December 31st 2019 –traditionally associated with the countdown to New Year; instead, it was like a ticking time bomb. The perception of time was broken, the sky was filled with smoke and darkness, the heat was intense and the despair palpable. Day felt like night and the night felt forever and no one was sure what we all were going to wake up to. An eery apocalyptic pall came over us.

The catastrophic potential of these bushfires were forecast for a long time prior and when they came, they stayed with us for an equally long period of time; felt like an eternity. Yet, during their carnage, ironically time perception was the one thing which became so distorted so as to wreak havoc with the psyche of those living directly in its path. Even with time on our side, we were still left with not enough. Time is running out for true climate change.