Full Moon in Townsville

Jumped out of bed at 4 a.m. on a Friday morning in late October to head to Tullamarine airport, which is a solid one hour drive away. I'm still not comfortable with the roads leading to the airport, as there isn't one direct route. You can take one freeway, the M1, but it's under construction, and there can be huge traffic delays. When I went to get Roberta and Aline in August, traffic into the city was crawling at 40 kph or less. I was at least 1/2 hour late, but fortunately their plane was late as well, so they didn't have to worry. A better way to drive is to avoid the M1 and use the newer toll highway, which basically puts you right into one of Melbourne's older neighbourhoods, on city streets. Returning from Brisbane, in the dark, I missed a turn off on a city street (not the freeway) and was heading north again before I knew it. It can be quite stressful, so I've taken on the challenge of driving and navigating, leaving Tom free to work out all the nuts and bolts of teaching.

We made it, got into long term parking, jumped on the shuttle bus and had ourselves in the departure area drinking (excellent) coffee before we knew it. A quick 50 minute flight into the fog surrounding the Canberra airport, where we disembarked, hung out in the airport for a few minutes, and then got back on the same plane. This short stay was fortunate, as they were selling the Byron Bay Cookie Co ginger date cookies we discovered in Byron Bay and I snatched a few (paid for them too) for the next leg of the flight. Shades of shorter flights in Canada, you have to buy every single item you want on the short haul airlines in Australia (this was Virgin Blue, with great friendly service). We had prepared by making brekkie sandwiches, bringing fruit, yogurt and juice boxes, but you still have to spend a few hours flying further north. Townsville is a 2 1/2 hour flight north from Canberra. The flight attendents were at their witty best, and one managed to paint a few kids' faces before we hit some rougher air which made the face pencil a precarious proposition.

Skidded in on some bouncy air into Townsville's airport, reminiscent of Victoria's airport about 15 - 20 yrs ago. Turns out it's owned by the Australian Air Force (and was an airforce base during WWII), who rent out space/time to the commercial airlines. Quonset huts on the outskirts, military jets and helicopters waiting near runways. Hot as, in Townsville. Humid as. Not something we'd experienced in Ferny Creek in October. Cane fields along the highway, the harvest having just finished. The port has a huge terminal specifically for sugar loading and exportation. Palm trees (imported, non-native), hoop pines, some of our favourite Norfolk Pines. Dry. It's a rainforest area, at least up in the mountains just west of the coast, but it was dry, and will be dry until the rains of the "Wet" hit in January -- the summer is the wet and humid season. Found our way to the Strand, an area to relax, walk, or swim, depending on your mood.

We went to see Stephanie, a European travel friend of Tom's from 30 years ago, and she'd told us to wait for her on the Strand as she had to work in the morning. She works for the Justice Department, and can't just take off whenever she feels like it. A few text messages back and forth, and when we were swimming in the rock pool (sheltered from the main ocean, keeping crocs, etc. out), there she was. She and Tom had hitchhiked together in Great Britain and spent some quality time together. Now we were all descending on her and her partner, Peter. Just after we left the rock pool, a 1.5 metre crocodile was spotted swimming along the ocean shore. Stingers, who produce a bad to deadly sting, are another thing to avoid in the northern summer, but there are stinger nets set up at popular beaches so people can swim with relative safety.



They hosted us with grace, humour, friendliness and intellectual stimulation. When they moved to Townsville (considered the hinterland by many), they adapted a local Queenslander house (built on stilts for airflow and protection from cyclones) and removed a few walls and added large screened windows to increase airflow, insulated the ceiling, added some overhanging roofs and decks front and back, and don't need air conditioners. It was pure bliss to sleep there with a light sheet, feeling the warm night air blowing over our bodies. They live 3 blocks off the ocean ... the salt air can be very destructive, so they're somewhat protected, yet have the benefit of the breezes. Stephanie served some fabulous food, Peter uploaded some great Aussie tunes to my iPod, took the gang for flights in his ultralight plane (reminds me of the dragonflies at Vic Beach), and got us over to Magnetic Island (named that way because Captain Cook's navigation devices didn't work, so he assumed there were magnetic forces at work) and showed us around.

