Adventures in Paradise

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Prelude to Long Walk to the Truth: Book 2.

Yellow Brick Road to Truth

Nearly at end of the Book 1: Morocco. The Donkey Walk. Can’t wait to start into Book 2, the serious Long Walk Pilgrimage from Spain to India.

Not all on foot, it must be admitted. But quite a lot was.

I have moved from the torture prison of the scammer conman, the fraudulent so-called Dr, Smith and his psycho-loco poor lost soul would-be chatelaine. 

Yes, I did get a few chapters done there but it was a 6-month long saga of fielding insults and abuse, bullying and intimidation. Basically stymied my creative flow.  

So pleased to have found safe haven in Serenity, my new home. It looks straight across to Koala Mountain Sanctuary my old home of 40 years on Mt. Uki. I became a climate refugee this last year when my studio home there collapsed as a result of the damage by Cyclone Debbie (2017) and a previous tornado.

Serenity is a share house. I now live with a beautiful artistic lady, the Goddess Diana, a vegan with high values of Beauty, Love, Joy. Deeply concerned at the future of life on Earth. Lives her ideals.

A painter of the nanoscopic world. Creator of angel sculptures from recycled bits of anything. With her decorators’ eye and antique collector’s touch she has created a beautiful studio environment. Her eclectic objects are pleasingly displayed all around what was basically a fairly ordinary suburban house, now transformed into a gallery. The eye is charmed as it roves from one precious beautiful thing to the next. Her lifetime of treasures. Each object deeply meaningful to her. I see a lot of myself here, especially in the collections of tiny things. Here I can work surrounded in peace, birds, trees. There is even a pool. Pity I can’t manage the steps down. One day I will. I am commanding my body to walk again. I can. I will. I do. I’m at the will stage.

 I arrived here quite raddled in a heatwave. Three days of torrid 35-40 degrees and no aircon just fans and showers. I was quite heat affected. Hallucinating when I closed my eyes. Sweating constantly. Really unwell. Couldn’t eat for a day. My beautiful house sharer wasn’t coping with me. I wasn’t coping with me. Would not have been able to do the move if it hadn’t been for dearest Adi, a friend in deed. I just collapsed. All too much for this old bear. I felt quite dislocated, barely holding it together in a new place, still hurting from the season in hell I had just escaped from. Operating on some subconscious automatic. But, hey. Here I am again. I have survived!  It seems like a dream that happened to someone else.

Then came the storms. 2 days of gales, hail, strobing lightening and the whole north coast copped it. The communications went down and I, like many others, had to live with no phone, Internet, TV. The power went out as poles & lines were down. With no power, no water. Diana made the place into a wonderland with giant scented candles. We sat in the humid evening outside on the veranda overlooking the pool, sharing a plate of hors d’oeuvres and snippets from the sagas of our lives. Getting to know one another. She is more than a decade younger than me, but we still share a commonality of experiential life events. She is as slim as I am gross. I watched her swim in the gloaming, wishing I could join her in the rain-freshed water. One day. Soon!

It is the Eve of the holiday I call Crazy Day. XXXmesss. 
I am not a religious believer, so to me it is a day of work. Into my creative flow. I am about to finalize the Moroccan adventure. Already setting my sights on Book 2. So many memories are crowding in, rushing at me saying “me, me, me, do me!” 

The Alhambra

Paris 68

.

.

Herat, Afghanistan

                                                                    

Taj Mahal.

Montserrat

A first step for Mankind

                                           .

 Himalayan high snows and Tibetan thangkas

 

.

So much more;:everything in between, before and after.

Well my hearties, all in the fullness of time. 
It was 50 year ago.

Driving me forward on this last burst, I draw inspiration from 2 legends of writing. 

Hemingway, writing in his last days about his 1920's Paris experiences.

Patrick Leigh-Fermor who died finishing his memories of his own early 30's long walk across Europe from Holland to Mt. Athos, A boy then, just out of his teens

. 

Patrick the young adventurer on his epic walk from the Hook of Holland to Mt. Athos.

 What a man he became! 

Patrick, the WW2 hero.

                                                                     

These are the flag bearers. I will plant my flag on the hill with theirs.

But will I get you all back to Australia? I have several more books after my Long Walk.

