Losing it... for what?

My mind boggles and my heart breaks at the absurdity of our compartmentalized lives and the will for destruction of everything in the pursuit of personal gain!

I've just been reading a book titled 'Requiem for a Species', in which the very real, immediate and dire consequences of Global Warming are laid out with absolute clarity, yet when I step outside my door in the morning I look around and discover it's business as usual for all who should be concerned.

To rub salt into the would caused by the indifference of human beings. I cycle every day through bushland I have come to love only to find that it too is being devoured by the economic growth machine!

I have cried and I do cry when I witness what they are doing to the earth and to this place which I have a very real and very personal connection to. It seems no place may go unmolested in the age of mass consumption.

Images below are of land I am close to and ride through every day. I hope to document the beauty and the destruction over the coming months. If I had the power I would stop them, but I think I'd have all the impact of an insect against a windscreen.

Open woodland right beside current construction site.... about to be flattened! (16/08/16)

Native bee gathering pollen from Spear Grass flowers (Photo taken Wet season early 2016)

Spreading earth only meters away from the only Native Gardenia tree I've seen in Darwin (16/08/16)

The thin dirt path where Grevillia Grove used to be (Aug 2016)

Concrete pour (17/08/16)

Wildlife, bio diversity, beauty and all those things we think make life more tolerable on this planet aside. If we take the warnings of climate scientists seriously, then large scale construction needs to stop! Over consumption needs to stop! All our efforts must be turned to finding ways to live in a carbon neutral (or carbon negative) lifestyle or there will be no future for us.

Stringy Barks and carparks (Yellow taxi dreaming)

A tree is a tree... and land must be put to use, They say!
I have danced cloaked in the leaves of the stringy bark
It touched my skin, entered my nostrils.
I have been amongst those trees, breathed their breath, warm sun through curved leaves,
The smell of a coarse bark after rain, crackle dry leaves on forest floor
Warmth, fire, shelter green.
The honey bees gather in stringy bark hollows,
people and animals can may rest wherever the stringy bark stands.
Cycad and spear grass take root in the spaces in between, turkey bush not far away...
Do you know the Stringy bark?
No?
Ask the black cockatoo, he loves this tree too well.
It was a sacred song where we met, and now I know when you are near and I feel when you are cut too deep.
The cry of the birds when you are lost and yes too many have been lost!
At Lyons I saw the curlews huddled together in a patch of only a few meters, until that too was taken... where are they now?
Then at Muirhead where my good friend took council in the private sanctuary of your shade, the savage destruction rolled on!
I heard the cockatoo flock come to roost in their favorite spot,
I was on the phone my friend in tears, birds circling, crying, calling.
A haunting sound.
Tears flowed so long that only the poppy could stem his grief...
As the forest fell the dust rose...
Do we really need more dust and bitumen?



Is it over? NO! The forest I ride through on my way to work is the latest patch of life to be dozed into the dust! And the 'Long Grass People' who took shelter, sitting, singing, talking, sharing fire, food, smoke, and yeh grog...?  How far do they now have to walk to take shade or shelter from the expanding apatite of this Booming northern town?

Bushland between McMillans Road and Osgood Drive (April 2014)

Stringy bark stumps and dust on block between McMillans Rd and Osgood Drive (August 2014)

Mud will flow

More on the subject of destruction of a popular fresh water system in Darwin.
The battle for the protection of Darwin's environment is bound to continue as politicians declare our country 'Open for business' and commit to developments prior to consideration of environmental impact assessments etc...  

Silt laden water entering the culvert on McMillans Rd

Muddy water mixes with the clear fresh water of Rapid Creek

On the far side of the culvert you can see the contrast of fresh and muddy water

I doubt any consideration has been given for the ecological impact of continual dumping of tons of clay into the creek except the obvious involvement of Gvt Engineers to ensure the channel (our creek) does not become over clogged. (Just thought I'd put this out there... will try to post something creative and interesting soon... or at least some photos of bikes or something...)

What's wrong with Rapid Creek?

(Written in November but left on the shelf for about six weeks I thought I'd post this just to clear the blog)

Recently local residents and others who value Darwin's Rapid Creek gathered to challenge the  potential threat to clear mature trees and riparian vegetation by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure along the banks of Rapid Creek.

At the time people noticed that trees had been marked with pink spray paint, commonly used to indicate trees for removal.

