Thursday 21/7/05. It was a dark and stormy night!

But both wind and rain eased by

morning. The girl at the hotel told John to ‘forget it’ when he offered payment for the
night’s spot tucked next to the ablutions block (which helped shelter us from the full
blast of the wind, allowing the pop-up roof to go up.) The locals in the van park were all
talking about the weather (7/12. th gO woz litrd wth koekoenutz & frondz). Went to Taylor’s
Beach, which has a local progress associ-ation which puts up lots of “Do Not …” signs.
Saw our first “ACHTUNG – DANGER: crocodiles” sign which occur frequently where people
are likely to launch boats, and near creeks etc. Sussed out Lucinda where we got advice
from a worker at the ritzy resort on the water what coconuts are best for liquid and for
meat. He even went and found a couple he reckoned were just right. John cracked one &
we’ve almost eaten it all, as snacks during the day. Queenslanders are very fri-endly and
helpful (7/12. but HOaLnLdIyS sez thr r 2 meni boen-hedz & red-neks thr). While we were
cracking the nut we noticed beautiful beetles (30/11. harlequin) on a nati-ve hibiscus –
mostly orange with metallic green patches, but one was a true je-wel : sapphire blue and
deep crimson. The spot near the water (elevated by a rock wall) was where we had tea.
Halifax (28/11. l8r dsiedd 2 nkluedtn mie listv prmyr sm-orl townzn OZ) is a small village with
heritage listed mango trees in the central strip, and 2 old style 2 storey pubs, in one of
which we read the paper. Then into Ingham for a look around after establishing the
whereabouts of the Tyto Wet-lands Reserve, which we’ll visit tomorrow – a 3.3k walk
which will test my toes as they are still sore & wont tolerate too much pressure. Ducked
into the info cent-re to ask about crocodiles’ habits and got into a conversation with a
volunteer info officer, Alice, who is a 5th generation Italian. The Italians first arrived in the
early 1900s, some from Argentina or Brazil, and were augmented by immi-gration
between the 2 world wars and after WWII, becoming the 2nd wave of cane farmer/cutters
after Kanaka labour was stopped. Approximately 60%+ of the inhabitants of
Hinchinbrook Shire (capital Ingham) are of Italian (28/11. eg. jmnst IdSaTmRiIaAn hoo
kmpeetd n th O chmpnshps ystrdi n Melb) descent, representing 6 regioni and still speaking
their original regional dialects. That explained the amazing cemetry at Halifax with its
room-sized tombs and ceramic tiled gra-ves. The tombs are Sicilian (28/11. DIC&ArSeTaRO
(14/12. maeb ntrstd 2 no th@n studi n 20-03 showd 18-22%v talianz thort juez wernt koshr &
shoodntb trustd) rkns w shood goe thr nxt yeer), Alice claimed – not Italian! Ingham is a sister
city to a north Italian town on the French border and has an Italian festival each May. “We
are like a muse-um” said Alice, because the old traditions still flourish here while they
have di-sappeared in Italy. Saw lots of new birds, but John can tell you about that. H dd-nt
mnshn th@ w rlso drank O a kup eech of COCONUT milk from a yungr (green) nut than th kind u uze
4 meet. A pot (10oz) of beer @ th Halifax pub kosts $2.20 vs $2.90+ nMelbourne. Most kraktrstk tree
n th ‫ ٱ‬z th buteful flowrn Afrikn Tulip tree wch, n@chrli, zntn naetv. Hz toze r korzn her big prolb-mz –
w karnt →. Th berd Iv bn c-n n larjst numbrz n th kanefeeldz (wch r b-n harvstd now) z th Chest-nut-
breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) nfloksv 50+. Sor a few Crimson Finch (Neoch-mia
ruficauda) 2. A Jabiru (Ephippiorlynchus asiaticus) n th bankv th Herbert river (whr thr r meni
CROCODILEZ). Feeldz full of Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata). A kmon berd heer u dont c
↓S z Brahminy Kite (Milvus Indus). Th jeti @ Dungeness whr w 8 t z th same 1 I woz brort 2 ftr doin
th Hinchinbrook Island → (7 daiz) wen I woz heer n sept/oct 1977 (19/11. heerzn rport n th 4mv nletr
(kwoetd ← ‘GULF TRIP’ (c ‘30/4/05’ p1)) ie rote 2 Melbourn ftr th → (th dfrnt fonts 2wrdz th nd ndk8
dfrnt kulrz n th rietn, sumtn ie dun n kkaezionz n mie ARTE POSTALE (17/12. “La Mail Art è
apparsa nel 1962 quando l’artista americano Ray Johnson creò la New York school of
correspondence of art presentandosi co-me nuova corrente artistica Neo Dada e Neo
Realista. Ma il supporto della corrispondenza artistica risale ai tempi di Mallarme,
Picasso, Matisse, Calder che vi sono avvicinati senza pretese di farne una scuola a tutti
gli effetti. Soli i dadaisti rivendicarono successivamente un ruolo nell’arte postale, ma
non continuò. Si deve considerare che diseg-ne, pitture, collage, grafica e timbrature
1
“portano la busta al rango di opera d’arte.” Per la sua continua ascesa e pop-olarità tale
arte ha assunto un ruolo di vedette internazionale. In tutto il mondo si organizzano
continuamente prog-etti per gli artisti e numerosi musei espongono opere di Mail Art (ad
esempio il Museo Van Gogh di Amsterdam o il Museo di Mosca)” – sent 2 mi ← “Florentina”,
8 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 06500 MENTON – FRA-NCE x COaZdZrOiLaInNaI) daze)
:”Emergency Action Guide (Hinchinbrook) ¶ I was lucky I had packed a seven day pack (6 nights)
because that meant I could spend 3 of them at Zoe Bay which comes closest to the tropical beach
that I intend to go to in paradise. My imagination was formed by films such as Kidnapped and
Treasure Island that I saw as a kid. It had a backdrop of magnificently dramatic mountains which
produce sunsets straight out of Tolkien. Each end of the beach is proscr-ibed by a beautiful estuary in
the northern one of which the two largest crocs on the eastern side of the island live. It goes without
saying that the jungle (DŽIUNGLĖS in littlanian) goes right down to the high tide mark. I spent one
day walking through the jungle, parallel to the beach, using the sound of the waves on the beach as
my reference point so as not to get lost. Those DŽIUNGLĖS, ah, those D-ŽIUNGLĖS! As you walk
south along the bay you have a full view of the Zoe Waterfall at the bottom of the mountain and you
know that there is a magik pool at the bottom (and another at the top) in whi-ch you are going to
perform your evening washing ritual. In the pools there are alert fish which instan-taneously snatch
any march fly you throw into the water. There is no end of fast flowing mountain str-eams in the wet
tropics and on Hinchinbrook Island. Their water is invariably a blue/green slightly mil-ky colour and is
crystal clear so that what looks like 2 feet of water is usually over head high. The rea-son is that
water is not stained by tannin here as it is in the south. I spent one day rock-hopping up one of the
streams at Zoe Bay till I’d got 2/3 of the way up the mountain. Great pools, great waterfalls, great
rock formations gouged out by fast flowing water is a feature of the island. Who cares that you cant
swim in the estuaries which do look so inviting fringed by mangroves. The crocs can have them for
their own as there is plenty of other water and its always warm. But tell Rudi he’ll be too late to co-me
here as they are building a giant resort on the mainland just across the channel with facilities for
1,500 boats; and where else can these boats go to except to places like Zoe Bay? On my 3rd day th-
ere I came across a twin-hulled craft parked in the northern estuary. I was visiting the spot for the 3rd
time in the hope of spotting one of the crocs. I had seen it enter the estuary early morning and the
guy told me he was staying the night. Then two ultra-lights landed on the beach; it was low tide and
it’s a 3-4 metre one here. I took all particulars on IDs and conscripted witnesses and today handed
the info to the parks people who said they’d pass it on to the relevant department (for prosecution);
then I gave the same info to the guy co-ordinating the protests here against the resort development
so he could monitor if anything is done by Parks. But if you saw the size and scope of the work alrea-
dy done (the channel through the seagrass is being dredged through ‘world heritage seagrass beds’
under special temporary permit) you’d know that the cause is lost and Rudi will not want to do the wa-
lk I did. A week before I left, in a demo at the site, Mrs Thorsborne was manhandled by the develop-
er’s workmen in a peaceful rally they had here after the police got rid of the press so that they would-
n’t observe them standing by as the assaults took place. She and her husband are responsible for
de-veloping the trail (2/12. ie th ‘Thorsborne Trail’). They are locals from Cardwell. She is in her 70s.
Just for the record, 5 or 6 years ago the same developer tried to start a resort in Zoe Bay itself but the
pro-test movement managed to win that one. Not that Zoe Bay is the only spot worth stopping at,
they’re all good. I observed green sea turtles at Banksia Bay and then heard a fishing boat sneak into
that bay in the dead of night and not leave until the morning. Most of these things I am telling you and
Ru-di are not noticed by the German Rudolphs who form a good fraction of the backpackers. They do
it in the minimum 3 days spending most of their time tramping and setting up and pulling camp. In the
evenings at Zoe Bay out come the cameras for the Tolkien sunset and ze krauts say “zat is zo wund-
erfill”. They are great at the logistics of backpacking : they come and they conquer in minimum time
and they camp close to the metal boxes where you’re supposed to put the food so the kokonit gnaw-
ing rats wouldn’t gnaw through your pack and they obey all the rules and they is very good healthy
campers. Bless dem! On my last night I decided to camp on the beach instead of Mulligan Falls cau-
2
se you couldn’t really be private at the falls (where I investigated the great pools above the falls
where they say not to go) and there was a group of six kids from Brisbane who I thought might be
‘late night-ers’ and I wanted to outwit the mozzies of the DŽIUNGLĖS. Ah! Yes I forgot to mention
them in my gl-owing report on Zoe Bay but there is a mozzie in every ointment as they say. There is
clouds of them in some spots here and at Zoe you cook and eat on the beach and then run back and
dive into your tent in the jungle where you zip up for the night. If you have to get out for a leak in the
middle of the night its curtains for you but I have my special plastic screw top container which I
snatch quickly from outside the fly screen by unzipping it only enough to shove me arm out. My
problem was that I was rebelling against the slather-on-the-RID culture that prevails here and
determined to see out the trip without using it once. And I won. What got me that way was that the
ferry operator who took us to the island had everyone (cept me) lather up at his expense for a 50
metre boardwalk through mangrove to the beach to start the walk (see no.1 on enclosed brochure). It
was a calculated decision of mine: next stop Ross River Fever or Encephalitis. Anyway I dodged
Mulligan Falls and went to the beach below and faced the front of the tent into a stiff breeze right on
the beach itself hopefully just above ze 4 metre tide and was getting heaps of sand blowing right into
the inside of the tent (I wanted the bree-ze also because my tent is a bit hot for tropiks) and the
mozzies were still there. CLOUDS OF THEM so that about 50 would be biting each hand while
another hundred would be biting my face and ears and eyelinds and another 100,000 would be
circling around me. And I couldn’t shake them without going right to the edge a couple of hundred
yards away (it was low tide). Then two dudes arrived. Th-ey was locals: one was an army guy and he
had his army pack with him and the other might have be-en part aboriginal and they were straight
from DELIVERANCE. Remember the film? I never saw it but I read the book. They were already
completely pissed and were doing flying jumps and landing on the ground on their backs, or heads or
whatever, just for the fun of it. The part-abo who would turn 29 at midnight had a compulsive
maniacal laugh which punctuated every sentence of his which they both uttered only in four letter
words and always screamin at the top of their voices. Besides being crazy they were the DECIBEL
BOYS (30/11. c ‘↑N’ p15). I drank a couple of tins of V.B. with them which th-ey had unlimited
quantities of in a larger esky than I have ever known to be manufactured and which was brimful of ice
too. It turned out I had inadvertently encroached on their ‘private’ spot where they also lit fires
(against the strictest code here) and did as they pleased coz they woz lokills. In situations like this
very basic instincts prevail and I woz on red-alert but they were two and so I was real glad when they
went fishin cause the 29 year one woz getting aggro in a sneaky, crazy sort of way. I had to head for
the tent to escape the mozzies that woz murderin me but first I watched them in the twili-ght but I
neednt have cause I could hear them from a KILOMETER away cause they woz screamin at each
other ALL THE TIME. I didn’t succeed gettin into me tent without bringin a couple of hundred mozzies
with me then by and by I heard their screamin getting louder and louder and they woz back. They lit a
fire and for a good while all went quiet. I surmised they was having their dope session to which I had
also been invited. I was sweating it out in the tent with the mozzies getting NO SLEEP when they
finished their quiet session and a huge argument ensued punctuated by the compulsive laughter of
the crazier one. It went on for HOURS and they woz SCREAMIN the whole time. They woz screamin
things like “DIE YOU FUCKEN CUNT, DIE RIGHT NOW!” etc. I didn’t like the sound of the little guy,
and his mate (army dude) had told me that the little bloke had had a ‘head job’ done on him the
previous night by a local lass and didn’t even know about it. “That’s the sort of guy he is” the army
dude had said. I could hear them screaming about nightmares and knives and next mornin the little
guy (before he passed out) told me he’d thrown a ‘darkie’ and started turfing everythin out of his boat.
