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A long planned career break coincided with the most extraordinary events I can ever recall in my fifty seven years as a Sydney-sider.
The break took on a special dimension when, by good luck, I landed a job as a driver and guide taking small groups of overseas visitors to the Blue Mountains.
The role was at times challenging but also the perfect relief from nine-to-five office work.
The clients were nearly always happy and excited to be in Australia, their feedback was immediate. Better still, I was living the dream of an outside job in the fresh air.
I started in October 2019 as the business prepared for a very busy summer. The day trip to the Mountains was its most popular tour.
But by March 2020 nearly everything in my commentary was turned upside down.
“Dear guests, many parts of Sydney, including the lovely forested mountains and valleys we visit today are very vulnerable to wildfire.” I just loved explaining fire and its role in the bush.
“In the ten years since the concept of Catastrophic had been introduced as a danger rating, there has not been cause to use it”, I would declare.
And then the fires came - hideous, ferocious and yes, catastrophic.
Driving through Bell after the fires, I simply gave up talking to the guests and let them look in silent disbelief and the near totally scorched earth that remained.
The vehicle would slow, the cabin would grow quiet. Eva Cassidy’s Fields of Gold would lilt from the sound system in a mournful ode.
Not long into February, the pandemic was looming. The coach parking bays at Bondi Beach, usually busting with buses, were now mostly empty.
My career break is now over.
The break took on a special dimension when, by good luck, I landed a job as a driver and guide taking small groups of overseas visitors to the Blue Mountains.
The role was at times challenging but also the perfect relief from nine-to-five office work.
The clients were nearly always happy and excited to be in Australia, their feedback was immediate. Better still, I was living the dream of an outside job in the fresh air.
I started in October 2019 as the business prepared for a very busy summer. The day trip to the Mountains was its most popular tour.
But by March 2020 nearly everything in my commentary was turned upside down.
“Dear guests, many parts of Sydney, including the lovely forested mountains and valleys we visit today are very vulnerable to wildfire.” I just loved explaining fire and its role in the bush.
“In the ten years since the concept of Catastrophic had been introduced as a danger rating, there has not been cause to use it”, I would declare.
And then the fires came - hideous, ferocious and yes, catastrophic.
Driving through Bell after the fires, I simply gave up talking to the guests and let them look in silent disbelief and the near totally scorched earth that remained.
The vehicle would slow, the cabin would grow quiet. Eva Cassidy’s Fields of Gold would lilt from the sound system in a mournful ode.
Not long into February, the pandemic was looming. The coach parking bays at Bondi Beach, usually busting with buses, were now mostly empty.
My career break is now over.