An update rather sooner than expected. As we were leaving Queenstown we had word that Nelson was in a state of emergency with bush fires. As we landed the fires in the hills behind the city were obvious. Shortly after landing, while we waited for our rental car, a new fire started.....right next to where our cottage was. Choppers could be seen heading there with those huge fire buckets swinging beneath them. This was taking firefighting away from the main area. We arrived at the cottage to find the owners and residents of the other cottage in a state of flux. They had been awake all night as the main fire approached only to find it swung slightly away and they were not required to evacuate. Homes had been lost but nobody had lost their life. Then, this afternoon the new fire started nearby (on Rabbit Island, where we had spent so many happy days during our 5 months here) and they were told that evacuation was imminent. By the time we arrived, the Police had closed the road but let us through to see what the situation was. The fire was brought under control and we are now sitting between two fires watching the choppers going back and forth. We have kept all our bags packed up should we need to get out in the night. Never a dull moment.

To be continued.........