We are certainly jealous of their lifestyle. I know they've worked for it. Stephanie is doing her regional service in the "north", not something everyone wants to do. Peter is able to adapt his work life to working from home. Their daughter is doing her gap year in Europe, working, travelling, and enduring chicken pox. We laughed so hard poor Stephanie almost choked. We talked, got to know each other, caught up, and learned new things about life. We want more. Stephanie pointed me to more Aussie literature and literary journals. I must catch up. Peter downloaded some fantastic Aussie music onto my iPod, and I'm listening regularly. They are adventurous and generous, and we thank them for their hospitality and our introduction to northern Queensland.

I miss the sight of the ripening mango trees in their backyard (2 of them!), although the fruit bats are now gorging themselves silly all night, making all kinds of noise. They also have a lychee tree, but the bats had picked it clean except for the very top, so we couldn't snatch anything off the tree. Townsville feels unspoiled, althought some development is creeping its ugly head into a few choice spots, such as the reserve near the National Park, home of rock wallabies (an endangered species). Money talks, I guess, and rock wallabies don't bring in much cash.

We made it up to a rainforest north of Townsville, in an area called Paluma, and swam in the Crystal Creek waterholes on our way back. Of course we stopped at the Paluma Pottery, checking out the artist (Len Cook) and his work.



The moon was full when we visited -- this is the full moon (the first one in November) that inspires coral polyps to spawn, a yearly event, building the Great Barrier Reef. We didn't get out to the Reef -- time and money were factors. So we'll have to get back!

Surprises

We've had a few surprises in the last week.

Night time temps have gone back to single digits -- brrrrr! Just got used to the high temps, and back again. Blessings of the "cool change" and some torrential rain. Farmers were already harvesting grain in country Victoria, and their progress has been halted. There has been a lot of discussion lately with design and architect people about building for the southern hemisphere climate... I heard a fascinating conversation about using thermal mass to trap heat and release it appropriately (from cold to hot, shades of adobe, although more "modern" examples were also given). Double glazed windows, a given in most of Canada, are only now becoming available and used in Australia (price has been an issue). We've had quite a few conversations with friends about the use of insulation, overhanging balconies, and a way to use solar energy. There is a huge debate going on right now because the Victorian government is hoping to build another coal-fired power plant to provide enough energy to run the desalination plant being built SW of here on the coast. Apparently there is enough brown coal in Australia to create power for unknown amounts of time. This is an ancient continent, after all, and it was once covered by huge inland seas. And Australia's big Asian trading partners are very interested in obtaining more and more coal, and investors are very interested in continuing to obtain great financial benefits from the sale of brown coal.

ABC's All in the Mind explored cultural and psychological issues surrounding our response to climate change. When Europeans came to Australia and NZ, they brought their ideas regarding building construction with them, ignoring the indigenous techniques that had sustained generations of the original inhabitants of this continent. Listen if you are interested: http://www. abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2746165.htm/

The Federal Government is taking its Emissions Trading Scheme to parliament for a vote this week, in preparation for next week's involvement in Copenhagen. Lots of back and forth as they try to gain approval from the Coalition. Should the vote be blind? Should it be recorded? A free vote perhaps? Not by party lines? It goes on and on.

Came home from the wood kiln firing at Robert Barron's in Kardella on Sunday. Kai advised me that he "might have some bad news" for me. (He's become the master of guiding his listeners on to a variety of topics...) Showed me some type of animal poo near one of the windows. !!??? What the heck? How on earth could an animal that size, and we checked the room thoroughly, leave some deposits like that? Oh well. And I'd just swept that room recently, so I thought they were newish deposits. We don't leave doors open (mozzies and other bugs) and only open the windows that have screens. Maybe a rat, but how??? Yikes! What could it be? After the kids were in bed, I walked into the main part of the house, just in time to see a small brown furry object (on 4 legs, with a big bushy tail) streak past me into our bedroom. I ran after and closed the door. Trapped! The culprit was a possum, teen-ager size, who somehow came down the chimney. At least that's where I found more of the poop, and some scattering of black cinders. So somehow the little possum fell down the chimney and had been hiding out in the big living room, probably huddling in fear as these 4 humans hung out there. We spent a bit of time in that room, as the kids and I were all stiff from long drive, so we had a great time stretching and opening muscles and joints to the Philip Glass CD from Rob and Monique. The little critter just had to bide its time.

