In late December 2019, South Coast residents endured one of the worst bushfires in Australia’s history with hundreds of homes and businesses lost.
One business that was particularly hit hard was The Bower at Broulee. Mark and Sue Berry’s 100 acre property was badly burned, and the couple lost their family home and all of their possessions. All 5 bowers were severely damaged, and their vintage aluminium caravan was reduced to a puddle.
“We opened in 1998 and in 22 years we’ve never experienced anything like what happened with the fires,” says Sue. “On that day, we evacuated all our guests and then stayed to do what we could. We weren’t able to save the house but the fire brigade helped us put out spot fires on the decks of the bowers so we were able to save them. All the windows were smashed, the decks were burned, and the carpets were ruined so they’ve had to be fully restored.
“We were very fortunate that my brother has a holiday house down the road so we moved in there. Hopefully we can rebuild the house in the future, but so far we’ve just focussed on getting the bowers back up and running.”
Mark and Sue officially re-opened on the October long weekend, and are already booking up into December with everyone in Sydney and Canberra keen to get away.