D.T.s I suppose. Anyway I woz considering my options coz I didn’t want to trigger anythin if they saw
me getting out of the tent and I didn’t want to spend the night in the DŽIUNGLĖS and I didn’t wa-nt to
lose my gear and I didn’t want to die. I got me knife out of me pack then kept checking that I kne-w
exactly where it was in the dark (I don’t carry a torch) coz if I was going to go à la the film DELIVE-
RANCE I was going to make sure it was gory and Id have an unexpected card up me sleeve. You
see, Andrew, I shouldn’t have read the book. Anyway their screamin was interrupted by the boat star-
3
ting up again and off they went fishin a second time. I was real glad because I thought they had GO-
NE HOME. And I had also thought I had heard the little guy scream to the other one earlier “YOU CU-
T HIS THROAT”. And I actually finally got some shut eye as all the mozzies in the tent were no longer
botherin me cause they were already full of my blood (you should see the bloodstains on the tent).
But then, as any good scriptwriter would have known but I didn’t, I heard the engine coming. “Oh
NO!” I said and then I heard the SCREAMIN. And we woz back to square one. And then the birds
started chirpin and GOD was about to rise on the eastern horizon and the screamin subsided a bit
and I got out of my tent and was rolling up my sleeping bag (etc) and I heard the army guy say “waky
waky” an-d the crazy little nut said “he’s already up” and the army guy sort of sang “happy birthday” to
the little crazy ‘head job’ guy and I sort of sang just the two words “happy birthday” separately, and
the head case said “on your bike you cunt” AND GUESS WHAT! we sort of got friendly, even the little
cunt before he passed out and rolled onto the open LARGE can of spaghetti and I had to share their
breakfast of fish cooked in the aboriginal style in the sand and ash and I even accepted a piece of
fish handed to me by the army dude with his bare hand even though I’d seen him earli-er go into the
DŽIUNGLĖS for a crap. What could I do? I couldnt have them think I was an ing-rate and the fish was
delicious. Several kinds of fish (1/12. 1 f thm woz Coral Trout), cause they had caught heaps, as you
do here, but were taking the biggest ones back with them and the arm-y dude said he was keeping
the very biggest one for a mate of his. They had a great method: bec-ause they only had one esky
and it was chokka and they had to put the fish into it they had to drink the beer to make room. And
they got heaps of fish so they had to drink real fast. They was so full that at brekky they was spilling
their beer on the ground. But they had this ethical approach where they couldn’t take a single can
back with them. That was their culture. So the last two cans which were ice cold they gave to me as
they left. Yes! We parted the best of mates and I promised to clean up after them and bury the
empties and cetera in a hole or the fire pit and so on and they offered to give me a lift to Lucinda
which I declined cause I was still waiting for the sun to dry out my tent cau-se there’d been a dew
and also if I hadnt turned up for the ferry with five others at 11am there woul-d be a search party
sent out for me. And they became quite human in the end and I am alive to tell the tale and it was a
great walk. And I don’t blame them coz these guys are at the bottom of the pile and the big tourist
operators are screwing them even more than me. There’s no room for guys at the bottom of the pile
in the shiny ‘coconut palms and golf course on the beach front’ world of the TOUR-IST RESORT. ¶
May Truth Prosper forever! ¶ a … z” ). Hav ritn ths in a pub @ Luncinda O 2kz ← Du-ngeness whr w r
← 4 th nite. 2 finsh off I must knolj how xtrordnri bliejn ppl havbn 2 us from th momnt w set footn th
koast ystrdi evnn. Lso sum ppl ↓S mai not reelize th@ COCONUTS r found lyin O n th gO here like
rubshn nlmtd kwantis so no1 need evr go hungri & th frsh taistz far betr than nythn yule evr x n Vic. U
kan lso find th gO kuvrdn makadamia nuts but u hav 2 rowst em. Friday 22/7/05. About 9.45
pm, after we had settled into our spot for the night (a large, flat gr-assy area near the
boat ramp at Dungeness, where another traveller in a large campervan was also parked)
a man with a torch roused us with “Hey mate, di-dja know your van’s under water?” John
jumped out of bed into his shoes, out the door and into water ankle-deep. There was a
king-tide and the area whe-re we were was fringed on one side by a mangrove covered
creek, which was ca-rrying water fast over the surrounding area. The bloke who warned
us had dis-covered the situation when he’d taken his dog out of his campervan for its fin-
al pee of the night. We migrated to a parking area around a local park in Lu-cinda for the
rest of the night, just opposite a caravan park, one of whose users came to tell us in the
morning that the shire was fining such as us $500 if app-rehended by the ranger who
regularly does his rounds. By then we were up and dressed and ready to go and read the
paper over coffee in Ingham, so we esca-ped our fate. A little corner of the caravan park
was patriots’ (14/12. ftr th Cronulla riots (16/12. ntrstn 2 mi koz th 5000 wr n mjrti targtn n mnrti liek
th anti-chieneez riotsv th 1800z r th pogrmzv rusia & soe far mor daenjrus thanth riotsv kooreezn
Redfern rv th frnch dspozst. Th NORM ssertn tslf oevr th xstrmteez z frietnn 2 ksntrks liek mi.) whr

4
ozziozziozzioioioiz draept mslvzn flagz HOjWoAhRnD sed : “Look, I would never condemn
people for being proud of the Australian flag.”) corner – every van (about 6) was flying
the flag (28/11. c ‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p4). In Ingh-am we had coffee at the Olive Tree
Trattoria, recommended previously by Alice. On the wall was a large painting of the late,
sainted Jo Bjelke-Petersen (28/11. c ‘30/4/05’ p4). Some Queenslanders wear their hearts on
their sleeves! Took in the Tyto Wetlands, and then moved on to Cardwell along the coast
as inland excu-rsions to Wallaman Falls and Mt Fox seemed dubious because of the
continui-ng cloudy weather with intermittent rain. Cardwell is like Lorne – its mainstr-eet
runs parallel with the beach just across the bitumen. It has great trees (cal-ophyllums)
with contorted trunks and roots growing over the beach, along wi-th coconut palms and
other lush vegetation which is unknown to me. We colle-cted more coconuts, having
eaten our way through another one today. On the foreshore we met a young couple
heading south from Daintree in a “Wicked V-an” – we’ve seen a few of these (in fact we
thought it was the same one from Ca-rnavon Gorge and Balgal Beach (28/11. nletr →
Melbourne (← ‘GULF TRIP’) : “30.09.97 SELF-EVACUATE ¶ I am getting the hang of how to travel in
Q.L.D. otherwise I wouldn’t be here in Balgal Beach (out of Rollingstone, 40ks north of Townsville). I
am sitting in a kind of shop/pub called Fisherman’s Landing immediately over a boat ramp into an
estuary that empties into the ocean a cou-ple of hundred yards away. This is the very opposite to the
Mission Beach area where I spent the last week. I did all the standard things: did the set walks and
saw the cassowaries, went out to the reef a-gain for coral viewing ($65), walked the beaches after
dark, tested the hamburgers and spent a day on Dunk Island. Mission Beach is a pretty, comfy,
bourgeois resort and it is not crass. The tourists manage not to look ugly there because they are in
their natural environment. There are quiet cafes and candle-lit tables. The cafes use those bamboo
poles with a taper burning at the top to attract as-ian tourists. Its all real nice and I enjoyed it but
would not have wanted to spend one extra day there. This place however is not touristy – its just
supremely relaxed. I think Fisherman’s Landing should be placed high on the list of places we should
strive to get drunk at. Tell Danny Cash-Minus about it. Th-ere is a council camping spot right outside
where it says you can camp free for 48 hours and that they check but I am sure they don’t. There is a
mob of aboriginal women and kids camped in tents on the point between sea and estuary. I can tell
you friend, aborigines are very discerning about the good-feel places to stop at. You’ll never get them
at Mission Beach where I camped illegally for free right in the centre of, just for the record. I got up
before sunrise each morning to greet the sunrise with the other devotees before driving off so as not
to get nabbed by the council people. Isnt it a beaut reflec-tion on the spirituality of the middle classes
that we should be doing that. Of course its easy in the tr-opics since its warm even in the morning. In
Lifuania they wouldn’t be doing it – they’d be lying in bed grumbling how it was 70 years of Rusky rule
that’s the real cause of their problems. I made a mistake today that could mean I am getting
althiesers (not knowing how to spell it says sumptin). This morning south of Cardwell I went for a walk
along a forestry track (10ks in one direction) which was not always clearly marked and became quite
indistinct in the jungly sections. Anyway after a while I started see-ing the same things I had seen
earlier on the walk but wasn’t quite sure that they were. Sure enough I had managed to turn myself
around on the track without realizing it. Never done that before except in the outback once when I
was drunk in the middle of the night (30/11. c ‘30/11/04 – 9/12/04’ p11). I ha-dnt even bothered to
carry my glasses and could barely see the compass when I was trying to work out what was
happenin and the compass was giving readings which were indecisive anyway. Not a problem as I
knew that by sticking to the track I’d get out somewhere as it only went for 10ks in one direction. But
it was an eye opener and once again showed that there is always a new way of getting into strife.
Saw a very large feral pig on the walk that raised its hair along the spine in a show of aggr-ession.
The other mistake I made today was to buy my vegies at Ingham not realising that the vegie checking
station was just 40ks further south down the road before Rollingstone. They take everything off ya so
you wouldn’t be bringing the papaya fly further south. Luckily I did read the sign (having ign-ored all
previous ones as is my custom) just in time to stop and hide all my tomatoes, paw paw (etc) in the
5
depths of the car. They did a bit of a search too but found nuffin. The fruit that I am most keen on was
called ‘cainito’ at Cape Trib but I managed to buy more of it at a Sunday market at Mission Beach
where it is called a ‘star apple’. My other discovery yesterday is that there is a second kind of paw
paw called a ‘red paw paw’ and its nicer than the regular one which is nice anyway. The super-
markets in big places like Ingham don’t stock it. In fact in the tropical north the fruit and vegie section
is exactly the same as down south and apples are real cheap. Look at it in a positive way as a unify-
ing thing in this large country. For all I know they may be the same all over the world (2/12. th 1z n lit-
hoe sel kokonits, brnarnaz, mngoez etc etc) bringing us together in a brotherhood of consumers. I am
heading south with the general intention of being back in Melbourne in 2 weeks or so after a short st-
op over in Sydney to say hullow to the relos. Here at Balgal Beach I feel that I have driven out of the
‘super wet coastal tropics’. I’ve loved em, especially the jungle but in the final analysis there is
nothing I have done here that is better than taking Helen out to the Bocadillo Bar and talking about
our kids as I get drunk on sangrias. Its just that I don’t wont to be doing the same thing all the time.
What I really like about life on the road is that it allows me to keep a distance from the people I look
at. I enjoy bei-ng able to observe people without my perceptions being distorted (7/12. notn good
choisv werd – ‘ch-aenjd’ z betr) by too close proximity or involvement. Scrutinising what is out there is
what I enjoy most as to tell you the truth, my friend, none of the big truths or even little ones, have
ever been revealed to me by the almighty or anyone else for that matter. Sure, heaps of folks keep
tellin me what matters (-Faustas, Eddy, and practically everyone else) but when I investigates what it
is they is sayin (espec-ially priests etc) I always find that it is bulldust. By the way a bit of investigation
has revealed that the-re will be 250 berths at the marina at Port Douglas not 1500 as someone told
me and I then told you. Its still a very large number. That new resort will cover a larger area than
Cardwell itself and its alrea-dy been cleared. I saw it again today, acres and acres of coconut palms
with everything in between bulldozed away. ¶ Live well. ¶ a … z” ) which are provided by a van
hire company like Britz or Maui, but are painted in grafitti style to look hippy-ish.