A public meeting was held at the footbridge across rapid creek, which was attended by local residents, members of the landcare group and various other stakeholders.

See Rapid Creek Landcare website: HERE

(29.12.13 There is now a Save Rapid Creek facebook group)

https://www.facebook.com/saverapidcreek 

Many issues were raised, including zero consultation with the community, zero coordination with Landcare group, lack of scientific foundation to support removal of riparian vegetation etc...

Members of Parliament were contacted and invited to take part in the discussion but they declined. Three members of the department of Lands Planning and Infrastructure turned up to answer our questions. We were told that the markings were only part of preliminary work on the creek, that it didn't mean any trees were going to be cut down and that it's all part of a flood mitigation program. (Some of the trees were even marked PRUNE)

It is obvious that Rapid Creek is under a lot of environmental pressure. There are now massive alterations to tributary water courses and man made drainage lines. Creation of a large paved carpark at the Airport has effectively means that the land it is on is no longer able absorb water and recharge groundwater. The excess water is directed into wide open channels which feed directly into the creek an obvious contributor to increased velocity of flow. I found their answers to be contradictory and somewhat dishonest. It was obvious to everyone who was there that it was the departments full intention to cut those trees.

The conversation followed about flooding of McMillans Rd and the potential threat to property when the creek floods.

It concerns me that the Department has employed 'Engineers' to manage this delicate ecological zone, with the single objective of flood mitigation. Their linear approach to the management of a waterway borders on criminal and from an environmental perspective is insane! There are multiple contributors to flooding in Rapid Creek. The presence of trees in or around the creek is hardly one of them! Natural vegetation is fundamental to reducing erosion in waterways and reduces destructive velocity of fast flowing water. Most of the elaborate water calming devices that engineers introduce into their man made water course are poor attempts to immitate natural obstructions to water velocity such as trees and vegetation offer naturally.

During the meeting people had to explain to the Department representatives other contributing factors to flooding that absolutely dwarf any impact few trees might have on causing water to back up.

Potential contributors to flooding in Rapid Creek:

Storm surge: If there is excessive rain during a high tide it is extremely likely that fresh water will back up along the rapid creek catchment. What is the elevation of the creek? How many metres above sea level?

Siltation: The removal of vegetation along the catchment has lead to increased erosion which in turn has caused culverts to become blocked, water takes longer to flow through the culverts and so backs up in the creek and man made open drains that contribute to Rapid Creek.

Erosion at McMillans Rd drainage 5/11/13

Increased flow: Land clearing and hardening of surfaces to make carparks and increase infrastructure at the Airport causes larger amounts of water to be shed from the catchment soon after rain. This is likely to have two long term affects. One, I suspect that the incidence of flooding will increase since there will be higher quantities of water entering the creek whenever it rains. The second negative side effect of creating hardened surfaces is that it will reduce the long term flow of the creek and reduce groundwater recharge. Instead of water slowly filtering through the landscape and eventually running into the creek it is shed immediately after rain.

Mc Millans road drainage 5/11/13

Cutting trees will not address any of these issues and in the case of the second and third points is a major contributor to flooding!

At the moment what concerns me most is the excavation work taking place on the Airport side of Mc Millans Rd. A huge amount of earth has already been washed into the open drains. The immediate results of this are obvious and plain to see. Large scale siltatation of the drainage channels, blocked culverts, increased water flow. Longer term the consequences are predictable increased turbidity of the creek, siltation of the creek, blocking of culverts, potential flooding etc...

I believe that due to the storm surge factor there may be no way of mitigating against flooding... although this may not stop the departments engineers from trying to enclose the whole creek in a concrete drain. (Actually confirmed by a current Department of Infrastructure and Planning report 29/12/13)

As far as the health of the creek is concerned I believe that the irresponsible upstream developments within the catchment are the major cause for concern and will likely contribute heavily to future risk of flooding. Yet the department appear to have chosen not to address negligence of developers, instead their engineers have turned their eye to elimination of the creek's remaining natural defense against extreme hydrological conditions downstream. Our creek is already stressed and threatened by irresponsible upstream development, by removing the riparian vegetation that holds the creek bank together the Department would be responsible for delivering the death blow to our creek!

