3.15 pm and Melbourne has disappeared completely under the smoke haze. Thge ghostly shapes of huge office blocks have disappeared - visibility has been reduced to 3kms or so. The windowpanes reflect the heat and are now hot to touch. The wind has risen slightly. It is hot and getting hotter, the smell of smoke pervades the office and the air conditioning is fighting a loosing battle with the heat. Many cars are now on the road and traffic jams are beginning to build. As far as the eye can see, Toorak Road is just a line of creeping traffic. Are people escaping the smoke, or heading home for the long weekend?

We awoke to an enormous smokey red sun, rising from behind Casey Drive, half hidden by the smoke haze which has drifted over Melbourne from the fires in North East Victoria. Over the landscape, lies the smell of burning. The morning is cool and the breeze soft - the temperature is expected to climb into the high 30’s today (100F). We dress in light clothing. I choose a bright blue shirt over loose pants. Friday is a casual dress day in the office and on such a hot day it is good to drop the dull colours of corporate life.

The garden is alive with sound in the cool of the morning. The cackling laughter of kookaburras and the choralling of magpies echo around us. Cockatoos scream and squabble in the eucalypts above us, intermingled with the constant crowing of crows and small birds that fuss and chirp in the lower branches, their songs snatched messages on the breeze. The garden is full of subtle colours, dark greens, ecrus and browns. The grass has become withered and golden-dry and as you walk dust springs up from your steps. There is no distant shimmering glimpse of the bay and even the Dandenong Ranges have disappeared under the smoke haze. The sky is nothing but fudged grey in which we have become shuttered.

The temperature, at mid-day, has reached the low 30’s. I place the palm of my hand against the windowpane here in the office. It is warm, but not yet hot, to the touch. The sun’s rays burn through the smoke haze. As the lift door swishes open on the fifth floor the smell of burning pervades the lift well. Outside, the sheer brightness and dry heat strikes you before you notice the warm wind that rustles through the tops of the gum trees. The smell of burning seeps into hair and clothing. I sit a half-hour respite from the mundane of office life. It is a quiet today, it being a public holiday (Australia Day) on Monday – many people may have taken a long weekend or have remained at home due to the high fire risk. The roads, the office and even the telephones remain remarkably quiet. Weather conditions are expected to worsen during the afternoon, with the northerly wind expected to gain strength. The forecast for tomorrow and Sunday is even worse with temperatures reaching 40+C (110). There is nothing that anyone can do about it but wait and pray and prepare themselves for the days ahead.