Checked out Port Hinchinbrook, a new marina-cum-quays development just outside Card-
well which had been the focus of protest some time ago because of fears it would
destroy the local dugong habitat (sea-grass beds). Its typically quays-style : en-ormous
houses, hundreds of Florida palms, tennis-courts, swimming pools and his ‘n hers boats
tied up at the private jetties. The ranger at the Reef and Rain-forest Centre in Cardwell
says there’s at least 4 crocodiles in the marina system, and that house prices in Cardwell
have been driven up by the development. Th ♂ hoo told us O th $500 fine woznt bein helpfl –
just a bizibodi. ♂ uzed th term ‘FREELODERZ’ & klaim-d thr wozn sine kumn →2 town 4bdn kampn n
publk ‫ٱ‬z whch znt tru z I chkt l8r. But I woz n n 4gvn mood z I rializd ♂ probli woznt skorn n hour of
6shl ndljnsz vri mornn & sumtimez @ nite 2. ♂ livd pr-mntli n n krvan wch ♂ towd wth n 4x4 2 whrvr th
fshn woz good ♂ sed. @ th Tyto Wetl&z Rzrv w nevr sor eni Eastern Grass Owlz (Tyto capensis) but
w sor plenti of Crimson Finchz (Neochinia phaeto-ni), Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus), n
Cotton Pygmy Goose (Nettapus coromandelianus), ♀&♂ Green Pygmy Geese (Nettapus
pulchellus), n Jacana (Irediparra gallinacea), Collared Kingfi-sherz (Todirhampus (Halcyon)
chloris) (Aust. race sordida), & ssortd mor komn berdz. Thrz a kns-trukshn korld “grass owl viewing
platform” wch ovrlooksn xpans of 2-3 ft torl trpkl grasz whr th chans-zv u evr c-n 1v thez gO nestn &
roostn owlz z meni timez les than yor chansz of c-n a wail from n wail viewn pl@4m. Larst nite @
Dungeness w sor th vri goestli lookn Beach Curlew (Esacus magnirostr-is) & th mornfl korl H herd
juerin th nite mai hav blongd 2 t. Z w wer leevn Tyto rzrv w ●d n mndrn tree n th park so w stokt ↑ wth
xlnt frute. In th trpks tz nrml 2 c treez laidn wth npkt frute – th@s how good thei get t here. Pikt ↑ 3
mor larj KOKONUTS n th 4shr @ Cardwell & got th husks off z H woz rietn her partv th ntri : Im
dvelpn a tekne (Heidegger (2/12. c ‘↑N’ p5 & ‘Port Germein’ pp10-13)). I hav lredi xp-laind th@ tz not
posbl 2 pik ↑ & kari >5 nutzn yor rmz @ n time. U shood lso no th@ 4 drinkn th joos u go 4 th big
green 1z wch r O x 2 or 3 hevier than th ripe brown 1z u take 4 th flesh. Theezr best taken wn thei stil
hav sum joosn thmz then thei havn kernl O th size of a golf O r a bit bigr wch z z lite z poli-stiereen
butvn ntrstn txchr & taist. I hav fownd from past xperiens th@ tz mposbl 2 eet >1 KOKONU-T/dai 4
6
eni lnth of tiem. W hav drivn ↓S 5kz ← Cardwell 2 n ● n ½k off th hywai korld ‘Five Mile Swim-ming
Hole’. Tz vri nise here & thrzn toilt. Thrz no1 here z n larj sine sez NO CAMPING. Saturday
23/7/05. A quiet night at the ol’ swimmin’ hole, followed by paper and coffee in
Cardwell, a walk along their foreshore (coconut hunting – John found the big-gest one
yet, but though it looked big, the nut itself was about the same size as the others.) We
now have 8 in storage, de-husked. John has got the de-husking down to a T – a
combination of axemanship and brawn. Indulged in fish from the local fishnchip shop –
Spanish mackerel (dry and chewy) for me and a sm-all piece of barramundi for him (juicy
but fairly tasteless). He fronted for ano-ther go at another shop and got nannygai (juicy
but completely tasteless). Its hard to get good fish away from fishermen’s co-ops. Did a
smallish walk (about 5ks) in the Edmund Kennedy National Park 8ks north of Cardwell in
the arvo. Im building up my toes. Estuarine crocodiles inhabit the park in the 2 main
creeks, but they were a no-show. Their presence does make you feel more wary near
water, so I find myself looking out for likely trees to run up. Back into Ca-rdwell we found
a road to a boatramp off which a track to the beach proved a good spot for the night. The
bulk of Cardwell is nowhere near the shopping str-ip, but further north, tucked away
between the highway and the beach – an ex-tensive suburb of well-kept, large houses.
There is even a large modern-looking old folks’ home. Mislainia : 4got 2 mnshn ystrdi th@ @
th Tyto Wetl&z Rzrv w sor n buteful goldn (14/12. nstedv th norml ornj) Afrkn Tulip (nsdntli theez treez
r seedn thmslvz whrvr th l& hz bn dsterb-d); Hz takin naprosn 4 hr toze (thei hav nevr givn a hint of
trubl in th parst) & laxtvz 4 a kndshn korzd x eetn 2 much KOKONUT ♀ thinks;nSydney th pprz wer
sayin th@ tz th nxt trrrst targt & I noetis Ho-WARd (7/12. duzn gree wth Winston Churchill hoo sedn
1943 (← 2daez The Age p18 ): “THE power of the executive to cast a man into prison
without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the
judgement of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all
totalitarian government.”) iz prktsn hiz speel of how w wer lredi n targt b4 hi alied us → US
poltks & dklaird war on iraq prtndn it woz 2 free thm (Ha!Ha!) from dkt8rshp – thr woodnt b a
arab or muslm in th O let lone in th midl eest hoo wood blievt & thr wil b sum hoo wil b outrajd
evnf thei wernt xtrmsts b4; Iv dskvrd th@ not orl KOKONUTS hav th golf O sized ♥ n th ●; w r rite
on th ej of th cshr & 2nite I mite hav 2 get ↑ & chek th@ w rnt swampt x nuthr KING TIDE; sor a treen
Cardwell full of Figbirds (Sphe-ctheres viridis) (had cn sum in Carnavon gorj 2 (28/11. c ‘↑N’ p7));
ths mornn w wer woken @ 5 Mile Swimn O x a ssortmntv smorl hunieetrz mungst wch I ●d a Dusky
Honeyeater (Myzomela obscura), Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta), a Melithreptus, a
Graceful Honeyeater (Meliphaga gra-cilis) & lisnd 2 n ssortmnt of Philemon orlv wch (28/11. 4
vrieteez) r foundn th ‫ ;ٱ‬thr wer lso a kupl of Rainbow Bee-Eaters (Merops ornatus) O; oyair, th tree I
had thort 2 b n Makdamia (n few daiz ←) woz probli a Calophyllum, & I shood hav mnshnd th@n th
main street of Ingham thr r larj Quondong of th vrieti wch hav sky blue bereez; lso wotch out 4 green
tree antz wch make thr nsts x gluin leevz 2gthr. ☼di 24/7/03. @ O 10.30 larst nite th oeshn had
dvanst → wthn a foot or so of the lip of th bee-ch bhind wch w wer parkt lowr ↓ so w rtrnd → ‘5 Mile
Swimn O’ whr ths mornn (2 Brolgas (Grus rubi-cundus) hav just flown ovr) th van woz nvstg8d x 3
Yellow Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus unicolor) wch wood hovr @ tiemz rite in frunt of th netd
wndow of th van zf thei wontd → nside. 1 reezn I left th ● n th beech woz bkoz I woz rmindd of a
dreem I had told H O @ th start of the trip r n Sydney n wch w had →d out n n spit & wen w ternd O
orl w kood c n th drkshn ← wch w had kum woz th c wch had kum n bhind us & sepr8d us ← dstnt
linev hilz x meni milez. It seemd 2 mi th dreem mite hav bn a w-ornn (& sertnli n COINCIDENCE) &
ntil sum1 givz mi a good reezn why I shood dsrgrd my dreemz (b-ut shood bliev wot Winston
HoWARd (14/12. 1s sed th@ th Cronulla ‫ ٱ‬woz : “a part of Sydney which has always
represented to me what middle Australia is all about”) or George Bush sai) iel pai heed 2 thm.
In Car-dwell zpartv my nvstg8shnv thingz loekl I bort n piecev fsh @ nuthr shop (th fsh @ “try our
famous fi-sh” had bn por) evn tho its bvius thrz no fshn fleet in Cardwell & tho th ♀ sedt woz Dory wch
I new woz a suthrn fsh. Wen ♀ h&dt 2 mi I kood tel sumtn woz sus from th size of the pakt zt woz x 2
7
th nr-ml serv & DORY ↓S zn xpnsv fsh wchz good evn ftr long freezn (orl fsh r frozn or childn ice 4 a
wile evn wen thei r dskribedz frsh) & I woz rite zt taistd xktli like th fsh whch had bn korld NANNIGUY
wch I had eetn ystrdi & wch meltd →2 a taistls paist th moemntt wozn thmowth. Then H rmindd mi O
PA-CIFIC DORY wchz reali mportd VIETNAMESE K@FSH (c ‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p3) & I new I
had bn had like a tipkl 2rst (28/11. ← ‘GULF TRIP’ : “[ 24.09.97 ] Emergency ¶ Sir, The tourist
industry sucks ¶ Shopkeepers and caravan park owners will rule the world. ¶ Bureaucracy will
triumph. ¶ The rich will shit on the poor for ever and the poor will eat shit forever. ¶ THIS IS THE
GOSPEL ACCOR-DING TO Q.L.D. ¶ a …z”). Thn I had n dskshn O theez m@rz n stil nuthr fshshop
& ♂ xplaind → mi th@ th nli fshn ports O heer r @ Cairns & Townsville & n fue botes opr8n outv
Innisfail (1v th wetst townz – not Ingham z I rote n fue daiz go) & th fsh 2 go 4 r RED EMPEROR,
CORAL TROUT (v xp-nsv), n kindv SALMON & BARRAMUNDI (but nli f t woz kort lokli z th stuf
mportd ← AZIA z louzi). N-ow 4 n kmpleet chainjv topk – n kuplv kwoets H haz torn outv th ppr ovr th
week : “Steve Irwin is so in-explicably popular with Americans (21/12. n lithol& 2) it surely
made sense to create his own feature film. That doesn’t mean you should watch it. The
plot (Steve tries to save a crocodile from potential poachers) is incidental as he pokes
native animals and promises they could kill him at any moment” & “If a governnment can
do it, sooner or later it will do it; if a law can be misused, it will be. As Benjamin Franklin
said, people who can give up essential lib-erty for a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety.” Iv rit th ntri (3pm) @ n br& new pub ½ wai btween Hull Heads & Tully
Heads. W mai spnd th nite @ 1v theez. W r O 14kz ← th hiwai; Tully & Mi-ssion Beach Resort etc r n
litl ↑N n th uthr sidev nstuari. We have often discussed the distin-ction between being a
tourist (7/12. ←’GULF TRIP’ : “ CENTRAL 12.09.97 ¶ Doc, Tourists wear white socks, especially if
they are old (with gym shoes) but some groovier young ones wear th-ose new very expensive
coloured sandshoes on bare feet. If they are superfashionable french types they wear leather slip-ons
with khaki shorts and maybe a polo shirt that is navy blue with baby shit colour collar. Tourists hire
bicycles and like to ride them on the beach even though the bikes are cal-led mountain bikes.
Tourists often wear a sarong. I think they like being in RESORT towns like Port Douglas (great
backdrop of mountains) because even the old couples are often walking hand in hand though it
doesn’t prevent them looking a bit grim while they are doing it. Perhaps being in a RESORT makes
them fall in love again in a tepid way. Tourists spend most of their waking hours eating heaps of
gourmet food in waterfront ye olde style cafes or in waterfront very modern cafes but whichever ki-nd
they have all been built in the last few years. Tourists are not sun smart, no, no, they insist on exp-
osing even their nipples to the sun cause they want to show their friends back in germany that they
have done the tropics. I don’t think Danny Cass-Minus would make a very good tourist. Give the tour-
ists their due though, many of them got up before sunrise to gather on the famous 4-mile beach at
Port Douglas this morning to witness, and with reverence, for I noticed that even the joggers and
some of the power walkers stopped for the event, what turned out to be a truly metaphysical (proph-
etic?) sunrise. There was hardly one among us that wasn’t frozen in his tracks by the magnificent sp-
ectacle of sunbeams bursting through dramatic cloud formations. Claude Lorrain, or Pussin perhaps?
Even the guys who like me, are forever dodging authority and with whom I have been connected by
fate were sufficiently sobered up by then to lean on their old Holden in quiet reverence. All this seems
a long way behind me now for I have driven through Cairns heading SOUTH and have parked in a
FREE council park at BABINDA. Remember the name because this is a real town. What a relief after
all the RESORTS. The WHOLE town is 1950s like the Hollywood Palace. All the old signwriting, the
old cigarette vending machines, pin ball machines in the pub. And what a pub it is, you must join me
for a drink here some day. This is the real thing. But in a time-warp. It is the 1st ‘real’ town I have co-
me to since I left the inland. ¶ a …z”) and being a traveller, so here is my mathemat-ical
formula for use as a test : TO = (-TI) + PTE + Mn + I + Kmsn + En while TR = (+TI) +ATE + M – I -
Kms – En where TO = Tourist, TR = Traveller, TI = Time, TE = Temperament, M = Money, I = natio-nal icons
(eg. Uluru, Kimberleys, Gold Coast or anywhere extensively advertised in the media), Kms = Kilom-etres
travelled, E = Equipment, P = Passive, A = Active and n = unlimited. John HoWARd (7/12. hiz midl naem
8
reeli z Winston) is touring British hospital wards lately, dispensing official condolences to
Aussies injured in the recent London bombings (the HYPOCR-ITE) and was tackled by one
of them (a gutsy girl who had escaped the train wreck and got onto the bus the bomber
was sitting on, on the top floor above her – she got severe neck injuries) who demanded
to know if he saw any conn-ection between the incident and the Iraq invasion.
Apparently he left ‘in a bad mood’ according to the waiting press corps. Unfortunately
she didn’t get stuck into him properly – I would have shrieked at him like a fishwife.
Perhaps her neck was hurting too much. I have started collecting seedpods of unusual
sha-pes and sizes …. 6.30. W r n th kownsl kampn gO & tz kostn us $3.30 eech. Iv bn heer b4
praps n th vri ● w r n now, rietn (c ‘GULF TRIP’). Th wite&blak Torres Strait Pigeons (Ducula
Spilorrhoa) kk-ordn 2 n kopr plark n th 4shr (but kkordn 2 mi berd book thei r korld Torresian
Imperial-Pigeon (Duc-ula bicolor)) “have a special relationship with this area often flying in
flocks between offshore islands where they nest and the mainland rainforests that are
their feeding grounds”. Ths smorl kampsite z vri loe kmpaird 2 th Mission Beach ‫ &( ٱ‬Dunk Isl&)
w r → 2moro but nvrthls mostv th vanzr far fansier than owrz. Thei ha-v naimz like ‘Shark Attack’,
‘Lost and Lovin It’, ‘Free Wind’ etc, etc. @ th bote ramp w met a ♂ ← So-uth West Rocks in NSW wer
mi & H sor n th yeer 2000. ♂ sed heed nevr liv heer z u kant swim (KR-OKODILEZ) & orl thei do z
drink. ♂ z heer now bkoz hiz farthr hooz 63 z dien from CIRRHOSISv th livr. Th komn pijn w r c-n
heer z th ◊ Dove (Geopelia cuneata) wchz th smorlst pijn n OZ. Just herd n th nuze th@ th persn
hoo woz xkuted in London x plain klothez skuriti ON SUSPSHN of b-n n terrrst woz n Brazlian wth no
knkshn 2 th BOMNZ . Hmmm … wot kan u xpkt! M heern 4 th 2nd tiem ths evnn th rpeetd mornfl
wailnv th Beach Curlew but wch n mi book z korld Beach Thick-Knee (Esacus mag-nirostris).
