We have now returned and the monastery is up and running again after a 6-week hiatus. The drought has well and truly broken and the fires are well and truly out with the deluge of rain we’ve had. There are now streams running all over the property that had been dry for over 3 years… It’s like all the rain we didn’t get over the last few years was delivered in just one week!

Last Sunday we had a wonderful group of people come together to help clean up the house and studios, (it was too wet to do anything outside). It felt so much better to get things clean and sorted on the inside. Many thanks to all those who helped and also to Janaka and family for bringing dana for everyone that day too.

Just yesterday we reopened to the public and had a large number of people come and visit and show their support, which was really lovely. I’ll post more about some special visitors later.

Having walked around most of the property now we have seen more clearly the scope of the damage with the back-burning, and now the storm water erosion too. We estimate about 80% of the property has been burned through, however there is minimal damage to structures.

A burnt tree has fallen onto one kuti and destroyed the deck awning, though the main structure of the kuti does not appear damaged.  

The footbridge to Bridge kuti was burned, and several paths were damaged by fire (with burnt steps) and then further storm water damage too.

There are quite a few fallen burnt trees obstructing paths or roads, and the big cave has fallen trees over its entrance too. We should be able to get some government assistance to help clean up these fallen burnt trees however.

Some of our familiar animals and birds have returned, including Wanda the resident wallaby. And there are still some green patches to be seen in the forest too, and the immediate area around the house is still green, so that all helps a lot.