To visit or not to visit...1yr on

[crazycanuck]

We're heading out to Vic later this month for the Otway Odyssey (:eek:) and have been thinking about doing a side trip to Kinglake/Marysville.

More info here on this weekend's 1yr anniversary:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/tough-memories-haunt-bravest/story-e6frf7kx-1225826915338

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/hope-flickers-in-wake-of-black-saturday/story-e6frfku0-1225826619162

My question is this : We'd like to visit the pub & support the local community. Some locals want people to visit, others aren't so sure. Is it too soon to visit a place that was badly devastated & traumatised a year ago?

Any thoughts?

[OakLeaf]

My thoughts are that it really depends on the local issues, which I'm not familiar with. I have to say, this is the line that stands out in the stories you linked to: "nine months after the fires, the figures show that of the 1085 permits approved at the time, only 300 were for houses."

Who's in charge of the rebuilding? Would it be primarily locals, or primarily a hotel chain, that would profit from your tourist dollars if you did visit? Is there a locally owned hotel where you could stay? (Those are difficult to find in the USA, since they don't have the nationwide reservation systems that the big chains have. And honestly, more often than not, in remote areas of the USA, locally owned hotels don't tend to be very nice places to stay.) Would you plan to volunteer while you were there?

In the USA, Hurricane Katrina was used as an "opportunity" for ethnic cleansing by large players in the tourism industry. I might still visit New Orleans as a volunteer (volunteers are still needed), but not as a voyeur.

We visited New York for other reasons in the summer of 2002 (after the demolition was complete). Obviously the economic issues were completely different in that case. I got it in my head I wanted to visit the WTC site to pay my respects. Instead, I just felt like a voyeur.

[crazycanuck]

Oakleaf, the Vic Bushfire Reconstruction & Recovery Authority I believe is overseeing the rebuilding of the area. http://www.wewillrebuild.vic.gov.au/

Local businesses would primarily benefit from our visit-We wouldn't be staying in the town because it's only 1hr from Melbourne so it would be a lunch at the pub type visit. It would also be interesting from a planning student perspective..

?

[tulip]

Why wouldn't you go? Support the local economy and you might learn something, too (not to mention enjoying a cold one on a hot day).

[Tuckervill]

Best Westerns are usually owned by individuals. I have stayed in some incredible BWs in some pretty remote locations. (I've stayed in some creepy ones, too--not dirty, just creepy--there's this one in Nevada...yikes.)

Even the hotels that are franchised are often owned by someone who lives in the town and makes their living off of working at the hotel every day. So yeah, don't write off a hotel with a big name as "corporate" just because it has a big name. There's probably a plaque by the front desk with a person's name on it.

Karen

[NbyNW]

I think you should go. I'm sure that those who have managed to re-open businesses will be glad to see you, and it will be an opportunity to learn about the progress of rebuilding.

[Lemongrass]

I still live in a suburb of Canberra which was devastated by the 2003 firestorm. We were there during the fire, and lived amongst the ruins for years while the suburb was being rebuilt. While I didn't lose my house, I know dozens of families who did. This gives me some insight in the situation in Victoria.

I know you'll approach the trip with respect and sensitivity - the fact you're asking for advice shows that!

My feeling is this - go, spend money at a local shop, but don't obviously take photos of houses (burnt, or being rebuilt). My friends who lost their homes are still upset by the tourists who took photos of them and their ruined homes.

Don't ask questions. If the locals want to talk, they will. But I think most of them won't.

This weekend is going to be very hard for the survivors, and their families. I remember the first anniversary of our fire - the knowledge that 366 days ago the world was as it always had been. And then everything changed in an afternoon.

(PS This took a lot of editing as bushfire recovery is a difficult and emotional topic I know far to much about!)

[PamNY]

I think Lemongrass gave a perfect reply. While I don't know that situation, I do live two blocks from the World Trade Center and I have strong, negative feelings about disaster tourism.

I was repulsed by people taking photographs while the 9/11 body recovery was still going on, and by people purchasing "Ground Zero" baseball caps. I would suggest avoiding any photography, and I concur that you should be careful about asking questions of locals (I also suspect you don't need this advice simply because you are wise and caring enough to raise the question).

If you do make this trip, I'd be really interested in hearing how it goes.

Pam

[crazycanuck]

We decided to visit KingLake, a town that bore the brunt of the Kilmore East fire. It would have been interesting to visit Marysville, the town that bore the brunt of the Murundindi Fire area but one place is enough.

A few observations & excuse the long thoughts...:
1-We didn't realize how close the area is to Melbourne- It's only a 35min drive from where we were staying with friends. In addition, Kinglake is on the outskirts of a smallish but well populated suburb & right near the Kinglake National Park.

2-On the drive there, it became obvious that anyone trying to escape the fire really only had one road. The main road we took(pic below) was in the main fire path, surrounded by trees and would have been blocked. It's narrow & windy with no room for errors :eek:. Some of the drops!

3-We didn't want to look like ghoul tourists so we observed specific things in the town on our way in & out.
The yellow ribbons on the very large burnt tree across from the shops-Only 4-5 shops which is normal for a small community in Australia
The village(reducing now as homes are rebuilt) on the oval
The rebuilding happening & the for sale signs on many pieces of land on our way out of Kinglake, Kinglake West & Strathewen.

The day prior to visiting, I read an article regarding from the Vic Bushfire Commission that the towns never should have been built in the first place 50yrs ago.It made me ask these q;s and more...
Should Australians live so close to bush near major cities?
The stay or defend policy-
Land clearing policies on private & crown land

Here are a few photos from the outskirts of Kinglake(first couple heading in & then out) just to give an idea of the area. I couldn't bring myself to take any photos in the town itself out of respect for the locals.

[bmccasland]

I take deep exception to Oakleaf's statement about New Orleans, and let's leave it at that.

CC - I don't know about KingLake, but our (N.O.) economy is somewhat centered on tourism, despite the fact that we have other industries. I never really realized this until post-Katrina. So if an economy is based on tourism, and you have a major disaster, it's even harder to rebuild. As sadistic as it sounds, some of the tour companies around her started doing "disaster tours" - taking people to some of the hardest hit areas. Partly because if you come to a convention, and stay in the French Quarter, you're in areas that weren't directly affected by the floodwaters, you'd never know anything happened. For some people, it doesn't seem real until they've seen it with their own eyes.

Five years later, we're still rebuilding. I drove I-10 east yesterday through the city to Mississippi, and drove past neighborhoods that still have houses, apartments, and commercial structures that are not secured or are in sore need of being demolished - despite of city ordinances. On average it takes 10 years to rebuild from a major disaster.

As trite as this may sound, after the Saints won the Superbowl, bookings for future conventions shot up. Their win validated that the fact that the city is alive. We had the biggest turn out for Mardi Gras ever this year. I met people from Michigan, New York, Texas and California on the parade routes - and none of them had ties to the city (former residents or had family in the area, they were 100% tourists). Thank you for spending your money here. :D

So, CC, I'm glad you went to KingLake and spent some money. Even buying lunch at a local restuarant helps a bit, as that's new money brought into the system. It also helps disuade some local fear of "what if the tourists don't come back?" It will be a long haul for the areas hit by the Kilmore East Fire to rebuild, with many challenges.

[kiwi girl]

The Great Vic Bike Ride is finishing in Marysville this year. I'm a bit uncomfortable about it too - seems just a bit voyeuristic