was peacefully uneventful.

—————————————————————————————
- ta BG – tis good when people give us armchair travel

- and you gotta luv bruno’s works.

bluegreen said:

thanks everyone. I enjoyed the trip so much I just wanted to share :)

I’m thinking I would submit it to the Swanpool Snippets – the local booklet that goes out monthly. They are always asking for submissions.

Make sure you get a byline. LOL

Happy Potter said:

Thank you Bluegreen, that was a wonderful read :)

I agree with HP. I enjoyed the whole thing and I wish I had a chance to see Bruno’s place for real.

Absolutely Brilliant BG, I shall look at his site and I too hope to visit him one day, I love stories like this one, he is an amazing man :) and hero LOL I would like a private viewing in a wheel barrow haha