… After our usual morning start (coffee and paper) in Innisfail we decided to head for the

Atherton Tableland but 20ks up the road it began to pelt with ra-in so we did a u-turn and
headed for Cairns which we initially had vowed we wouldn’t visit (too big, too touristy)
but the promise of relief from the rain was too strong. Cairns turned out to be bearable
(even quite pleasant – an artific-ial swimming lagoon complete with white sand on the
esplanade to make up for the disappeared beach (the tide goes out a long way in Cairns
harbour) was attractive) especially for John as he found a fish n chip shop which had
coral trout (@ $7.90 for a cooked fillet!), the fish most people here have said is the best
eating. He found it firm, white and juicy but not as tasty as the Span-ish mackerel he had
before we left Innisfail and twice the price. We then sussed out the first of a string of
beaches north of the city (Machans Beach – homely, must have been the original get-
away beach area, no resort development noti-ceable ; and Holloways Beach where we
are now at the boat ramp, which is bi-gger and more resort-oriented). The mossies,
midges and green ants are acti-ve now that the temperature is warmer and the air
humid. Tonight we enjoyed the rest of the fruit wine at a rotunda on the beach, followed
by another glass of red (him) and an ice-cream (me) at Strait by the Beach, a café/bar
with magnificent driftwood chairs and tables right on the shore, surrounded by tropical
trees – very atmospheric and dreamy. After the fish shop stop we also checked out a van
selling tropical fruit – but only bananas and paw paw were available – everything else
comes into season around Christmas (thei lso had BLA-K SAPOTE. I 8 th larstv mien ths eevnn
z dzert 2goe wth th DRAGON FRUIT wien). Fridai 5/8/05. ☼ CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL ¶ 119-
145 Spence Street ¶ Cairns Qld. 4870 ¶ P.O Box 359 ¶ Teleph-one: (07) 4044 3044 ¶
Facsimile: (07) 4044 3022 ¶ council@cairns.qld.gov.au ¶ www.cairns.-
qld.gov.au ¶ ABN 21 543 571 965 ¶ ENQUIRIES: Environmental Assessment ¶ PHONE:
4044
3044 ¶ YOUR REF: ---- ¶ OUR REF: (501061) 1/11/4 ¶ Date 5-8-2005 ¶ NOTICE TO
REMEDY BREA-CH ¶ UNLAWFUL CAMPING ¶ Local Law No.20 (Caravan Parks &
Camping) ¶ The Owner/Oc-cupier ¶ Vehicle Registration RPN 244 State Victoria ¶ Vehicle
Make Toyota HiAce Colour White ¶ Dear Sir/Madam ¶ Under the provisions of Council’s
Local Law No. 20 (Caravan & Camping) “a person must not camp (or set up a tent for the
apparent purpose of camping) except in a caravan park” ¶ It has come to Council’s
attention that you are unlawfully using land at Acacia St Holloways Beach Qld to camp. ¶
You are in breach of Local Law No. 20, p-art 6, 15, (1). ¶ IN ACCORDANCE WITH
LOCAL LAW NO. 20 PART 6, SECTION 16 YOU ARE REQ-UIRED TO CEASE
CAMPING FORTHWITH, AND UNDERTAKE NO FURTHER ILLEGAL CAMPING AN-
YWHERE WITHIN THE CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL AREA. ¶ Failure to comply with this
Notice is an of-fence, attracting a maximum penalty of 50 Penalty Units ($3, 750.00). The
vehicle may also
be liable to confiscation (tow away) without any further notice. ¶ Yours faithfully 
Issu-

1
ing Officer LAUIRE PHIPPS Manager, Environmental Assessment ☼ Th kownsl
wrkr hoo servdus wth ths noetis woz rjnli ← Bendigo nVic & duznt rgrt ♂z ↑N xpt ♂ misz th mowntn
kuntri O M-ansfield whr ♂ uezd2→ fshn & shootn deer. U kant → 4sts heer, ♂ sed, zthei r fulv ferl
pigz & snaeks. Twozntn gr8 start2th dae zied hadn bad niet koz w wr riet neer whr th plaenz wr l&n
@th Cairns air-prt. Howvr ie woz ntreegd x vrius xotk & mstrius berd ♪♫♪s kumn ←th ♂groev w wr
nxt2 thruethniet. Itd bn owr plan 2getwae erli but ♂ kopt us b4 7am. ♂ woz drievnn ‘nmal ♂jmnt’ van.
Eethr sum1 sho-ptusr orl kownsl mploieez kari theez noetisz. Our mstaek woz th@ w ddnt reeliez
theez beech ●s r k-nsdrd 2b sberbzv Cairns. We investigated all the beaches to the right –
Yorkey’s Knob, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach – until we got to Palm Cove,
the ritzy resort town where we enjoyed promenading and having a garlic bread at a
restaurant underneath a magnificent swamp paperbark. These trees are a feature of the
beaches north of Cairns – they are tall and thick and in a couple of spots in Palm Cove
are incorporated into the buildings. There were heaps of tourists at P.C. all enjoying their
little bit of paradise. The day was sunny and still and quite warm, so many were
swimming. The crocodile menace doesn’t apply as there are no estuaries or creeks in the
area. Between P.C. and Port Do-uglas the road hugs the coast tightly so the beaches
along it are less frequent-ed. Crossing a bridge just before we got into the Port Douglas
environs I spotted a crocodile on the bank of a large creek. He was pretty big, and took
to the wa-ter after we watched him for some minutes. The girl in the Rainforest Inform-
ation Centre just south of Port Douglas said he’s there regularly. Now we’ve seen 2. Port
Douglas (17/1/06. c Tropika – 1 p8,9)is a resort town, like Palm Cove but much bigger – lots
of visitors, “buzzy” main street and marina and a long, fine sand beach which we’ll walk
tomorrow, weather permitting. The Douglas Shire is just as intolerant of campers as
Cairns City Council so we are jammed cheek-by-jowl into the single caravan park here at
$22/night, but it beats the $50 fine and the fear of being “sprung”. There are lots of
“experiences” you can have here – the reef experience, the hang-gliding experience, the
dive experience, the ani-mal sanctuary experience, the crocodile-farm experience. You
have to pay hea-ps for them all of course, and have them with stacks of other people
and with a guide/instructor and a running commentary. I don’t want any of them, which
shows how old I’m getting. John rang Kate – she’s back to full health. N nworm frdi eevnn
vri1 heer goez →2 wien&dien: ths ntri wz ritn @th Salsa Bar&Grill wththaedv x2 RUM&KOKES ($6
eech). Lso ritn nkard → DRUaMlMeOcND & SrMoIgTeHr @th ST8 LIBERIOVVICTORIA. S@rdi
6/8/05. Nkuplv ♪s (18/1. th bstv wch, kkordn2 mLiEcUhNaIeGl, “are also philosopical and poetic
by nature, rather than slick and expert; they are sublimely ambiguous, disorderly and
vague, and their purpose is not to nail thi-ngs down but to open things up. They must
express what is repressed – both personally and culturally – and that ca-n be messy and
daggy.” & heerz nuthr pnion ← 2daez The Age (Letters & emails) p14: “Stop whining, get
with the program ¶ David Campbell (Opinion 17/1) should just stop whining about the
relative importance of hyped lit-erary (27/1. th feest daev St Francis of Sales, paetrn stv rietrz
& jrnoez wozn 24/1) notoriety versus act-ual writing talent, and get with the program. As a
pyromaniacal schizophrenic ex-teen crack addict and devil-worsh-ipping terrorist
truckstop whore with splendidly marketable writer’s breasts and a ruggedly photogenic
beard who was abused by priests at five, rabbis at six and imans at seven (o’clock, every
day until I was 10 years old), I grasped the future of publishing years ago. Tragically I
died of a heart-rending terminal disease, and also a Buddhist honour killing, before I was
able to finish my gripping memoirs. I’m better now, and open to offers again. Which
multinat-ional publishing sucker will start the bidding at half a million? ¶ Jack
Robertson, Balmain, NSW ”) wiel H znth blueshn ■ havn nshowr & woshn sum kloez: ie kant
rmmbrf iev mnshnd th@ moestvth KOKONUT (2-0/1.Coco, cocoa . 1555 [a. Pg. and Sp. coco ‘grinning face’;
the name referring to the face-like appearance of the base of the shell. The spelling Cocoa was originated (app. By
2
accident) in Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary. See next.] †1. = COCO-NUT below –1740. 2. The palm-tree Cocos nucifera, which
produces the coco-nut 1555. Also attrib. Comb.: Coco-n ut, cocoa-n ut, coker-n ut . a. The nut or seed of the coco-
palm. b. = Coco-nut palm. c. In pugilistic slang: the human head. Doub -le Coco-n ut , in Fr. coco-de-mer, coco-des-
Maldives; the immense woody nut of a gigantic palm, Lodoicea sechellarum, fo-und native only on two small islands of the
Seychelles group.) PARMZ nth Cairnz shier & nPort Douglas (eg n t-his kampn □ ) HAV HAD THR NUTS
KUT OFF. F ue wantt dun priev@li nyor yardt kosts $100/tree. Tz dun2 prtkt pplz karz & thr NUTS
from bein dntd & 2 dkrees th mountv litr. Seemz strainj wn npartz-vth O ppl r goen hungri; & heerz 1 4
