Sad story. Unfortunately this can be a depressingly common occurrence in the Australian bush - people walking in for a hike and never walking back out. Stay safe everyone!

Not sure if the fires were still on in Blue Mountains. When we visited, they were and I think if you had ventured more deeply into the area, it would have gotten dangerous real fast.

Side comment: Maybe just have a threat "WHS in the news". Not sure this deserves it's own topic.

Done! @all - If you have news stories about WHS to share, please use this topic

Great idea Nan! Thanks Els.

As of today, that bushfire is finally out, and they're expecting NSW to be completely fire-free by the end of the week! We've had a good deal of rain over the last week or so, and since Friday Sydney has been battered by what we call an east coast low (a low pressure system that's basically a cat-1 cyclone). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-10/sydney-weather-prompts-bom-and-ses-warnings/11948158

And yes - doing a serious bushwalk the days you were in town would've been borderline suicidal!

Borobudur Closes Top Tiers of Temple

https://indonesiaexpat.biz/featured/borobudur-closes-top-tiers-of-temple/

I see the news about the accident on Easter Island has hit foreign papers. I just returned from Easter Island, and the accident was a big discussion with fellow tourists as we traveled around the island. Apparently the driver had had an issue with the handbrake so that his truck rolled down an incline and hit the ahu. Some tourists had heard that the problem occurred after he removed rocks from under his tires to keep the car in place, but I never heard the full story. Quite unfortunate, regardless.

April snow on Sassi di Matera

https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/basilicata/foto/maltempo-la-neve-imbianca-i-sassi-di-matera_16834091-2020.shtml

Just when you thought things couldn't get any more crazy....

Krakatau has erupted again:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/11/anak-krakatau-erupts-loud-rumble-heard-in-virus-stricken-greater-jakarta.html

Christ the Redeemer Statue lit up as a doctor

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/christ-the-redeemer-doctor-easter-sunday-scli-intl/index.html 

There was a nonbreaking space character at the end of your url that broke it...

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/christ-the-redeemer-doctor-easter-sunday-scli-intl/index.html

:-)

mrayers
oops. thanks