Australia Fires

[Jamietravelstheworld]

Will be on a cruise with multiple east coast stops in late January/early February. Wondering for those who are there/have been there recently, are the coastal areas being affected by the smoke? It's heartbreaking to see all the damage there. Any impact on shore plans?

 

Thanks,

Jamie

[OzKiwiJJ]

Which coastal areas? Australia is a very large country.

 

At present the coastal areas south of Sydney through to the eastern parts of Victoria have been devastated by recent fires. North of Sydney there are still fires burning inland from the coastal regions. Southern Queensland is probably similar but further north is currently OK. 

 

There is no way to predict what the situation will be in a months time. More fires could start, some might die down. 

[erewhon]

Smoke from the Australian fires, has reached southern New Zealand.

[MrsWaldo]

Moruya, Eden, Narooma  Bermagui are basically burned out

 

Cant help for destinations being smoke affected as we could be all cooked out by late Jan

[MMDown Under]

On 1/1/2020 at 9:31 AM, Jamietravelstheworld said:

Will be on a cruise with multiple east coast stops in late January/early February. Wondering for those who are there/have been there recently, are the coastal areas being affected by the smoke? It's heartbreaking to see all the damage there. Any impact on shore plans?

 

Thanks,

Jamie

The best thing to do is to google the places you will be visiting on your cruise and check the current bushfire situation.  Then follow up closer to your anticipated arrival date.  

[babs135]

Absolutely horrible pictures coming daily out of Australia and sadly the death toll is rising. How is this impacting on the cruise ships in the area? Is there a point when they should be rerouted away to stop distracting people from fighting the fires?

[VMax1700]

I really don't think people fighting the fires will be distracted by a cruise ship!

[CruiserBruce]

35 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

I really don't think people fighting the fires will be distracted by a cruise ship!

Agree.

 

OP, perhaps some research/reading on the two boards devoted to Australia, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/

 

and here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/

 

There is a lot of resources on Cruise Critic. 

[ilikeanswers]

The places badly affected aren't places that cruises dock and if fires affected any shorex they would just cancel those. However the air quality in Sydney and even Canberra has been pretty bad so if individual passengers have respiratory issues they may need figure out how to handle their personal situation. Again it will not stop cruises docking, air quality issues hasn't stopped cruises docking in China has it😉.

 

Regional tourism will be hit hard by the fires. It is our major holiday season so businesses should be raking in the money and instead all their infrastructure as been burnt down😢. Cruise ships will not make the situation any worst and the fire fighters would not be aware if a ship was docked. 

 

 

[Jamietravelstheworld]

Thanks all. The fires are just so devastating. The places I'm visiting are Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Darwin. I'm also doing an overland tour to the Outback - which would be incredibly hot anyways in February.

 

Jamie

[possum52]

Yes the fires are horrendous and hitting the south east coast of Australia particularly hard. There are many towns filled with thousands of holiday makers affected.  But the fires will have no affect on cruise ships visiting Australia. If a ship is scheduled to visit a region where there are fires, it would just go elsewhere. The only problems for cruise ship passengers is the air quality in some cities because of the smoke as mentioned above and if shore excursions have to be cancelled for example to the Blue Mountains out of Sydney due to fire activity. Australia is a big country and although it might appear that a great part of it is on fire, it’s not. If cruising between Melbourne and Sydney at the moment, there is probably smoke drifting out to sea. 
 

It is our fire season and this one started early and still has another few months to go. We are in drought conditions and need rain badly. Most of the fires at the moment are in state and national parks. 
 

Leigh
 

 

[MMDown Under]

10 hours ago, babs135 said:

Absolutely horrible pictures coming daily out of Australia and sadly the death toll is rising. How is this impacting on the cruise ships in the area? Is there a point when they should be rerouted away to stop distracting people from fighting the fires?

Agree cruise lines will reroute their itineraries, if there is any threat to their passengers from bush fires.  Unfortunately, a secondary problem is the smoke from the bushfires.

I was recently in Lord Howe Island (2 hours from Brisbane and Sydney) where the smoke haze caused two flights to return to Sydney, without landing.  

[MMDown Under]

8 hours ago, Jamietravelstheworld said:

Thanks all. The fires are just so devastating. The places I'm visiting are Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Darwin. I'm also doing an overland tour to the Outback - which would be incredibly hot anyways in February.

 

Jamie

Fortunately you will be well away from the bad bushfires, and smoke, except for Sydney.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cairns and Darwin will probably be OK. There haven't been many fires around those cities.

 

Brisbane is good at present but things could change.

 

Sydney has had days of bad smoke pollution so if you're sensitive to this I suggest packing a P2.5 anti-pollution mask. Amazon have a goid selection. City tours should be OK but the Blue Mountains may not be possible if the fires in that region flare up again.

Edited January 3, 2020 by OzKiwiJJ

[babs135]

19 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Agree.

 

OP, perhaps some research/reading on the two boards devoted to Australia, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/

 

and here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/

 

There is a lot of resources on Cruise Critic. 

Thank you.  I originally posted in the ask a question forum before admin moved it here.  Didn't think of coming here first!!!

[Jamietravelstheworld]

I just read this article about the fires: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/australian-bushfires-everything-we-know-and-how-you-can-help/?fbclid=IwAR0HGkuQBWFO4FEIqKAjgb8ICD_6oqnvD8-kY5vAU0WvXMgDShR2gkewJXM.