Monday 25/7/05. Speaking of thick-knees, that thick-head Howard sa-id (14/12. ystrdai hi
sed th Cronulla riot whr nli pplv midl eestrn ppeerns wer targtd woznt raesist (15-/12. how eezi 2 rlees
this niml (16/12. v meni dsgiezs (17/12. ← ‘Tent Posts’ x MIhCeHnArUiX (c ‘16/-2/04 – 27/2/04’ p8) :
“In a highly developed society, its essential for cruelty, hate, and domination, if they
want to hold on, to camouflage themselves, taking on the aids of mimicry. Camouflage
into opposites is the most common. That’s in fact how those full of hate, claiming to
speak solely for others, can best demoralize, suppress, paralyze. Th-at’s the direction
from which you’d better get ready to meet them.”)) from its kaej n th SUB KORTX eevn n th
moest tolrnt sosieti) butn “quite unacceptable” “outbreak of domestic discord”) today that
the incid-ent of the killing (5 bullets) of a Brazilian subsequently found to be uninvol-ved
in the London bombings was “not central to the issue” – WRONG John!!. It is THE central
issue : when, in a parliamentary democracy where the rule of law and the principle of
due process are imbedded in the constitution (7/12. but thei r-ntn th OZ 1), a person can be
EXECUTED by unidentified operatives of the state, and the authorities comment on it as
“regrettable”, we have ALREADY LOST the war on terror. Still, you’ve got to expect stuff
like that from economists and la-wyers. Another one, an associate Prof at a NSW uni was
quoted a few days ago in the Courier Mail as saying that we don’t want too many African
refugees here as they have low IQs and high testosterone! He is also openly connected
with a White Supremacy movement. HoWARd must take full responsibility (7/12. ie dsgree.
Th ppl hoo voetd 4 hm shair rsponsblti (8/12. ← 2daez The Age p14: “Tyranny ¶ NO LONG-ER
“silent”, the majority in this country have forged for themselves a tyranny. John Stuart
Mill, founding father of liberalism, had this to say : “The will of the people … practically
means the will of the most numerous or the most active part of the people; the majority,
or those who succeed in making themselves accepted as the majority. The people,
consequently may desire to oppress a part of their number, and precautions are as much
needed against this as against any other abuse of power.” ¶ With the passage of the
Industrial Relations and Terrorism legislation, those precautions, to which we have
become accustomed in Australia’s liberal society, have now been swept away. ¶ Ni-
cholas Low, Warrandyte ”).) for unleashing this racist hate-mongering. It would plea-se
9
him no end, I’m sure, to see all the Aussie flags flying in the caravan and mobile home
parks we’ve driven past. Today we resumed our crawl north, to Tu-lly, the wettest town
in Australia (over 4000 mm of rain/year) whose identifier is a giant gum-boot as you
enter the town. Couldn’t find a decent coffee place, so moved on to Mission Beach, which
strikes me as quite groovy with its small village and broad beach, fringed by jungle and
plenty of coconut palms. John has developed a coconut fixation and finds it hard not to
pick up ones that look ready to eat – we now have 9! Had a coffee and shared a Greek
salad at a place called, appropriately, Café Coconutz. After a few walks, including one
along the beach, we are here again to do the journal. On the way here we did a walk –
very jungley, with tall palms of many types, but dominated by the huge leaved fan
palms. There are Cassowary warnings here – apparently they can be aggressive. 2nite w
ntnd 2 park @ th bote rampn Mission Beach nth hope th@ th sine z u ntr th to-wn wch sez u kant
kamp nth 4shr duznt pply 2 bote ramps. Bsidez w r not kampn n n 10t but sleepn n n van. Tz 7.30 &
Im O 2 x mi 2nd glars of RUMNKOKE b4 kntnuin reedn WrAoLbSeErRtZ ‘The Walk’ wch Im njoin vri
much z I hav th uthr storeez x him. I think yoov put mi n2 a ritr, m8. Yair, drinkn RUM-NKOKE, reedn
WrAoLbSeErRt n n jewlie evnn n th sidework, wth H bside mi reedn ‘WOMANS DAY’, mung th
KOKONUTZ – wot mor kood u want? Chuzedai 26/7/05. 8.10am @ th ‘early birds coffee sh-op’ (wer
u kan get n reel good (n rairiti 4 us so far n QLD) x2 (or x3 th prprietr sed) shot) in Mission B-each
wch lredi had kustmrz nt @ 7am. Tz good 2 c H get th HoWARd stuff off her chest. Tz my bleef th@
if th ‘koalishn-of-th-wiln’ had bn jnuin n goin → iraq 2 ridtv Saddam & 2 nstorl dmokrasi
(-500,000+ troops wood hav bn rkwired soze not 2 dpnd n th trdshnl klonialst mthdv prmotin 1
f-akshn V nuthr) w woodnt hav bn so dspized x th muslm & arb O. & wile greein th@ zraelz
ntg-riti shood b grnteed x th west (7/12. not th@t woodr shoodb trustd x em)(…6.10pm. bkoz
urope z owin. 2 werk out how much rl@vli th zraileez ow → plastinianz, th plastinianz ow → ainshnt
juze, th y-anx ow → redndianz, karmon-ozeez-karmon ow → brjneez: dvide 4000 x th no v yeerz th
1st haz dsp-ozst th 2nd but 2 werk out how much th ropianz ow th juze 4 th HOLOKORST n dfrnt 4mula
haz 2 b u-zed (nsdntli th lithoze hav kalkul8d th xkt no v 000,000,000zv rooblz th rus ow thm from th
soviet daz-e)) x alinin ourslvz wth th US kmtmnt wthout n full db8 or n voet ont n oz w hav
nvolvd ourslvz n th midl eestrn & muslm poltkl ajndazv th US & Britn (wth its lgasiov n klonial
parst n th ‫ & ) ٱ‬n thr termz wen thr woz no need 4 us 2 b nvlvd @ orl. I c n ‘The Courier-Mail’ th@
Jean de Mene-zes woznt gund ↓ ftr b-n vrpowrd & held ↓ n th gO z rportd x n wtns but shot x5
(27/7/05. (9am) now thei sai x8 : 1 n th sholdr & 7 n th hed) n th “head at close range after he
reportedly ignored a command to st-op.” Twood hav bn =i llgl if ♂ had bn n trrrst & kowntrprdktv
z n pprtuniti 2 gathr vdens wood hav bn lost. If w kum 2 rvew our shift → FASCISM ths evnt wil b cn 2
hav bn n sgnfknt markr. Larst nite w left th bote ramp meedi8li ftr setn ↑ bkoz w dsiedd thr woz no wai
w wood b abl 2 rgue our wai outv th no 10ts sine wch woz kleerli rlso aimd @ vanz z u woodnt b abl 2
↑ n 10t n ashfelt niwai. So w drove th 8 or so kz 2 th karparkv th Licuala → wer rlier w had cn a larj
van parkt wth kertnz drorn. Twoz stil thr & faint muzik & drumz wer kumn ← t z w doezd off. Thnt
startd pisn ↓ & stil mindfulv MI DREEM & lsov our neiborz hoo wer kleerliv th vriati hoo sleep orl dai &
plai drumz etc etc orl nite w left @ 12.30am ← bote ramp wer w nue th tied had peekt z w had kwierd
n TIDE CHART durin th dai. 3+ meetr tiedz r sumptn 2 bhold & skairi but w nue w wer saif. I got ↑ @
dorn & woke H not wishn 2 bothr lokl thort-eez eevn tho th ramp z dminstrd x THE STATE not th
kownsl. Tiem 4 n KRAP …. (7.15) mucked around finding possible spots to sleep for tonight
(found 2), then went on the Kennedy Track (7.8ks return) which was very attractive,
going through a vari-ety of habitats (jungle, mangrove, beach, rocks) south from South
Mission boat ramp to Kennedy Bay, 2ks from the mouth of the Hull River. Though the day
was overcast it was very pleasant. Discovered my toes arent arthritic, but infest-ed by 2
corns, one on each toe, rubbing together. Got corn plasters at South Mi-ssion Beach
pharmacy – oh, the indignities of age! No sign of a crocodile or a cassowary yet. Are they
mythical creatures thought up by Q’land Tourist Bur-eau for the benefit of giving tourists
a frisson of fear? John and I are weighing up the possibilities of going on a $50/head
10
evening boat trip up a creek which is guaranteed, according to the brochure, to put crocs
on display. We have to work out if that’s cheating. I m drinkn RUM & KOKE gain & kntnue
reedn ‘The Walk’ wth ple-zure & wth n sensv th riterz frjlti, soldariti wth hz vewz, & soro 4 hz prdkmnt
& failyr 2 find n ● n th O (& so I rkmnd WrAoLbSeErRt → KABArIaLsAaITĖ (c ‘Vilnius (no 2)’ p10 &
‘Vilnius → Melbourne’ p9-12) n lithol& (kcept ♂ probli haznt bn trnzl8d →2 litho) z shz ntrstd n helpn
lesn th prolbmzv thoezn = situashnz (but praps 4 sum thrz no ● (14/12. c ‘11/8/02 – 21/8/02’ p11) &
thei knot b helpt ksept x kin-dnss)). Meenwile Hz reedn ‘NEW IDEA’. He can’t get over the fact
that I’m a lowbrow at heart. (2/12. He often asks me why I read mags like this – my only
explanation is that it’s a girl-thing). Fnsht reedn ‘The Walk’. I kn c why u rkmmddt → mi, thanx.