Silt buildup at McMillans Rd drainage 5/11/13

If the creek were a living organism it's riparian vegetation would be like it's immune system. It Absorbs the shock of extreme weather event's such as flooding, holds moisture in times of drought, prevents erosion, provides habitat and creates a micro climate which facilitates the existence of many species of plants and animals  etc... Vegetation helps the creek maintain it's form, filters water entering the system and so on. Removing riparian vegetation would be something like introducing a virus to the organism that has the capacity to destroy the creeks entire life cycle. 

To any ecologist or anyone schooled in land management this seems like madness. But I guess not so to an engineer. There are many reasons why we need the help of engineers to develop and manage our environment... However they should never have full power of decision making when it comes to natural systems!    

Clogged culvert, what happens when you let engineers design watercourses.

A short Sunday morning ride

This morning I had some time off just to cruise!

Where to go? Well I have to admit I'm in no shape to go peddling around to Mandorah or to do any heroic jaunts south of Humpty Doo. Considering my current, pathetic physical condition I can only imagine a very short, very local ride. (I've been working on a hedonistic theory for reducing my itchy feet. The theory is that if I stay up late playing computer games and watching movies I will be suitably sedated so as not to pace the house resenting domesticity... The down side is my body and mind have atrophied to a state similar what a lobotomized sea slug might look like... I'm working on a new theory... )

If you like cycling Darwin is a great place to live. OK there's only one road out of town but around town there are plenty of cycle paths and parkways where cycling is easy and very pleasant. I decide to make a loop around the Casuarina Coastal Reserve and then continue on to Rapid Creek Market for some paw-paw salad and black sticky rice. mmmmm yum!

Since the brain isn't capable of inventing anything interesting to read I thought I'd just tell you about my ride.

The beginning of the ride was a bit emotional for me. I had to cycle past a place that used to be a very healthy woodland habitat and a favorite spot for large flocks of Red Tailed Cockatoos. The pocket of bush between Leanyer and the Lee Point Caravan park on Lee Point Rd was the source of inspiration for an artist friend of mine who lived across the road from there for years. We both used to admire the health of the woodlands and the variety of species it supported, then one day the buldozers moved in and the whole lot was gone in a matter of days! I called him not long after and could hear the Black Cockatoos calling desperately in a tone neither of us have ever heard before! It was quite unnerving to hear, those birds were obviously distressed and so were we!

What was will soon be forgotten by many who used to drive past that special pocket of bush and never known by the new home owners who come to fill the newly created estate of Muirhead!

Muirhead Estate. Wildlife exterminated! Woodlands no more!

 I soon passed Darwin's latest obnoxious development and was rolling down the trail to more familiar ground. The Casuarina Coastal Reserve Stringybark Walk. (Not officially a cycle path but for cyclists this track is irresistible). The blue bike I rode today was a freebie! I rescued it from a skip on a building site. When I found it the rear wheel and cogs were worn out, the chain rusted stiff and all the cables seized up. After just a couple of hours of free time and a bunch of horded spare bits I had it on the road and rolling beautifully. I've finally learned my lessons about chain sizes and gears etc.. I managed to find a matching set of cogs and chain to suit the bikes gear shifter and it worked very nicely.

Beginning of the Stringybark Track

The Stringybark track to Lee Point has been graded and quite wide for a walking path, its like cycling on a well packed dirt road. The upper woodland section is quite flat and winds a short distance through some typical woodland habitat with occasional views of the sea. A lot of the washed out drainage lines have been re-vegetated and closed to destructive cyclist traffic.

Not too far along the way the track splits and walkers are offered a choice of continuing to Lee Point or taking the Monsoon Vine Forest track back to Casuarina beach. If you ever visit Darwin I recommend walking (or cycling respectfully) along this track. It is the most beautiful track in Darwin! All paths head toward the sea. If you follow the official path it's a fairly gentle slope... If you're a ratbag and chose to take one of the washed out informal paths it can be quite steep and slippery. Radical cyclists seem to prefer the second (non)option.

As the track tapers off at sea level we pass an old WWII bunker, there used to be heaps of these all along the coast around Darwin, I think there are three in tact within the coastal reserve. WWII relics are still being found from time to time, including unexploded ordinance dropped by Japanese planes. This bunker is located near a freshwater washout very close to the water's edge. On a high tide the sea gets pretty close. The trees in the background are Casuarina trees, these are native to the area but were planted to help stabilize the dunes after sand mining in the 1960s decimated the natural dunes. Casuarina's are a favorite food of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.

