2 of 3

Write now Article Tools

My sister Michelle was getting married to a gorgeous man Joshua on the 7th February 2009. A day we will never forget. Even though Joshua was born and bred on the Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, they chose to get married in the Yarra Valley at a delightful vineyard called Immerse. The weather reports leading up to the day said that it was going to be 33 degrees, then 38 degrees and by the Friday, the weather reports were predicting that the Saturday the 7th would be 43 degrees Celsius and a day that could rival Ash Wednesday, a day in 1983 that killed 75 people, burnt 207,000 hectares and over 3000 buildings were destroyed. We were in for a day like Ash Wednesday of extreme heat and fire danger. We left our home at 1pm to get to the wedding venue, approximately 70 kilometres away from home. We had booked a room to stay the night at the winery and planned to get ready once we got there, as the heat of the day was already quite intense. As we were driving along the Maroondah Highway, a friend called to see if the wedding was still going ahead. He was in a small town only 20 kilometres from the wedding venue and could see smoke in that direction. I said that we were south of the smoke and could see the smoke more to the north, not out to the north east where we were heading. As I had internet access on my mobile phone, I looked up the fire authorities' website to see what was happening. There was a fire in Kilmore East and a fire in Gippsland, around Bunyip, but that was all. The wedding venue was safe.

As we were driving, we went through some usually pretty wine country, but it was incredibly dry - we thought that it could all go up pretty quickly. As we arrived at Immerse, I jumped out of the car to get the key for our room from the reception. The heat and wind were overwhelming, like the heat you get when you open an oven door after it's been on for a while. When I was at the reception desk, I handed over my credit card details to pay for the room. The receptionist declined taking my card details, as I was to pay for everything upon leaving. We headed to our room, the wind was hurting my boys' eyes and we quickly found salvation in Room No 9. We got our boys sorted and I poked my head into Room No 10 where my sister Michelle was getting ready. My Mum, Dad, Aunty Janet, the two bridesmaids, Cookie and Carmen, were all in there as the girls were getting their hair and make up done. The wedding excitement was in the air.
By around 3.30pm we could see the changing

• 1
• 2
• 3
• ...
• 8
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Memoirs: Wild fires in Australia 2009?
We want to hear your view. Write now!