In the dawn tomorrow, head down tail up. So little time, so much to tell. Yes, I had a full life. Let me share just some before I go. Safe in the Cloud for some future intelligent lifeform to access and know what it was to be a woman of the human kind in the cultural morass of the 20th C. as we call it.

I will submerge myself in getting it all into the blog,
https://longwalktothetruth.blogspot.com/2012/06/hello-whats-this-all-about.html
for anyone wanting to check out Book 1.

That’s All, she wrote…..

NATIONAL SORRY DAY

SORRY

A NEW BEGINNING

Today the people of Australia apologized to the Aboriginal people, the oldest living culture on the planet, for the wrongs inflicted upon them by the European settlers over the last 210 years.

Kevin Rudd, our humane and enlightened newly-elected Prime Minister, fulfilling his election promise, delivered the Apology to the Aboriginal people as his first task at the start of the first sitting of the 42nd Parliament in Canberra today.

Aboriginal tribal elders witnessed the event from the Public Gallery above.

Outside thousands of Aboriginal people and supporters from all cultures that make up our multicultural nation watched the proceedings on a giant screen. All around Australia people gathered to watch this historic moment that will transform our nation from this day forward.

I was in tears. Many were.

At the conclusion all members present rose in support. Their united voice said "Yeah".

Australia says Sorry.

This is a new beginning.
This is not an intellectual exercise,nor an empty condescending gesture.
Sorry is a word of substance with an agenda of positive action encoded within it.
Reconciliation will follow.

This is a core promise of national responsibility that goes beyond all posturing, petty politics & puerile attitudes.

The Commission that will follow will introduce constructively defined projects to improve the life of these people.


We have to come to terms with the past in order to embrace the future.

"Seize the Day," says Kevin. Let this day become a rare moment of national transformation. The real possibility of reconciliation of our indigenous people.

It brings the last two shameful centuries to a close and opens a new chapter that respectfully recognizes these ancient people, the original inhabitants, who have inhabited the Australian continent for >60,000 years......some estimates say twice that.





We cannot go back but we can go forward and not repeat past mistakes.

Minds wide open we can tackle the challenges that we will encounter as we go forward in this new chapter in our nation's story.

Nobody says it's an immediate cure, that suddenly everything wrong will miraculously come right.

But it is the first step in the healing process and will eventually lead to a healthier united Australian nation for the generations to come.

It is about decency and respect.

We will craft a new future from this day forward.

They no longer speak of boongs & blacks,
they talk of the Aboriginal people

Neville Bonner -1st Aboriginal MP

Images recorded from ABC TV 130208

Climate Victim.

The endless rain enters the 17th week of wetness, (except for 3-4 sunny days mid-November 07) including a major flood event that came in a January 4th midnight cloudburst, causing huge damage all across district and 2nd highest flood on record.

About 570 mm in last 25 days. Over 22 inches on old scale.
But months of it before that.
A very wet wet season.

Bridge across creek at entrance after the mid night 280mm deluge of January 4, 2008.

Looking out across bridge towards main road entrance after the night's cloudburst of 040108.

Two weeks of bronchial flu, having to sleep in wet bed that got soaked in deluge & wet weather since plus too weak to move mattress anyway, and run out of clean sheets. Got myself to hospital when I felt like I was getting pneumonia. The good doctor gave me antibiotics and am on mend but still ill, it's slow. Couldn't talk for 5 days and it still hurts to cough. I cough a lot.

Everything is soaked & I have to sit with hot air blower on as I write to keep dry as the 100 percent humidity means I'm wet all the time. Have to use hair dryer on head every half hour or so to dry out hair.

Biting midges and mosquitoes mean mosquito coils... means inhaling toxic fumes... means aggravated spasms of painful coughing.

Other complications I won't go into here have turned my life from happy to miserable.

STRANDED!
The road collapse of 160108.
Luckily nobody was on the crossing.

Now a DISASTER as the road has suddenly collapsed where it crosses a 20m plus deep knife gully on my exit road and I'm stuck in, unable to get out for supplies. Being partly lame hasn't helped, especially as yesterday my dicky knee went out of joint and I can't walk very well at all. On the steep wet slippery rocks that constitute the paths between studio & bunkhouse this is a nightmare of inching along balancing umbrella, walking stick & whatever I'm trying to carry between houses.

