Yesterday at Underhill was very sad and uncomfortable

Geoff and family and I risked a trip to Underhill yesterday on a very hot and smokey day.

We arrived to a crispy landscape devastated by severe drought and annihilated by deer who have decided to browse on anything they can get at.

There was a male and a female trapped in the small blackberry yard and they were actually able to jump the 6 ft fence to get out when we arrived.

Click on the three images above and you'll see them bigger then can zoom in past the caravan.

At least they have done the weeding in the blackberry yard but they have also eaten all Geoff's pots that he had in there for protection. There were very few plums left so we've left them for the birds.

Geoff and I spent some time organising the pots back onto their trays and filling the watering system from the tank near the toilet.

We also fixed what we could of the fence around it.

The dams are VERY low and many fruit trees are dead, especially the new ones Geoff has planted recently.

The water was so low Geoff was able to move the poly boxes out further in the dam. They are working well and have live water plants in them.

Top Dam

Middle Dam 

Bottom Dam

Far Dam

Far Dam - when will this one fall?

But some trees are still alive. The peach that broke off last year now has new shoots and the oaks and macadamia we planted near the dam are still OK.

After just a short stay we headed in to the Bungonia RFS shed for a community meeting about the fire threats nearby. We were surprised to find nearly 200 people there. Who would have thought so many people live around Bungonia.

Geoff texted Nathan to see if he could come down to collect the Mill and bring it back for safety. We learned from Steve (from Geoff's work) that Elders do insure weekenders and farm sheds.

We drove back though the smoke to arrive home to the news of a fire that had started just the other side of Oallen Ford Rd just near our turn off.

Nathan went down today in the very early hours while it was cooler and the Mill has been rescued.

We've decided not to stay over again until the threat of fires and this appalling heat has abated. Even day trips are rather debilitating.

It is all very sad.