After passing through the Casuarina forest, which is a bit like being in a Radiata pine forest with pine needles lining the forest floor and the whistling in the canopy when the wind blows, the track goes up hill a bit and into a very different and not so common habitat, Monsoon Vine Forest. It's always a bit cooler in here, greener, quieter and darker than the open Woodland and a huge contrast from the Casuarina forest which literally buts up against it. Monsoon Vine forests are remnant forests and as close as we get to a tropical jungle. The wildlife that lives in this habitat is very specific. Before the well watered urban gardens of Darwin suburbs evolved, Monsoon Vine Forests were the only place you would have found the Orange-footed scrub fowl. Despite my dislike for urban sprawl I have to admit the suburbs of Darwin have actually created a sanctuary for many species such as the scrub fowl, frilled lizards and once upon a time Yellow spotted monitors. Several species are probably more numerous within the city than they are in their natural habitat. On this part of the trail you can usually see a Rainbow Pitta or two and Rose Crowned Fruit Doves. The Rainbow Pittas are hard to spot from a bike, usually you'll hear them kicking the leaves around before you see them if you're walking quietly. This time I did see a Fruit Dove, (sorry no photos worth showing).

The Monsoon Vine Forest path is fairly flat but gradually winds it's way back toward the beach. Before emerging at the Darwin Free Beach (nudist beach) there's a really nice footbridge over the upper part of Sandy Creek. Now we're in the mangroves and a very different environment. On the dirt tracks before entering the mangroves are small piles of shells and ashes. A lot of aboriginal people who live in Darwin take advantage of the rich stocks of bush tucker that can be found so close to town. Shelfish are a luxury that many people can't do without. I think that for saltwater people, to live in the city and not be able to eat their favorite foods would be far too much to bear. The number of delicacies they can find in a tiny patch of mangrove is amazing. Gathering shelfish is the work of the ladies and kids. Maybe I could blog a hunting trip next time. A dhunga Balanda like me gets in the way out in the mangroves and can be more trouble than we're worth, even when hunting with kids.

Finally we're back at the beach. The Free Beach is pretty big and there's plenty of privacy for those odd sandal and socks wearing naturists.

Wide open vistas at Casuarina Beach. It's lovely. The sand is packed hard after some overnight rain and fairly easy to cycle on.

Headed back past the open paddock beside the Rapid Creek I saw heaps of birds. One favorite along this stretch are the Rainbow Bee Eaters that perch on an old wire fence. Waiting for passers by to scare up some easy tucker.

Galah

Plumed Whistling Ducks - Foreground, Corella's - Background

Magpie Geese

A quiet moment at Rapid Creek Market

Pretty soon I've crossed the Rapid Creek Bridge and I'm at the Rapid Creek markets. This is the best place in Darwin to find Asian vegetables (I'm not too sure about the chemical content of produce you'll find here). I came here especially for some paw-paw salad and black sticky rice. I grab the desert first and an extra sweet rice and casava wrapped in banana leaf and savor every mouthful. Something happened to me when I was in Indonesia years ago and I've craved this stuff ever since! Unfortunately I didn't get my paw-paw salad. I was given a free sample of some sickly sweet icy desert and felt obliged to spend my money on that instead! What a sucker!

Low tide on Nightcliff foreshore looking at a cloud

Headed home I rode back along the Nightcliff foreshore and got to see the approaching clouds of the monsoon just before the rain hit and everything became engulfed by the drenching tropical rain we've been waiting for. I cycled home in the rain feeling happy and contented and determined to change my program and go back to using early morning rides as a means of sedating my restless spirit or at least temporarily satisfying the nagging wanderlust that dominates my soul!

It's been raining fairly steadily ever since and the smell of the rain is divine!

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo in the Casuarina

Actually I forgot to mention the smells. Every part of this journey contained it's on particular smells. Riding past the housing estate I sensed dust and oil and an unholy lack of life.

The woodlands had a combination of fresh new wet leaves, sweet oxygen and just a touch of fowers.

The Casuarina forest smelt like the sea and the resin of half chewed casuarina nuts.

Monsoon Vine Forest smelt damp and heavy but fresh

Mangrove was a heady slightly fermented smell like warm beer

The smells at Rapid Creek market are like a free trip back to South East Asia! Spices, fruit even the occasional smell of clove cigarettes if you're really lucky. I love the food here but I have to admit sometimes even the scent is enough. Sometimes when I'm squeezing through the tightly packed walkways the smells convince me that I am somewhere else entirely.

