Marysville after the fires

January 2010   Words and Images: MiSociety
While we’ve all been celebrating Christmas and New Year many are still struggling towards a day they are able to ’celebrate’ again – MiSociety

Marysville – Rising from the Ashes
While in Victoria we travelled to Marysville with friends who had stayed at the Cumberland Villas Hotel in the middle of town just a couple of months before the devastating fires that destroyed the close knit community. 

We’ve all seen the television coverage of the destruction of Marysville but it’s not until you stand in the middle of what was one of Victoria’s most picturesque towns and look around at the surrounding hills from which the monster fire encircled, engulfed and then devoured the area, that the full impact is driven home.

The Cumberland Villas will not be re-build (the owner lost her father in the fire) but the famous ‘Lolly Shop’ is operational again out of a fitted out shipping container with the owner determined to carry on while she is obviously still carrying the emotional scars from the fire holocaust that took many close to her.

Marysville is not ‘gone’ – new growth abounds and not only in the bazaar recouperational forms that gum trees adopt after the flames have passed.  A new row of shops have already been built and are operational, the ski hire is back, new homes are springing up everywhere amongst the  natural regeneration.  Picnic tables  by the pretty babbling stream have been constructedwith an adjacent new children’s play area bringing the sounds of a new generation.  No, Marysville is certainly not ‘gone’ - not while there are those with the fortitude,  determination and bravery to create the re-birth of their home.

Click on an image for the bigger picture – all images are ©copyright 2010 & may not be reproduced without permission

Share

Comments are closed.

Switch to our mobile site