Cane Fires, North Queensland

If you want to see something truly cool, you have to go watch a NQ cane-fire burn.

It's not like a regular fire. There are several old Italian families who've invented the fine art of setting fires so they implode inwards, and now everyone hires them because it's safer and, probably much more important, it's such a pyro-technical marvel to watch; just so achingly primal and exciting you can never decide between sitting close so you can really feel it or finding a spot on a nearby hill so you can see everything.

A distant cane-fire burns,
but I'm missing it, dammit!

Captured the imagination of children
so they're definitely cool!

There's even a really cool folk song called "Where the Cane Fires Burn" that kinda illustrates the extremely sexual nature of this beast!

But if you want to see one for yourself, you have to hurry. They're trying to outlaw them. And, yeah, yeah, I know, they're definitely not eco-friendly and, these days of machine harvesting, (it used to be done to kill off all the extremely toxic and dangerous critters who lived in there before sending in the gangs of cutters) not even necessary, so I see their point, but ...

Let me see if I can find the song on the net. If I do, I'll link to it so you can hear it for yourself and maybe understand just what a downright sexy experience it is to go watch an Italian-flamed cane fire burn.

No such luck, although I did find a place where you can buy it: It's on the album "Hey Rain" by Penny Davies and Roger Ilolt. Check it out if you're interested.

P.S. Keith says there is also a song by Gangajang that's on Youtube called "The Sounds of Then" that's on the subject. Let's see if I can find it: