Wet road

I traveled by bike on the wet road,

steam rose, traffic flowed,

Dodged the dodgy, flooded street gutters

broken bottles and mangled toads...

Passed the arse end of Darwin town, 

Shaggy bearded tramp of a bloke

wet trousers drag each stroke,

When you ride in the tropics you know the taste,

Stale sweat mixed with the rain

 

From my office I can role past St Vinnies lunch time queue

Stale bread, cold tea...
daytime TV
 volume maxed

I was headed for parliament
Wedding cake castle, ten minutes flat

tyre mud splashed on my back
 crotch chafed, humidity 80% 

Stop!
The road and the towers were too much
I looked to my left to old One Mile camp,
Bereft and forgotten
Bulldozers ready for their final cut

No joy there...  I rode on

I arrived at Parliament
 just in time for the announcement.... 

The minister will not be joining us today.
Seems our leaders are a bunch of big girls blouses
To afraid to face the public, in case of greenies, and those damned rebel rousers!

"Toughen up Princess" 

 

And the rain came down

First it was hot,
Then there was rumbling,
Clouds gathered,
Wind blew....

We picked the corn

 And then the rain came down....

And it reminded me of a song.





But the rain came down.... and the walls remained, and half our crop was spoiled it got wet the night before and now the creek is clogged with silt and we haven't changed....
Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya....

Rising up

Arrived back in Melbourne again last Friday...

Plenty of family time. I managed to get the bike back on the road and have been taking it on the trains. It's awesome down here, you can ride the trains both suburban and rural with your bike. The Geelong train even has a bike rack... Sorry no photos.

On Friday night I received an email to say there would be a rally against Ruds oppressive Asylum Seeker Policy to send all boat arrivals to PNG. I don't bother too much with political stuff on this blog since I am sure most of my old friends and those I grew up with are racist, bigoted pricks... Sorry guys it's just the shit you say and do... If you're wondering why we aren't friends on facebook it's because I've had a gut full of that shit and I really don't want to offend your insular sensibilities or rock your boats... and I certainly don't want to be constantly reminded of the good old days...

Anyway I rode the train into Melbourne on Saturday morning and hoofed it off to the State Library where I joined a small group of people who were setting up for the rally. It's always a bit daunting attending these things, you never know if anyone else will turn up or what kind of opposition you might meet. I was glad to see there were about 30 people with banners and placards. I noticed one of the banners was sagging so I thought I'd hold it up for them... Within 15 minutes a crowd had gathered larger than any I've seen for a very long time. By the time we marched there was a crowd of over 500 people marching on Melbourne's coldest day in 6 years... in the rain! What a buz!

Now apparently poles have been taken and despite the benefit of the doubt afforded to the Australian Public by some speakers I've heard there is an over riding sense of malice held toward asylum seekers in Australia. Back home in Darwin people have openly asserted that boats should be sunk and people shot in the water! I am not surprised. Actually I was more surprised when I heard a local public figure stating that he was sure it is only a small minority in Western Sydney who are generating most of the ill will towards Asylum Seekers. What planet has he been living on?
So friends... Here we are. At a cross roads, a turning point for our national conscience. We are not naive children or innocent unaware folk. We can't go on claiming to be the poor little country of battlers who believe in a fair go and continue to support policies that condemn people we have a moral and legal obligation to help... We will have to choose. We are not being The Good Guys!

I've just now listened to a political Rap song, not my usual style of music... but it took me back to my teenage years and reminded me of how I managed to hold to my political beliefs despite the attitudes of my friends and acquaintances... I was lucky that my parents weren't like that but what got me through feeling totally isolated was Music. I listened to heaps of music that backed up my gut feelings. Red Gum, Lou Reed, Midnight Oil, Warumpi Band, Bob Dylan.... and heaps more! Even if you grow up surrounded by ignorance maybe music will provide safe harbor.

Surfing clouds home from work

Cycling through a rolling corkscrew vortex below the vaporous swell of cloud. Waves in the air rolling not yet breaking. 

Riding home from Parap on Monday night. 7:00pm The sky was darker than usual, no sunlight poking through just a dim glow reflecting off the rolling head of another trough. A few drops of rain touch my skin and I wonder how far I'll get before the rain bursts free from the sky.
After a couple of minutes chatting with friends the time has come to ride. The early evening and morning are my favorite times to ride.