Water pours around running over every surface in an endless sog, even when the rain eases. Where there is grass there is a swamp of mud and slime. Where there are rocks they are all slippery & slimey. Inside the houses all is moulds. Every bit of clothing, bedding, carpets damp & mouldy.

The endless wet has also meant can't get car in under shelter as it gets bogged at slushy entrance to carport. So it sits out in rain and is cranky to start & runs on 3 pots. At least I have it to get me as far as the washout, about 1 km from houses.

Have supplies to last a few more days and my road-sharing neighbors can bring me necessities, as they have a car on other side of the collapse, but that hardly solves the problem. Trying to overcome the anxiety, but eating & sleeping now difficult.

Must summon inner resources to solve the problem & release myself from this prison.

I keep wondering what can happen next. Is this the end? Will some miracle happen to get me to safe haven and my usual happy self again?

Even poor kookaburra can't fly she's so wet. When she tried to take off after I fed her she dropped into bushes and I had to rescue her & put her up onto a branch to give her elevation.
I hear her chuckling in the tree as I write.

Her message is:

LET'S LAUGH
NO POINT IN CRYING IS THERE!

Homage to Escher

Been working on a series of Escher-esq images in Apophysis 2.07beta based on 5spiralsInline flame of DeviantART's Fractal-Impact Mixed flame pack . Used the Super Susan script of Phoenixkeyblack, also from deviantART. Good site that!

Came up with a whole swag of images Escher would love. I do too. I keep thinking what he might have done with fractal generators like Apophysis. I am definitely a hobbit being carried on the backs of giants & wizards....wither....?

So here's a small sample from my series:

Homage to M.C. Escher

I'll leave them nameless. You can check out more of them on my Flickr & DevianART sites, click on links in Anu Links at right.

Good rain is falling, with the odd thunderstorm. Sandflies very bitey.

It seems like the people are finally working around the war lord mentalities that have dominated thinking & media noise for so long. Of course there's nothing like the terrifying scenario of rising sea levels to focus minds to mutual survival.

But still our numbers grow. Oz is now 21 million. Land of the Ruddites.

Somehow the population pressure/carrying capacity keeps being whited out of the equation. Doesn't it occur to the decision makers that less people means less pollution, less impacts on the biosphere? Ah yes...the elephant in the room. We don't want to go there, do we!

Carried on the Shoulders of Giants

My latest batch of Apophysis images. All of them owe more to the genius of the DeviantART crew than my Apophysis abilities.
Go here for the production details.

Julia's Star Flowers.

In honor of Julia Gillard
who today became our 1st woman Deputy Prime Minister.
Better times ahead!
Well done Julia!

Hear This!
It sings.

Wind of the Sun.

Kaeltyk Egg.
My version of Kaeltyk's flame.

ApoObsession
Nights of Apophysis can do this to you.

Today is K1.
The first day of Kevin. At last the country can become more humane under his guidance. The harshness of the last government did not create a happy population. Here's hoping Kevin, Julia and their team can right the wrongs and get us fulfilled in all we can be as a nation in the planetary arena. The coming trials of climate, economics, overpopulation and so much more beyond our control, will be a daunting challenge.

All good children go to Kevin! He's definitely one of the good guys. Get behind the new team and be part of the solution. Together we can do it.

Congratulations to all who helped make the change to a better Australia.

Orchid & Iris

Today the garden (read wilderness) gives me flowers, strange flowers with color similarities and contrasting odoriferous differences.

Meet the Creeping Day Iris.

This is a particularly strange iris that blooms 2 days a year in Spring, usually a few weeks apart.
An exotic weed in rainforest understory. Still tracking it's name & place of origin.

Creeping Day Iris around the bird bath.

It stays out for a day, then the flowers simply fold up & shows over folks, nothing to see here!

Creeping Day Iris flower fully open.

It spreads prolifically in the rainforest understory and it's amazing to see all these pregnant yellow buds suddenly appear all over like little candles in the evening gloom. After dawn next day they all begin to open simultaneously. By 0730 the forest has a sudden celebration of flowers looking back at you from everywhere.

From bud to fully open flower takes about a half hour.You can watch them moving. Very much living things. I'll time lapse them next time.