A sweeter life I have never know. Peace.

Paths and predicaments

Last September while riding out to the Elizabeth River bridge I noticed that the bicycle path had been extended beyond the bend which used to mark the end of the Darwin - Palmerston bike path. I returned a few days later excited to see how far the extension went and discovered that an excellent bike path had been created along the old Darwin Rail line, all the way to Howard Springs!

Palmerston - Howard Springs bicycle path (crossing rail bridge)



Palmerston - Howard Springs bicycle path (rail cutting)

According to the NT Transport Group the 5.4 kilometre path was officially opened on the 11th September 2011, just a few days after I rode it. It's an awesome path and quite easy to ride. Unfortunately I have two major complaints about the path. I can't stand those stupid bent poles which force people riding in opposite directions into each others way to avoid hitting the poles (These things are really dangerous in town where kids ride, they are just the right height to hit a child in the head!) The other thing that I can't figure out is the crossing at Howard Springs Rd which instructs cyclists to Dismount prior to crossing the road! WTF for? I presume it's purpose is designed for the safety of cyclists. However I just can't see how getting off one's bike and pushing it across a road is going to improve safety for anyone. If it's based on road accident stats I think they'll find that Pedestrians are much more likely to be hit than cyclists (OK Stats can be extremely subjective but for goodness sake!). If I'm riding my bike the safest way for me to avoid being hit by a car is to spend as little time crossing the road as I can. My bike provides me with the means of doing this, why would I want to 'Dismount'?

 What's this chicanery?

Dubious safety research!

A technically legal predicament presents itself to cyclists most times we enter the road. Follow the ill conceived directives of road planners who appear to have given bugger all thought to the practicalities of their arbitrary designs, or follow ones own instinct for reading road conditions based on a keen sense of self preservation? Well in the case of this 'Dismount' sign I decided to follow the instruction purely out of curiosity and for the sake of experimentation. Result: I felt quite compromised standing in the middle of the road! Now I know for sure what to do next time!

Since it's construction I've ridden along the new stretch from Palmerston to Howard Springs about 6 times and have really enjoyed my experiences on the path; it's like a public esplanade in the middle of nowhere. There are always heaps of cyclists on the path and it passes through some really nice country, including a raised section where you can ride over the top of paperbark wetlands which will likely be in full flow by February.

Besides it's ride-ability there was another plus to the path which enticed me back a few times.
Last year when I first rode the path I really enjoyed riding past a well wooded mango orchard which wasn't fenced. Besides the potential to glean a few ripe mangoes the orchard created a wonderful atmosphere. It was densely wooded and had a full, lush canopy which created it's own micro climate. Riding past it was like riding through a shady grove, it was aesthetically beautiful.

I kept my eye on the orchard and wondered if it was being maintained. Some of the trees may have reached senility but most were in pretty good shape, non commercially speaking of course. There were dead branches and signs of parasites or disease among them but also thriving colonies of green ants. It appeared that the trees hadn't been tended to for quite a long time. 

As the season rolled on, the grass grew longer between the trees and I felt sure that no one cared for the crop. Eventually the fruit had grown to a size that could be picked. I decided to head out there and collect some that had fallen, after all no one seemed to care for it. I managed collect a few pieces of fruit which had fallen on the ground. By the time I visited again there were tons of mangoes on the trees and the grass was quite tall throughout the orchard. I decided to pick some fruit... and filled both slings on my Xtracycle. Technically not Gleaning but it seemed the fruit would only go to waste. After two trips I had far more fruit than I could eat in the two weeks it would take it all to ripen! I was ecstatic that I had come across such a perfect situation. Food falling from trees and all I have to do is go for a nice ride on my bike to collect it!

Well it was too good to be true! A couple of weeks ago I rode past the orchard and it had been razed to the ground! Nothing left of that little grove but a smouldering pile of smashed branches and roots, a few stumps sticking out of the ground and some mango seeds remaining from the fruit that rotted on the ground! So much for "The People's Orchard!" At first I thought it was an act of malice against the trees and those who enjoyed their bounty but most likely a simple pragmatic decision to reduce potential spread of disease or re-develop the land or something like that. Either way it pisses me off when things like that happen.


