Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's safe to say living on Kangaroo Island is a bit different. But for this reporter, there were a couple of strange coincidences over the past week that warrant recounting.
I was driving into the township of American River last Friday on way to Christmas carols in the next town when my mind wandered to a large fire that occurred a couple of years ago.
After last summer's devastation that wiped out half of the Island, I was thinking how vulnerable the American River community is, like so many on KI, wedged between tinder dry bushland and the ocean.
Then lo and behold. A large column of black smoke appeared around the corner and I had to pinch myself.
Recovering from that initial shock, and on my way to the conflagration, yes the fire was real, I had to pull over to let the American River fire brigade truck go past on the narrow dirt road, between grass and crop-laden paddocks.
I found a good safe spot on the ridge across the scrub fire and began live streaming to The Islander Facebook page, filming as all the other appliances, farm fire units and heavy equipment started showing up.
The good news is the battle was won and the fire was contained over the next couple days.
Although more work is needed with an unusual out-of-season hazard reduction burn planned in the near future to safeguard American River.
The second coincidence relates to a shark attack that occurred later that weekend, resulting in a feeding frenzy of Adelaide media trying to get footage out of me.
Again, fortunately the 29-year-old local tradie was okay and his handwritten letter issued to other circling media shark pack was a great gesture to say thanks.
The coincidence part is that the last shark attack on the Island occurred 15 years ago just before my previous one-month stint on the island as a relieving editor.
The survivor of that 2005 attack still lives on the island and also happens to be a tradie in the building industry.
They breed them tough, and apparently shark-proof on Kangaroo Island.
And the same can be said for some of the native wildlife, too.
Local conservationists have found the first little pygmy-possum after last summer's fire that burned 88 per cent of the species' habitat on the western half of the Island.
Confusingly, the extremely rare little pygmy-possum lives on only the western end of the island, while the western pygmy-possum is much more common and lives all over.
Also, on a personal note regarding my nomination for a Walkley Award for my reporting on last summer's fires on KI, I lost to the ABC for its nationwide bushfire coverage. While one can't help feel a little disappointed, I still have the nomination, which is a huge achievement. And besides there might still be a state award coming my way plus more major events to cover ...
In case you are interested in filtering all the latest down to just one late afternoon read, why not sign up for The Informer newsletter?
More stuff happening around Australia ...
More stuff happening around Australia ...
- UQ coronavirus vaccine trials scrapped
- 'You'll never regret asking someone if they are okay'
- Queensland opens its border to New Zealand
- Victoria one step closer to gay conversion ban
- V/Line train hit 16-tonne coil at 110km/h
- Safety at risk because of police COVID deployment: union
- When do we get back to a normal life after coronavirus?
- How a famous Santa Pub Crawl will work this year