Diana Australis' most appreciated articles

The fires in Australia are still catastrophic. Some have been burning since September. So far the estimate is that ONE BILLION animals have been killed, 24 people have died, and 2000 houses, plus farms, farm buildings, vehicles have been destroyed. And an area the size of the country of Ireland has been totally ravaged. The fire fronts and locations are many, but what is unique is the size and intense ferocity of these blazes, unlike any before. And it is heartbreaking to see the animals which a…

Dear friends, a number of you have asked about the disasters in Australia just now. Thanks Udo, Jose and others. Presently the Tropical North East of Australia has unprecedented floods, with the area around Townsville having more than its whole annual rainfall in a week. Housesare inundated,water is waist deep. Meanwhile, in the south 3000 kilometres away, the UNESCO listed biospheres of Gondwanan forests are threatened by dozens of fires caused by lightning strikes, many of which have been…

Yesterday an apocalyptic bushfire was very close to us. My husband was out with several hundred other volunteer firefighters in temperatures of 44C, and I was preparing to evacuate our home. It was a terrifying day. Many people did lose everything. Australia is currently on fire, and has unprecedented heat. We just had 4 days above 44C here in South Australia. Our Australian government denies climate change and has no plans to deal with this warming climate and fire risk, relying on thousands…

Hello/bonjour/holá/Olá I am in South America and do not have much opportunity to visit your wonderful photos. Please excuse my absence. I will visit when I get home. Best wishes to all Diana

Thank you to friends who have asked about my situation with respect to the terrible fires which my country is presently experiencing. In Australia, fires...or as we say "bushfires" are a part of life in our warmer seasons. Australia is the driest continent on earth....a giant desert with a ribbon of fertile land along the coastal strip. Our native plants are tough and hardy. Fire is needed to break their seeds to enable propagation, and historically fire has been part of the landscape...initia…

I have just returned from a trip on a converted icebreaker along the Kamchatka Peninsula from Chuchotka - Anadyr in the North, up to the Arctic circle and the remains of the gulags, down to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskaya in the South. There were stops at the Commander Islands also. This was no luxury cruise...all landings were by zodiac in cold water on empty beaches, so the dress was layers of wind and waterproof clothing and huge wellington boots. I hiked long distances across tundra, up and down…

Hello, friends. I am in far North East India and do not have much internet. Please excuse me if I do not visit your pages! I am exploring in remote areas. i wish you all a wonderful New Year, with peace, love, good health and happiness. I will post as I

hello everyone....I am currently in Ireland, and will go in two weeks to the UK. I was born there...many, many years ago. I have never been back, although I have travelled to some of the remotest places on the planet! So this is a seeking of origin mission...it seems bizarre I suppose, but I have always wanted to explore exotic places and cultures, and I have always felt very Australian as I arrived there at the age of 6 years. Thus England has been out of my focus completely. if I visit le…

The North of Sri Lanka was an amazing set of experiences. First of all, you are no longer in a Buddhist/Singhala landscape....it becomes very much a Christian/Hindu/Muslim world, and feels like a different country. Second....it is so militarised...with bunkers and gun emplacements every few hundred metres, and soldiers, heavily armed everywhere. However the mood feels calm, and huge amounts of reconstruction;;;roads, schools, hospitals, colleges, housing, farming infrastructure is occurring.…

Hi everyone sorry...I am not visiting your pages much. I have a friend from Brazila staying and we are travelling, camping and sightseeing so I do not have time to access Ipernity very much ! I will be back to normal in around 3 weeks! best wishes to you... Diana

excuse me if I am a little absent lately. i am in Ireland and the U.K.... i will visit and comment as I am able.. amities/ hugs Diana