SrMoIgTeHr: ie sor ngroopv (O 15) Bush Thick-kneez (Burkinus grallarius) nth golf-kors ←
Holloways Beach. Theez raethliek berdzr mprtnt 4 th strainj mornfl ♪♫ wch 2gthr wth th ♫♪v th Beach
Thick-knee AKA Beach Curlew (Eiacus magnirostris) &th vri mpresv kro-wz, gerglz & ntrjkshnzvth
Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) (20/1. c kuvr map →) maik suchn kntrbueshn 2th
buetiovth nite. Wv lso cn Australian Brush Turkeyz (Alectura lathami) (2-0/1. c kuvr map → just buv
th skrubfowl) wch liek hangn O kar ‫ٱ‬s 2 4st ●s. Thr r skrubfowl 1drn O th kampn ‫ & ٱ‬ie herd thm larst
niet (8.30am) … ie kan c mi & H r mixnt wth ↑profiel ppl. Larst niet @th Salsa I noetd Kevin Sheedy
had siend 1vth ‫ٱ‬d pl8s nth worl & 2dai H ●d th sgnchrv Steve Vizard (17-/1. c Melbourne →
Sydney p3) nn bord @th Java Blue whr w redthppr …. ie hav just eetn npeesv Barramu-ndi 2mark
our → from Port Douglas & kan rport twozth most xpnsv ($9) vth fsh iev eetn & not neerli zgoodz
thCoral Trout ($8) rthSpansh Makrl ($4) tho twozth riet kiend of Barra (ie ☼t not frsh H2O)… On
towards Mossman which doesn’t look a large town but has 3 pubs. Tried “the best burger
in the North” but it was lousy. Prior to that we’d done the walk at Mossman Gorge where
the carpark was chockers and the cars extended a long way down the access road lining
both sides – very busy, but the walk was nicely laid out and the strangler figs most
impressive. Checked out Cooya Beach and Newell Beach (where there is a notice
banning the removal of coconuts – it see-ms some people come and harvest them to sell
at markets). John replaced 2 of our existing stock which had started to ferment, probably
due to the even heat of the car. At the boat ramp at Newell 2 busloads of Aborigines
were settled in – 2 parties fishing on one side of the estuary and another on the opposite
bank. A very large fish was reeled in on a handline. One of the men was singing and
playing the guitar. They have great taste in picking beautiful spots (17/1. rth ●s look mor
buetful koz thei r thr). On to Miallo where we were looking for a possible over-night spot. On
the way back to Mossman along Syndicate Road we passed a lo-cal riding a horse and
when John asked him about the possibility of stopping somewhere he recommended a
grove of mango trees (his) next to the Poletti Road Bridge where we are now installed
under said trees next to a glassy, bur-bling creek with a swimming hole. Other locals
John met while specking along the road warned of snakes (browns and taipans) and
recommended using a torch during any nocturnal wanderings. Its so good not to be in a
caravan park – it is quiet here except for the sound of water running, insects chirping ,
the occasional bird cry and the brief barks of a dog on the cane farm just be-hind us. We
have a field of bright green cane right next to us, shielding us fr-om the road. N peesv
trivia wiel ie rmmbr. Nth Johnstone Shire (Innisfail) th Afrkn 2lip wchz suchn buetfl feechrvth tropks zn
dzgn8d pest speeseez. Iev bn heern th ♫♪♫svth Pheasant Coucal (Centro-pus phasianinus). Nth
gorj → ie herdth Wampoo Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus magnificus) & sorn Spect-acled Monarch
(Monarcha trivirgatus). 2moromornn iem gunnahav nswim nth kristl kleer H2Ovth streem w r n.
Sunday 7/8/05. Which he did – it was deeper than it looked due to the clarity of the
water so it was a proper immersion. Off to Mossman to read the (bad) paper over (bad)
coffee. The Sunday paper here is called The Sunday Mail and its just like The Herald Sun,
complete with that rabid red-neck Andr-ew Bolt and an absence of news. Arrived at
Daintree Village (17/1. c Tropika – 1 p18-)about 11.30 having stopped to look at a river
tour office where a pretty tropic-al garden (including epiphytic orchids) attracted both a
Ulysses and a Cairns Birdwing butterfly – most spectacular as the Ulysses is metallic
sapphire blue and the Cairns is metallic emerald with black borders. Daintree Village
3
(19/1. c kuvr map ↑←)boasts about 6 shops of which 4 are eateries, and a boat ramp where
tour boats are moored ($25/hour for a tour). The river boasts lots of crocs whi-ch
according to a young man we met later are growing in numbers again aft-er a culling in
the 80s in response to the death of a local woman. He was relax-ing at the base of an
overhung track leading to a broad patch of riverbank where a magnificent strangler fig
was growing. His great grandfather had owned the property and he and other family
members are reclaiming it after years of neglect. He reckoned the crocs were identifiable
when passing due to a repulsive odour they have as carrion eaters. He and his family
only go into the river at low tide and in a group to look for freshwater molluscs. He was
an isl-ander I think. The 3 drives out of Daintree were great – creeks or the river itself
winding up narrowing, cleared valleys where long-eared cattle graze with the rainforest
covering the steep slopes and tops of the hills and mountains in the distance. Saw
jackfruit trees (Durian) on one property. Found a great spot for the night on the side of a
minor road above a ford so we’ll have gurgling wat-er again tonight as a lullaby. John had
King Salmon for lunch – pan fried and quite tasty, though still not as good as Spanish
Mackerel. I rang Dan – he went to young Rasa’s housewarming last night. She has a
town-house in Rich-mond. Everyone else is OK. Melbourne is cold and expecting rain. It
was a per-fect day here – warm, with a refreshing breeze as we drove. Wr kampt llgali
vkors. Th rool heerz ue knot kampn st8 4st rn kownsl l& (ie x roedsied) & fue doo thei kan giv ue n$50
nth● fie-n. Th nli waev bein shor not2 kopt z2b n priv8 prpti; ue kanget prmshn zw did ystrdi rwthout
th ownr noen. Eim shor wr saef heer 2 xth roedsied z ie karnt majn ni1 kumn out th 7kz parst Daintree
↑n roed wch ndz 1k ferthr. Bsiedz thszn mienr roed offn mienr roed. Now sum mor berdz: Cattl Egrets
(Ardea ibis) r vri nuemrus zr White-breasted Woodswallowz (Artamus leucorhynchus) &th vri
brliant Forest Kingfisher (Todirhanphus (Halcyon) macleayii) &th Rainbow Bee-eaterz (Merops
ornatus) wch ue c vrwhr. Yellow-bellied Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis) (17/1. c pik nkuvr Tropika –
1 ↑←) kanb cn nth main st @Daintree & kmbien wel wth th brliant butrfliez H & ie sor. Sor Dusky
Honeyeaterz (Myzom-ela obscura), Graceful Honeyeater (Meliphaja graecilis) gain, &th
bold&noizee Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides). Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia cuneata) r
ftn cn sitnn lektrk wierz, & ie did ♂j 2 c nPheasant Coucal wch ie f10 heer but rairli c. Bakn Daintree
b4 kumn heer ie poestd nkard 2 Brian&Zorka (17/1. thanx 4 thh&maedx-maskard (v Raffaelz (?) aenjl
(O 2 jumprflie?)) w fownd wn w-got ←2 Melb. Wr keepnt) thn reeliezd ie hadnt ritn nd8 r whr twoz
sent ←. Th kard givzn listv DAENJ-RUS ORSTRALIANZ wch iev rkst Brian 2 4wood → John
Winston HoWARd (c/o geBoUrSgHe) 4 n-10sv trrrgaeshn wthout leegl rprzntaeshn. Nth kaesvth
KROKODILE, ie sjstd, shood ♂ maek th slietst moovmnt jewrn trchr ♂ b mmdi8li shotnthhed. Tz
werth bein spshli wairv snaiksnthgrasz thisz TAIP-AN tertri. BOX JELFSH shoodb skwosht & FERAL
PIGZ dzerv 2b rnderd (27/1. ie kwoet (zkwoetd x D.J.Fraser, Gold Coast, QLD ← The Age
(Letters & emails) 23/1/06) ← They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1938-45
(University of Chicago Press, 1955) x Milton Mayer (ndrlienn mien): “What no one seemed to no-
tice was the ever-widening gap between the government and the people. And it became
always wider … the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting, it
provided an excuse not to think … for people who did not want to think anyway, gave us
some dreadful, fundamental things to think about … and kept us so busy with
continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated … by the machinations of the
‘national enemies’, without and wi-thin, that we had no time to think about these
dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us … ¶ Each step was so
small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted’, that unless one
understoo-d what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ …
must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in
his field sees the corn growing … Each act is worse thant the last, b-ut only a little worse.