I was keen to start peddling but an old fella was gesturing me to the auto teller. I wanted to ignore him but without my glasses I stared too long to see what he was doing and he knew he had me! This happens a fair bit in Darwin. He's got his card and knows his pin but he can't operate the machine, he just needs someone to access his account and withdraw his money for him. It's a weird situation to have a stranger give you their bank card and pin number anywhere else it probably would never happen but in Darwin life is a bit different. I kind of doubted he knew the pin but sure enough I entered the number he told me and we were in.
"How much do you want to withdraw?"
"One Hundred Dollah"
I try one hundred and surprize surprize the machine refuses to pay. Not enough funds. OK, I thinks, No money, great now I can go home!
"You've got no money, sorry, it didn't work."
I waited to be dismissed but no, we're going to try again. Damn it! It's going to rain and I'm stuck at the auto teller with some old bloke who could probably do without another $100 of drinking money but he wasn't ready to let me go just yet.

"OK try forty!"
"There is no forty. Only twenty or fifty..."
"OK fifty!"

I try fifty and miraculously the money comes out. I leave it for him to grab from the machine, thankfully he had no trouble doing that, not that I would be tempted to take his money, even though I've rarely got more than a dollar to spend. It just seems weird and I want to get on my bike! The old fella says thanks, he's genuinely grateful, now I feel like an asshole for not wanting to help him. Argh get over it!

Back to the ride. Off we go. The sky is dark but I can see the clouds moving quickly with the wind licking at it's heels as the front rolls across the inky black sky. I roll down the familiar back streets and onto Bagot Rd. I love this time of night! It's the fruit bat hour, cooler, the sun is not frying my skin or broiling my brains the air is heavy and soft. I can feel the weight of the clouds above me and wonder when they will burst and bombard me with rain. I naturally start to peddle faster, It's amazing how much energy I have for cycling when it's cloudy or dark.
The sky is growing darker and darker up ahead... I'm sure I'll get wet but I don't care, the atmosphere is electric... (Only a few flashes of lightning fortunately!) I start to peddle faster. The air pressure drops considerably as I get closer to the storm I feel an incredible sense of lightness. The fruit bat hour is the time of night when 100s of fruit bats fill the sky headed for their evening roosts, It's quite surreal to see... The sensation is magical!
As I ride I am engulfed by the darkness of the storm cloud, I can feel drops of rain falling and wonder if I'll make it home without being drenched. I peddle faster and the bike just glides along. It's like there's no resistance! I am being sucked through a vortex! Moving faster and faster the street is quite empty, all peripheral sights and images disappear into a blur I feel an intoxicating euphoria. I am high! Now I feel like a surfer riding a 5 mile long tube of the perfect wave! The sky is getting darker, I glide the path, drops of rain gather on my skin but only enough to urge me on faster! As I head down Mc Millans road the wind of a storm front bowls it's way through the trees, the temperature drops dramatically but no rain. I am flying! Rolling up hill now I feel like I'm exerting no energy at all! I am in a state of bliss!
The bike trembles slightly as I cross Lee Point Rd, finally I begin to slow down as I approach home. Now I'm just cruising the final leg, my bike and this strange wave just pulls me home. I open the gate and dismount, roll the bike into its stable and enter the house... Home.
Oh give me my bike on any night like this.

Take-off clearance

Sometimes I travel for work... To get to where I am supposed to be, it is expected that I fly there.
Right now I'm in Ramingining... It's been raining and the roads are quite muddy. It makes sense to fly right?

Well sure it makes sense to fly from an immediate needs pragmatic perspective and out here everybody does it but... It's completely unsustainable and somewhat outside my preferred mode of transport. I don't drive my car, partly because I like to ride my bike but it's possible that I got to like riding my bike so much because I'd made a decision to reduce my carbon footprint and stop driving the car... at this point it's not that important which came first, the point is that I'd prefer to burn as little fuel as necessary in order to get where I'm going.

My Youtube account is full subscriptions to amateur film makers documentaries, mostly promoting the virtues of riding bikes, sailing and generally doing stuff that is designed to reduce fuel consumption like This Go Small video:

I am actually quite ambivalent about flying. If you take the fuel consumption and pollution elements away I'd have to admit I actually love flying... It's like most things we like, things such as sweet food. We like eating it but we don't like having decayed teeth wrenched from our mouth. Flying is like that.