Mango tree stump (100s of trees destroyed)


Pile of burned roots and branches

It was such a beautiful orchard. I guess I was always preoccupied with its fruit to bother taking a photo before it was destroyed.

So much space so few places to sit!

Connection to place

I am an Australian Citizen.

My ancestry on both my mother's and my father's side originate in Scotland. Both families settled in Victoria several generations ago (sorry if this information is a little vague, this is not a genealogy post)

I grew up in the outer Northern Suburbs of Melbourne. My parents house was build in a new Estate back in the late 1960s. Prior to this the land had been a farm, which I believe was owned by ta family by the name of Black. I have heard that an elderly lady, Mrs Black (possibly the original farm owner prior to subdivision), still lives in the old farm house around the corner, but I've never met her. I don't know the true history or the  original People who belonged to that place, although there must be one. It is known to be part of the Wurundjeri people's country. I can see evidence of where and how they lived in books, but their story is not commonly known to the settler inhabitants of their land and I can imagine those who remain do not fully know their land like their ancestors did.

Growing up I never heard their language or even of their existence. It is only now and due to all the work that has been done to rediscover our countries Indigenous heritage that these stories are beginning to be told, but they are revealed like relics from the past rather than threads of a tale that might connect us to the land we are on.

When I was a kid our house was still surrounded by open paddocks, horses would occasionally visit our yard. At the bottom of our street there was a fresh water creek and a patch of bushland that  must have been considered too steep to develop (The creek has since been filled in, the bush cleared and houses stuck on the side of the hill). Beyond the creek was open woodland on the steep slopes and dairy farmland on the flatter country, all subsequently redeveloped as housing estates. An open aqueduct passed through the farmland but beyond that was the Plenty River and more native bushland in the valley around the river. As the land on the city side of the aqueduct gradually became suburbia everything North of the aqueduct remained, The Country!'. This was where I liked to go most, it became my second home.

Land for Wildlife
Unfortunately it seems everything is up for grabs if you have a few bucks more...FOR SALE?

(The orange flags hanging on the fence mark out land to be bulldozed and paved)

As a kid I spent most of my time outside, riding my bike and exploring  having adventures of one kind or another. I explored every corner of my neighborhood especially the waterways, creeks, rivers and dams. I ate it's mushrooms, blackberries, cherry plums, sour apples and pears as well as whatever fruit I could reach over local gardeners fences. I noticed every bird, lizard, wallaby and roo; there were even turtles and bats. As I got older I'd often spend nights in the bushland adjoining the Plenty River with one or two of my adventurous mates, we'd catch eels and the occasional fish from the River. There was a special place on that river  where platypus lived. At night Sugar Gliders would leap through the acacias back at camp. My friends and I also spent many hours hunting rabbits along the banks and in the cow paddocks surrounding the river. We knew all it's secret places.

A sacred space by the river

Pebbles Crossing... As known by some

I often wondered about the original people, how they must have loved this place and why there is no apparent sign of them now. I grew up in that country and lived in it, I have been burned under it's sun and drenched in it's rain. I have walked across it's frost covered fields and felt the frozen grass snap under my feet while my toes froze in wet boots. I've drunk water from it's creeks, sat by the smoky fire of it's eucalyptus trees and sweated across miles of track and through the scrub. I've assisted the farmer to deliver a still born calf and skun my own calves crossing his barbed wire fences. I am not an Indigenous person of this country but can sympathize with those who are if they love it like I do. Although my ancestry is Scottish I  can only consider myself a native of the place I was born and grew up. I have traveled and lived a long way from the Plenty Gorge but my mind and heart keep tripping back there. It is my country. Yolngu friends have told me that it is quite natural for us to become part of the place where we are born. Even if it is not our own Clan Estate  the spirit of the place will be part of us and we a part of it.

It is no dream of mine,
To ornament a line;
I cannot come nearer to God and Heaven
Than I live to Walden even.
I am its stony shore,
And the breeze that passes o'er;
In the hollow of my hand
Are its water and its sand,
And its deepest resort
Lies high in my thought

(Henry David Thoreau)

I have heard it said that the land is not dead.
It is sleeping and waiting for it's people to come home. To sing the songs and call it by it's true name. Even though Piece by piece it has been sliced up, re-allocated, subdivided and sold! Dozed, filled in and paved, barely a scratch of earth remaining beside the concrete, bitumen and bricks! Ignorant and ambitious to profit from what cannot belong to them the developers have moved into places they should never be granted to step! They haven't ever seen a single mist rise from the river.