You wait for the next and the next. ¶ You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking
that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. You don’t want
4
to act, or even talk, alone … you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble’. But
the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundre-ds or thousands will join with you,
never comes. ¶ That’s the difficulty. The forms are all there, all untouched, all re-
assuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the
cinema, the holidays. But the sp-irit, which you never noticed because you made the
lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. No-w you live in a world of
hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves, when
ev-eryone is transformed, no one is transformed. ¶ You have accepted things you would
not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things your father … could never have
imagined.”). & fn BOMB (18/1. WaElIbMeOrRtTS (B-OMB DESIGNER) diedn 21/12/05 @ thaejv
67. ♂ plaedn leedn roeln dzienn th GBU-28 ‘Bunker Bus-ter’ (kwoetn ← The Great War for
Civilization : the Conquest of the Middle East x rFoIbSeKrt vth werdz vn Reuterz krspndnt: ‘The
bomb, called a GBU-28, was five times more powerful than any non-nuclear weapon
previously built. It was just hours old when dropped on Iraq’s strongest underground
fortress and its designers had their fing-ers crossed that it would work. The new bomb,
built at breakneck speed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. and Texas Instruments Inc.
in an unprecedented team effort, was dropped from an F-111 onto a command complex
at Al Taji airbase …. The 4,700-pound superbomb – a howitzer barrel filled with
explosives and guided by a laser – penetrated the massive concrete walls and blew up
inside the bunker …“ It’s a story of patriotism and unpreceden-ted cooperation,” said
Merl Culp of Lockheed Corp. …’) 4 wch ♂ woz worddn medl 4 mrtorius svlian servis (nsidntli
fosfrus bomz wr uesd nFallujah nth preznt wor). N 2002&3 ♂ oevrsor th dvlopmntvth MOAB bom
wch waez 9450klz &z th larjst giedd air-dlivrd wepn nhistri. ♂ lso hadbn proejkt njneer 4n klustr bom
wch hadn proedkshn r8v 8,000,000 bomlts/munth jewrn th Vietnam Wor. Nth 1990z ♂ servd 2 2rz zn
wepnz nspktr (BUeTrLiEcR sez prbli thei wr US spiez) 4 th UN n iraq. ♂ z srvievd x hiz wife N-ancy, 3
☼z and 4 gr&☼z.) goez offn OZ th MUZLM kmnti must shorli hav noen b4h& fit kkordn 2 Joh-n so ft
hapnz tz thr folt. Zzzzz wel. Monday 8/8/05. Crossed the Daintree River (18/1. ← G-ULF TRIP
: “09.09.97 Kellogs KOMPLETE ¶ Professor, Be careful when you take the ferry across the Daintree
River, you will see the $7 sign to get across just as you’re already on the ferry. That’s ONE WAY. If
you havent got the message straight away, you will when you find out the locals pay $15 for a year’s
ticket. They keep very quiet about it. They call it the ‘user pays principle’ but educati-on aint good
here. If you still don’t get it you probably will when you buy a loaf of sliced white bread at Cow Bay
store for $3 (Yowah, Normanton, Karumba $1.90). If you still don’t understand note that the-re are
‘NO CAMPING’ signs everywhere and they is policed and there are even more ‘FOR SALE’ si-gns.
Still wonderin? Talk to the Ranger (not here on weekends), he’ll explain that in QLD you are not
allowed to camp in any state forest and in this park only 20 spots are provided by the park authority.
Rest are expensive private ones. You probably know that in Vic & NSW the forestry people put out
brochures asking you to camp in state forest so you come to love the wilderness without the mediat-
ion of the tourist industry. The penny may drop (I know youse is getting old) when the scuba diving
instructress tries to talk everyone into a scuba lesson of 1 hour for $50 on top of the $58 you’ve alr-
eady paid to snorkel the reef, and she tells you she’ll teach you even if you cant swim! You’ll recog-
nize her by the moustache and she’ll probably hate ya cos she’ll think you’re a cynic so when she
asks ya where you are stayin don’t say you’re going to sleep on the beach cause she’ll tell ya that
SLEEPING ON THE BEACH is verboten and that they check for ya! I is still not payin but! And I is
staying cause the natural attributes here are fantastic. I mean the jungle and the coral reef though I
cant shell out for that again but may get onto some more off the road south of Port Douglas where
reef reaches coast. Now a little lesson for ya. Pina COLATA = Malibu + Bacardi + Pineapple juice +
Coconut cream. ¶ Good health ¶ a …z”)into the Promised Land ($16 return) (18/1.← G-ULF
TRIP : “Cape Tribulation 06.09.97.¶ Prof, tourists (other than me) can spoil things but this area,
Cape Tribulation, is so good there is still plenty leftover. But I am getting sick of kokonits as I is eating
½ - 1 everyday for lunch. I am still on a learning curve with em and if I want a drink I only pick the gre-
5
enish ones just when the end is starting to go brown.Yes I have become wasteful like any good
tourist should be but it doesn’t matter here as the jungle turkeys love em and one is trying to snatch a
coco-nut from my hand right now. Talking about snatches, I came across a couple screwing on the
beach but I wasn’t responsible for coitus interruptus as they took their own good time even though
they saw me coming. I was only going to say hello but I heard her say something like ‘merde’ or
‘maird’, some-thing foreign anyway, in a rude sort of way. He had a paunch and was elderly and
managed to look quite rich even though he was naked and lying on his back. She was young and
doing all the work. I though that she might be poorer than him. It seemed like a good sort of
arrangement. There are hea-ps of foreigners here and I hope you wont be offended, you being a
lifuanian, if I say that the country is getting overrun by Germans, Frenchies, Poms etc and that they is
better catered for here because they is richer than the locals like meself who is poor. But I am using
me nut and squeezing a lot out of the lemon, or whatever. Tonight I am paying for accomodashin for
the first time as there is a private place ($9/night) where you can stop in a fantastic jungle, even
though not altogether pristine. I thou-ght it would be nice to be parked in this tropik garden for my last
day or two here. It is just north of Cape Trib and is called Pilgrims Beach (20/1. noe longrn gzstns –
now nfansi beechsied bar). I reco-mmend it to all 3 of youse and it affects people so much that many
of them wander about on the bea-ch starkers. Now that’s something you don’t see in the real jungle
which I was investigatin yesterday when I walked up Emmagen Creek and I saw two big pigs when I
was investigating side creeks. Nat-ure is writ in the large here – the creeks have more water, the
water is more krystal cleer, there are more fish and they like to get close, and the jungle is so, so
wonderfill. But the ranger sprung me try-ing to park by the river for the night and chased me away so
I had to go to another place I wasn’t sup-posed to be in. This mornin (and on other days) I was
checkin out where the reef meets the shore. It does that here and south of Port Douglas and its not
as fantastico as further out but is still great and I saw some fish that were just as big but far fewer
colourful fish. Still it is really good and there is the el-ement of surprise when you come across a real
big one hiding under a ledge whereas on the big reef you get jaded after a while. My sense of
amazement can only take so much. The jungle is another matter and it changes a lot and I don’t think
anyone is silly enough to go into it except me. This morn-ing I walked in a mangrove for a while and
you know what? the mud wasn’t as oozy as you’d think. It’s the roots of the mangrove trees that really
stop you and you cant go along the creek in the middle cause you wonder about the krok. Now as for
them kokonits. On some beaches they have all been pierced by a local rodent and on others
especially where spikes have been put in, the tourists pierce all the good ones to drink them so it
pays to stock up if you want only the very best quality. But be wa-rned, it is very hard to pick up and
carry more than 5 kokonuts at the same time and in the islands th-ere must be many sayings about
people who try to do it e.g. “man who try to carry too many kokonits in the hand have very small
kokonit on the shoulders.” On a more serious note and in line with the ed-ucational stuff you’d go for
prof, it is worth noting that kokonits are getting out of hand on the tropik coast and run the risk of
squeezing out other vegetation. Do somethin bout it! Now to completely ch-ange the topic, I think I
forgot to tell you that the Atherton Tablelands where I was a week ago smell different. Musty sort of
and very nice. I bought a cup of coffee at Atherton coz back in Melbourne I buy a bean from here and
I wanted to pay homage to the place in that way. The coffee was made fr-om Mareeba brand beans
but WAS NOT very good. My regards to all the staff espeshally that little fella Rudi, and Lyn too. ¶
p.s. Forgot to mention that there is boardwalks everywhere in northern QLD and they are making
heaps more all the time. Tourists love em and for an intro they is pretty but noth-ing like the real think.
