Over the past six weeks, television crews and photographers have captured striking, harrowing and frightening images of infernos surrounding fire crews, homes combusting from the intense heat and desperate animals seeking shelter from looming death.
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The images, videos and stories have appeared worldwide, including Matthew Abbot's image of a kangaroo in Lake Conjola with a backdrop of orange hue on the New York Times New Year's Eve edition.
Our ongoing crisis has resonated across the globe with celebrities, sports stars and organisations offering donations in millions, and now the Federal and NSW Governments have pledged a combined $3billion for bushfire recovery.
The funds go someway to rebuilding infrastructure, homes, livelihoods and it is easier to imagine redevelopment of a suburb like a Conjola park with government support and a human's touch.
However, seeing the desolate forests reduce to blackened needles make you wonder whether it will ever feel the same.
Driving through the road closure at Wheelbarrow Road near Ulladulla, we were warned we wouldn't make it across the old bridge, leading to the Princes Highway exit.
Smoke blankets the gullies and surrounds like a never-ending mist. Cobargo book store owners were right - the post-apocalyptic world was now current affairs.
We just wanted to take a photo and show the damaged bridge to readers, but we were never given a chance to make it there.
Stacks of trees have been felled from the fire that roared through on Saturday afternoon. The road blockage lies about 500 metres east of driveways that lead to properties which looked like a bomb had hit them.
Surrounding forests are devoid of life. No bird songs, no insects buzzing and no bounding kangaroos or wallabies in the scrub.
Along Woodburn Road some residents, who were at home among the gum trees, have been forced to relocate to the suburbs like Mollymook and Ulladulla as their homes are destroyed or uninhabitable. There will be less man-made noise for sometime.
But, as people begin a long, patient, recovery phase not all is lost for our natural surroundings.
The rejuvenation of nearby forests will happen soon. Australia's eucalypt forests are some of the most successful resprouters in the world.
Anything still alive will begin epicormic growth. It's the green shoots you see forming from the trunk of a eucalypt - their survival response to trauma.
Eucalypts, some banksia species and cycads - a feature in the Clyde Mountain forests - also burst into life as fire releases dormant buds. Soils soaked in potash are fertile beds and light reaching the forest floor will encourage growth.
But one question still lingers, will it feel the same?
I think it can and the positive outlook comes from a person who showed us their decimated property.
"The feeling has to come from the person," she said.
The determination to rebuild is in our roots, just like some of the plants in our native forests. Wildlife carers and caring folk are housing injured animals, or leaving the appropriate food and water out for animals.
While it won't ever feel the same, it will feel like home again.
Where to get help when you've been impacted by bushfires?
If you or someone you know has been affected by the bushfires and needs some extra support, we encourage you to reach out and access the services available.
If you, or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 000 or visit your nearest hospital.
National crisis support numbers for individuals and communities:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Kids Help Line: 1800 551 800
Mensline Australia: 1300 78 99 78
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Disaster Welfare Assistance Line: 1800 018 444
GriefLine: 1300 845 745
