On 7 March (in USA), Sue writes: Well, the dreadful bushfires of February are now more or less contained across Victoria, and while it's too soon to breathe the final sigh of relief, I think perhaps we are getting there. The unbelievably wonderful support, both in Aire- and Cairn-dollars and equally in emotional & spiritual measure from all of you on the Airedale & Cairn lists has given us more strength than any other single thing, believe me. We can never thank you enough. How I wish I could write to you individually so you know how personal our thanks are. I just hope you will know that from everything I've said. An inch of rain last Wednesday night was music to our ears - there's no sound more welcome at the moment than rain drumming down on the corrugated iron roofs of Victoria. It even made puddles - and the ducks are in heaven. There's a long long road ahead for so many whose lives have been so appallingly destroyed. Even for Bill & me & the As, who came off relatively lightly, the extraordinary sense of dislocation on a day to day basis is unnerving. As an example, Bill drove down to Yarra Glen last week to buy some gutter plugs, which we have to instal prior to scrubbing the roof of toxic ash & debris, to prevent contaminated water from entering our tanks. He went into the local hardware store, chatted with a few people, came out, got in the car, drove nearly home and then thought . . . what on earth did I go to Yarra Glen for? He remembered, turned around, and drove back. This time he came home with the plugs. Last week was also the first time we've actually done any 'work' . . . as in our business. We only managed about two days' worth, just don't ask me which two days. The stories of tragedy that are now the focus of our conversations are simply beyond anything you might imagine. Today I learned of even more horrors, literally just up the road from Wombat Bend. An entire family consumed by the fires on the first night of terror, trapped in their car with no way of escape, and nobody to help them get out. It's the stuff of nightmares.
The wildlife that has survived to this point is emerging gradually from the ruined & blackened forests, and there are one or two 'happy stories' amid the tragedies of terrible injury & death. One of our neighbours (two paddocks downstream) has around 30 Grey Kangaroos feeding each evening on what passes for grass, and they can get water in his large dam.
The wallabies . . . (. . . OOPS - WRONG WALLABIES!)
	The four wallabies we are feeding up in our forest are doing okay and the feed we leave is steadily being consumed by them and by other creatures of the forest.
	I rescued a beautiful Brown Hawk with a badly smashed wing last night and took him over to one of our wildlife shelters where they are trained to deal with such injuries. If only I'd had my camera (but I'll be going back) - I was greeted by a young assistant nursing the sweetest baby wombat girl busily guzzling her bottle of milk (reminding me of Little Forrest); and numerous crates & enclosures around the house held joeys, baby ringtail possums, and assorted birds, while inside the house the various bedrooms have been turned into hospital wards.
We transferred the Hawk into a crate and placed him in a room in which stood two 'porta-cots', each containing a small orphaned female joey. One was sitting up watching us intently - she has some nerve damage which is affecting her feet & balance, but there is hope that she will recover enough to live in a sheltered situation.
The other little baby was on her side, comfortably snuggled in a nest of blankets; each limb was encased in bright pink vetwrap to keep her burns from becoming septic. She nuzzled my fingers as I gently stroked her under the chin and around her ears. So frail, so tiny - and so determined to live.
In another crate, swaddled in soft baby blankets, a minute hairless joey no longer than my hand was doing well with the devoted care of the vet nurse who runs this shelter. Like Porscha, she exists on almost nothing financially, so a good chunk of the Aire-& Cairn-dollars will be shared with her, you can be assured of that. As for Wombat Bend, Bill has now constructed some temporary fencing; so guess who's coming home tomorrow???? Ascha, Aerem, Chester & Emma, that's who! They may not know it yet, but we do - and we're very excited!!! And in what seems the most extraordinary of events on top of the last four weeks, last night an earthquake hit us; 4.6 on the Richter scale. I'm not kidding. So if any of you has an idea of what's next, could you please drop us a line? Sue & Bill & the soon-to-be-home Aussie As @ WB

CONTINUE WITH WOMBAT BEND TODAY HERE