An idyllic holiday to the NSW South Coast with friends to ring in the New Year turned into a nightmare for a Sutherland Shire family after they were trapped for two days in the seaside town of Bendalong by raging bushfires.
They were among many St George and Sutherland Shire residents stranded on the bushfire-ravaged NSW South Coast last week.
The family of five, including three children aged 11, 9, and 7, were part of a group of nine adults and 11 children from Sutherland Shire who travelled to Holiday Haven Parks at Bendalong on December 28 for what was meant to be a relaxing family holiday.
Instead, they found themselves trapped and fearing for their lives as bushfires raged all around them, cutting off the the only road in and out.
They said there was no inkling of what was to come when they headed down the coast.
"The day before we left we were told Bendalong Road had been closed but we rang the holiday park and they said it was back burning and it was fine to come," the woman, who did not wish to be named, said.
She said they had an enjoyable first two days and it wasn't until New Year's Eve that things went wrong.
"We knew it was going to be hot so we went to the beach early in the morning and we ended up staying down there about five hours," she said.
After noticing a little bit of smoke in the air, they had just returned to the holiday park when they received a text message from management telling them to be on alert and outlining the evacuation points.
"We had only been back in the park 20 minutes when they came around with megaphones and told us to evacuate," she said.
With the entire area surrounded by bushland, all 800 guests were sent to an open area in the middle of the tourist park.
The park manager told those assembled that a bushfire was heading straight for them and to be ready to flee to the boat ramp if conditions worsened.
"At that point [my daughter] was crying hysterically and asked if she was going to die," she said.
"We were told we just had to wait. Everyone was pretty calm. It was mainly the children who were upset."
She said they were told about an hour later that the fire had gone around them and they could return to their camp sites but had to remain on high alert.
She said New Year's Eve was a sombre affair. They eventually turned in after packing an "evacuation bag" containing medication, a change of clothes and shoes ready to flee if necessary.
The following morning, New Year's Day, the woman went to the small shop nearby where she learned the fire had come down Bendalong Road the night before.
A local real estate agent gave her a mask after learning both she and her daughter were asthmatic.
That day they could see flames in the distance as fires surrounded them, and watched as a 737 plane dropped fire retardant on nearby bush.
By that stage, there was no power or phone reception and only occasional internet coverage. They relied on ABC radio news updates, which were advising people to leave the area before Saturday, but active fires along Bendalong Road meant there was no way out.
"It was so hard because we couldn't get out," the woman said.
The local RFS arrived to give them a briefing, but the news was sobering. There were only two tankers to protect Bendalong, North Bendalong and neighbouring Manyana.
Eventually, authorities told them to get ready to leave and made plans for convoys of 20 cars at a time to exit under police escort.
"They said it could take up to two days to get everyone out," he woman said.
They joined the queue to leave but only two groups made it out before fire forced the closure of the road again. After eight hours of waiting, they were ordered back to their campsite for the night.
Together with their friends, they came up with a contingency plan. Someone was able to get in touch with a local boat owner who agreed to collect them and take them to the evacuation centre at Ulladulla. They set a deadline of 5pm Friday.
"We had life jackets in the caravan and were prepared to put them on and swim out to the boat if we had to," she said.
By Friday morning, authorities once again said they would attempt to get everyone out by road. Within minutes of opening the road the fire flared again and it was closed.
"I held it together until Friday morning. I had not shed a tear until then and I just cried and cried and said to [my husband], 'They are not going to get us out'," the woman said
They were finally able to leave under police escort at 2pm Friday.
"There were still fires burning. There were fires all around. There were power poles on fire. It was pretty terrifying driving through it," she said.
"There were tankers with sirens on driving past.
"It wasn't until we got to Nowra that we let the children take their shoes off."
Once safely home, she said the true horror of what they experienced hit them.
"It's been hard," the woman said. "We are still trying to process it.
"We sat up until midnight Saturday listening to the RFS scanners because we knew there were still people in there."
She said the incident has made them rethink whether they would ever again holiday in a location so close to bush and with only one road in and out.
"We were lucky we were in a caravan that runs on solar power. People were able to come and charge their phones," she said.
"I would never have thought to take masks in the caravan. And I know now cash is king," she added, as some areas further down the coast were left without power meaning ATMs and EFTPOS were unavailable.
During the height of the bushfire emergency late last week, desperate holidaymakers faced long waits before they could even begin the gruelling drive home due to widespread road closures up and down the NSW South Coast and inland.
Power was out in many areas, and food and water supplies began running low, leading to rationing.
Stranded holidaymakers and residents were forced to flee to evacuation centres, showgrounds, parks and beaches.
The NSW Rural Fire Service declared a number of Tourist Leave Zones and Leave Zones on the NSW South Coast and other parts of NSW ahead of dangerous conditions predicted for last Saturday, including the entire Shoalhaven area stretching from Nowra to Burrill Lake.
A Leave Zone was also declared for the South Coast, "particularly in the general area from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border", with the NSW RFS warning tourists to leave before Saturday due to predicted widespread extreme fire danger.