So what to do? I threw a sheet over the little critter (cute, but reputed to have a tendency to bite and scratch, so I wasn't going to pick it up by hand), but it scampered away into the closet. I got the laundry basket, figuring I'd pop it in once a grabbed it in a towel. Fortunately, it had chosen one of the empty boxes we have in there (waiting to finish packing up for our departure...), so all I had to do is close the lid and take it out. I had so much adrenaline roaring around in my body that it was very difficult to drift off to sleep after that. It huddled in the box, but once I left, out it jumped. Away! I've now got a box waiting under the chimney in case our friend tries to return. Probably too scared now...

OK, I had planned for this to be short... no such luck. Santa was at the library this morning!! I'll just leave it there.

Sooky la la

What on earth, you're wondering... This morning, on the radio show "Bush Telegraph" (fantastic show on ABC National, with rural news of Australia), a reporter was describing yesterday's Senate hearing to discuss the milk pricing system in effect. Of course the farmers aren't being paid enough, at least one particular group in Tasmania. Don't know if they are locked into contracts or for how long. Regardless, the Senator questioning the Executives of the Milk Co., Lion Nathan National Foods, dealt a warning, and said to him, "Now don't be a sook about this ... a sooky la la".


I absolutely love this expression. We first heard it at the school, and our kids had to figure it out ... what on earth? But now we like it, it's one of those great Aussie expressions, like ending sentences with "... as" (nice as, good as, busy as, bad as, etc.), or "blood nose" (for a nosebleed), or "sook" if you can't take the heat.

I'll add the link if anyone is curious -- they played music from a gorgeous band called Tin Pan Orange which is on the following link. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bushtelegraph

The Heat is On

It isn't officially summer yet, but we've just had a week and a bit more of high temperatures. There was one cool change last weekend (a South Ocean phenomenon, it appears), which dropped the temperatures below the 30s and made things more pleasant. Adelaide is still in the mid 40s, but Melbourne and most of the south of Victoria is in the low to mid 30s, with the northern part of the State heading toward temps of 40 or more. We were very fortunate to visit a beautiful little town on the Great Ocean Road for the weekend -- Fairhaven -- with the family who are coming to Winnipeg on exchange next year.




There are fire warnings everywhere, immediately. The new system of fire warning, implemented a few months ago, guides residents of fire-prone areas to risks that are higher than stated (but interpreted in many different ways) in the previous system. They have tried to make this new warning system as clear as possible, but people are still trying to figure out how to interpret the scale. The categories of fire danger range from risk (get ready to leave) to extreme (if you are going to leave, leave now) to catastrophic (dangerous to stay -- the state we were in during the February fires).

As a result of today's total fire ban in the Dandenongs, the planned "Wacky Walkathon" at FCPS has been cancelled. Everyone showed up in their free dress, wacky or not, which was great to see. They are going to try again tomorrow, as there is a cool change scheduled for later tonight. Strangely enough, there was a fire siren at 6:30 a.m., and when I checked the web site, it was listed as a grass fire... go figure! The wind was strong all night -- a hot, dry wind, blowing in from Australia's centre. It doesn't feel as hot right now, blowing through the open window, carrying the scent of the millions of flowering trees and plants. But it's strong and dry, which creates some of the danger.



Tom is off to fire Robert Barron's big anagama (wood-fired) kiln in Kardella. One of his favourite activities, and given that he has had a chance to place some of his work in the kiln, he's thrilled. The firing will last upwards of 3 days (and nights), so all the helpers work in shifts to feed wood into the fire box. We'll go check in some time on the weekend. I've never seen a wood kiln in action, so this should be fantastic. Hopefully the lower temperatures (20s, not 30s, following the cool change), will mean things are bearable.

