Victoria's Halls Gap survived the flames - but as tourists stay away, the dark clouds remain

Resilience is wearing thin in the town, as business owners face mass booking cancellations and insurers turn their backsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe tourist road from Dunkeld to Halls Gap is eerily quiet. Blackened trees stretch spidery branches towards a sky still smudged with smoke. The road is open, but few cars take it save for a wildlife rescue vehicle inching slowly along, its occupants scanning the burnt-out forest for limping wallabies reported in the area. A lone currawong shrieks, invisible.Fire ripped through this part of the Grampians/Gariwerd national park six weeks ago, and still burns on the other side of the mountain range - an immense rocky ridge jutting out through the smoke haze. But already, new growth is starting to sprout. Green spikes burst from the charcoal stumps of grass-trees. Near a dry creek bed, tiny fern fronds unfurl out of the ash.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...