The real thing is so good that I realise now I’v been wastin my time making that stupido, pathetic
garden in Ivanhoe. NO more gardens for me from now on in. ¶ p.s. You know (from your reading or
telly) how in country towns nearly all the girls and grown wimmin too are very fat som-etimes
(especially in the mallee), well all these foreign sorts that lounge about ½ or more nakid – they is very
thin and lissom. No fat types even among the locals. Interesting huh? Turn that into a theory if ya can.
Best to your ole grey matter! ¶ A…Z ”)which is characterized by lots of businesses promising
lots of experiences. We favoured the National Parks boardwalks whi-ch were quiet,
6
excellently maintained and free. There are only 4 in the whole section between the River
and Cape Tribulation – the Jindalba, the Marrdja, the Dubiji and Kulki. The last is a lookout
on Cape Trib. with a 350m walk whi-ch we will do on the return journey. There are 9
privately managed rainforest areas, 6 river cruises, 4 grocery shops, 20
restaurants/coffee shops, 1 pharmacy, 1 horseriding operator, 3 kayaking businesses, 2
reef tours, 4 fishing tour oper-ators, 1 spa, 15 b&bs/farmstays, 7 campsites, 13 resorts, 2
farms (Tea and Exotic Fruit) and 1 mechanic – all in about 35ks of road. To be honest,
some of the re-sorts double as restaurants, but even so that’s some concentration of
commerce in the remote rainforest! This forest is one of the very few remaining pockets
of so-called Gondwanaland rainforest left in the world – a closed eco-system of
tremendous complexity and beauty. Much of it has been cleared in the past for mining,
timber-felling, grazing, sugarcane, pineapples, bananas, and people wanting their slice of
tropical seclusion. The pressure of people is still increas-ing. There are lots of houses
here, invisible from the roads, hidden by dense surrounding jungle. The beaches by
contrast are lightly used though the sand here is fine and soft and packs firmly to allow
pleasant walking. The small cr-eeks (Hutchinson, Cooper, Noah, Thompson, Rykers,
Blockade, and Emmagen) are crystal clear and flow over rocks. The last has a
magnificent swimming hole upstream from where we are parked for the night – the most
northerly we’ll get as a 4x4 is needed to ford the creek and drive on to Cooktown, 120ks
away. We are again illegally parked but will take the risk as it’s a great spot and the-
oretically should be quiet after dark. H telz mi th@ wn ♀ torkt2 Dan ystrdi ♂ sed ♂m & Be-n hav
bkum vjtairianz. Ie bet xth tiem wr bak theilb eetn meet wth th restvus. 2dai @ our moest ↑li ● w krakt
th botlv ‘Murdering Point (20/1. c Tropika – 1 p20) (Romance)’ lichee wien dskriebdz: “Absolutely bre-
ath taking Murdering Point Winery introduces a wine of exquisite beauty and grace. Lychee fruit is noted as a symbol of ro-
mance, and this lychee wine will enhance all romantic experiences. Aromatic lychee and honey flavours, sweet, amazingly
spicy and perfectly balanced by crisp acidity and a hint of passion, this is a wine that simply has no peers. This is as good
as it gets. One of the most exciting and extraordinary tropical wines ever produced. Like all romance it is impossible not to
crave for more.” 2 mark th kkaezion. Mie thril jewrn th dae woz 2 ● 2 Wompoo Fruit-dovez (Ptilinopus
magnificus) nth jungl kanopi. Iev ofn herd thr ♪♫♪z (lowd: ‘Wallock-a-woo’) wthout c-n 1. Th uthr nue
berd ie sor wozn Black Butcherbird (Cracticus guoyi). @Daintree w sorn bloek hoo kartd orl hiz stuf
nn biek & hoo woznt aebl2 speek & 2niet ie woz torkn2n yank hoo haz shiftd → OZ & hoo duznt hav-
2werk gain n ♂z lief koz ♂ selz ntoilt ppr wth th faesv gBeUoSrHge nit wth th kapshn: “They
misunderestim-ated me” – Bush on Bush, November 6, 2000 & lso “We need an energy
bill that encourages consumption” – Bush on the environment, Septemb-er 23, 2002;
“Bring ‘em on” – Bush on Iraqi militant attacks, July 3, 2003. ♂ gaevus nsampl. Wn ie woz
parktn this ● b4 n ra-injr 4st mi 2 moov → but zdark & 7.06 & wr stil heer. Thrzn sien † th roed wornnv
KROKS but ie hadn swim nn deep pool neerx n litl b4 dusk. Ie spiltn ful glarsv ‘ROMANCE’ nsied th
van (drank 2 skoonr-zv beer @PKs @th kaep) & iem nth proessv fnshnoff thbotl now. Liefz short.
Tuesday 9/8/05. It was a busy night at the creek crossing, with 4x4s coming and going
it seemed well into the night. There was even an expedition to retrieve a break-down and
then a tow-truck to take it back into Cape Trib. Then it began to rain lightly at about 7am
so we decided to move. Did a nice, leisurely beach walk between the Kulki NP lookout
and a small headland a few ks to the north. The beach was fringed with a great variety of
trees, palms and shrubs, including a native ga-rdenia which is apparently quite rare. The
highlight of the walk was a fight to the death between a juvenile butcherbird and a slim
tree snake which lasted about 10-15 minutes with the bird victorious. Then we headed
for PKs for a cof-fee over the papers (Courier-mail + Australian – both full of nothing) and
dec-ided to use our return ticket to make the ferry trip back into ‘the south’. Shared a
fishnchip meal at Daintree Village and are now at the spot near the Poletti Road Bridge
we used on Saturday 6/8. It will be nice to sleep undisturbed ton-ight. Th domnt larj tri zth
quondong (blue), blak-ied sueznz groe nprfuezion; thbakdrp zv jungl klad mowntnz. Th boochrberd
7
wozn joovniel brown morfvth Black Butcherbird (Cracticus guoyi) &th snaik woz ndr 3ft long & noe
thikrthann pensl. Nuthr berd I sor @th beech wozn Shining Flycatcher (Myiag-ra alecto). Ystrdi w
sorn Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) sitnn lktrk powr lienz. Tz ♫♫♪z dskriebd zn “harsh,
cackling scream” vs th Laughing Kookaburraz (Dacelo novaeguineae) “raucous ‘laught-er’”. Th feri ← → th
Daintree rvr kost $16. Sent n kard → Dr SA&NrIeGwA (18/1. c ↑N p6) @ Melb Uni ← Daintree Vilj
(18/1. ← GULF TRIP (c nthlji n 13/9/05): “ESTATE ¶ Everythink in the tropik north is ace. The
Atherton Tablelands smells different – musty sort of, and its beautiful. And I went on a great little walk
through a patch of jungle at Barron River gorge and it was manicured and touristy but fabbo still. + I
had a swim there (etc etc) AND its all for sale. Now I knows you plan to be a big tycoon with lots of
places so here’s your chance but be CAREFUL cause in QLD they is all into child molestin jud-gin by
what I hear on the radio. Even Diana (I weeps bucketfulls) has not pushed that topic off stage. But
John Laws is big here too + him + his listeners is goin to lock up all of them for ever or if they is let
out they will persecute them so you should be safe in a few years time. Kokonuts is free as they is
lyin on the ground everywhere and after some experimentin I found that the easiest way is to split
the-m open with an axe – it takes about 1 second but you lose the juice. Getting metho is harder but.