The kids and I are making a short presentation on Canada/Winnipeg in their classes this afternoon, complete with more maple leaf shaped sugar cookies with bright red icing. Food was requested, so I have complied. We have a short Powerpoint presentation, and then plan to ask a few questions to test their knowledge. Is Canada American? (that's a big issue for a lot of students) What are the indigenous people of Canada's north called? (not the E word, and why) What is Canada's national sport? (there are 2) Why does your tongue stick to a metal pole (if you try it) in freezing temperatures? There are not roads heading to all the northern communities. What do they use in place? You get the idea.

Following the end of the school day, we're off to cool off in Lysterfield Lake -- a few kilometres away -- and enjoy a picnic for our evening meal.

Fern Tree

We are in the midst of a real heat wave. Amazing. The shade provides some cool, and just down Breen Terrace is one of my favourite fern trees. Right now it is unfurling some fronds. One of my favourite images.

Animal Encounters

Two nights ago I heard 2 creatures calling to each other. Broke into a dream, and it seemed to fit there for a minute, but couldn't remember it in the morning. One voice would call, and then another. Finally, gaining some consciousness, I wondered if it was peacocks, or perhaps foxes. But why would I be hearing peacocks? Couldn't figure it out. When Tom got up at 6, he saw them. Two young male peacocks, on the deck. They were probably keeping each other company in the night, talking the night terrors away. Beautiful turqoise, green feathers with short tails. Quite magical. They didn't stay around for a photo shoot, though. Too bad.

We've had some great encounters with animals and birds. Just missed seeing a salt water crocodile (thank god!) along the rock pool shoreline when we got to Townsville. Would have been great to see it from far off... The wind was up and the water was murky, so the people who saw it questioned their judgment at first. Then they reported it to the lifeguards. Several helicopter flybys later, it was spotted. Later that day we walked along the shore, returning through the national park at the end of Stephanie and Peter's neighbourhood just north of Townsville. Along the path, near the parking lots, there were several crocodile warning signs in english, japanese, and german. Recent crocodile sightings. That's a creature I'd like to see from a far distance only. It's just the beginning of stinger season there, and most beaches have a stinger net set up to provide some salt water safety for swimmers.

In the waters around Magnetic Island we spotted several green turtles, swimming about, surfacing, diving. A good size. Visting the Reef aquarium in Townsville (Reef HQ), we watched a diver cleaning the tanks and listened to his talk about the larger, carnivorous fish in the tank. He held the big green turtle and massaged its back. The turtle went limp in his hands, enjoying the massage. Apparently they have nerves along the inside of the carapace, which is often ripped from live turtles as it is a prize worth having. Imagine the agony. That was a mind stopper.

We didn't see sharks outside the tank, in the ocean, but we were introduced to several well fed sharks, cruising by the diver as he talked to us. The biggest shark was actually sleeping on the bottom of the tank, completely uninterested in any of the fish or the diver. They are fed regularly, so they aren't cruising for food necessarily. He did have a story about a newer fish that had been hiding in a part of the tank for several months -- the "new" fish finally ventured out, only to be eaten by some of the larger, hungrier (I think) wrasses.

The leopard sharks were producing many egg sacs. These are amazing. They are the size of a slightly flattened tennis ball (opaque to clear), attached to a structure resembling tree bark. It's relatively easy to peer into the egg sac and see if the embryo is viable or not. The particular leopard shark in question had produced 55 egg sacs in the previous weeks, with 21 viable shark embryos. Like an amniotic sac, but on the outside. Their first egg sac is set to be born on Christmas Day. And they're hoping for a male, as all the previous sharks born to this particular female have been female. I couldn't resist the obvious... Outside the tanks, the ocean water was murky, due to the higher than normal winds. So unfortunately we weren't able to snorkel in the live environment. Another time! Tom did meet up with a little green frog, resident of the toilet near the airfield where Peter stores and flies his ultralight (pics to follow). The handle didn't want to go down all the way, so he stopped, then tried again. All of a sudden there was a little green frog in the toilet bowl. Apparently it lives somewhere in either the tank or the bowl, and so far has avoided going for a much longer ride.