Macro CU of Creeping Day Iris flower pongy nectary.

Another interesting thing about them is their stench. Oh yes they smell BAD. Something must love em! But I forgive them, they are just XQZT!

Subject No. 2: A Vulnerable Orchid.

I also found this fragrant orchid in full flower. Below is an extreme macro closeup of the happy Hobbitty face of the 5 mm flower. Now this one has such a divine perfume I just swooned.

Peristeranthus hillii - orchid flower macro CU.

Go to Sydney Botanical Gardens Herbarium site to read all about them.

The palms are all in abundant flower too. Alexandra's, Bangalows, Cane palms, Chinese fan palms - 4 - 5 different species, Walking stick palsm, Royal palms, Date palms...the list goes on..I have so many. The difference this year is that many have come into flower for the first time, after 25 years!

Time to go take more pix!!

Julian's Visit

The last few days has been very busy with visit from dearest bro Julian.

He showed me his pix of Charley, the beautiful sports boat he designed and built himself.

It gave me the idea to put it on Flickr, which grew into a bigger, better, idea of creating a sports boat group, mainly to showcase Australian Sports Boat competition racing. Australia has a slim showing on Flickr all round, so I thought I'd up the ante.

So I created a Flickr group for Sports Boats and put his best pix into it. Build it and they will come!

Julian and crew on Charley at Airlie Beach, 2006.

Next, on a trip up into Koala Mountain Sanctuary's upland regenerating old banana lands we had a wee car problem when the overgrown verge of the invisible track we were inching along gave way under right back wheel & it slid, tipped & came within a whisker of rolling down the steep slope. Not a scratch on it or us, but we had a long toddle back down mountain to get help as no mobile reception. Fortunately my good neighbor, Craig, Betty's son, came to rescue & towed it out easy peasy. Thanks Craig, you are such a good friend.

Craig attaching the tow chains to the Suzuki.

Following day was off to Brisbane early to visit our paternal aunty and uncle, both in their 80's. Had a feast of forbidden cholesterol fancy cakes with tea and looked at the family photos. Then I showed them this blog and my Flickr pages and gave them easy access links from their Favorites, so they can read all about their strange niece at their leisure.

Aunt and nephew reminiscing over the 60th Anniversary photos.

Hello Thea and Allen! Isn't the www just the most wonderful thing!

After that visit we made our way to Manly and the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron where the last boats were coming in from the day's race in the St. Helena Cup regatta. Julian caught up with his sailing mates while I took a lot of pix for the Sports Boat Flickr group. It was blowing a 25 knot black nor-easter and the boats had had wild rides, so there were lots of torrid tales being exchanged in the debriefs.

The view from Darling Point across Brisbane River mouth in hard 25 knot wind.

I have never seen so many masts, so many expensive sleek craft, all in one small marina. Talk about clusters.

This is a cluster of......?.......(finish this sentence).

There were capsizes, including RIP It Up loading on ute trailer above, and one, Vivace, owned by Julian's mate Sorensen, was demasted.

Vivace loading onto trailer after demasting.

I posted the bulk of the pix to Flickr Sports Boats group, then put a notice in the Forum of the Anarchy page Julian contributes to, where sailing news is exchanged. I think they are already responding with lots of visitors to the pix, altho no new members to the group yet. But I'm hoping they'll see the merits of the exercise and join Flickr & get their pix up in the group soon.

So an eventful few days with Julian. He's off driving back south now and life gets back to "normal", for whatever that means.

HELLO THE ENEMY

Meanwhile I've seen the reason most of my native animals have disappeared this year. I had thought it was cane toads, but there are hardly any of them now. No, this was a CAT.

It actually came into house while I was sitting quietly reading one night. It killed a large antichinus in the kitchen and left it on the back doorstep, uneaten. But I saw it again when driving down track and realized how huge it is. Size of a Bobcat. E-NORM-OUS!

So it's goodbye possums, koalas, quoll, snakes, skinks, echidnas, bandicoots, just to name a few of the now not present species that used to be here in healthy numbers.

They say there is one wild ex-domestic cat to every square kilometre of Australia. I have found the enemy has now arrived here and done what cats do. Hunt and kill native wildlife. Tell that to all those people who simper over pretty pussies.