 

As tourists, we are guests in Australia. Please be respectful of any changes to our cruise/excursions that might be impacted by the fires. An amazing country is struggling right now and we should do whatever we can to help them.

 

Jamie

[QueSeraSera]

There are ways to send financial help easily found on the web, but not sure which are the best.  If Australians know of a good way, please let us know over here.  The news we see here in the US is very concerning.

[OzKiwiJJ]

This article has contains details of reputable organizations for donations, with active links. https://www.theage.com.au/national/here-s-how-you-can-help-australia-s-bushfire-victims-20200104-p53ot2.html

 

Thank you so much for your support.

[QueSeraSera]

19 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Thank you so much for your support.

Done, and you are welcome, but felt we had to do something.  You can be proud of how generous Australians are being to one another if I read the data right from here.  Our contribution a drop in that very large and respectable bucket.

To others located in USA, if you select Australian Red Cross as we did, the donation amount field is in Australian $, I missed that so gave a little less tonight than planned.  Also, American Express is accepted.

 

[TLCOhio]

Sadly, discovered this weekend that these fires have seriously affected Kangaroo Island, just south of Adelaide, on the southern coast.  It appears to be very, very tragic in all of these areas.  From news reports, it appears that a third of this super scenic island/ location has been destroyed or damaged by fire.  Huge wildlife losses, etc. We super loved Kangaroo Island and its people, animals, sights, nature, etc., from our 2014 visit to Australia.     

 

From the Australian Broadcasting Company, they had this headline story: “Kangaroo Island fires continue as locals count cost of damage to infrastructure, animals” with these key highlights: “About 170,000, or a third of Kangaroo Island, has been burnt in bushfires.  SA Water estimates it could take two weeks to restore a water treatment plant after it was damaged. There are concerns for endangered wildlife recovery, especially for the endangered glossy black cockatoo.   The fires started on Kangaroo Island on December 20 but they spread rapidly on Friday when the temperature in Parndana topped 39 degrees Celsius and winds reached up to 80 kilometres per hour. ll buildings within the Flinders Chase National Park appeared to have been destroyed, apart from the Cape du Couedic and Cape Borda lighthouses on the far west coast.”

 

From the London/UK Daily Mail, they indicated that the famed and pricy Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island has totally been destroyed by this fire. Their story summarized: "The Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island off the coast of Australia was razed by the ferocious fires on Friday afternoon.  The 21-suite accommodation was evacuated on Friday and staff were relocated to Adelaide and the small Kangaroo Island township of Kingscote amid threats of the oncoming bushfire.  The luxury retreat suffered structural damage and has been closed with no reopening date decided."

 

Full stories at:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/firefighting-continues-on-kangaroo-island-on-sunday/11841610

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7850737/Southern-Ocean-Lodge-Kangaroo-Island-wiped-Raven-bushfire-killed-two-people.html

 

THANKS!  Terry in Ohio

 

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 227,777 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[Maui Girl]

On 1/4/2020 at 9:58 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

This article has contains details of reputable organizations for donations, with active links. https://www.theage.com.au/national/here-s-how-you-can-help-australia-s-bushfire-victims-20200104-p53ot2.html

 

Thank you so much for your support.

Thanks for the link OzKiwiJJ.   There are so many online scams, I wasn’t sure where to look.  I was happy to see that Australia has Salvation Army, one of my favorites.  
We’ll be in Sydney in about 7 weeks, praying for rain and all the people impacted by this tragedy 😥

[OzKiwiJJ]

Another group that needs funds, for rescuing and caring for wildlife affected by the fires, is Wires. https://www.wires.org.au/donate/ways-to-help

[MMDown Under]

On 1/5/2020 at 10:52 AM, QueSeraSera said:

There are ways to send financial help easily found on the web, but not sure which are the best.  If Australians know of a good way, please let us know over here.  The news we see here in the US is very concerning.

Blaze Aid is a volunteer based organisation that works with families and individuals in rural Australia, after fires and floods.

www.blazeaid.com.au

It co-ordinates volunteers to help repair fences and lives after disasters.  In the past grey nomads have given up their travels to help rural people rebuild their fences, etc.   

 

[QueSeraSera]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

www.blazeaid.com.au

Thanks MM.  Compelling website.  The PayPal option was easiest to use from here in US.

Sounds like an excellent activity for grey nomads.  Maybe I should look around here for a similar opportunity, keeping in mind my wife and I would really like to visit Australia and New Zealand before giving up our travels.

I remained stunned by the extent of the fire's destruction, and keep hoping the situation will improve.

[MMDown Under]

9 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Thanks MM.  Compelling website.  The PayPal option was easiest to use from here in US.

Sounds like an excellent activity for grey nomads.  Maybe I should look around here for a similar opportunity, keeping in mind my wife and I would really like to visit Australia and New Zealand before giving up our travels.

I remained stunned by the extent of the fire's destruction, and keep hoping the situation will improve.

Thank you.

Blazeaid is an impressive organisation.  People who volunteer with them speak highly of the experience.  I first heard of them when they spoke at the CWA, which supports rural people in need.

I think Australians are also stunned by the extent of the bush fire destruction.  I suspect it will be a long summer of bush fires, unless torrential rain arrives. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by MMDown Under