At Mareeba (1/2. but ie think twoz @ Mossman) supermarket I could not find any on the shelves. You
have to get it from the checkout counter chick who keeps it under the counter. AND its dyed bright
purple so it would be yucky to drink. But the aborigines who are very clever coz they’ve been here for
over 40,000 years have worked out that you can get the dye out by strainin the metho through bread.
Clever! The Barron River was cold but the ocean near here was so, so warm and the beach is so, so
tropik I think I want to stay here forever. I is parked on the pier in Daintree township and if they kick
me out I’se got other good places to go tonight. Might see ya at Cape Tribulation soon. ¶ a…z.”) . Th-
rzn jak-fruet (Durian) tri heer wthn singl fruet nt but n4chn8li tznt riep nuf 4 mi 2pik. Tz srpriezn th@ H
4got 2 mnshnth Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) (20/1. c pik nkuvrmap Tropika – 1 ←↓)
w sor nth jungl nxt2th roed nth wae ↓S ← Cape Trib. Tz our 2nd sietnv 1 nth trip. Nth Cape Trib rd ue c
n lotv veeyaklz wch r ↑d @th frunt & bak & lookn bit liek th 1z wiet S-frknz uezd 2 kwl th blaks. Thei r
4-x4 2rst busz taekn vri plump & ndvnchrus lookn wiets n dvnchr 2rz ↑N → Cooktown & Cape York.
Ut-hrz →W 2 th nl& 2 “xpriens th dzert n its n@chrl wild st8”. @th northn tipvth wieldzv Cape Trib w
had 1 ftr nuthrv such dvnchrerz dsterbn owr niet zthei maed th†n † th terblnt Emmagen Creek but
heer nli nfue kz owtv Mossman nli 1 kar haz gon x nth larst 2 owrz. W xpkt n peesfl niet. Ie kan heern
x2 orio-elz knversn, nWampoo pjn, & nPheasnt Coucal. Sarilent niet, ho-owli niet, orlzpees,
orlzkwiet…. We-dnesday 10/8/05. A quiet night. After ablutions (total immersion for him,
a wash for me, and teeth cleaning for both) we set off for the Atherton Tablelan-ds. First
stop was Kuranda “the village in the rainforest”, filled to the brim with tourists (lots of
Japanese) meandering through the extensive retail centre whe-re everything from local
honey to coin purses made of cane toads or kangaroo scrotums were being flogged. It
was fun in a ‘buzzy’, trashy way and we spent the whole day there, doing a walk which
took us through a conservation park, along the Barron River above the falls and through
a much degraded ‘jungle’ full of lawyer vine with fewer large trees and much less variety
than we experie-nced in the Daintree. Tonight we are at the Speewah NP ($8) in a great
camp-site (only about 8 spaces in total) which is quiet and private. We had consider-ed
going on the Skyrail, a cable car which runs above the forest down the side of the
plateau for a 2½ hour return trip, but it cost $52 p.p. so we thought better of it. We have
seen magnificent tropical forest of all kinds on the trip already and think that the best
experiences come unplanned in some quiet spot where people are generally in short
supply – that’s when the local fauna tend to pop up unexpectedly. The tourist beat took
us to the Barron Falls lookout – an impr-essive drop and magnificent exposed rock walls,
but a tiny trickle of water was a little surprising seeing as all the postcards we’ve seen on
the way show a mi-ghty curtain covering the width of the valley. Dunno when they took
that. It feels better here on the plateau because their seem to be more choices of roads.
The whole Wet Tropical Coast felt like a huge funnel channelling everyone into its narrow
8
strip by the complete absence of any subsidiary roads going away from the coast. It felt
a bit like a drag strip and it certainly made finding spots for the night difficult. Victoria
may be cold but it does have a terrific minor road network. H 4got 2 mnshn tz K8s brthdae
2dae. Mie bigst xietmnt @Kuranda (19/1. c kuvr map ↓) wozth sietv npairv Yellow-bellied Sunbirds
(Nectarina jugularis) flien ndrth eevzvn kafé not nliek sparoez doo nMelbourne. Lso sevrl sietnzv
Ulysses (azuer) & Cairns Birdwing (mrald) butrfliez kntrbewtd2th xotk feelvth plaes. Th nue berdz ie
sornth →s wr n ♀ Victoria’s Riflebird (Ptiloris victor-iae) &n Grey-headed Robin (Paecilodryas
albispecularis) wch hav simlr habts 2th Yellow Robins ue get ↓S. Thrr mor shops seln junk → 2rsts
nKuranda than nth Rocks ‫ٱ‬v Sydney but w ddnt perchzn 1 ietm. Hwvr thrz 1 plaes wch givz wae
FREE m@rial – litrchr nth BAHAI rljn. Thei bleev The Báb (d. 1844) & Bahá’u’lláh (d 1863) wr th l8st
nth lienv dvien MSNJRZ r ♂FSTAESHNZ (20/1. Ma nifest , a. late ME. [ad. L. manifestus, earlier manufestus, ?
f. manus hand + *festus struck, f. root found in offendere, defendere. Thus primarily ‘palpable’.] 1. Evident to the eye, mind,
or judgement; obvious. †2. Having evident signs of; evidently possessed of or guilty of. [Consist. after L.] –1725 1. That the
works of God should be made m. in him John ix. 3. 2. Calisto there stood m. of shame DRYD-EN. Hence Ma •nifest•ly adv., •ness. ¶
Manifest , v. late ME. [ad. F. manifester, or L. manifestare, f. manifestus (see prec.).] 1. trans. To make evident to the eye
or the mind; to show plainly. b. Of things: To be evidence of, prove 1508. †2. To clear up (a matter) –1669. 3. a . To display
(a quality, condition, feeling, etc.); to reveal the presence of, evince 1567. b. refl. Of a thing: To reveal itself as existing or
operative 1808. 4. To record in a ship’s manifest 1541. 5. Intr. To make a public expres-sion of opinion 1898. 6 .
Spiritualism. Of a ghost (refl. or intr.): To reveal its presence, appear 1858. 7. Hist. In Spanish law, to protect by a
MANIFESTATION (sense 4) 1818. 1. [He] manifested forth his glory John ii. 11. b. Thy Life did m,. thou lou’dst me not SH-AKS. 3.b . No
tendency, in general to dysentery, manifested itself at this time 1808.) startn wth: Krishna (Hindu), Moses (Jew-ish),
Zoroaster (Zoroastrian), Gautama Buddha (Buddhist), Jesus Christ (Christian) & Muhammad
(Islamic). Ie havn leeflt tietld ‘The Rumor of Christ’s Return’ sjstn th@ twoz Bahá’u’lláh. Th jntl♂ hoo
gaevusth ritn m@rial gaev suprt2th iedia x kwoetnn boodist pasj whr ♂ sedth nxt reenkrnaeshn wood
taek plais b4 1st August 1943 (trnzl8d ← hindu kalndr). Thr teechnz (: =tiv th 6z; harmniv siens & rljn;
noe preests r rchual; th klaem thr r noe reel dffrnsz btween th maejr rljnz etc) seemd mnntli kseptbl
zowtliendn What is th Bahá’í Faith? (Bahá’í Publishing Trust. Johannesburg. At one time published
in Zim-babwe. First edition published by the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’ís of South Africa
(Incorpor-ated Association not for Gain) in 1978. Gwynne-Plaka Press. 5 Hopkins St. Salt River,
Cape Town IS-BN 1919864253) ntil ie got2 p13 whrt sez: “The use of beer, wine and other
alcoholic beverages and intoxicat-ing drinks is strictly forbidden by Bahá’u’lláh, for, the
Bahá’í teachings explain alcohol ‘is the cause of chronic disea-ses, weakeneth the nerves
and consumeth the mind’”. Wch puts paed2 mi hoepsv findnn spritchl hoem nth f-aethvth Bahá’í.
But kum2 thinkvt, ie hav nevr lookt4 strnthn numbrz (kmuentiv wershp) thrwiez ie wo-odntb rietn (1/2.
abc suep? werd stue? (4/2. but miemum hooz 85 sez ♀ werktowt orlv Tropika – 1) nki-endv klrdj?