Wnzdai 27/7/05. (9.05am) Ystrdi H torkt 2 K8 (n mbilez) n West Melb (Miller st) hoo sez ♀ haz nuthr
3 weeks n ntibiotks. Larst nite w wer maizd 2 find our 1st ● kkupide x n old VW hipitipe van so w → 2
th 2nd ● w had sust out. T shoze thr r thrz hoo prowl O dtrmnd 2 do thr own thing & rtain prvasi & n 6
life. Iv thor-tv sum mor ntrprt8shnzv mi dreem O getn mroond out n th oepn oeshn wth H. I gnor th
bvius freudian H2O nlsis z my nli noljv mthd kumz ← Foucaultz kkountv klaskl Greek kmntri. Praps th
dreem z n rfr-ns 2 mine & Hz ‘folie-à-deux’. (Distinctly unhealthy – are you saying that for the
last 40 years we have been mutually mad (14/12. Fkors, & owtv tutch wth rialti!)? Sounds ab-
out right – otherwise how have we put up with each other?) Mor n KOKONUTZ: th 1 w opnd
ystrdi wch stil had 2 smorl green p@chz @ th ndz woz th taistiest so far (& thei r orl taisti) wth th thikst
flesh. Mi 1st drink 4 th dai z th milk ← nut. Twoz nli th 2 nd 1 so far wch ddnt hav th ping-pong (b-etr
dskrpshn thn ‘golf O’ koz tz so lite) O bit n th midl wch wv lernt z korld UTO n th iel&z & z fed 2 nf-nts
x th naitvz z tz so nuetrrshuz. I like em 2 bkozv th kraktrstk sweetns & txchr. Thr absns prbli ndk8s ths
NUT woz NFERTILE. I stil havnt fownd out f thr wer eni KOKONUTZ heer wen th 1st setlrz kame -
no1 seemz 2 no. Ritn n ‘early birds coffee shop’ gain …. 2dai w fownd th jwl n th krownv th beechzv
th Mission Beach ‫ٱ‬: tz Garner’s Beach n kupl kz ↑Nv Bingil Bay. W wont getn betr xmplvn tropkl bee-
ch vrhung x huje calophyllum treez etc. Teevn hadn stark naekd ♀ sunbaithr & n naikd old ♂ hoom H
sed ♀ ddnt c but hoo woz a horbl site ♀ sed. H lso sor n Ulysses butrfli wch z larj & safire blu. Bestv
orl w foundn perlrvn ● neer-x 2 park 4 th nite ftr mie x2 RUMNKOKES & Hz 1 KAFE & 1 RUMNKOKE
wch ♀ dskvrd ystrdi z priti nise. Th Bicton Hill → haz sum sperb lookouts & Iv gotn good sietnv n Em-
erald Ground-Dove (Chalcophaps indica). N th wai 2 th Lacey Creek → O 3kz b4 reechnt w pulld ↑
nxt2n Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) hoo ddnt ppeer 2b much knsernd x us but → 4st wr twoz 2
dark 4 mi 2 getn good foto. N th Lacey Creek → I gotn xlnt vuev n Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor). Tw-
oz our 1st klowdls dai n th TROPKL KOAST. Thrzdi 28/7/05. 9.50am @ ‘early berd…’ 4got 2 mnshn
ystrdi th@ I woz told x n dutch ♀ @ th parks nkwiree th@ thr wer no KOKONUTZ n OZ wen th 1st se-
tlrz rrived but th@ thei prbli floetd ovr x thmslvz. Thsz Oi mplorzbl – thei must hav bn brort x th KAN-
AKA laibrrz th erli setlrz brort wthm. Lso neer wer w stopt 4 th nite w had found (n prv8 prprti markt 4
subdvzion → 5 lots) n frsh H2O spring fed lake wth xlnt mossi lake bed 4 ntri but w wer 2 frietnd →
swimn n kasev KROKODILEZ (th ejv th mngroev woz nli n fue yardz ← 1 ndv th lake). Nkwiri @ n
reelst8jnt rveelz th@ mmeed8 c-fruntj z $700,000+ +d 2 th nrml vluev th prprti just 4 th pzshn. Dspite
knstnt rmindrz O th vluev th koastl rain4st (1v th main habt@s 4 Casuarius casuarius n hoom ovr
100 jungl treez dpnd 4 prpg8shn) ovr 60%v wch hazbn kleerd 4 shoogr kane farmn (hujeli sbsdized x
th txpayr) wch rlize hevli n larj doeszv frtlizer (leecht soilz) wch dmj th reef, th rmaindr, muchv wchzn
prv8 ownrshp, z b-n kleerd @n trmndus r8 4 subdvzion & seln → rzort opr8rz, nvstrz etc. W r spndn
sum tiem @ GARNERS BEACH bkoz twontb th same n n fue yeerz tiem. Oyair. Jean Charles de
Menezes woz mrdrd x b-n shot 1s n th mowth, x6 n th hed, & 1s n th sholdr z hi lai helpls n th
gO x pleesmn. Wlkum → nue O ordr! (17/12. It is manifest in Oz with Revolting Rud-dock’s
deportation of two mentally ill men to their countries of birth (Serbia and Turkey) despite
the fact that they had both grown up here and have fam-ilies here. The Serb cant even
speak Serbian. It shows how far the government and its so-called opposition has declined
into inhumanity (n The Age A2 2dai Ray Cassin rvuewn ‘The Wreck of the Batavia ‘ x sLiEmYoSn
sez “ …how fragile is the thing we call civilis-ation, …how easily it can unravel, …how
quickly fanatics, thugs and charlatans rush to fill the gaps when it does.”)) …. 12.15 @
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Garners Beach ovrhung n klaskl TROPK stile x Calophyllum, hibiskus & uthr larj treez. Larst nite I
woke 2th soundv waivz braekn neer x (soe I nuetwz hie tied) @ O 3am. Wen I lookt owt th wndo thr
wer fos4snt •s glown n th 4st flor. W wer parkt n the ● w had fownd n th rmnnt stripv koastl jungl @ th
bakv th beech. Thn I herdn xtrordnri korusv berd korlz wch I ddused wer b-n made x th bu-sh terkeez
wch mi berd book sez r Orange-Footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) & wch make: “loud
crows, gurgles; often many birds call at once.” Th naikd ♀ (yung) & th horbl naikd old ♂ w sor
jewrn th dai ystrdi r not heer so w hav th beech 2 rslvz. Ths mornn @ Mission Beach I bort 3 BLACK
SAPOTE 2 riepn n th van. Hav just ritn n kard 2 DI&CrAeSaTRO (14/12. hoo sez thr r 3 waezv leedn
sheep kk-ordn 2 th booda : 1) liekn KING (ie. outn frunt); 2) liekn SHEPHERD (wotchn oevr from th
sied 4 str-aez & lost 1z); 3) liekn FERRYMAN (ie. taekn m abord liekn soeshl werkr) & LfOrVaEnCkE
c/o th St8 LiberiovVic & m O 2 rzume reedn WrAoLbSeErRt. Bkorzv th vri shalo grdientv th oshian &
th KROK-ODILEZ hoo liv n th stuari just O th krnr U DONT GO SWIMN. Hz reedn ‘Dragon’s Lair’ x
PsEhNaM-rAoNn wch ♀ bort ths mornn @ th newzjnsi. Just so you don’t get the impression I’m
in-capable of reading anything but women’s magazines. Penman is described as “an
historical novelist of the first rank”. So there! …. 6.20. RUM & KOKE @ KOKONUTZ. N
TROPK beech znt TROPK wthout @ leest a hintv 6 (life bgan n th trpks). I woz → O serchn 4 NUTS 4
Hz klkshn wen I got torkn 2 n bloke mi own aij sitn mung sum shrubri @ th topv th beech but ♂ ddnt
no wot kind thei wer z ♂ wznt n lokl. Fakt ♂ woz ← Colac n good ole Vic. Az w torkt he took off hiz
t-shert & n bit l8r hiz togz & lai bak wth hiz hed on his h&z (see, I keep telling you you’re
irrestistible). I siedld → rthr sheepshli but doent feel gilti z l8r I noetst ♂ → parst wth n frnd. Wen H
shftd pzshn bkoz owrz wozn shdoe ♀ dsterbd n naikd kupl but ddnt look @m & maid shor I ddnt lo-ok
(3/12/05. Ha! To stop him looking I would have had to throw a towel over his head!) @ th
yung cuntri ♀ (hoo lookt arabl) whch I ddnt. I fnsht reedn th Walzer book & like him I 2 wood like 2
dvlop mi own lngwj xpt I no Wittgensteinz rite – lngwj z n joint prjkt (‘folie à group’) so Im werkn n
sumptn H & n fue frendz mite ndrst& but probli not reed. So it goze. 2moro w r leevn th Miss-ion
Beach ‫ & ٱ‬its 20kzv tropkl beechz 4 mor TROPKL beechz ↑N. W njoidt heer & I rkmndt. Th book Im
startn, lso lent → mi x Frank, z ‘Fires’ x mYaOrUgRuCeErNiAtRe (hooz ‘Hadrians Memoirs’ I fnsh-dn
litl b4 w leftn th trip). W r leevn KOKONUTZ wel b4 9.30 wen th BOOT SCOOTN wth COWBOY C-
ARL z due 2 bgin. H sez tz n kind of LION DANSN. Friday 29/7/05. Had our last coffee/pa-per
at the “Early Bird” and set off North for Kurrimine Beach where we did a slow walk
collecting seeds in the high tide debris. The beach is a spit between the sea and an
estuary. The council camping area looked good – nearly empty and only $10 a double
/night, but we had a free spot at the far end of a devel-opment area picked out for the
night. After a drink at the pub we went to Cow-ley Beach along a back road off which a
number of tracks went into forest, opp-osite cane fields. We went to explore one and
found it to be an almost contin-uous rubbish dump (old fridges, mattresses, wrecked
cars, thousands of smash-ed bottles etc etc) on both sides. When we tried to turn around
we got the rear passenger wheel bogged in soft sand. Walked back to the road where,
luckily, a young man of islander descent driving a 4x4 stopped and came with us to help
drag us out. Cruised round Cowley Beach but decided to go back to Kurrimine for the
night. On the way found a nice secluded spot in a “park” where we had tea and did a
short fruitless croc-spotting walk. It was sunny and warm all day. How u rmmbr n dai z
mainli n m@rv wot u chuez 2 put n or leev out. @ Kurrimine pub H drank-n lemn skwsh & I had x2
glarszv beer wile w gambld wai $1 eechn th 2 msheenzn th bar. Thoze 2 gl-arsz wer posbli th korzv
mi por jjmntn trien2 tern th van O n n knfind ‫ ٱ‬mung treez whr eni mstaik woz guna get mi →2 strife. 2
+ 2 mi dsmai (I kan heer mstrius berd korlz kumn ← th KROKODILE nfstd ri-vr w r nxt 2) z I got outv
th van wch woz bogd @ n diagnl † th trak so I kood c mslf wjnt mung treezn suchn wai twoodb
mposbl2 xtrk8 shortv winchnt ↑ x hlkoptr I rialized I mite hav SH@ mslf or fartd or swetd nwairz z I
woz knsntr8n (TOTAL FOCUS) n wot th weel woz doin z I woz trien2 rok-n-roelt outv th s& bog but nli
getnt deepr ↓. I PUT mi FINGR ↑ mi KRAK not reeli xpktn th werst & pulldt out kuvr-dn SHIT & t smelt
ORFUL & I wodld off wth n ♠ & n rolev toilt ppr & vku8d th gut (4 nuthr dvnchrv th same gendre c ‘→
12
(no 1)’ p1, 13 & ‘→ (no 2)’ p8 (14/12. & vrius dvnchrzv M.M. Mallacoota Man n ‘IN TRANSIT’)) & rubd
th soild partzv mi ndrpants & th ffektd partv mi shorts & I WOZ FEELN TERBL just how I rmmbr I
uezd2 wen I woz O 5 yeerz old wen I uezd 2 SHIT (17/12. Shit, sh ite , sb. Not now in decent use. OE. [Teut.
Root * skit-.] 1. Excrement from the bowels, dung 1585. b. a contemptuous epithet applied to a man 1508. †2. Diarrhoea,
esp. in cattle –late ME. Also vb. trans. and intr.) mslf ftn or maib nli 1s or x2 but th mmri & gilt rm-ain → ths
dai. I HAD DUN VRITHN RONG & I pongd evn wen I got →2 th frunt seetv th 4x4v th vri ni-se persn
(v KANAKA dsnt I rekn) hoo ddnt terf mi out but drove ← & @@cht nchain 2 mi bak bumpr brakt &
pulld us out (z I ←d) no bothr. ♂ had had n dvnchrus dai lredi z rlier 1v hiz dogz (thr wer 2 n th 4x4)
had got xited x n KROK drag mark neer wer w r parkt 2nite & 4ln n th rivr & ♂ had jumpt ↓ ftr it →2
KROKODILE NFSTD H2O & got hmslf tangldn fshn line. Wen w → Cowley Beach I chainjd →2 nuthr
pairv undeez & →2 mi swimn trunks & washt th DERTI ietmz n n h&baisn n th toilt. Then I wa-sht mi
BUM (17/12. Bum sb. 1. ME. [?Cf. BUMP sb., etc. Perh. echoic. Not a contr. of ‘bottom’.] The posteriors. Also transf. 2.
colloq. Short for BUMBAILIFF; (like F. cul for pousse-cul) 1691.) wth th faiswshr & thn th faiswshr wth sope z H
had xplaind 2 mi 2 do (having had 5 children I knew what was necessary!). Piti, z I had strtd
out reel kleen z @ Kurrimine I had hadn orlovr woshn th c n th NUDDI. Orlz wel th@ ndz wel but! X th
wai th ● wer w r @ znot reeli n park butz korld so bkoz Mr Joseph Francis McCutch-eon don8dt “To
the Residents of the Johnstone Shire for Recreational Purposes in 1947”. I hav givn u ths
kkount n ful grfk dtail bkozt haz bn mi prakts 2 rkord COINCIDENCE & u karnt do betr than BOG yrslf
justz u BOG yer kar. 7.50pm @ McCutcheon Park offn ded nd trak off th gravl bak rd ← Kurrimine →
Cowley Beach. 2moro I startn nue jrnl. S@rdi 30/7/05. N th TROPKS th mornnz doe-nt start wth n
xplozionv sound zthei doo ↓S wer u get ggrg8nzv th same speeseezv berds suchz mg-pize, kroze,
kookburruz. U get th 10t@v korlv 1 thn nuthr kmpleetli dfrnt berd 0v wch I m aibl 2 dntfy xpt th Oriolez
both vrieteezv wch I think (thei r hgh n th treez) r heer: Yellow Oriole (Oriolus flavo-cinctus) & Olive-
backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus) bothv wch hav vntrlkwl mlodius voisz. Tho WrA-oLbSeErRt sez th
serch 4 novl xpriens z n sinev shaloness I hadn nue 1 ths mornn (tz 7.55am): I 8 2-vth 4 BLAK
SAPOTE I had bkoz thei wer perfktli ripe. U wait til th frutez so soft th@ tz hard not 2 po-ke yor fingr
→2t. N ths kndshn th skinz n blochi yelowsh brown. U kut t n ½ & skupe ↑ th flesh wth n spoon. Tz
dfkult not 2 get yr h&z & fase smeerd wth wot looks like SHIT (same kulr & taistsv przrvd d-8s) & wen
wiept wth tshuze make thm look zif yoov bn2 th toilt. I rks mi reedrz (I doent rite 4 ntljnt pe-epl (21/12.
Louis (c ‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p3) kaem 3rd n th NSW HSC rzults skorn 99.9) z ntljns z th kpasti 2
mit8 & folow drkshnz 4 wch thei r lredi prporshntli rwordd wth $$$z x sosieti but 4 thoze hoo r por @
foloewn xmpl & pai th prisev not findn n ● n th O) 2 xuze mi 4 mi lakv delikasi n mi serch 4 prs-izion.
