Bali Time

From Collages

Finally another trip to Bali!

Visited Tuban/Kuta, Uluwatu hired a car in Ubud and went to Penelokan, Bali Bird Park and Ubud Botanical Gardens. Primary Objective - Introduce Children to Bali Culture - Dance - Music - Food...
(Flying to Bali and staying in the standard holiday resort style accommodation totally blows my minimum impact philosophy but with two young kids we chose the path of least resistance...)

The last time I went to Bali was in 2006. I went solo for one week soon after our first child was born. I'd just completed a course of study and desperately needed to get away! My wife wasn't keen on going with an infant but was happy for me to go...(actually I'm not so sure she was happy about it)


(Uluwatu)

Anyway I went solo thinking I would finally be able to enjoy the richness of life in Bali, get some rest, eat my favorite foods drink some thick kopi Bali and all the other things I'd missed for the 3 years since I was there last. I was really looking forward to having some time to myself being able to read, sleep, eat, come and go whenever I felt like it. It was only for a week but turned out to be terribly disappointing!



I realized that although I'd longed to return, being solo was not what it used to be... or how I'd hoped it would be. I missed my family too much and every day wondered why I'd gone away without them. The Balinese people were not impressed to hear that I was married but traveling alone and I realized very quickly that having a family and leaving them behind was not the thing to do!

Now 3 years later we have two young children. This time I was looking forward to taking the whole family to experience the magic of Bali. This time it would be different and I would be able to enjoy the wonders of Bali through the eyes of my children... (A romantic notion)

As we disembarked and proceeded through customs the kids were in awe of the colours, the umbrellas and Barong statues. I could see they were absorbing it all. The smell of clove cigarrettes the fact that there were no seat belts in the car we travelled in to our hotel, the way everyone greeted them with a smile and always noticed them.

Exploring was great but meal times were hell! One of our kids wouldn't eat... (It's always been that way) and the other had to be held or we'd find him in the most dangerous of places!

In an unfamiliar environment, no TV and no other kids to play with our eldest became quite a handful. There were countless tantrums, severe cases of homesickness, loneliness and boredom. It only occurred to me on the second last day in Ubud that some toys might be in order...?!


(Horse and cart in Tuban)

We spent three nights in Tuban and six in Ubud. The kids both loved the performances in Ubud and we went to a show every night! Legong, Barong, Keris, Kecak, Wayang kulit so many performances and all of them were fantastic. Our eldest was spellbound while our one and a half year old who doesn't yet understand the difference between performer and audience was compelled to get up and join at least two of the performances!


(Nasi Campur in Ubud)

There are changes in Ubud now that have altered it immeasurably from how I remember the place. Large commercial enterprises have sprung up all over the place! Crowding out the virtually unchanged businesses that were operating when I was first there in the early nineties there are now some flash new air conditioned buildings with bright lightning selling international brands and surely not owned by locals.

(Ubud Near football field)


(Changing Ubud / contrasting cultures)

It used to be that the lights went out soon after the last performance at the Ubud Palace or by about 9:30pm; blackouts were very common. You would have to bring your torch along to find your way home. There were more dogs than people on the street and it was normal to walk down the middle of the road to avoid both dogs and potholes, cars weren't an issue. There are far more bars now and the streets are lit up well into the night and Reggae music can often be heard above the usual sound of Gamalan. However there are plenty of things that haven't changed a bit. For instance the internet cafe on the corner of Jl Monkey Forrest and Jl Dewi Sita still has the very same computers that struggled to handle email back in 2003!

Amazingly 10 years after the woman who became my wife and I had a peculiar encounter with a man selling coconuts on Campuhan ridge I came across the same man while walking there with my daughter! He even used the same sales pitch!


(The coconut seller)


(Barong)

To sum it all up the trip was well worth it! We did manage to enjoy some great Indonesian food, had a few new experiences and 0ur kids had their first introduction to life outside of Australia. Best of all me eldest got to see the Kecak dance for real after having listened to it on tape for four years. Eldest child can now count to 1o in Bahasa Indonesia.

(Gunung Batur from Penelokan)

Remember Manor Garden Allotments

I thought I'd post a YouTube video documentary about the Manor Gardens Allotments in the UK.