(4/2. “The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.” – Gunther Grass)) zie doo. Correction -
Kate’s birthday is Friday 12/8. Thrzdi 11/8/05. B4 w leev ths vri sluebrius & dzrtd (nli 3 kup-lz n 3
karz) kmpsiet ie shood mnshn th@ Kurandaz glori zth dubl roev treez ↑&↓ thmaenst wth huejli
kmplk8d trunks & kuvrdn pthiets; & th@ zth 2rst waev ebz nmid rvoe th brjneez eemrj & dark famleez
sit O nth gras. Skool chdrn ppeer nth streets n uen4mz, th priemri kidz ftn nbair feet. I doo not think th
$$$ knmv th2rsts +z much2 thr lievz but th ♂s, spshli th 1z hoo r drunk, → O th streets lmoest zf thei
ownd thm. (8.05) … (13/1/06. This is a poem I wrote at the time : At Kuranda / bu-ses from
Cairns / spill out germans, japanese, dutch and english / to invade the town’s markets
and eating houses / haggling over cane toad skin purses / kan-garoo scrotum coin
pouches / crocodile hide wallets / eating MacDonalds and Kentucky Fried /walking the
rainforest / cameras at the ready. / They don’t no-tice the sunbird / flashing gold onto the
tables / for the crumbs; / they go back to high rise hotels in the evening // and the
aborigines drift like smoke onto the grass / to claim the night.) After the in-your-face
commercialism of Kura-nda we fell for the much more covert commercialism of the
“private ownership of what seemed to be public” set-ups of the Mareeba Wetlands and
Granite Gor-ge. Both were signposted (and written up in the tourist literature) as if they
9
were state or national parks, but both were privately owned, fee-charging oper-ations.
The wetlands charges $10 p.p. for entry to its 2 (artificially enhanced by earth dam
walls) lagoons, on which is a very small population of very com-mon waterbirds, and the
accompanying walks through surrounding savann-ah woodland, not specially rich in
birdlife. It advertises that it has a brolga and sarus crane population, but the woman
collecting the money said they only come to roost for the night. Since the place closes at
4pm there’s not too much chance of seeing one. They also boast freshwater crocs, but
when questio-ned, she said there was only the one and it had been imported specially.
Gra-nite Gorge turned out also (after quite a lengthy drive) to be privately owned, though
the entry charge was reasonable at $5 p.p. However there is a lot of sub-terfuge going
on in this part of Queensland, where the information given in info centres (themselves
usually privately run) doesn’t point out what is free and what is charged for. There is
consequently a big beat up of local attract-ions, to the point where “dishonest
advertising” could be claimed. We are now on the road to Davis Creek NP, about 20ks
out of Mareeba. The NP itself is very attractive, with the stream flowing over granite, but
the best spot was occupied and other areas were only suitable for 4x4s. Mareeba is a
prosperous looking town of 9600, many of whom are Italians so the supermarkets have
some great smoked and cured meats. Nfakt, Frank & &rea, ue wilb pleezd2 noe th@th larj talian
(th old gi-ez hav thr sherts tuktn) prezns zn svliezn nfluens thrghout th trpks. Ue kan get deesnt bredn
plaesz liek Innisfail & w hadn propr kaffe 2dae nMareeba whr w herd mor talian spoekn than niwhr els
nQLD. H 4got 2 mnshn th@ Mareeba Wetl&z charj $80+ 4 1 persn 4 kkomodaeshn nn sfari 10t/niet.
Ie njoid th → but. Sor Double-barred Finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii) wch I doent f10 c & Pictorella
Mannikin (Heteromunia pectorolis) 4 th 1st tiem maeb. Iem ichn 2 rtern2th topkvth BAHÁ’Í but 1st
iem goen 2-havn taestnvn ueneek MANGO WINE korld ‘Golden Drop’ maed loekli O 10kz ↑Nv
Mareeba wch w bort 2dae @ th wienri wch H lso 4got 2 menshn (6.30) … Hmm… the NOZE zgood
&th taest not2sw-eet but ← th BAHÁ’Í. N thr shopfrunt thei havn poestr wthn sumrv thr maen bleefsn
O 20 st8mnts. Th vri 1st 1zth moest duebius – Thrz nli 1 GOD! (20/1. Go d [Com. Teut.: OE. god :- Oteut.
Type *gudoⁿⁿ. The prim-ary meaning has been given as ‘what is invoked’ and as ‘what is worshipped by sacrifice’.] ¶ i. Pre-
Christian senses. 1.A superhuman person (regarded as masc. : see GODDESS) who is worshipped as having power over
nature and the fortunes of mankind; a deity. (Chiefly of heathen divinities, but often with a Christian colouring.) 2. An image
or other object which is worshipped; an idol OE. 3. transf. of persons OE.; of things 1586. 4. Theat. pl. The occupants of the
gallery, so called beca-use seated on high. Also rarely in sing. 1752. 1. They conteyne the wicked actes and whoredomes of the
goddes 1577. Come, let us go – to a land wherein gods of the old time wandered CLOUGH. Phr. The g. of day: the Sun. The g. of war: Mars (Ares).
The g. of love, the blind g.: Amor (Eros), or Cupid. The g. of wine: Bacchus. A feast, sight, etc. fit for the gods. 2. Thou shalt make thee no molten
gods Exod. xxiv. 17. 3. Sweare by thy gracious selfe, Which is the G. of my Idolatry SHAKS. The old mans g., his gold, has wonne upon her
FLETCHER. ¶ ii. In the Christian and monotheistic sense. The One object of supreme adoration; the Creator and Ruler of the
Universe. (Now always with capital G.) OE. †b. In ME. often used for Christ. So, in 16th c., in the year of G. = Anno Domini.
(Cf. Mother of God : see MOTHER.) –1565. ¶ Phrases. With G., in heaven. Act of God (Law): see ACT sb. God’s truth: the absolute truth.
On God’s earth: emphatic for ‘on earth’. God eyld (ild, dild) you = God yield you (see YIELD). Got wot (arch.), God knows. b. By god that for us
deyde CHAUCER. ¶ Comb. a. g. -bote , a fine for crimes and offences against God; also an eccl. fine; -home nonce-wd., the home of God,
heaven; also as transl. of ON. Godheimr, the abode of the gods (W.Morris). b. possessive, as †God’ s body , the sacramental bread; God’ s
book , the Bible; †God’ s house , (a)? a pyx, (b) an almshouse [cf. F. maison Dieu]; God’ s i mage , the human body (Gen. i. 27); God’ s ser vi ce
= worship, an act of worship; God’ s Sunday , Easter day.) But how wood thei noe c-n zthei lso klaem zn baesk 10et
th@ HEE znot noeabl? &th jntl♂ nth shop xplaend th hindoozr rong2 korl thr deeiteez godz zthei rbetr
thortvz @rbuetsvth 1 GOD (19/1. doon thort xprmnt : majn th selzn owr bodeez kan tork2 eechuthr
(eg x kemkl sgnlz & x lektrkl mpulsz). Thei knot noe thei 4m th substnsv orgnz let loenvth huemn bodi
bkoz thrnn dfrnt tiem ‫ & ٱ‬skael & thr langwjz 4md 2 s-@sfie th dmestk needzv thr kmuenti. F th
gzstnsv nziemz (th profts & k@lstsv thr O) maeks sum sus-pkt thei maeb partvn larjr SKEMA wch thei
wr nkliend2 dskrieb x th werd GOD thr langwj woodb lmtd xth greemnts O meennz maed x thr
kmuenti baestn thr ndvjewl sensz. Thei wood majn GOD 2b liekn vri larj sel wth gzjraetd sel @rbuets.