H ddnt want2 tais tit z ♀ duznt like TROPKL frute ♀ sed (had it once before and its way too rich
and sicky sweet) …. Ovrnite ● ↑N → Mourilyan →E → Mourilyan Harbour ↑N → Etty Bay (sumv th
best jungl bakdrop 2 a smorl kove Iv cn; huje calophyllums) →W & ↑N →Innisfail (-ppr, shopt (bortn
sharpnnstoen), drank n beer) →NE → Flying Fish Point ↑N → Ella Bay (6 kampn si-tes spaist ovr ½ k
or so (ie eech vri prv8) n dens jungl; w r here 4 th nite; rainjr kumz 1s / week; 5.20-pm). Mslainia : ther
r 2 kindzv KROKS nOZ : Freshwater (Crocodilus johnstoni) & th dredd mneetr, Estuarine
(Crocodilus porosus) wchz th reezn u nevr c niwan swimn n th koast wchz a big ▼ H sez. Nlike th
+z n TV wer th c H2O z shownz kristl kleer & v n merld or zure kulr tz terbd & sumtiemz brow-n like
Yarra H20. Thsz korzd x th hgh (3+ metrz) tiedz (@ Kurrimine I fotode n wornn sine xktli llustr8n mi
H2O dreem wch n 3 krtoon stile piks showdn famli b-n kut off x rizin H2O on n →) chernn ↑ mud n th
mngroev ‫ ٱ‬z. Thoez TV +z r FAKED x th H2O shots b-n taikn far out @ c n kral @olz but th NUBI-LE
(17/12. Nubi le, a. 1642 {ad. L. nubilis, f. nubere to marry, or a. F. nubile] 1. Of females : Marriageable. 2. Of age : Ad-
mitting of, suitable for, marriage 1831. Hence Nubi lity 1813.) SORT u c runn →2 th H2O z no FAKE. Th ♀ w
sor ystrdi @ Garners Beach had hr PUBIK (17/12. Pu bes . 1570. [L. pubes, -is.] 1. The pubic hair. 2. The
hypogastric region, which in the adult becomes covered with hair 1682. 3. Zool.and Bot. = next 2, (Bot. The soft down
which grows on the leaves and stems of many plants; the character or condition of being pubescent 1760) 3.(Zool. The soft
down which oc-curs on certain parts of various animals, esp. insects 1826) 1826) HAIR trimd →2 n ‘l&n strip’. Lso Iv
reelized th-@ th ● O th kornrv th roks wer I met th ♂ ← Colac mustb nmeetn ‫ ٱ‬4 gaiz (17/12. Gay .
M.E. [a. F. gai; of unkn. etym.] A. adj. 1. Full of or disposed to joy and mirth; light-hearted, exuberantly cheerful, sportive,
13
merry. b. Airy, off-hand. JOHNSON †c. Applied to women, as a conventional epithet of praise – 1802. 2. Addicted to social
pleasures and dis-sipations; often euphem. : Of immoral life 1637. 3. Bright or lively-looking, esp. in colour; brilliant, showy
ME. 4. Showily dre-ssed. Now rare. ME. 5. Brilliant, attractive, †Formerly also of reasonings, etc. : Specious. 1529. †6.
Excellent, fine – 1593. 7. dial. In good health 1855. ¶ 1. This Absolon. . jolif was and g. CHAUCER. b.G. indifference 1779. c. The
learned man hath got the lady g. SHAKS. Phr. The gay science (= Pr. gai saber): the art of poetry. 2. Is this that Haughty, Gallant, G. Lothario
ROWE. Euphem. Two sisters – both g. 1825. 3 . Costumes g. with ribbons 1870. Dressed in his gayest 1842. 4. Women .. sell their soules and
bodyes to go g. BARCLAY. 7. I don’t feel very g. (mod.)). Ths leedz mi drktli → tpkv mi ntestnl prolbm wch I now think
woz korzd x th SALAMI Im eetn wch I bort @ Charters Towers & wchz ternn green from th air pokts n
t. I like th taistvt th@ wai & mi theeri wil b testd 2nite z Iv eetn plenti morvt. Th 2 BLACK SAPOTE
prvied n nprdktbl +shn 2 posbltee-z. Not 2 wurri but - shoodn ksidnt b mmnnt Il just run strait → th c
wch I kan c (z w sit n th bak BUMp-rv th van) thrue th jungl n fue yardz ↓ us. N krikt haz startd chrupn
& Im goin ↓ 2 th H2Oz ej. Hz reedn ‘Mammoth. Book One : Silverhair’ x Stephen Baxter (“a
stunning talent”). Wen ♀ fnshz reedn n book ♀ leevzt n n publk ● wth th werdz “read me and
pass me on” ritn n th flie-leef. ♀ duzt soze2 dscharj hr jewti z n lbrairian. Sleep wel. ☼di 31/7/05.
Larst nite w wer wotchn n fierfli hooz litez blinkt n n off liken airplainz went flue. Ths mornn I puld n
tieni tik ← Hz mdrf. 2dai O 9.15am w → th long tropkl beech wch lookt like sumptn outv ‘Treasure
Island’ or ‘Kidnapped’ 2wordz th nxt hedl& ↑N. Thsz th wetst bitv koastlinen OZ wch meenz tz z
TROPKL z u kan get. Rite @ th startvth → I got 2 c n pairv Yellow-bellied Sunbirdz ( Nectarinia
jugularis) wchr komn but Iv nvr cn em b4. N@chrli w ha-dn SWIM N TH NUDDI (17/12. Nude . 153
1. [ad. L. nudus.] A. adj. 1. Law. a. Of statements, promises etc. : not for-mally attested or recorded. b. Of persons, esp. n.
executor : An executor, etc., in trust 1590. 2. Naked, bare; without cover-ing; devoid of furniture or decorations 1866. b. Of
the human figure, etc. : Naked, undraped 1873. 1. a. N. contract or pact : a bare contract or promise, without any consideration. 2. b. The
medals .. bear .. on their obverse side th n. bust of that Empress 1879. B. sb. 1. A nude figure in painting or sculpture 1708. 2. With the.
The undraped human figure; the representation of this in the arts 17-60. B. The condition of being undraped. 1856. 2. Modern
chalk drawings, studies from the n. BROWNING.) Swimnn H2O th kulr of th Yarraz skairi z u thinkv sharks so u doent
stain 4 long. Faktz I havnt cn ny1 n th H2O z longz Iv bn & Iv nli bn n x3. Th moodv th beech woz
maid mor xotk x th fakt th@t haz not yet bn vrrun x KOK-ONUT PARMZ wch havn habtv skweezn out
th casuarinaz & trashn up th hedv th beech. & yes!!! O 1½ hrz → beech lookn →2 n LAGOON bhined
th beech I sor mi 1st CROCODILUS POROSUS sitn n n log n th midlv th LAGOON butz I moeshnd 2
H 2 kum ovr it ●d mi & slid →2 th H2O. Twoz n xmplv how lert thei r probli bkoz wen thei rnt thei get
eetn x bigr KROKS. I woz vri xited havn n th parst (c ‘-GULF TRIP’: “02.09.97 FRAGILE DON’T
DROP ¶ Dere + Rew, ¶ I don’t care being out of focus now that I know its caused by me being in a
paralill universe and I admit I am unfocussed cauze Im lazy and lack consintrashin. And I can hack
bein irresponsible and havin an infantile personality especially as I am having a great time anyway
but I worry about bein a burden on society so when I get back to Melbourne I am goin to get
councilling (how the fuck do you spell that) as long as its at the taxpayers expense and totally free +
no strings attached. It’s the first step (+ necessary one). I take this step of putting meself in the hands
of the caring profession as long as the councillar is between fifteen and twenty three (them being the
legal age) and STARK NAKED for the duration of the sessions. She mu-st be good lookin too of
course. In fact I DEMAND to be councilled. ¶ Give my regards to the Lil Chile, tell him that Cloncurry
+ district is a great area for him to start his hub cap collection. Tell him too that yesterday I sprung 3
krokodills of the freshwater variety and they woz all movin towards the water like greezed lightnin and
were disconcertingly big – my size in fact. Id just had a dip for a wash in another pool in the Leichhart
River. Power to the Prof. ¶ Burke and Wills roadhouse on the way to Normanton. a …z”) nli cn
CROCODILI JOHNSTONI & I kood tel th dfrns strait wai. N4tun8li H nevr got 2 c t. Tz hard 4 mi 2b
knfdnt O th lenthvt (wen u mzure th lenthvn snaik tz lwaiz shortr thant lookt ppl sai) but I rekn 5 ft z
klose. N ← I had nuthr dipn th c & w wer bak just wen tlookt zift mite start rainn. But wev nli hadn bitv
drizl. Th ROMANCE of th → woz dmnsht x th sprizin kwantiti v jagd peeszv BROKEN GLA-SS, mostli
brokn stubeez, stikn ↑ outv th s& spshli @ th hgh H2O mark. Twoz ftn raizr sharp nlike ↓S wer th ej
gets worn wai x th larj serf wch u doent get heer. 4get th rmantk nitetiem → x moonlite, & ev-n goin 4
n swim prznts n dainjr. So far the GLASS haz bn th most dainjrus thing wev kum † n th TRO-PKS. ….
Im kumn 2 th knvkshn th@ mYaOrUgRuCeErNiAtRe znot th orthr hooz goin 2 rkndl mie ntr-st n reedn
14
wch I doent think I want rkndld niwai …. 7.25. Th rain haz setn. W r kooptn th van. Radio sez min.
temp. 4 2nitez 19°. Hz reedn. Rlier n th evnn ♀ sed ♀ felt like n RUM & KOKE. ♀z n bit ↓. W greev 4
sumv our kidz hoo kant find n ● n th O wch sewtsm. ♀ 1drz wotzt orl O. (Pisn ↓). Sum thingz just
doent make sens. N th SUPERMARKT nInnisfail thei r seln KOKONUTZ 4 $1.80 eech wen th O
dstrktz litrd wthm & u kan pik ↑ z meni z u want 4 FREE. 2dai wv bn ON THE ROAD (Jack Kerouak –
Iv red th book) 4 n O munth. Mundi 1/8/05. Raind n&off orl nite sumtiemz hevli. ← @ Innisfail w red
th ppr vri slowli @ Il Fiorentino whr mie x2 shot mug of l@é kost $4.30. @ leest thei no how 2 maken
deesnt kofi heer. If u want 2b shor u r torkn 2n loakl tork 2 sum1 hoo looks talian. Red n th ppr th@n
th home cuntri thei r goin2 lok up muzlm ♀z if thei r kort warin n berka (tz so huemid Im swetn tho Im
sitn heer NAIKID; th waivz r braikn 20mtrs wae (H haz chekt th tied chart); tz 7.50pm; w r n Russel
National Prk O 10kz ↑Nv Bramston Beach (wer Iv bn b4 (c ‘GULF TRIP’) ftr dvise fromn lokl hoo told
us 2 gnor th 4x4 sine (I waiddn fue pudlz 2 chek th fermns & dpth) n n veri kosi ● n jungl rite nxt 2 be-
ech s&; I sor a fue Orange Footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) neer x.) L8r w bort n mbrla bk-
ozt woz rainn kntnuousli. H rang th kidz n Melb: Michaelz OK; Joe kntnuze hiz drivin lesnz (21/12. got
hiz liesns larst week) wth Ben; K8 & Dan r fine. Th ppr haz orlv QLD n n rain ‫ & ٱ‬w r n th epi• vt 4 th
nxt 4 daiz @ leest & I rekn twil b n O week b4t kleerz this ‫ ٱ‬f @ orl (but tz not rainn now). W doent no
wot 2 do n thoez kndshnz so w potrd O town – chekt out th op-shop; bort n peesv fsh fromn rkmndd
fshop & tho twoz Spansh Makrl twoz good & not @ orl drie. Rlier H had sed I mite z wel giv up trien 4
good fsh n th tropkl koast. I woent bor u wth n kkountv th lnthi dskshnz Iv hadn th subjkt wth vrius fsh-
mungrz nkludin th main splierv frsh fsh n Innisfail but f u r reeli ntrstd u kan arsk mi wen w r bakn Mel-
b. Then w setldn @ th Imperial Tavern wer H dm&d n RUM & KOKE (1) & plaid th pokeez ($1). So di-
d I. Th rain eezd mid rvo so w → Eubenangee Swamp (short →) & → Bramston Beach (wer w had t
vrlookn th beech @ th bote ramp n bit ↓S) → here (vri groovi ●; neerst bigr townz Babinda. Wn w got
heer w dskvrd w r just O outv H2O but f w run short w hav 6 leetrzv milk & 7 KOKONUTZ eech wth
sum KOKONUT MILK. Now th@ w both hav mbrlaz w kan go 4 →s heer 2moro. Chuzedai 2/8/05. 5.-
50pm & rainn stedli. Th soundv waivz braikn, ntrmitnt hevi rain, gustsv wind shaikn H2O off th vrhang-
n branchz ↓ roofv th van rite thru th nite trigrd meni dreemz 0v wch I rmmbr n dtail. I woz wuriin O our
shortjv drinkn H2O & 1drn O th 10kzv rode ←2 Bramston Beach. But t held up wel b-n s&i & ftr n →
ths mornn w → Babinda. I 1td H 2 c t bkoz I had liektt so much wen I woz heer 8 yeerz goe (7/12. soe
now ie kwoet 2 letrz ← ‘GULF TRIP’ : “DUGONG FACING EXTINCTION 13.09.97. ¶ Doktor, there is
an argument going on the radio at the moment, I am told, whether Babinda or Tully is the wettest to-
wn in Australia. Last year it was Innisfail which is between the two. Doesn’t matter : the footpaths on
the main street of Babinda are wide and its all under verandah. I am writing this at a sidewalk table
and should be able to report on the hamburger later. The sugar cane train cuts across the main street
every 5 minutes only 50 yards away. It goes to the crushing factory which is the main employer here.
The factory is huge, a ‘satanic mill’, or something transported or deposited here from east Germany
or Slovakia. I checked it out this morning. It has a main stack belching out a continuous churning cl-
oud of steam and various other vents in the building huff and puff smaller clouds at intervals. IT’S BE-
AUTIFUL. It is responsible for this being a normal town. NOT A RESORT. Unlike Palm Cove, Trinity
Beach, Port Douglas. I havent seen a single person wearing gym boots with white socks. And there
are half-castes here. No town in QLD looks right to me now if it hasn’t got its aborigines. In bigger to-
wns like Mareeba they occupy the public areas from early morning and boy have they got style! The
sneers on their faces, their resentment of the white man’s dollar, their enslavement to alcohol marks
their faces and their entire physiques with character. It ensures that their emotional lives are intense
and contributes to their beauty. How insipid the TOURISTS of the RESORTS look by comparison.