I think the animal encounters will just continue. Brush turkeys everywhere in northern NSW and Qld. Pelicans by the 100s on Sunday along the foreshore of Port Philip, south of the CBD . A gigantic star fish in the tide pool. Squid and purple starfish, washed up on the beach last April, saved from cooking in the sun by G,K, and N. Our king parrot visitors return occasionally. Perhaps the snacks I offered weren't the tastiest, so they're not always around. The kookaburras are daily fixtures, probably living in one of the trees around the yard. The huntsman hasn't appeared lately. Moved on? Kangaroos and wallabies. Emus, in the wild and in the animal shelter. No wild platypus, but a very active one in the Healesville animal shelter. And sometimes it feels as if we have become blase with kangaroos and wallabies, but they are all around us. We're still waiting to visit the wombat who lives down the lane... one of these evenings we'll go and sit quietly.

I'm trying to be calm and friendly about the possums, but they fight so much, and make so much noise as they enter their sleeping quarters, it's amazingly difficult to get more than one or two hours of sleep. I had visions of grabbing one and doing it some major damage, but they're too fast, and they run right up the trees. I did rush onto the deck last night, as one impudently showed us its tail... took off like a shot!

Fascinating, just fascinating

The first Tuesday of November is a public holiday in Victoria. The horse racing season officially starts with a series of races over the weekend, culminating in the race for the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday. This race is 150 years old, and it's one of the biggest social and fashion events of the year. A great excuse to drink your head off and party away. Fortunes are won and lost. It's a gambling extravaganza, more than the usual, which is constant, with racing info and betting available in all the local Sports Clubs and race info in all the papers. Horses are scratched at the last minute, leading to despair on the part of owners and trainers. Owners are fined for profanity when describing the loss of their hopes and dreams. It's a spectacle, in more ways than one. The RSPCA is trying to ban the use of the whip, and recently, guidelines were introduced to limit the number of times a jockey can use the whip to spur the horse on to the finish. A member of the royal family appears at the event every year. Yes, Australia had hopes to become a republic, but the referendum failed, and they want their royals to be here, to be seen. Mind you, the Opposition leader was burbling on about it yesterday, probably trying to get himself into the news again. This year's royal was Zara Phillips, Anne's daughter, a horsewoman with aspirations for the English team for the next Olympics.


One of the most important fashion items in use is called the fascinator. This is a tiny, fluffy, feathery, artfully created and designed piece of fashion perched on the side or top of a woman's head. We saw a little feathery item being promoted for the low, low cost of $499. Yes, the GFC is a big deal and the recession that hit the world earlier this year also hit Australia. People have lost jobs. But fashion is huge and it's expensive, especially for this event. There was much discussion regarding Zara's fashion look, which was tasteful, but perhaps the neckline of her dress didn't suit her as another look might have. The fascinators are for women, but men have to meet a certain fashion standard as well. Some posed in women's clothing for Oaks Day, which takes place the day after the Melbourne Cup and is an event restricted to women, but they still weren't invited in.

Back to Flemington, for Cup Day. A variety of businesses host marquees, the covered tent where you go to see and be seen. Tickets are a must. The Emirates (airlines) marquee was the big hit this year. A fashionista on the outs (last seen throwing rocks at her ex-boyfriend, the footie star's, house) was turned away at the door -- gasp -- an event faithfully recorded in the local rag. She unsuccessfully argued with the door b**ch (this is a common term in Australia, believe it or not) that she should enter. Her dress was a bit clingy, it was reported, more for a night out, not the Cup. Lavazza had a great marquee (coffee is big here!), as did Myer (fashion, retail). All required invites. The masses hang out on the grounds, in the stands, and tried to balance on their stilettos whilst holding their champagne flutes and not getting the heels stuck in the turf.


Who won the big race? Shocking won. This horse is owned by a man from north Queensland, who made a bit of money with his earth moving business and thought he would splash out on a horse. Named it Shocking for the headlines when he won. And win he did, in a classic, come from behind, finish, making all his fans happy!