Nth saem wae fn seed suspktd n ftrlief tmiet majn ternn →2n se-edv masv siez zt karnt majnn tree
bkoztz owtsiedvn seedz zpeeriensz. W hav noe opshn givn th lmt-aeshnzv langwj but2 4m GOD n
10
owr own imj – soe w maek him n2 nnjneer, nrktkt, nkkowntnt & giv him owr kwalteez (justs, mersi, ♥,
6 (fth poeps r2b bleevd)) butn huej kwantiti.). Butf w hav ♂♀z @R-BUETS, ♂FSTAESHNZ, &
MSNJRZ (nstrukshnz) wot kan thei posbli b meenn x ‘2 noe’ wn thei klae-m ♂♀ znot noeabl? Kan
nithn b sed 2b noeabln ni uthr wae xpt x its @rbuets, ♂fstaeshnz & th msjzt →z? Yes, sed
Descartes – ie noe ie xst (ie heer th mornfl ♫♪♫zv th Curlew AKA BushThick-knee AKA Burhinus
grallarius) butz iev xplaind (19/1. c 15/4/02 - 26/4/02 p13) Descartesz ‘ie noe’ zth dskum4t
btween th sensz & w noet & dskriebt x tz @rbuets (wch r vrithn wv dun &th trpdaeshnzv th ♥ & vaeg
mmoeshnz & 4boednz & maeb th O O) not orlv wchr mzuerbl (19/1. c Agamben n Homo zn “optical
machine constructed of a series of mirrors” n ↑N p1)(4 th kalbraeshnsvth nstroomnt hav2b
fienr than wotz 2b mzuerd &nth fienl nalsz w r th nstroomnt (th stndrd meetrn Paris znotn meetr long
– Wit-tgenstein (ie how wood ue noe wthr twozrwoznt?)) & th slietst tremr nth h& (thrz lwaezn tremr
(thsz w-ot w knot mzuer)) z trnsfrd2 wot th h&z mzuern). Saeint dfrntli : vrithn znot noeabl nth wae
thBAH-Á’Í klaem GOD znot noeabl & wn w sae w ‘noe’ enithn wr saent nth saem waez th
BAHÁ’Í sae ue noe th ♂FSTAESHNZv GOD. Torl dpndz nth meenn (Wittgensteins ‘gramr’) w giv2th
werd – NOE . Frdi 12/8/05. 8.20am. H rmiendz mi thrzn sien outsied Mareeba saeint haz 300 daezv
☼ /yeer. (w r sOd x floksv Scaly-breasted Lorikeets (Tricholglossus chlorolepidotus)). Ie 4got 2
mnshn ystrdi th-@th moest komn duk ie sor @th Wetl&z wozth Green Pygmy-goose (Nettapus
pulchellus). Lso tzn-ot fair ie ddnt • out thei havn Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae) breedn &
reeintroedkshn proegrm. Thei wr 1s vri nuemrus nth ‫ & ٱ‬wr trapt4 th kaejberd traed. Thr nmbrz hav ▼
vriwhr & thr kmpleetli 0 heer. Th eestrn ejv thr ‫ ٱ‬haz → far ←W. Mareeba Wetl&z rleesd 100 berdz 6
munths goe & havnt cn n sienv thm sins. Noe dowt thr wil bmor rleesz z ie sor plentiv juevnielz nth
breedn kaej … → Maree-ba (H rang K8 2wish ♀ n hapi brthdae (thrzn wili wagtael (Rhipidura
leucophrys) hopn O nth taebl 1ft from mi h& pikn ↑ bitsv 2-min noodl from our t (5.35pm @th boet
ramp @Tinaburra Waters outv Yungaburra (c @@cht map))) & K8 sez thei wr snoedn x 45cmv snoe
& ♀ koodnt → werk 4 2 daez; th Mareeba dstrkt groez 90%v OZ kofi beenz soe w → The Coffee
Works 4 n orthntk OZ kupv ‘Black Mountain’ kofi (wth ppr) & twoz zgoodz iem uest2 ← Melb.) →
Tolga (thrzn gr8 tree nth maen st oevr th toilt ■; b4 getn → townshp w stopt @ THE GIANT PEANUT
(19/1. c 30/4/05 p2&4) & fotoed th sien & th peenut & ie bortn porpor 4 2niet) → Lake Tinaroo →
Danbulla Forest Drive (vrius 2rst ●s but th1

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wch maed us OOH&AAH woz th Cathedral Fig Tree (19/1. c ↑→v Lakes District Map) wchzth
moest mg-nfsnt tree iev cn) → Lake Barrine (2 uthr gr8 treez : x2v KAURI knfrs sed 2b 1000+ yeerz
old; nth gift shop ie fienli found th poestkard feechrn nKAEN TOED iev bn lookn 4 (4 kraenz wchr
eethr Brolgaz (Grus rubicundus) r Sarus Cranez (Grus antigne) r flien oevr) 2 → SwTaRlUtVeEr &
BAdKoEnR) → Yungaburra (whr ie gaevn kmpleet setvth peesz iev ritn soefar ths yeer 2 th 2nd h&
bkshp bkoz th oenr sed ♂ wozn ksntrk; drank 2 RUM&KOEKS) → heer (gr8 ● 2 c th eevnnn
oevrlookn th laek 15 yardz wae & 2 mor kraenz flue x). Rathr than goe →2 dtael H sjstd ie paest nth
pkchrmap w got @ th nkwieri • (5 mor kraenz →). Mor & mor kraenzr →n x. Saturday 13/8/05. At
my insistence (paranoid that we’d be moved on by some council flunky) we shifted from
the spot by the lake into the nearby Lakeside Caravan Park for $12 but had to ret-urn to
the lake when the only flat spot available was right next to a group of ladies who had
settled in for a night of happy yakking, cackling and shouting which was not conducive to
a restful repose. So we got up early as the first fish-ermen arrived to launch their boats
(about 7.30) and went to visit the Curtain Fig Tree, and an amazing sight it was too – like
a solidified waterfall made up of thousands of roots cascading down from a lofty height
below a crown festoo-ned with epiphytes of all shapes and varieties. It is a worthy rival
for the Cath-edral Fig as it is structually more complicated and intricate and has the
broa-dest “skirt” of roots Ive seen, making the tree a huge girth. On to Lake Eacham for
a pretty 3k walk around the crater, and Lake Barrine for coffee and paper overlooking
another crater lake, and Malanda for a drink in a huge wooden pub constructed out of
local timbers, including red cedar, with an enormous lounge/dining area and a huge
ballroom, as well as a large public bar area, and that was only the ground floor. A
handsome carved wooden staircase led to rooms upstairs. Everything public on the
Tablelands is built of wood – no wonder the sizeable trees are few and far between. A
walk near Malanda Falls (a small fall where the pool below has been quaintly turned into
a swimming pool) revealed 2 more large imposing figs which in 300 years may inherit
the mantles of Cathedral and Curtain . The trees here have lovely names – rose bu-
tternut, bumpy satin wood, black bean – all probably to do with texture, grain and finish.
On to Hastie’s Swamp (Nyeta Wetlands) in quest of the elusive brol-gas and Sarus
cranes, but there were none, though hundreds of magpie geese made a good show. Back
to Yungaburra Pub for rum and coke and postcard writing. This pub is also handsomely
impressive, with polished wood tables worthy of an antique shop in the very large lounge
area . Back to the lake for tea and the night. A fine, sunny though coolish day as a
southerly blew throu-ghout. Ystrdi eevnn H rang Joe. ♂ & K8ee rboeth outv werk. Ben haz bn
przntd wth nbil 4 $2000 4 th damj 2th uthr parti wn ♂ wiept out th Lazer. Twoz dprsn newz &t
kntrbuetd2 sum vvd & straenj dre-emz larst niet &n sbdued mood 2dae. Th berd werth mnshnn zth
Plumed Whistling-duck (Dendrocy-gna eytoni) bkoztz soe nuemrus. Ie woz lso sadnd x th thortv orl
th mgnfsnt 1000 yeer old treez th@ havbn dstroid. Twil nevrb th saem gaen & ie woodv liekt 2ct
ztwoz. Sent kardz (v NORSTRALIAN TI-EPS n needv REE-JEWKAESHN n Osum OZZIOZZIOZZI
vluez suchz ntgrti, tolrns, & m8shp) → WbOiOlDlL&OjCaKn; Ross & Farzaneh; DI&CdArSeTaRO;
LfOrVaEnCkE; BAdKoEnR; & SwTaRlUt-VeEr. Wr bak@th laekej 4 th niet & th ☼ haz ↓ (6.15pm).
