Yeh its been an eye opener, thats for certain.
I have some friends here that hail from scotland. (as does my father) and they have recieved lots of phone calls from UK as our city Colac got a mention as we had a smaller fire near here of 1300 hectares, nothing like the big ones though.
I would think that everyone involved would love to thank everyone for their support, from near and far.
EDIT
Here is a good one for Aussie fighting spirit.
I am a mountainbiker, we were to have a race at Eildon this Sunday, but as it is half an hour from Marysville, one of the towns destroyed it has been moved to a place just outside of Melbourne and all the entry fees will go to the bushfire fund.
I have just been going through my emails, and there is a request from someone who has a friend that lost their house and possessions including their mountain bike and equipment. He is looking for to borrow a bike and some equipment so he can still compete in this bushfire fund race..hardcore