This is the image that greeted Ocean Grove Voice staff as we returned to work this month.
Normally the view out the office window is superb.
We can see the beach and the Bluff crystal clear.
But on Monday, January 6, an eerie smoke haze dominated the horizon across the entire Bellarine Peninsula.
The smoke from the raging bushfires in the east of the state was pushed to the area by easterly winds.
Visibility was down to just 500 metres.
The smoke affected air quality in Geelong and the Bellarine and was upgraded to ‘hazardous’ levels on Monday afternoon, but by evening it had improved to ‘poor’.