Leanne and Des Camilleri with four of their daughters (from left): Alisha, Corine, Lydia and Tammy. Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG
Trees heal fears
September 30, 2009
Section: News
JENNA BUCHANAN
FOR A young girl with a fear of trees, three-year-old Lydia Camilleri did well to conquer her demons at the Illawarra Fly Tree Walk last week.
Lydia and her family, from Clonbinane in Victoria, were guests of the Rotary Club of Corrimal, which continues to host bushfire victims to give them some relief from the tragedy.
Her tree phobia comes from watching so many exploding gums during the Black Saturday bushfires and seeing the fire leap trees in its race to her family’s property.
Clonbinane was one of the worst hit areas and the Camilleri’s 25-hectare property was destroyed. Leanne and Des Camilleri and their five daughters survived but lost everything.
“The fire went over us twice and then came down over the top of us,” Mrs Camilleri said. “We had to rush out of the house while it burned down around us.”
It happened so quickly that they didn’t have time to grab anything and were left with only the clothes on their back.
Mrs Camilleri thought they were prepared but said they couldn’t have known the heat and velocity would be so intense.
“We had all the water in the world,” she said. “We had water tanks and fish tanks in every room of the house but it didn’t matter.
“We just couldn’t stop it.”
They have started rebuilding but new restrictions and regulations mean it will be a difficult process.
“Everything is still black, it’s very eerie and still,” Mrs Camilleri said.
She said the family’s time in Wollongong had been a good break and they had used the week-long stay to really explore the area.
The region’s beaches were a hit, as was the Illawarra Fly Tree Walk, and the family also found time to attend the Relay for Life and take the girls bowling for the first time.
“It’s given us a chance to spend some quality time with the girls and just try and forget it all for a while,” she said. “We’re really trying to get some normality back in their lives.”
