Down at West Street it's as if the fires had never happened, if you didn't count the scar up on the ridge beside The Rampart and the faint smell of smoke still not blown out to sea. The traffic was at normal Christmas holiday volume, even if every tenth car was a firetruck, people were shopping, teenagers were dinking each other along the footpath.
Back up at Railway Street it was a different matter. The fires at Woy Woy Bay and Correa Bay were still active. The firetrucks I'd seen at West Street were heading back to Woy Woy Bay. The fire there had flared up again. No flames were visible but the smoke had doubled.
(Big version) Woy Woy Bay from the carpark beside Deepwater Plaza at 1pm. It's smoking more than at 6.30 this morning. That's Woy Woy's bus and train station in the foreground, which are at the heart of Woy Woy.
(Big version)
Horsfield Bay from the Rawson Road jetty at 1pm. The light is pretty low today but you can still see some of the damage where the trees are brown. Gum leaves burn easily but the trees themselves don't so the fire seldom makes a hillside bare.
I went up onto the roof of the carpark and had a proper look at it. I could see the fire down at Correa Bay too. That's subsided a bit since this morning. I heard the choppers again from 8am but they've gone again now. I think that means it's under control now.
(Big version) Correa Bay from the Rawson Road jetty at 1pm.
(Big version) The ridge between Phegans and Horsfield Bays at 1pm. You can see some damage there at the top.
The fire came up over the ridges from the back. I haven't seen the back yet but the news reports suggest there's a lot of damage there.
I was emailing Peter last night and he took some photos from Palm Beach of the Pearl Beach and Patonga end of the fire after dark. He's putting them up soon over at his website or at Flickr.
(Media outlets email me for permission to use photos on this (2-1-06) blog post.)
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