Sunday 14/8/05. A quiet night on the lake was disrupted by the late arrival of a group
with utes and a trail bike who set up camp not far from us about 10pm. Once set up they
were quiet, but they heralded their arrival with a few rounds on the trail bike. Did a round
centred on Milaa Milaa and then Ravenshoe (19/1. ← GULF TRIP: “06.09.97. CARP-ENTARIA
ELECTRICAL PTY LTD ¶ +Roo, doesn’t it just tear you the way the modern young femin-ist
professional is always saying ‘fucking’ instead of ‘fucken’! They just don’t get anyfink fuckenwell right,
do they! Truth + liberty! ¶ a…z ¶ Ravenshoe, QLD”) and Herberton before coming back to
Yungaburra for a quick drink before tea. A group of young Japanese are water-skiing in a
very restrained way – fairly slow and no shrieks or screa-ms. The round today showed
the tableland at its finest – rich rolling vistas en-closed by blue hills. It is obviously a
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wealthy area both agriculturally and ec-onomically as most towns are neat, comfortable
and pretty and the farms are well maintained. Only in Herberton (ex mining centre and
furthest west) did we notice people who seemed less affluent – the land here is not as
lush being drier and hillier. Of the Aboriginal population there is little enough evidence,
except in Kuranda. The local museum volunteer in Milaa Milaa mentioned that the last
full-blood had died a few years ago. There are photos in various info centres we’ve been
in of people still living tribally in the early 1900s. We did some driving along minor, non-
tourist, roads which wound through be-autiful country. At the Milaa Milaa museum John
reminisced about school days corporal punishment with the attendant and his side-kick.
We bought a bottle of wine made from a lilly-pilly type fruit at the wine shop there. At
Rave-nshoe we had bad coffee and dried out Spanish Mackeral in the Popular Coffee
Shop, which obviously paid big bucks to be included in the local map. At Herb-erton the
aborigines we saw looked less happy than anywhere else – but they don’t look happy
anywhere Ive noticed, and even if not obviously drunk they are often outside hotels, or
carting slabs from bottle shops. Speaking of drunk, I got that way on one glass of rum
and coke which I drank too fast on an empty stomach. In my defence re the speed of
consumption : a) I rarely drink alcohol b) I’m a fast eater and drinker – if you dont eat
and drink fast, stuff goes cold or heats up. Wr fnshn ↑ nth Tabl&z bak nth laek shor but x
ourslvz 4 n chaenj. Tz n perfkt stil eev-nn. Th kraenz flue vrhed gaen kroekn noizli. X th tiem w leev
Atherton w wilv viztd orl th townz & mae-n vljz nth ‫ٱ‬, shorli 1v th moest prvljd nth Ov OZ. 2niet ie kan
lisn2th ♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♪zv th meni vrieteezv H-2O berdz heer. Ie woz prtklrli thrild @ t tiem x nBuff-banded
Rail (Gallirallus philippensis) wch ppe-erd mstrioosli outv 0whr 2 taek krumbz ie woz dropn @ mi
feet. Th fruet wien iem drinknz Bushtucker (-Wild River Cherry) prjewst x WINEWORKS
Downunder of Herberton (www.wineworksdownunder.com) wch sez nth laebl : “The folk at WineWorks
Downunder have produced a unique range of wines – as Aussie as Ned Kelly and as fair dinkum as g’day mate – bonzer for
the ‘barby’, campfire – and even the Boardroom …eh? ¶ Wild River Cherry is co-mmonly found along the creek banks and
waterways of North Queensland. Bass, carp, turtles and other fish feed from the berries as they drop into the water. The
ultimate wine for Bushtucker enthusiasts! Try with croc, roo, buffalo or camel etc. or just as a great drink. ¶ Limited stock of
wine available.” (19/1. but an unlimited stock of marketing bullshit) T hazn strong & ntrstn noez &
vri nuezual taest. Th ‘cherry’ zn speeseezv lili pili. W bortt @ thr outlt nRavenshoe not@ Milaa Milaa z
H sed. Th saeinv thdae lso kumz ← Ravenshoe zth@s whr H redtn ♀ horrrskoep n Mystic Medusa
nth Weekend Australian. Tz x Anne Rice (hooz book woz daptd →2 th film Queen of the
Damned n wch our vri own ZIdZaYnS hazn *n roel wch larsts 4 O 2 sekndz. Nsdn-tli ♂ had2hav th
vampier teeth (H sez ♂ ddnt oepn ♂z mouth, just n door) maedn QLD &th kost kaem outv ♂z ernnz.
♂ lso had2 join OZ aktrz kwiti wch 2 woz dduktd from ♂z pae. Nth nd ♂ ernt 0 (spent n week
(spoezdli ernn $1000/dae) n st&-x waetn 4 ♂z korl).): “To really ask is to open the door to the
whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner.” Monday 15/8/05.
Today is the 60th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific and the digg-ers and
their families were assembling in Atherton for the commemoration march, along with a
contingent of sailors, soldiers and cadets and the local high school kids. I remember
being in Ivanhoe on Anzac Day when a local group of ex-servicemen and women
marched from Waterdale Road up the hill to the Town Hall. I was surprised to find myself
shedding a tear, being an anti-nationalist, anti-war type. You can rail against the
glorification of war, but these marches don’t do that – they simply express the memory
of a horrible duty done, probably mostly unwillingly and with sadness, at great personal
cost to each individual involved. While we were having coffee a reporter from the lo-cal
paper asked John for his opinion on the issue “Should women serve on the frontlines?”
His response was that nobody should serve on the frontlines. Then she took his photo
and promised to send him a copy of the paper (19/1. & ♀ dunt – c Tablelands Advertiser
(Wednesday, August 17, 2005). p5). There’s his 15 minutes of fame gone (or at least 2 of
them). Atherton is the biggest town on the Tablelands and the wo-rst served - by a
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Woolies supermarket. No Italian influence in the products or in the atmosphere of the
town. Safeway is coming, according to a bloke we cha-tted to at our lake spot in
Tinaburra, so that may improve the quality of the edibles available for the poor locals. In
the local rag in the Yungaburra pub I read an article about the Caravan Park Owners
Association complaining (19/1. c Tropika – 1 p18) of the free (donation only) camping spot
near the Rocky Valley War Memorial. In 5 years time you’ll be hard put to find a non-
paying spot an-ywhere in coastal Queensland, including the Tablelands I bet. Left the
area behind at Mt Garnet where John had a shocker of a hamburger with no meat pattie
at all – only salad, bacon and onion. That makes it no. 2 on the top 10 list of disastrous
burgers, no. 1 still proudly held by the Charters Towers bubb-le’n’squeak effort. …(20/1. 4
dleeshn c Savannah)… W r parkt 4 th niet nfue 00 yardz ← The Sava-nnah Way neer th bankv th
Einesleigh rivr. Ree th ishuev WAR (nkluedn & sspshli WARnEVIL): TZ B-ETR 2 B KILD THAN 2 KIL
NUTHR. & TZ BETR 2 HAV NEVR BN BORN THAN 2 TRCHR (20/1.To-rtur e,sb. 1540. [a.F., ad. L.
tortura, f. torquere, tort- to twist, torment] 1. The infliction of excruciating pain, as practised by cruel tyrants, savages,
brigands, etc., in hatred or revenge, or as a means of extortion, etc.; spec. judicial t., inflicted by a judicial or quasi-judicial
authority, for the purpose of forcing an accused or suspected person to confess, or an unwilling wit-ness to give evidence or
information; a form of this (often in pl.) 1551. †b. transf. An instrument or means of torture –1772. 2. Severe or excruciating
pain or suffering (of body or mind); anguish, agony, torment; the infliction of such 1540. b. transf. A cause of severe pain or
anguish 1612. 3.transf. and fig. Severe pressure; violent perversion or ‘wresting’; violent action or operation; severe testing
or examination 1605. 1. To put to (the) t., to inflict t. upon, to torture. 2. The tortures of suspense 1797. b. An ugly picture was t. to his cultivated
eye 1873. 3. Much so-called wit .. is nothing more than the systematic t. of words 1887.¶ To•rtu re , v. 1588. [f. prec.] 1. Trans. To inflict
torture upon; spec. to subject to judicial torture; to put to the torture 1593. 2. To inflict severe pain or suffering upon; to
torment; to distress or afflict grievously; also, to puzzle or perplex greatly. Also absol. to cause extreme pain. 1588. 3. fig. a.
to act upon violently in some way, so as to strain, twist, distort, etc. 1626. b. To ‘twist’ (language, etc.) from the proper
meaning or form; to distort 1648. 4. To extract by torture; to extort (rare) 1687. 1. Slowly tortured to death by the Turks 1847. 2.
Jeffreys was .. tortured by a cruel internal malady MACAULAY. 3. The Bow tortureth the String continually, and thereby holdeth it in a Continuall
Trepidation BACON. b. To t. Scripture for the defending of his errors 1648. Hence To•rturer, one who or that which inflicts or causes tort-ure; a
tormentor; spec. one who executes judicial torture. To•rturingly adv.) OR KONDOEN (29/1. c 30/11/04 - 9/12/04 p15; &
Port Germein p8) TRCHR…

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