The back of my house overlooks the Tweed Valley, and the floor of the valley is covered in acre upon acre of sugar cane fields. Sugar production is one of the major industries in the area, just as it has been for many years, and during the winter, when the cane is ready for harvesting, fires are lit in the scrubby undergrowth, making way for a clear harvest run for the heavy machinery.
Usually, we see the bright orange glow of the cane fires after night fall, when a strip of the valley can be seen first of all smoldering, slowly transforming into orange flames, and as the fire takes hold we often hear the crackling sounds in the stillness of the dark night. It’s a magical sight, and one which we never tire of seeing.
I’ve tried so often to take photos of the cane fires, but with the surrounding darkness of the night, rarely do the photos do justice to the sight we see. Recently however, I spotted a swirl of smoke in the valley, late in the afternoon, before nightfall. And it eventually developed into a doozy of a fire too!
As you can see in the final photo, at the peak of the blaze, the density of the smoke almost completely hid majestic Mount Warning, the extinct volcanic mountain, and overseer of the Tweed Valley.
I may complain ad-nauseum about the sweltering heat during the summer, but it is winter still, and all things considered, I do live in a beautiful part of Australia.
“Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.” ~ This is Australia, Gangajang.~~~~~~~~
In My World 
Beautiful photos, Joanne. Does the smoke linger in the air, tickling noses, or does it dissipate quickly? We’ve been plagued by lingering smoke from wildfires many miles away this summer, which causes my sinus to rebell.
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Do you know, Carol, we never smell the smoke from cane fires at all, yet if there is a bush fire about, we do smell it. That question got me thinking!
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Must be something about the way the canes burn.
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Do you never worry about the fires spreading ? Does it affect breathing ? I didn’t know they did this … learn something new every day.
Hugs.
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It never crosses my mind to be worried about the cane fires spreading. Cane farmers have been cleaning up the cane before harvest in this way for so long and they know exactly when they can burn, which is always during still weather. And the smoke never reaches us and there is no odour at all, just the beautiful brief glow of the orange line of fire in the valley. Nothing like a bush fire at all.
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Cool photos! (No, I wasn’t trying to be funny saying “cool” about a fire! Lol!)
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Lol, I thought they were pretty cool too Karma, that’s why I shared them. 🙂
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You sure do live in a beautiful part of Australia! Wonderful photos ..
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The cane fires bring back so many happy memories of growing up on the Tweed. Thank you for sharing.
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That is an eye-catching sight. How is it the fire only burns the scrubby undergrowth but leaves the rest of the plant, presumably unharmed, ready to harvest? Great pictures!
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