Foggybear

I'm still enjoying this story. Reliving the fires through the story isn't all that much fun! I am amazed at how brilliantly you've captured everything - even to the extent of the equipment the firieys use!! Brilliant! Seeing my hometown mentioned really brought this home to me! Bft's comment reminds me that my nephew's former partner has been evacuated complete with two kids 5 times in Winmallee (a town in the mid mountains seriously impacted by fires over the past few years - even our local Federal Member had her home destroyed!)

I am really enjoying this story. It is very obvious that you have spent time here as you writing shows that you are very familiar with Sydney and its surrounds. Thank you. I hope that you had time to visit the Blue Mountains - my lifetime home. It is interesting that someone raised the issue of smoke impacting the wines. I have not heard that this is an issue except for the Yarra Valley after the "Black Saturday" Fires in 2009. The wines were impacted at the time. Interestingly enough , I have not heard that this has been an issue resulting from our "Black Summer Bushfires" although I am very familiar with Hunter Valley Wines, unfortunately my Filipino partner does not enjoy wines, being from a impoverished background. He enjoys Chandon & Moscato so its been years since i have been up there! Again thank you for this story. Whilst the area and timing is very familiar, its fascinating to read of the Lycan element. Again, thankyou for a great story!

I just found this story today, upon the recommendation of another story I follow. I live in Australia - in the area that was hammered by these bushfires. From October all through our summer until the following March we were impacted by these fires. I have lived in the Blue Mountains area for all of my life. We had one fire burning to the North of us - the Gospers Mountain Fire. Another fire was burning 3 km (about 1.5 miles) to the south of us in a valley. During the day we had helicopters continually in the air above us - mostly water craft refilling at the nearby upper level of the Cascade Creek Dam just slightly to the North of our home. On Christmas Eve my gt nephews, having travelled down from the Sunshine Coast in Qld spent the whole night plying water on my sister's property under threat from no less than five separate fires burning in her local town of Lithgow (a half-hour drive West of here). Even in Australia this is not how we usually spend Christmas! Thankyou for this story, it combines many of my favourite themes and being set in an area that is extremely familiar to me I am loving it so much. Thank you again!

The far South Coast of N.S.W. is hard to beat. Personally I think the South Coast of N.S.W has some of the best Beaches in Australia. Light pollution is a big problem near our major cities. - I can imagine that New York would have immense problems in regard to Light Pollution. I would think that it would be a toss-up between the city views and & the relative calm. Unfortunately we are regarded as being part of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area & the city Lights are very visible from many vantage points in the Upper Blue Mountains. Coming from Detroit to New York would have been a bit of a culture shock in many ways, But it sounds like you aced it! I would hate to move away from where we are - mind you the tourists on the weekend make us want to stay home. We can hear the Great Western Highway noise quite readily from our home - I rarely have the urge to leave the house on weekends! Unfortunately both the G.W.H. & the main Western Rail Line both meet less than 200 metres from our home! I am really enjoying this story - thankyou so much for writing! It is very believable and I can easily imagine J.J. & Enrique camping out near the hiking trails. Hopefully all my camping days are well & truly behind me - I suspect that my hiking days are over as well. However, the story does bring back memories - people often forget how the bush can be so unfriendly & a bit of a hazard to the unwary.

I am reading this on December 16 - it has now become known as "Abscondment Day" the anniversary of the time when our P.M. left for Hawaii - leaving us to face the Fire Threat on our own! You have recorded pretty accurately the events surrounding that time. It becomes obvious that you guys lived through most of it. In the whole story you write about relevant things - from the early gay Scene in Sydney - occasional snippets about our South East Asian friends etc. & the Fires! The latter have become known as the worst Bushfire Season in History & that's saying something.

have some really good friends in MAG. Its great that they now organise an open upper deck double-decker bus for their Mardi Gras Parade entry1

I make Leche Flan myself! We live too far away from anywhere to buy it. I also make Chicken Adobo for my man! Living in the Blue Mountains is great but its a bit far away from his friends & the Filipino shops/Restaurants!

The really sad thing about buildings in the Philippines is that once construction is finished, they are rarely maintained! I have seen dozens of buildings in Manila that are quite spectacular yet have become untidy or shabby simply because no one seems to care about them! My partner is Filipino and I stay in Manila whilst my partner visits his family in the province. Unfortunately our house there does NOT have a/c!

Loved this chapter although some parts brought tears to my eyes. I was at that 2014 AFL Grand Final & it had to be one of the saddest days of my life to witness such a match. It was almost as if a team of imposter players had replaced the Sydney Swans team - they were nothing like the team I'd watched both in Sydney and in many games interstate throughout the year. Going all the way down from Sydney (well, the Blue Mountains), securing a seat not just at the SCG but on a flight, just to witness that humiliation….. Ross' reticence is understandable but I guess it is not all that surprising that his friends are not picking up on the underlying reasons for his reactions. They think they know him so well, but those of us "who have been there" know full well how to remain as deeply in the closet as we can until circumstances force our hand. The Draft is going to be interesting. As of this morning, there are 255 of us in Rainbow Swans. We are having a joint function with the Purple Bombers on May 7 when Essendon play Sydney at the SCG. BTW both Rainbow Swans & Purple Bombers are into advocacy whilst Pink Magpies are more of a social group. There was no sign of the Pink Magpies that I could see at last night's game. If you have not picked up on it, I am actually the Convenor of Rainbow Swans. We ‘ve heard that both Richmond & St Kilda both have unofficial LGBTI supporter Groups. Graeme, this is great writing & a beaut story. Thanks

WOW!! Welcome back. I have missed this series so much but you haven’t missed a beat. You've continued the story well, but you've opened up so much more.... Now we're going to be waiting patiently until the next episode comes out.... Thank you!! BTW - This link may interest you - if inappropriate, I have no problem with you deleting it! http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/2016-03-05/swans-launch-rainbow-swans Thanks once again for such a great series!

Graeme, I'm really enjoying this story. As with Book 1, you are really telling the Australian Rules Football story just as it should be. Although you have not even mentioned my favourite AFL Team (my man & I are Sydney Swans members - we've almost recovered from the GF Loss!! Yes, I was at the game! I cried!) you have a real grip on the game & the issues facing it. I was particularly impressed with your take on the Homophobia in AFL Issue. Its certainly a good move - now all we have to do is to see whether CEO Gillon McLachlan does more than pay lip service to the idea. Given your intimate knowledge of AFL, I am sure that you could name gay guys currently playing as well as a few who have left the game in recent years. It is so wrong, if indeed it is true, that any player must not "come out" publicly whilst playing the game at the top level. I'm told that this is a part of curent contracts. Thanks again for this great story. I look forward to the next chapter each week. Good on ya mate!!