Coming into BABINDA after a string of pretentious coastal resorts restores my self-confidence. Pe-
ople don’t stare at me as if I am from another planet just because I am not neat and clean. Municipal
authorities don’t try to hound me into caravan parks that in Port Douglas are choked with tourists at
$15/night (14/12. now tz $25 4n npowrd siet). In the resorts the owners of the parks are councillors
and they spend their meetings nutting out strategies to force you into their parks whether you like it or
not. There are only 5 of us in a spacious municipal park here and its FREE. It says you can stay for 2
15
nights but the guy who puts in the toilet rolls says you can prop indefinitely. The rolls arent under lock
and key. And yes, there is a shower there although I prefer to use the beautiful stream that runs along
one boundary which is running well as you would expect in the wettest part of Australia; and the
water is crystal clear. There is a guy in the park with his wife and 2 kids and he has a huge gut and I
think they might be roadies. A bloke Ive been talking to has a crippled leg and a cockatoo that talks in
his caravan (I thought it was his wife at first) which is 30 years old and that will outlive him he says
but he will pass it on to his granddaughter in Dubbo, he says, cause she likes it. He had an old navy
blue fal-con and its UNREGISTERED and his caravan is held together only by the rust and the
peeling paint-work. He cant move for the time being. He has a dog too. He knows all the free parks
(including one not far away near Tully) and he NEVER pays. You got to respect a guy like that. Last
night I was ya-cking to a german cyclist who had earlier asked me where you pay to be here. He has
been cycling for 12 months around the country and taken about 3000 photos for his art work. Both of
us have spe-nt the morning in the township checking it out separately but comparing notes when we
meet. We ap-pear to share a common attitude to tourist resorts. I gave him a coconut for his tea last
night as he cant carry them on his bike. (Ive got a weeks supply in the car). He spent a lot of time in
‘A.C. Mellick Draper and Mercer’ which is a kind of opportunity shop. He is riding back to Cairns this
arvo because tomorrow night he is going to a ‘Midnight Oil’ concert. You should see the pub here; it
has a cigarette vending machine covered in rust and which looks 100 years old. There are two pinball
machines; po-ker machines where you can play 1c at a time by putting in $1 for 100 credits. Its walls
are covered with film promo posters as old as the ones in the Hollywood Palace. It has a barmaid
who is a bit of a hard tart but she’s still a looker. In the resorts they hire pretty people who are often
foreign tourists themselves or who look as if they have a degree in the visual arts. There is a
BARBER SHOP here, not a ‘hair dresser’ or a ‘hair stylist’. There is a picture theatre with old
fashioned billboards that look just like the one I used to go to in Sale in Gippsland when I was a kid.
‘Con Air’ is showing with John Cage and Nicholas Cusack. Quite a few of the shopfronts are empty
and have ‘To Let’ signboards in them but apparently the towns population is increasing. Problem is
that its only 60ks from Cairns and 30 from Innisfail and people like to drive to a supermarket for their
shopping even though every other kind of shop is here in the single main street, even a bicycle repair
shop which also sells some fresh fruit and has a small lending library of paperbacks. Its run by a 91
year old woman who still does some of the repairs herself; shes had the shop since 1948. She has a
kid come in for the harder rep-airs. I think she cant be bothered getting rid of her old papers and
magazines as about ½ th cubic space of the shop is taken up by them and they are covered in half a
century of dust and grime. The guy who runs the hardware shop next door (one of two in town)
assures me she does do business with the cycling kids of the town. I went to the hardware shop
because I had to buy some thin string to hang my pack off the ground on the Hinchinbrook walk as
the very same rodents that gnaw holes thr-ough coconuts will also gnaw right through a tent or a
backpack if they can smell food inside. Goan-nas are also a problem they say. I am a bit
apprehensive as a 7-day pack is my limit and assumes I don’t have to carry water but a woman I met
today tells me that the streams can be dry at this time forcing walkers to carry water on the way.
Maybe I was too ambitious by making my arrangements for a week. They only let 40 campers on the
island at any one time and the waiting time can be up to 6 months so I was lucky to get on at all. For
$100 it’s a cheap walk ($20 to parks, $38 for Cardwell fer-ry, $35 for Lucinda ferry and back to car at
Cardwell). Ive just had the hamburger, mate, and it was huge; $3.70 with the lot; the bun came from
the baker 3 doors away (right next to the sugar cane trai-nline); I recognized it cause I bought ½ doz.
buns there this morning to replenish my own supplies. I enclose the paper serviette which came with
it as a present for lil chile. Ive underlined BABINDA in red on the map that is on it. I suggest he keep it
for his geog assignment as little kids always have to learn the wettest towns in Australia. Now tell me,
can you think of a better thing to do than eat a truly great hamburger in BABINDA, with the cane
trains choofing by every 5 minutes on a sultry tropical day surrounded by mountains covered in lush
tropical vegetation, and everyone who walks by nodd-ing and saying hullo? When I told the lady in
the clothes shop she said “that’s a nice thing to say”. Or would you prefer to sun-bake at Palm Cove
16
(tourism is full of ‘coves’) and then have a glass of wine with your gourmet foccaccia at the beach
front boutique restaurant; in the evening, dinner by candle-light overlooking the ‘plage’? This morning
I walked right around the outskirts of BABINDA looking at the gardens. I have become infatuated by
the aromas of the tropical jungle (Cape Trib.) and I kept sniffing the flowers that hang across the
fences. If Lyn really does decide to grow an aromatic garden as she said I think she will be
demonstrating that she is prepared to live with a substitute that is awf-ully inferior to the real thing.
And I guess she knows what the real thing is because don’t they have a tropical jungle in Sychelles
where you guys have been on holidays? Ive changed my attitude to gard-ens – better than waste
time on an imitation, go to the real thing. Nevertheless I did walk past a gra-pefruit tree near the
crushing mill and it smelt great as all citrus trees do; I suppose they grow better in Melbourne than
here as its too wet here for them really. There was an elderly woman working in the garden of the
parish church whom I judged to be a nun in civvies as there is a convent nearby and she had an irish
accent. The church and the parish and the convent are called St Ritas. St Rita was an Italian mother
of two sons. When their father was murdered the sons swore to spend their lives searching for the
killer to avenge the father. Their mother prayed that they would not take a hu-man life in vengeance
and they didn’t as both died in the next year or two anyway. So she joined a convent, Augustine I
think, where she spent the rest of her life and where she “saw Jesus often” acc-ording to the nun. It
seemed sad to me that the nun should live a cloistered life in the hope of “seeing Jesus” when,
according to her own beliefs, she is going to ‘see him’ after she dies anyway. Or is she not so sure of
the afterlife? The altar of the church is very plain, like a protestant church. I felt grateful to have the
opportunity to pray for everyone but especially (as always) for my derelict and god-forsak-en son –
Luke. It is the unfairness of Luke’s situation that has turned Helen into an atheist. God, relig-ion, does
he exist or not, these are non-issues as far as Im concerned. Boring stuff. On the way out I crossed
myself with the holy water from the font; I wanted to physically assert my membership of the
community of worshippers, however oblique or distant it be. Tourist buses do drive down the main str-
eet of Babinda on their way to the Babinda Boulders 5 kilometres away. Q.L.D. is full of tourist buses.
They have sold their souls to that industry. But I guess that tomorrow (or later today) I’ll go and have
a look at them myself. There is a beach to the east of here that tourists also go to. Why do they find
those kind of ‘things’ more interesting than this kind of town? Strange and I don’t know the answer. Its
lucky for me but, and its FREE! ¶ P.S.¶ 1. St Rita lived in the 14th Century. ¶ 2. There is a ‘Hair Stylist
and Studio’ for women in the main street (just noticed).¶ 3. There is a sporting and recreation area
(polo club, rugby field, and more) which is very well maintained and provides an alternative place for
me to prop just as I sometimes do in ‘recreation reserves’ in Victoria. ‘Resorts’ are woefully short of
such amenities except for the golf course that invariably goes for miles. ¶ 4. There is a hospital here
and a library and an Olympic length swimming pool. Towns of this size hardly ever have a full length
pool I was told. There is probably no amenity missing except a supermarket of the modern style. ¶
There are some dark skinned asian people here including the family that own the shop. They might
be part aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. The people in this shop are beautifully gracious in their
manner. Compare that to the Brunswick Street jargon of ‘enjoy’ or ‘bon appetit’.¶ a …z”. & “15.09.97
McDonalds BEFORE THE FLOOD ¶ Doktore, at the risk of interrupting your train of thought (but
then its so long since I last writ ya) I want you to imagine a tropical night where the temperature is
neither hot nor cold but just ‘shorts and singlet’ right. You are conscious that out in the night there is a
cloud capped mountain overlooking the town – Mt Bartle Frere, the highest peak in Q.L.D. You are in
a main street flanked by wide footpaths covered by a continuous veranda on both sides of the strip. A
hundred yards away or so to your left you can see a group of people, mostly young (Torres Strait, or
Kanaka types) seated at sidewalk tables outside the ‘Snacks and Eatery’ joint. More precisely you are
standing in the doorway of the pub. It is BABINDA. You are holding a stubby of XXXX in your hand.
The rain is teeming down. Its perfect except for one thing: its not you but me that’s out there and I
don’t have to imagine it because I was there last night and will be again tonight. So it goes! This morn-
ing I was talking to a guy from Cairns at the free Council run caravan park I am at which says you can prop for 48 hours but
the council worker says it can be forever. Anyway this dude confirmed many of the impressions Id already formed for my-
17
self. The caravan park owners association are trying to close down a similar place to this 40ks north of here at Gordonvale.
Apparently they are good at conscripting the media and local politicians. They target several of these rest areas each year
and if they succedd in closing one then they target the one next door the following year. The Councils are resisting them and
an association of campervan owners is also learning how to mount a campaign. But the park owners are very powerful here
as QLD, especially north of Cairns, is run by the tourist industry. Park owners often become councillors too. At Gordon-vale
they were coming into the rest areas with cameras and photographing everyone there each day and if you were there more
than the 48 hours official limit they were taking the photos to the council officials and demanding that they kick you out. It is
worth remembering that these council run rest areas were in existence long before the tourist industry took over and before
the private caravan parks were even set up. Same thing happens at ends of wharves, favourite propping spots for me. The
wharves are usually run by port authorities who build them and who couldn’t give a shit where you spend the night
especially as they are far away in the main city of the region. But at Daintree village the local private caravan park ow-ner
came over and pretended that he had the authority to make me shift. So as not to rock the boat I shifted to the public area
by the council chambers – there was nowhere else (20/12. but c ‘Tropica - 2’). The more of a resort a place is the
more this sort of thing holds true – and remember, in Q.L.D. the forestry admin tell you that you cant camp in state forest,
the opposite to the way it is in other states. It is in ways like this that the tourist industry corrupts whatever it touches. I bet
that the week that I am spending on Hinchinbrook Island in the near future for an all up cost of $100 will cost triple that am-
ount after the fancy resort is built there that the greenies are trying to stop unsuccessfully (apparently there are dugong in
the seagrass that is being damaged by the building). German backpackers will be more than happy to pay $300 as at that
rate it will still seem cheap to them. So it goes! This morning I went to the roadside ‘serve yourself’ fruit
stall where I had bought a paw paw for 50cents yesterday. It was delicious. Ive discovered
that tropical fruit has to be eaten soon after its picked if you are to get the subtle taste. Aft-
er storage much of the taste is gone even though the texture is retained. When you come
here, try a caimito, especially the purplish variety. Anyway the guy who runs the stall arriv-
ed and he was anxious I try his bananas as he was interested in my verdict, so I had to eat
a plantain banana (starchy, good for cooking, and the normal one used in Africa etc where
they always cook em) then he got me to eat one of his cavendish bananas (the normal com-
mercial variety here) which is very sweet and finally I had to eat one of the new goldfinger
variety which has recently come here from Honduras. Then because he didn’t have a small
paw paw he gave me a cantelope sized one which he said was perfect to eat today. He grows
all his fruit organically and wouldn’t take more than 50cents for the lot even though I know
he sells the large paw paws for $2 each. Great for me as I wont be able to take any fruit on-
to Hinchinbrook Island because of the weight seeing as my 7-day pack is about as much as
I can carry anyway. That’s the kind of friendliness Ive come to take for granted. What I want
to stress to you, Doktore, is that this is not a case of me seeing everything at BABINDA throu-
gh rose-coloured glasses simply because I am in a good mood (14/12. but now iem c-n vrithn thruen
glars darkli & 1drn ftz th O r just mi. DRUaMlMeOcND sezn such kaesz flap yor rmz reel farst & f u fli-
e wae u no yor dreemn.) Every traveller Ive talked to keeps referring to the friendliness of the
people in the town. That seems to be why the others are in the council park here with me, alth-
ough the fact that its free helps. Now when I bought a cup of coffee for $2.75 at a sidewalk
table in Port Douglas where each table had a sort of lantern on it the girl there was very nice
too. But youd have to be dead to human values if you couldn’t pick the difference in the kind of
‘niceness’ and there was no discount. Port Douglas has won the tidy towns award and private
camp accomodation for an unpowered site is $15 and it is not a feel good place for the likes of
me. I don’t cultivate the tidy look so favoured by the Japs at all. Not that the Japs are highly
visible there; they hang out at special resort accomodation within the resort and get ferried
about in buses from which they are not allowed to get off for more than a few minutes at a time
anyway. When they are on the golf course you cant see them because they is so far away – the
course goes on forever. Things are glitzy and cheap in an expensive kind of way at Port Douglas.