I used to love travel... now I just like it a lot. One thing I was looking forward to about going away is that I'd have a little free time to read (since I don't have to look after the kids). So I've brought along my new favourite book Rules For Radicals by Saul Alinsky, which I thought would have nothing to do with my environmental concerns until I read this:

A Pilot speaking to his passengers prior to receiving Take-off clearance:

"Incidentally, I will let you know when we get the take-off clearance and from the instant you hear those jets roar for the take-off until the instant of lift-off, we will have consumed enough fuel for you to drive an automobile from Chicago to New York and back with detours as well!"

(Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (p82)

Great!


Incidentally today was a new record in last minute booking for me. I called the airline 1 hour before take-off and asked if they had any tickets left. They did and gave me 20 minutes to get my act together and check in.
I grabbed my laptop computer and a few documents from work, sped home to get a change of underwear and a couple of T-shirts, blurted out to Sam that I've got 5 minutes to get to the airport, jumped in the car, she surprisingly quickly behind me and made it to the airline hangar just 3 minutes later than they'd advised.

We flew into Ramo over shimmering weltands through thick cloud cover and landed in the middle of a heavy shower. I stepped off the plane into ankle deep water and begged a ride into town with a family who had room in their troopy. I hope the meeting won't be too formal. My only footwear is an old muddy pair of thongs!

I love flying... ;)

Ride

Contents of this post deleted....


Something very strange has happened

Storm water drain... to cross or not to cross?

It had been raining all day and the sky was Dark when I left work. The women in the office I work were all concerned that it might be dangerous out there, I'd get soaked, the roads are flooded! etc... etc... "Yes I know! Isn't it great!"
It was pouring rain! I mounted my bike and rolled out onto the highway which was swamped with a river of water two feet deep. Cars splashed torrents of dirty water from the road as they passed me, lights were on people had pulled over, emergency vehicles were all over the place. It was pandemonium. Peak hour traffic and all the major roads looked more like streams.  There was a hint of apocalypse in the air, the Imperial arches of Gold on Bagot Rd had even taken a battering, red and yellow perspex had crashed to the ground! 
There was flooding on the Stuart Highway, Bagot Rd and Mc Millans Rd. Rapid Creek had completely engulfed McMillans and I was forced to double back and cross a fast flowing open drain to get home. What a joy! There's nothing quite like a monsoonal downpour to wake you up!

Shed water

Crumbling empire

Rapid Creek... where's the bank?

On days like this I love to Ride!

How's the weather?

Some people make a profession of reading, interpreting, understanding and then predicting weather patterns, others study the weather for practical reasons like when to plant their crops or whether or not it is wise to go to sea... and others listen intently to weather forcasts so they will have something boring to talk about at picnics and dinner parties... Personally I am none of these and tend to just enjoy what the weather dishes up to me when I step out the door each day.
Even as a postie I was only ever mildly interested in weather forecasts... Don't get me wrong I am not disinterested in weather; I just don't see the point in studying up on it as though I can have some influence on the outcome! OK if someone tells me it's going to rain I'll dress accordingly... But don't try to start a conversation with me about how the weather is going to be over the next 12 months because I've had one too many of them... (After a few years of living in Darwin you will understand why conversations about extreme weather events can become a bit droll!)

Apparently we are currently experiencing a La nina weather phenomenon. That is pretty interesting actually. Most of Australia has received so much rain that it has caused major flooding in areas that have been dry for more than a decade! Dams are full to overflowing and people are now beginning to wish they hadn't wished so hard for rain.

Here in Darwin we've had exceptionally high rainfall for this time of year and have also been blessed with regular thunderstorms. It's quite wonderful to experience the Tropical thunderstorms we get here, but there is always an element of danger. There are some things a person should avoid doing. Things that might increase the chances of being struck by lightning... Things like playing golf, riding your bike or talking on a conventional telephone (you know the ones that still use a wire).

So after a storm had just passed I was reading my boy a children's story about the rain thinking it would be kind of fun and keeping in theme with the current weather.. I was kind of shocked to find that apparently for the sake of staying true to a rhyme the book gave some very dangerous advice!

(...Umbrellas up and all get under?) - Click on image for clearer text

What is wrong with this picture?

Are they CRAZY?

Planting

Apparently Darwin has seen it's highest November rainfall in 15 years!
Everything has turned green again and life is sprouting from every nook and cranny.


(Raised garden beds at a local school)


(Cantaloupe growing in a raised bed at local school)

I thought I'd end the month with some pictures of the green that is all around us now as we enjoy some lovely coolish days, amazing thunder heads, dark ominous skies proceeded by a rush of cool air and fairly regular thunder storms. (Power outages and blackouts too)
The gardens are enjoying a hefty splash of rain!