I discovered this story about a year ago and thought I'd post it now while I'm thinking about it.
If you think the Olympic Games are "Friendly" or for "The People" you might reconsider your opinion after seeing this story! The Oppressive bureaucratic business machine that is the Olympics is far from friendly to the people who live anywhere near a proposed venue.

The Manor Gardens were in the way of a proposed Olympic site! What chance did the people have to save their sanctuary from the Greed and Grandiosity of an Olympic development committee?



(Warning: This is a pretty long video and may take some time to load!)

NUC and Environment Centre "Pay The Rent" to Larrakia Nation

This morning was a special event was held at Nightcliff Uniting Church.
About 15 years ago members of the Nightcliff Uniting Church Congregation decided that in the spirit of 'Reconciliation' and the 'Uniting Church Covenanting movement' they should acknowledge the Traditional Indigenous Owners.
A recent decision by the Environment Centre NT means there are now Two Organizations in Darwin who will make regular payments as "rent" to the Larrakia Nation.

After a rousing Sermon by Rev. Dr. Lee Levett-Olson, Principal of Nungalinya College, a ceremony was held in a Shady spot outside the Church, where both Nightclif Uniting Church and The Environment Centre NT "Paid the Rent" to Larrakia Nation representative Donna Jackson at the symbolic occasion.

Both organizations consider paying a form of "Rent" to be a symbolic gesture of recognition and respect for the Larrakia People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land that they occupy.




(Lee calls the people to gather)

During the Worship service Lee gave a sermon entitled "Law in our Hearts" making a great example of how both Indigenous People and Balanda are dismayed by the lack of order in each other's society. Referring to a divine law that predates our religious institutions and is written on the Hearts of all people of God. He cited the inconsistencies that cause each to wonder where is the "Law" in the other's customs.

Law in our Hearts
(Excerpt: Rev. Dr. Lee Levett-Olson Lent Sermon 29 March 2009)

"One of the great tragedies of the Top End is the way in which so many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people misunderstand each other’s culture. Both groups are proud of their own traditions; both believe their social order is grounded in law; both see that law as being connected to divine origins which give them a unique place in creation: and each group acts as though the other had no real law at all.

Indigenous people look at the white legal system – its strange clothes, incomprehensible words, adversarial approach, and lethal forms of ongoing punishment – and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the justice?’

They look at governments that change rules from one season to the next, and see that those who make the rules are not bound by them, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the law?’

They look at young people who show no respect for elders, at a society so obsessed with racing to riches that it has no time for history, at a world facing destruction because no one cares about creation, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the tradition?’

They look at the way land is bought and sold, and the poor are evicted, and fencelines change, and underground resources are plundered, and profits go to those far away, and the sick and the elderly are taken from their families, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the culture?’

These are good and valid questions, and they deserve an answer – but because no answer we give

changes anything, Indigenous people conclude, ‘Balanda got no law’.
- 1 -
White Australians look at Indigenous communities – at houses breaking down, at the violence and despair, at the dirt and the dogs, the drinking and drugs, at children missing school and illiterate parents – and ask, in racist contempt or helpless compassion, ‘Where is the culture?’

We look without knowing the language; we look without caring for history; we look in a hurry, with no time to listen; we look from outside, blind to our blinkers. So we learn nothing about ancient systems of governance and trade recorded in song and in knowledge-objects thousands of years before Moses’ stone codes. We learn nothing about social order built on sustainable environments, and health-promoting practices that made death from preventable illness almost unknown.

We learn nothing, but we label: we call them ‘hunter gatherers’, ‘primitives’, ‘pre-history people’. We label their kinship systems confusing and inflexible; their ancient rules mere ‘customs’; their deep knowledge of health and environment ‘folklore’; and their spirituality ‘superstition’. And because we lack the tools to learn better, white Australians conclude, ‘Indigenous people have no law.’..."

"...We would all become People of Law – not external codes or expendable justice, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, but grounded in history, cherished in spirituality, kept alive in ceremony, recorded deep in culture:..."

