St Georges Parade in Mt Victoria is a lot quieter now. In the haphazard, random way of fires, it was the sole street in the village hit on October 17.
Seven homes were destroyed but not one has been rebuilt. The residents aren't coming back. They have moved away and the blocks where their houses once stood have been cleared and remain empty, silent.
At the top of the street, Margaret Gough's double-brick home remained standing but the insides "melted". She lived in a caravan on site while the house was gutted. Fortunately, most of the work was done before winter so she could move in before the worst of the cold.
It's not finished but it's getting back to the way it was.
"I feel I am travelling well compared to a lot of other people. I'm comfortable. I can't throw a party yet though, not with the piano still in the kitchen."
The reasons she didn't move out are hopping around in the backyard. Ms Gough runs the Dreamtime Wildlife Refuge from her home, taking in injured or orphaned possums, wallabies, wallaroos, kangaroos and other animals.
After the fires, she set up temporary accommodation for her menagerie in the burnt-out house. The animals didn't mind charred ceiling or piles of ashes.
But now she's back in business properly. The day the Gazette visits it's a full house, with eight kangaroos and seven possums in residence in the rebuilt fenced enclosures.
In the "hospital", her triage room as well as home for the sickest and weakest, there is a tiny possum and a baby swamp wallaby which she feeds with a bottle. It's in bad shape, having been rescued after its mother was killed on the road.
Ms Gough also volunteers at the Salvation Army bushfire recovery centre at Springwood where she has met many others who have had similar experiences.
"Some of them are better and have tackled it the way I have, but others are stuck and they need the support.
"I'm in clover," she said. "I have still got my purpose in life, I have still got my pension coming in, I've a really supportive family and friends."
She does sometimes forget, though. Recently she was after her knitting needles to make the woollen pouches where she keeps very young and sick animals until they improve.
"I went looking for three days for them until it struck me - I lost them in the fire. But I came home from the Salvos with two pairs."
But she has had challenging moments.
"I think I was really brave with everything that was going on and then one day, they wouldn't let me in to my own property. They were doing a hazard reduction. That was the only day that the whole thing got to me. I drove around the corner to an old friend's place. I said, 'I think it's caught up with me'. He said, 'come in and I'll make a cup of tea' and half an hour later I was alright."
She believes the animals have helped with her personal recovery.
"Nurturing is very good for the soul I think. You get more out of it than what you give."
Then she looks down the street at the vacant blocks.
"I miss them, I miss their company."
Her neighbours further uphill echo Ms Gough's feelings. Larry and Mina Howard lost two cars and a caravan but not the house. The couple are in the RFS - Larry is Blackheath-Mt Victoria brigade captain - but he was in hospital on October 17 and Mina was at work. Their son stayed to defend the house single-handedly until Katoomba-Leura RFS and Fire and Rescue NSW arrived to help.
Mr Howard said it was "really, really quiet" with so few neighbours.
"It's particularly the people we knew. We don't see their faces around anymore and it's really sad."
