{"id":5827,"date":"2023-11-30T16:56:28","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T16:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thestar.test\/2023\/11\/30\/familys-escape-from-paradise-2\/"},"modified":"2023-12-02T18:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T18:35:05","slug":"familys-escape-from-paradise-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/blog\/familys-escape-from-paradise-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Family\u2019s escape from paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\t\t\t\tTuesday, January 14th, 2020<\/span> | Posted by brad<\/a><\/span> \t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/p>\n

Family\u2019s escape from paradise<\/h1>\n
\"\"
Adam Maher surveys homes lost in the Mallacoota bushfire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHOPEFULLY the next holiday will be at some boring hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the wish of Inverloch teenager Connor Maher after his family\u2019s adventure of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

The Mahers were at the East Gippsland holiday town of Mallacoota when bushfire tore through the community on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

They then joined approximately 1000 others in the first of two evacuations by the Royal Australian Navy, in the biggest relocation of people in Australian history.<\/p>\n

Connor, with his father Adam, mother Mich\u0450le, sister Rosita, 10, and dog Juno, spent 30 hours on board the navy vessel HMAS Choules in Bass Strait until they landed at Hastings in Westernport Bay.<\/p>\n

What was intended to be a relaxing family holiday in a caravan by the beach turned into a harrowing fight for survival amidst a bushfire \u2013 one of many to grip Australia this summer so far.<\/p>\n

For 13-year-old Connor, the experience had all the makings of a teenager\u2019s wildest adventure.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur New Year\u2019s Eve celebration was chasing a police helicopter and seeing it land,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Maher family travelled to Mallacoota on Friday, December 27, anticipating a relaxing week at the foreshore camping ground with friends Kristine Daniels and Brian Borowsky of South Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Initially setting up at a campsite near the bush, the Mahers shifted away from the trees after the first fire warnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told about the fire on the Monday afternoon after we got back from the beach,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat day we could see a plume of smoke. It was really high. It was pretty big and it started glowing,\u201d Mich\u0450le said.<\/p>\n

Authorities called people to the town\u2019s wharf. They said the fire was approaching but everyone was still safe. Campers were directed to return when they heard emergency services\u2019 sirens \u2013 the signal for when the fire was closer.<\/p>\n

The blaze was anticipated to hit Mallacoota between 1am and 4am on Tuesday (New Year\u2019s Eve), but at 7.30am, the sirens summoned campers.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the Mahers had enjoyed a restful sleep in their caravan, although Connor slept in his tent and was splashed by people hosing their caravans and tents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was ash falling and it was dark and it was 7.30 in the morning,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

The Mahers sought refuge in the town\u2019s cinema with many others, uncertain if their car, caravan and tent would survive the flames.<\/p>\n

Inside the cinema, the only light came from lamps powered by generators.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was more excited than scared. It felt like the fire was coming slowly and if there was trouble, then we would go into the water if we needed to. People had gone out in their boats for the night,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

For five hours the Mahers huddled in the cinema. The screening of movies distracted the anxious crowd, which included many children, and the family kept in touch with relatives by mobile phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see ash falling through the lights of the movie being beamed from the projector and I was thinking, \u2018Gosh, how close is this fire?\u2019\u201d Mich\u0450le said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople weren\u2019t panicking, which was great. The kids managed it amazingly. I\u2019m really proud of them. They were not freaking out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best time for me was when they said the fire front had passed. It was a huge relief.\u201d
Beyond the cinema, ash covered the forest floor, bushland had been denuded with only blackened trees remaining, and smoke hung in the air.<\/p>\n

The bushfire had razed the town to the south, west and north, and around Bastion Point and Betka Beach Road. Flames had raced towards Gypsy Point, before surrounding the Top Lake and continuing into New South Wales.<\/p>\n

Upwards of 60 houses were burnt, but luckily no lives were lost in the town.<\/p>\n

The community, including the Maher family, gathered for a belated New Year\u2019s Eve party at the Mallacoota pub.<\/p>\n

Their holiday excitement was not to end after the fire had passed.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, New Year\u2019s Day, the Mahers learnt anyone who wanted to leave would be evacuated by the Royal Australian Navy, with the road out of Mallacoota and the Princes Highway potentially closed for weeks due to the risk of trees falling.<\/p>\n

The Mahers registered to leave on the HMAS Choules that sailed from Sydney. On Friday, January 3, their time to leave Mallacoota had come.<\/p>\n

Evacuees were bussed to the boat ramp at Bastion Point where they boarded boats dispatched from the HMAS Choules and were blessed with calm seas for the 10 minute voyage to the ship offshore.<\/p>\n

The boat motored to a ramp inside the hull, arriving at 11.37am. The ship did not set sail until 6.45pm, with approximately 1000 evacuees on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were quite lucky because we got the junior sailors recreation room and slept on couches and had a movie screen,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

The evacuees were free to wander the ship, often confused by the multitude of levels and staircases, and passed the time by watching movies and sleeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little bit sick but I spent a lot of time on deck, and it was cold and I just huddled up behind a shipping container and listened to music,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was comfortable and kind of fun. I learnt a lot about the navy and bushfires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queues for meals extended through the halls, as evacuees were fed naval fare such as fish\u2019n\u2019chips, tortellini, party pies and chicken schnitzel. Rosita was impressed by the offering of soft serve ice-cream.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a good story to tell my friends,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Juno and other dogs remained on the vehicle deck, to the delight of sailors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was on the ship, it was like \u2018Look where I am, there\u2019s a helicopter\u201d,\u201d Mich\u0450le said.<\/p>\n

Initially the ship was to dock at Port Welshpool but continued on to Hastings, where evacuees were taken to Somerville Recreation Reserve.<\/p>\n

There, the Mahers were met by Adam\u2019s brother Simon. He brought them home to Inverloch, where they arrived at 7.30pm Saturday, two days after they had planned to return.<\/p>\n

The Mahers are yet to learn when they can travel to Mallacoota to collect their car and caravan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most thankful to the navy and the CFA. I feel very sorry for the people who lost their homes,\u201d Mich\u0450le said.<\/p>\n

Adam is a land surveyor at Beveridge Williams in Leongatha and Wonthaggi, while Connor will be in Year 8 at Mary MacKillop College in Leongatha this year and Rosita in Grade 5 at Inverloch Primary School.<\/p>\n

\"\"
ON THE WAY: The Maher family aboard the naval vessel HMAS Choules en route to Westernport Bay from Mallacoota, (L-R) Connor, Mich\u0450le, Rosita and Adam. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Short URL<\/strong>: \/?p=30659<\/small><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPosted by brad<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton Jan 14 2020. Filed under Featured<\/a>, News<\/a>. \t\t\t\t\tYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0<\/a>. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYou can leave a response or trackback to this entry\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, January 14th, 2020 | Posted by brad Family\u2019s escape from paradise Adam Maher surveys homes lost in the Mallacoota bushfire. \u201cHOPEFULLY the next holiday will be at some boring hotel.\u201d That\u2019s the wish of Inverloch teenager Connor Maher after his family\u2019s adventure of a lifetime. The Mahers were at the East Gippsland holiday town […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15849,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions\/15849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestar.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}