18
So it goes! I have written these notes at Bramston Beach which is a nice spot but am
going back to Babinda tonight because I want another session at the pub and because I
intend to buy a hamburger if Ive got any room left after Ive eaten the paw paw. I have to
eat the paw paw today as tomorrow I am going to Cardwell from where the ferry takes
me to Hinchinbrook and between here and Cardwell (near Mission Beach) they confiscate
all fruit because of the papaya fly controls. Hope they don’t spot the weeks supply of
coconuts Ive got hidden behind the plastic boxes. I don’t know if coconuts grow south of
here. Also tonight from BABINDA Im ringing home to wish Joe a happy birthday and to
talk to Helen. I know they are all together as its his 21st. Truth and Justice! A …Z. ¶ p.s.
regards to Rudi, Lynne, and Danny Cas-minus in case he does-n’t get the card Ive sent
him. ¶ p.s. don’t know if Ill be able to take a walk on the beach as there is a gale bl-owing
and intermittent showers.”). 0 much haz chainjd & th FREE kownsl kampn parkz stil FREE. W d-
dnt → th Boulders or Josephine Falls ← Innisfail bkoz th hevi & kntnuous drizl maidt mposbl 2 evn c
th mountinz. @ Babinda w → th main st & browzd n th op-shop. ← nInnisfail w rpeetd ystrdeez root-
een dzined 2 filn th dai juern wcht ddnt stop rainn 4n mnit. Red th ppr n n dfrnt kofi shop wer I paid
$4.00 4n x2 shot l@é. Shoptn COLES SUPERMARKT wer, thanx2 th talian nfluens, u kan get reel
SALAMI (cacciatore, veneto, sorpressa) & CIABATTA bred (uthrwiez u hav 2 eet taistls OZZIOZZI-
OZZI (14/12. OIOIOI thei showtd) bred 4 ppl wv no teef) wch I bort. Rang mum n Sydney (ystrdai Joe
had sed n KROKODILE wood b n suetbl TOTEM 4 mi; th larst tiem I met him ♂ sed I wozntn shairer –
wotz ♂ on O? but ♂ rkst H 2 pars hiz ♥ → mi) 2 rsk her O her ktrkt pr8shn & twozn big skses. ← Imp-
erial Tavern 4 RUM & KOKE (H x1, mi x4) & 2 plai th POKEEZ. Then → Ella Bay (7/12. c botm riet
kornrv kuvr map @ G) 2 th same ● w wer @ nite b4 larst. Th rain stopt 4 long nuf 2 low us 2 heet ▲n
supe & hav nbite 2 eet 4 t b4t set n gain & drove us →2 th van & tz peltn ▼ gain. Thingz r getn sogi
nside but thrz 0 w kan doo O t & therz x2 mor daizvt kkordn 2 th ppr. Thrz no • n → Atherton Tablela-
ndsz tz justz raini ther & koldr. Hz reedn ‘The Anvil of Ice’ x Michael Scott Rohan (“a very good and a
very powerful writer”) & Im O 2 hav nuthr krak @ YmOaUrRgCuEeNrAiRtZe ‘Fires’ tho shz far 2 ‘liter-
ary’ 4 mine & mostv her klaskl lluzionz go ↑ mi hed. Oyair, I bort nuthr peesv SPANSH MAKARL from
Pete’s Fish Shop n th kornrv th main stripv (same • z ystrdi) Innisfail & twozn larj filt & taisti & JUICY
like th larst 1. I rkmnd Pete’s Fish Shop 2 th Ov OZ & 2 orl mi reedrs O th O O eevn tho SPANSH M-
AKARLz th nli kindv fsh thei serv. Bon apetit. Wnzdi 3/8/05. Ella Bay → The Locality of the Coconuts
(wash etc @ th beechside toilt blok) → Innisfail (x2 shot l@é, kpootcheeno, red ppr, spansh makarl 4
mi & chikn wingz 4 H) → Josephine Falls (ndr Mt Bartle Frere (1622m) QLDz hghst (Mt Bartle
Frere experiences 250 days of rain out of 365; the average rainfall is between 5 & 8
metres; the creeks and rivers in the area have extremely high water qual-ity)) → Babinda
Boulders (5kz westv Babinda (“Town of Umbrellas”)) → Murdering Point (so call-ed because in the
1870s small vessels used to put in at King Reef, where an ab-origine called Dungaree
killed and partially ate 4 crewmen off various boats over a period of a few years.
Apparently the coastal tribes here were quite host-ile and aggressive to what appeared
to them to be invaders. Dungaree was eve-ntually speared fatally by a member of the
Burdekin tribe.) Tropical Fruit Wines (wer w bort n lgnt LYCHEE wine 4 $20) → Paradise Wines @
Mission Beach (wer H bort mi n botlv ‘Tropi-cal Red (Christmas)’ 4 $28 4 mi berthdi (w r drinknt hedv
shjewl) wchz dskribedz : “Combining the rich red colour and aromatic plummy melon tones of the Dragon Fruit with
Red Mango and Banana captures the essences of an Au-stralian Tropical Christmas. The delicate indulgence of vanilla oak
in this velvety-smooth dessert styled wine will give the dr-inker the fantasies of a rich Tropical Christmas all year round”;
bhind th wineri thrzn larj tri loded ↓ wth kmuenl n-stsv th Metallic Starling (Aplonis metallica) 2 wch
th berdz kame bak nfue daze go) → El Arish (ndr suspshn) → Silkwood (hazn kasl) → Japoonvale
(thrzn bute FREE kownsl karvn park n th Livingsto-ne Creek) → Mena Creek (maijr 2rst @rakshn (so
w ddnt go) ‘Paronella Park’ zneer x) → South Joh-nstone (shoogr train trak down midlv main rode) →
Innisfail → The Coconuts (wer w had t) → here. N4tuen@li jewrn th vri butefl drive ← Silkwood →
South Johnstone t raind th ntire wai so w wer not aibl 2 taik full dvantjvt wch I found dprsn. Th rainz
getn 2 mi & w wer 1drn how much longr b4 w r 4st off th TROPK KOAST. Normli th wintr wthr heerz
19
just rite but 2dai n kuplv loekls sjstd ths yeer kood kntnue 2b n xpshn. Wots th usev b-n n th TROPKS
f u kant drink yor DRAGON FRUIT wine n n mpti beech n th MOONLITE? Thrzdi 4/8/05. Th prolbm
wth rain zt 4sz u →2 th 2rst beet. U → from ● (m-arkt az *z n th vri xlnt FREE tairoff mapsv Tropical
North Queensland) → ● 2 feechrz sumv wch r mor ntrstn than uthrz but lwaiz drievn n lot & uezn
plentiv petrl. Insdntli ppl hoo r seln stuf no th@ th 1st ru-lev good sailzmnshp z 2 nevr stop torkn. Wv
drunk ⅔dzv th botlv DRAGON FRUIT (n fue daiz bakn th rode ← Cowley Beach w sorn plntaishnv
wot lookt like 10ft hgh KAKTS plants wch wv lernt z wot thei gro n) ystrdi evnn wch mai hav kntrbuted
2 n vri dreemfl nite. I dremt I woz blundrn O n n worm dark nite maikn shor not 2 stepn th numerus
poiznus SNAIKS I kood just dsern orl O mi feet. Then I dremt how th knskwnsz of EVIL travl thru th
BODY HUMAN & HISTORY like n nstoppbl waiv (Hitlr me-rdrz jwz → jwz dspozs plastnianz →
muzlmz h8 west 4 sportn zrael (& nvaidn rark) → muzlmz blo ↑ t-rainz n wstrn kaptlz → w h8 muzlmz
& trchr (kkordn 2 Amnesty International thei sai n th nuze ths a-m) em etc → muzlmz h8 us mor → O)
or SHOAH (but I prefr 2 thinkvtzn waiv bkozt haz peeks & trofs but kntnuze →). Hoo wil b th nxt
VIKTIMZ bsidez th bvius muzlmz (& thoze hooz 6ualti znt th NORM-)? 1 thingz srtain - th
KATASTROF (16/12. n n rtkln Diogenes, no 159, vol 49/3, 2002 jGeVaInL-LcElBa-AuUdDe
klaimz wrnth prosesvn trans4maeshn komprbl2 th Enligh10mnt r th 4lvth Roman Empire, r th
Renaissance, r th Industrial Revolution & wchz krktriezd x knfuezion oevr th dfnshnv ‘man’ z lluestr8d
4 gzampl x th klaemv SpIeNtGeErR th@ “There is less difference between a man and a great
ape than there is between a sane man and a mentally handicapped man.” (c ‘↑N’ p1).
ŽVvIaRiBdLaIsS (20/12. ystrdae w got 7 frshH2O krae (ie woz rong 2 korl em ‘marron’ b4 (c
‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p15)) & 3 eelz. Th eelz w-er smoekt larst niet (uezn red gum); ie had kraefsh
suep 4 lunch @ hiz plaes 2dae; Danz maekn n g-oormae kraefsh meel 4 mi & H 4 2niet) reknz owr
sensv DOOM zkplaenbl x th gzistnsvn O setv snar-ioz 4 dstrkshn (eg. nukular BOMB, BIOLJKL
aejnts, nkreesnli ntgr8d gloebl sistmz kaepblv b-n SAB-OTAGED, posbltiv drmtk KLIM@K chaenjz,
posbltiv NVIRNMNTL dzastrz jue2 oe(17/12. You’re ov-erdoing the ‘e’s – its really
annoying!)vrpoplaeshn & vrksploitaeshn etc etc) wch ddnt gzis-tn kuplv jnraeshnz goe. Ie gree &f
yor not skaird yv got yor hedn th s& - but ♂ sez th kwikr th betr!) z kumn farst. @ leest tz how twoz n
th DREAM (n th tropks ppl r lwaiz dreemn O th dreem haus thei r goin 2 bild x th koast, kkordn 2 th
lokl xprts n dreemz – th reel st8 jnts). Tz 9.15am & w → Innisfail. (ri-tn nxt2th toilt blok @ The Locality
of the Coconuts (hav fotoed th sine …)) 5.50 @ Holloways Beach ↑N of Cairns. Ownrshpv th lngwjv
SEX & 6ualti haz trdshnli bn n snshl lmntn th dploimntsv PO-WER both n DEMONIZIN n nmi &
nklaimn th ↑ MORAL GROUND th@ justfize hiz trchr & TOTAL LMN8SHN. 1v th prlbmz 4 th
kolishnv th wiln z th@ ths wepn z so dfklt 2 dploi sins evn n th vu-ev meni n th west th muzlmz
r so knsrv@vn 6ual titudez & n dheerns 2 trdshnl famli vluze. @ leest wen thei dmnized th JWZ
thei kood klaim th@ brothlz & sleezi niteklubz & kabraiz wer ownd x thm (& thei praktsd sekrt orjeezn
spshl kkazionz & 8 chldrn & bernt ↓ hausz) but wer kan u point th fi-ngr gainst th muzlmzv OZ xpt th@
thei send thr dortrz (so do hindooz & heepsv uthrz) 2 lebnon 2get mareed (thei shood get 25 yeerz 4 t
sum poli sed)? In fakt kkordn 2 H (I beg 2 dfr sins tz tiem 2 d-kupl 6 from breedn & famli vluze & 2
dploit 4 plezure & th dvrtizin ndustri) tz th west th@z morli dpraivd & redi 2 mploed. & nwai z Winston
HoWARd (17/12. ← ‘Tent Posts’ x MIhCeHnArUiX (c ‘16/2/04 – 27/-2/04’ p8) : “If suffering
released a sizeable amount of directly applicable energy, what technician would hesitate
to order its harnessing and to have plants built for that purpose? With words like
“progress, promotion, community need,” he would silence the ones on the bottom and
gain approval of those who, whatever the scenario, plan on be-ing in control. You can be
sure of it.”) sed ystrdi nli sum r muzlm xtrmsts & thr r 000zv good muzlmz n O-Z. Goodonya John,
thei need sum1 2 stik ↑ 4 em ….(7/12. 2 b kntnuedn ‘Tropica – 2’, god (allah (ya-weh (Α & Ω (NO
NAME (21/12. c ‘MEDITATION ON LAKE GAIRDNER’) (16/12. soe 1s gaen ie rtern (c ‘27/11/00 –
7/12/00’ p1) u 2 1v mie faevrt poemz : and suppose // that one old and very wise fish / as he
floated slowly, suspended / among the caverns of his life / breathing oxygen freely given / by
the garden of moss and weeds, / feeding on the bread that rained / like manna from his
fishbowl sky / became aware, in the garden of his mind / that every trembling, every dart-ing
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fish / however small / left a ripple on his soul, / and the garden that fed him freely / freely took
the food he gave, / till suddenly he knew he was only / one small link / in an everlasting chain //
and then // with the glassy eye of age / he saw the hand / that dropped the manna from the
skies // what could he say to / the suffering and the blind? / what could he say / to the dy-ing
and the dead? / what would he say / to the boisterous school of fish he ruled? // I am old and
cannot teach you how to dance / I must do my rounds in the confines of the bowl / the da-ncer
dances to a song we barely hear / the hand that feeds you dances in the sky))))) wiln.)

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