I did mention it’s burning season in the Kimberley. And that means fires. Lots of fires. Fires where you’re driving.
It also means lots of ash and soot. In the air, on the ground. In your nose, on your skin, and underneath your nails. I don’t think my finger and toe nails will ever be clean again. I also don’t think I care. This countryside is worth it all.
But it also means there is a possibility you could come up against a bushfire while you’re driving. Which we did.
We could see the smoke in the distance as we were driving along.
There was a lot of discussion on the radios about exactly where the fire was, and whether the track was going to go into the fire, or whether we’d avoid it. Where we should drive to be safe.
Then suddenly – there it was. Right in front of us. And heading towards the track.
We pulled up. A couple of cars went ahead to check whether we’d be able to get past the fire before it got to the track.
The answer was no.
And the fire was heading towards us.
So what do you do? Fight fire with fire.
So, we ‘circled the wagons’ as they say. Brought all the cars together into an area that was fairly clear, and under the supervision and instruction of Ronnie, our Indigenous guide, we lit some fires of our own. So that they would burn back and create a break between the bigger fire and us.
It felt touch and go at times. The fire came very close, right to the edge of where we were parked up.
It was terrifying. And fascinating.
I started to understand arsonists.
Watching the fire grow bigger, then burn out, then catch again was mesmerizing.
And the birds swooping in to catch all the insects fleeing from the fire and smoke. Sometimes swooping right to the still smouldering ground where they would surely get burnt if they made a slight error of calculation.
But it worked. We were safe. And once the fire burnt out we could continue on our way. Though we had to be careful. You could feel the heat on the track as we were driving along it. We just had to cross our fingers and hope we would be across the hot area before anybody lost a tyre from the heat.
What an adventure!
