Day 2 - I am not a Firestarter

I thought that starting a fire was a bit like riding a bike, you always know how to do it. Apparently not. Growing up as a farm child, one of the daily chores was getting the fire started in the old combustion stove to cook the breakfast and heat the hot water. I had it down to a fine art. But in the early hours of this morning when the coals in the fireplace burnt out, I was crawling around in the half-light trying to recall some of those skills. Paper, cardboard, air, more air, less air, no luck. I had to crawl back under the covers, defeated, until my partner ‘the Bandycoot’ finally woke up. He threw a bunch of fire-starters in and managed to get a lively burn.

 Note to self: more practice required! I think the key is knowing the local way to get fires started naturally. Growing up on the farm in country Queensland it had been dried Poinciana pods, I’ll have to discover Tassie’s secret ingredient.