January 16th, 2026Just sayin’…

A huge thank you to all the emergency services personnel for all you have done and are still doing as we go to press on Sunday.
We just went into Daylesford and watched as about eight tankers drove off towards Harcourt. Most local, one from Miners Rest, all doing the same thing, leaving their homes and families to do their best for other people’s homes and families.
You are all heroes. All amazing.
I don’t think it is until something like these fires happen that we realise how much we expect our volunteers to just put everything down and help save our properties, often putting their own lives at risk.
We left early on Friday. We have no intention of staying to defend and don’t want to get in the way because we left it too late to go. We also made the decision not to go full on with coverage of the fires. Everyone has already seen all they need to see on television and social media.
In the next edition, we will do a bit of a deep dive. Talk to some firies and also ask if they have the equipment they need. Hopefully that’s a yes, and if not, we really need to work on that.
As I said there is a real expectation that the emergency services are there to help, at any time, and you would hope they have all they need.
Anyway, our real thanks to all, and I hope everyone is staying safe as possible. Oh, if you need mental health counselling make sure you put your hand up. It does work.

My original column – cut a bit short.

I was scared of dogs as a kid. Once I was riding past a house and one ran out and bit me on the thigh. Maybe not quite a bite, but a definite teeth-baring incident.
So my parents in their wisdom bought me a dog for my sixth birthday. A corgi. I named her Susie. Susie was a great dog. She had to sleep outside, which I thought was mean, but I guess it was the day and age. But we spent a lot of time together – I remember pouring a beer into her bowl for Christmas because in dog years she was an adult. I also remember crying into her fur when life seemed unfair.
My next dog was Rosie, who Kyle and I found at the Pearcedale RSPCA. She was a kelpie cross and had been left in a box with her puppy brothers and sisters. Two years later we picked up Curly from the same place. He was two – a cocker spaniel cross – and after one fight they were best friends for life.
We moved to Glenlyon when they were five years old and the school was like a giant dog run. Which turned out to be great because every time we took them down the Glenlyon Reserve for a wander, we were approached by dogs off their leads.
Now Curly loved people but, for some reason, not dogs. So when dogs came charging with owners calling “don’t worry, they’re friendly” we freaked out. It’s not just a Central Highlands thing. It happened in Karratha and Harvey Bay.
Recently, there’s been a lot of chatter on social media about dogs at Lake Daylesford. We can’t report on it because it’s still being investigated. But there’s nothing like dogs to get people onto their phones and keyboards.
For the record there are only two dogs-off-leash areas in Hepburn Shire. At Trentham’s Sportsground Reserve and one at Clunes – but that one is not listed on the council website so I’m not sure where it is. One more, at Victoria Park, is on its way. But already people say it’s too small.
It’s a dog’s life. Just sayin’…