Drainage from the road straight into the creek

A pretty view for new home owners, but will it ever mean anything more than that?

The reality of modern 'best practice' land development technique

Out of site out of mind!

As Thoreau foretold in his reference to Flint's Pond, they have even re-named, profaned it and ultimately shamed it!

"Flint's Pond! Such is the poverty of our nomenclature. What right had the unclean and stupid farmer whose farm abutted on this sky water, whose shores he has ruthlessly laid bare, to give his name to it? Some skin-flint, who loved better the reflecting surface of a dollar, or a bright cent, in which he could see his own brazen face; who regarded even the wild ducks which settled in it as trespassers; his fingers grown into crooked and bony talons from the long habit of grasping harpy-like;— so it is not named for me. I go not there to see him nor to hear of him; who never saw it, who never bathed in it, who never loved it, who never protected it, who never spoke a good word for it, nor thanked God that He had made it. Rather let it be named from the fishes that swim in it, the wild fowl or quadrupeds which frequent it, the wild flowers which grow by its shores, or some wild man or child the thread of whose history is interwoven with its own; not from him who could show no title to it but the deed which a like-minded neighbor or legislature gave him who thought only of its money value; whose presence perchance cursed — him all the shores; who exhausted the land around it, and would fain have exhausted the waters within it..."

(Henry David Thoreau - Walden - 1854 The Ponds chapter)

If language is a gift from God, how many generations will pass before those who live here now will begin to speak the language of the places we inhabit? When will it be revealed to us if this place is Dhuwa or that place Yirritja? Who is this tree, rock or animal? What name should that sunset have? What songs do they sing and call me to dance to? Do I call this place mother, sister or brother? Will finally know that to kill a river is murder?

Simplify

Right now here in Darwin we are experiencing the eye of category 1 Cyclone Carlos. Prior to the development of the tropical low and the accompanying 'very' wet (Over 400mm in 24 hours) weather I was busy getting on with simplifying my life and leaving the blogging world behind me. Just give it up, cold turkey like a bad habit or addiction... (I'm sure Thoreau wouldn't have spent his days blogging...! He'd probably have some great derogatory description for those who waste their time on such egocentric nonsense)

Instead of blogging mindless 'twitter' I have been reading 'Walden' by Henry David Thoreau and spending my days exploring, walking, paddling, planting etc... and loving it! But now I'm housebound, taking shelter from Carlos, the Wind and the Rain,and I'm too close to the computer to resist.

Here's some things I've seen over the past month or so.


(A great train headed south)


(A walk through the mangroves amongst the Mud-skippers)


(A mossy wonderland)


(Wild Ginger on a hillside in Litchfield National Park)


(Giant Myrtle Beach trees in a sacred gully in the Otways)


(Paddling a swollen river in Geelong)


(A living sculpture of plants and food in Collingwood)


(A magical era of bicycle innovation and invention)

Over the past month I have enjoyed some really wonderful experiences. I have shared most of these with the ones I love and we have felt blessed to live in a place that has so much natural beauty and to have the right to travel freely to almost any place we like in this country. 

I have also seen the continued trauma and pain suffered by Asylum Seekers and the lack of compassion shown by our Governments, media and many members of our society toward these vulnerable people. 

I have seen the continuation of racist policies and sanctioned discrimination against Indigenous people in the Northern Territory and I have seen the destruction and defilement of places that are incredibly dear to me.

It's a busy time in this life and everything seems to be moving way too fast. I resolved at the end of last year to make better use of my time and not bother too much with useless things. The more practical the better and there's no point to prattling on about it. I may find that while tapping away on this keyboard I have missed a perfect opportunity to learn to knit, sharpen a tool, identify a plant, skin a rabbit or grow a bean! Right now I could be writing a letter to a certain Shire Council challenging them on their decision to allow developers to channel their stinking festering drain pipes from their environmentally disastrous housing estate straight into the Plenty River that I love!
Maybe if I'd had just one spare day I could have spent it collecting all the shit that has washed through those drains and dumped it in the nearest showroom of that housing estate? Now that would have been time well spent!


(The destruction of the fields where I used to roam)

I took my boy out to the fields so he could experience the fresh air, the smell of the grass and to feel the dry bark and clay under his feet just as I did when I was his age! Alas I was too late! They have taken it all away!