"...We are called to be People of Law, and if we take up that call, we will begin to see our kinship – Indigenous and white, migrant and First Peoples, stewards of land and those who come later – all of us together, People of Law. Deeper than any culture, challenging all societies, present in each of us, written on our hearts: God’s eternal Rom – shalom for all creation."

(Fiona, a member of the original 'Rent Paying' Congregation speaks about what motivated the group to formalize their acknowledgment of The Larrakia People)


(Ian O'Reilly recounts the History and formulation of the Rent Paying policy.)

Excerpt From Ian's speach:

Paying The Rent
(Ian O'Reilly 29.03.09)

"About 15 years ago (I’m not exactly sure when), a Congregational meeting of NUC agreed to ‘pay the rent’ in perpetuity. It took a few years for the resolution to be implemented, because at the time the Larakia Nation was not an incorporated body, and we had to wait for this to occur before we could put our desire into practice. Today’s ceremony recognizes this small, historic moment..."

"...several sources of inspiration for our action. Another was Midnight Oil, whose song ‘Beds Are Burning’ goes:

The time has come to say fair’s fair
To pay the rent now, to pay our share.
The time has come, a fact’s a fact,
It belongs to them, let’s give it back.’

Nightcliff Uniting Church has maintained our desire to be seen to be a community committed to justice and reconciliation for Indigenous Australians. The action is small and the amount tokenistic, but it is symbolic of our recognition of historical and current injustice, and it has been costly for us because we are a small organization that struggles to meet our financial commitments. We have not been able to rise to the challenge of the second half of the song verse, but we do ‘pay the rent’. We choose not to ‘sleep while our beds are burning’. Thankyou Larakia people for your recognition of this today."

Congregation present "Rent" declaration posters to Larrakia Elders



Some of the Flags painted by members of the NUC congregation, Young and Old.



Dr. Stuart Blanch of the Environment Centre Pay's The Rent



Larrakia Elders receive Rent Posters


NUC Band plays "Walkin' Down The Road" (Robin Mann 1978 with permission)

My cycling Heros!

Have you ever heard of a comic duo called Flight of the Conchords?

No????! These guys are really funny! We bought their video about 3 months ago and have watched every episode about 5 times... some favorites we've seen possibly 7 or 8 times now! Seriously they're great and the music is soooo Coool!

Here's a couple of samples:

Basil and the bean stalk

Well it sounds like a great title for a really interesting story but alas I have no time for creative imaginings! So the story is as simple as the title suggests. Beans and Basil...


(Beans to the roof)


(Beans 1ft long!)

I did however have time to pick some of the Snake beans that are growing abundantly outside my bedroom window! I combined them with some fresh basil, a sweet potato, some green curry paste, coconut milk and Chicken. (My apologies to my vegan friends... and the chicken whose life was sacrificed for sake of pleasing my palate) They made an excellent dinner.


(Beans, basil and sweet potato)

I have no images of the meal because in our house all hell breaks loose at dinner time. To take a photo at that time would have left me vulnerable to attack by marauding midgets and would definitely have invoked the wrath of a tired and hungry woman!

Dragonfly = change of season.

The change of seasons in the Wet/Dry Tropics region of the Northern Territory has some fairly obvious indicators... Although I have not learned all the sighs that indicate the more subtle differences of our 6 seasons, I am becoming more aware of some signs. The change in wind direction is a reasonably reliable sign.

We Balanda are generally only aware of two seasons or at best three. According to most people I speak to there is a Wet and a Dry season. Those who have been around for a while know the period between Dry and Wet as THE BUILD UP! (It's a rather hot humid time with no rain and can be extremely uncomfortable)
My senses tell me that we are now in a very special season! More days of blue sky are appearing as the monsoon departs and the clouds are blown away by southerly winds. It's still hot, the ground is drying out but the foliage is still quite green. Everywhere trees are flowering and the Spear Grass is stretching high to reach it's maturity the seed ripening stage. Native fruits are becoming abundant and there is a flush of fertility and life. This season is known by Yolngu People of East Arnhem Land as Mirdawarr


(Dragonfly drawing, by a child... acutely aware that new things are appearing)

One other indicator of a change in seasons is the appearance of Dragonflys!
I'd say by the feel of things that Mirdawarr is now with us.