(New council planting along Mc Millans Service Rd)

There have been a series of community tree plantings over the past couple of weeks and more that I know of which have been planned for this coming weekend. Now must be the right time to plant wet season crops, but what's really great is that there are heaps of trees being put in the ground. Down at the Mulch Pit the holes have already been dug (with that cool hole digger tool) and a variety of fruit trees are waiting to be stuck in the ground. I've also heard that some friends of Rapid Creek are planning some re-vegetation work that will include tree planting.

The most surprising thing is that it looks like the council has gone bananas planting trees along McMillans Rd! (Or maybe it was the State Government's department of Roads Planning and Infrastructure)
I'd been cursing them all dry season for being heavy handed with their pruning and tree removal but now I am very pleased to see that they have planted heaps of trees. Some of them exotic but I have noticed quite a few Milkwoods going in which is great to see.

The frogs love this unusually wet weather! They seem to have been much more vocal this year than I have ever heard them... well at this time of year anyway! This afternoon we discovered frogs eggs in a bucket full of rainwater at our back door. The kids are so excited.

Life seems full of new beginnings at the moment.

Riding in the rain

Tonight I rode home from a meeting in the rain! It was a beautiful experience.
Somehow everything seemed to be timed to perfection. We were sitting outside and at about 9:00pm a cool breeze came through... Then came the gust. Everyone who's lived in Darwin (or any other tropical place I imagine) knows exactly what to expect soon after that blast of cool air arrives! About 5 minutes later it hit! A beautiful tropical shower complete with the most amazing display of sheet lightening.

It came down pretty hard but by the time I was ready to leave the rain had petered out to a light drizzle and the sky was bright with a constant display of sheet lightening behind the clouds. It really is a wonderful experience to be in this kind of weather.

digression - a rant about my bike (and Biopace Chain rings)
I was riding a fairly old Giant Perigee road bike. It was a bike I got cheep from the tip and ended up giving to my mate Martin. Martin fixed the bike up and a friend of his was riding it a couple of years ago but it has since been returned to me and has been sitting in the yard for most of the past year . It was a pretty slick little bike to ride and I was glad that I'd lent/given it to someone who could be bothered to get it into reasonable shape. I hadn't really ridden it much since Martin gave it back so tonight I had an unexpected treat. The bike is quite smooth and fast too. Although it's a much smaller frame size than would normally suit me I felt very comfortable on it... with a good set of tires I didn't feel at all unsafe riding in the rain... Actually I felt like I was just gliding along. The biopace chainrings probably added to this feeling. Biopace is a kind of elliptical cog system that was introduced back in the 80s and lasted only until the early 90s. There are forums full of arguments about their merit, a lot of people don't like them, but as my knees seem to be getting worse, I am finding the biopace more and more appealing, based on comfort. It's funny because I've read the exact opposite in forums but generally the people who discredit biopace rarely seem to have ridden with it and then I keep coming across people who say that they've ridden 1,000s of miles on them and find them to be very good. I can only judge by my own experience and I'm quite happy. Even to the point where I'm contemplating fitting biopace to my Xtracycle.

(The Giant Perigee with Biopace... I know it looks rough and needs oil)

I have several bikes and only ride with biopace occasionally, however I often feel much more comfortable on the biopace bikes, my knees are much happier too. Everything I've read suggests that they had little effect on efficiency or in overcoming any particular problems... People say biopace offered nothing special to the world of cycling and they eventually disappeared from the stores. It seems that the cycling world is quite fashion oriented and often quite fickle so it seems that by 1993 biopace went out of production.

Well I don't care what other people think of them! I like biopace I have two bikes with biopace chain rings and both are far more comfortable to peddle than any of my other bikes. That's good enough for me!

It's evenings like this that make me feel really grateful that I live in Darwin. It's the warm moist air, a mist of light rain as the storm passes, the smell of wet frogs (maybe Cane Toads) , wet vegetation and the amazing light displays! To ride in the rain wearing just a Tshirt and shorts is a very pleasant experience. My ride home brought me past what are usually pretty dark streets. However on this night I could see perfectly well just from the amount of lightening around. With each flash I saw the drops of rain glistening on my skin and glancing down the frame of my bike was beaded with rain drops. A fine rooster tail of water arched from the wheel in front of me as it picked up water from the black shining road. I wish I could describe the euphoric feelings that can be produced on a night like this. It's electric!