AlinaHagen ๐๐จ๐ธ#ForestFriday #Scape
Rainforest in the Otways along the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
#EastCoastKin #Rainforest #Otways #Australia #ThickTrunkTuesday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekFforFramed #LookUp
John 
kaffandoMelbourne shrouded in thick smoke this morning - been like this all night - from fires in the #Otways about 3hrs drive from the city.
The "news"?
The main Australian news source, particularly for emergencies is @ABC news - they last updated their website about the fires 14hours ago.
There's more on the "news" about the #AO tennis than there is about the #ClimateCatastrophe
This is the area impacted by smoke.
Smoke from the fires in the Otways blowing into Melbourne.
Close windows and doors, turn on air filter if you have one.
Yvonne PerkinsWe holidayed in this area of the Otways a couple of years ago. It was autumn and the morning mist made beautiful scenes. If you click on my banner photo in my profile you can see a photo I took then. You can see some other photos I took by looking up the #Otways hashtag.
I find myself dreaming of living there. But I have got to stop moving so much. But it would be so nice!
I believe in eking out driving holidays until the last possible moment. I decided to leave the Great Ocean Road at Lavers Hill and head through Beech Forest and Forrest in the Otway Ranges. Mum's father was born in Timboon which is in the Otways, but Timboon is nothing like what her father and grandparents would have experienced there in the early twentieth century. The bush on the road today is more like what they would have experienced.
The road I chose was a minor road. It was sealed, but narrow and windy. At times the speed limit was a meagre 20 kilometres per hour! But we didn't mind. We passed very few cars and when there was space to get off the road we stopped to admire the scenery. I love this part of the world.
The Victorian News
When my great-grandfather was living in Timboon prior to WWI, Timboon was a timber felling town in the beautiful Otway Ranges of south-western Victoria. A quick look at historic newspapers on Trove last night showed that he really enjoyed playing sport. I found articles and score cards showing that he played competitive tennis, cricket, wood chopping and rifle shooting. I have not looked up football bit I would not be surprised if he played that as well.
He would not recognise the town now. With the forests cleared and converted to farmland, the town is now renowned as a tourist town for foodies. We drove slowly through the town but aside from the railway area and a few old buildings, could find little to indicate the story of its past.
We enjoyed our time in the town and made sure to have some Timboon Fine Ice-cream - nom nom nom!
Today we left Camperdown, did a quick drive past the house and farm where my mother's grandparents used to live in Chocolyn, then headed for Timboon where her father was born. His father was killed in WWI. His mother moved her young family to Camperdown, travelling there by train.
The train from Timboon to Camperdown no longer exists, but they have converted the place where the train line ran to a cycling path. This is an old train shed at the start of the path in Timboon.
Adrian Tritschler