Marysville

The main street of Marysville. Remember all those beautiful overhanging trees that used to run all the way down the street? Forty people died in the fires that ripped through the town back in February.
There is something so sad and so hopeful about this pic. No more the gorgeous little weatherboard shop that was a must-visit on the handful of occasions I found myself in Marysville. The lollies sampled (Spuds, sweet coconut balls) tasted scrumptous. Of the few shops that have survived, over the other side of the road and a few doors up are the bakery and a cafe. They were doing a roaring trade on the weekend.

The hills surrounding Marysville look really strange. The trees are still there but they look naked, and the tops of them stand up like needles against the sky. But still, everywhere you look, green fuzzy growth fronding their way out of blackened trunks. The effect when we first drove out of Healesville was ... well, it was stunning, to be honest, with stand upon stand of black trunks all together. Such a dramatic sort of a look, a stark beauty. The rains have brought green grass growth everywhere and the eye is drawn to it hungrily.

There were several of these gates without blocks. This is pretty much all that is left of what was once a swank conference centre (except for the empty swimming pool).

Bruno's