Thursday, 02 June 2005
Corby Case: Getting Out of Hand
It's been very interesting for me to watch the Australian media's downhill slide over the past three years. When I first visited three years ago, I remember watching the news in Melbourne with a kind of envy. It was during the run-up to the Iraq War and I wished American news could be as objective as the reports I saw in Oz.
I returned a few months ago and found that in a very short time there had been drastic changes. Gone was the BBC-esque programming I remembered. In it's place was a Fox-esque replica that constantly drilled home the horrors of the pedophile in YOUR neighborhood and the dangers of letting strangers photograph your children on the beach.
Now the Schapelle Corby case seems to have completed the Australian media's downhill slide into American news. It seems as though the media in Australia have managed to whip people into such a frenzy about the whole thing that now we're seeing reports like this:
A full scale emergency was triggered Wednesday morning when an embassy official discovered a white powder after opening an envelope addressed to Indonesia's Ambassador in Australia, Imron Cotan.
The Indonesian embassy in Canberra remains closed and staff have been sent home after undergoing a decontamination process following the attack.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had been briefed on the contents of a note included with the biological agent but would not comment on its contents at this stage, citing the police investigation.
The threat on the embassy comes amid a torrent of ill-feeling towards Indonesia in Australia and follows death threats made to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra last month and the sending of bullets to the Indonesian consulate in Perth in April.
When I first started following this case, it was out of a perverse interest in how things could go horribly wrong while travelling. Now it's snowballed into a Scott Petersen/OJ Simpson/Terry Schiavo free-for-all, with Corby's verdict being broadcast live to the nation and redneck bogans mailing "anthrax" to the Indonesian embassy.
Posted by flow Frazao on June 2, 2005 at 03:18 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, 27 May 2005
Schapelle Corby Gets 20 Years
Posted by flow Frazao on May 27, 2005 at 02:55 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Saturday, 30 April 2005
Schapelle Corby's Defence Fails to Convince
Things are not looking good for Schapelle Corby. A few days ago she gave a tearful final plea to the judges, but apparently no one even bothered to interpret her statement for them. The latest news does not leave much room for a favorable outcome:
In an extraordinary interview with The Weekend Australian just weeks before he and two fellow judges hand down their verdict, Chief Judge Linton Sirait said: "From Corby's defence I haven't heard anything to prove she is innocent."
But Judge Sirait refused to say whether he believed Corby - accused of smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali in a bodyboard bag last October - was guilty, nor would he speculate on possible sentences if she is convicted.
Judge Sirait confirmed he had not understood Corby's desperate final plea of innocence on Thursday as it had not been translated in the court, but said it made no difference: "Not enough. He or she has to prove he or she is not guilty. Every inmate would say: 'I'm not guilty'. I'm still looking for something related to the law."
Judge Sirait also revealed he had never acquitted an accused drug offender in the estimated 500 such cases he had presided over in his 15 years on the bench. He, along with two other judges, will determine Ms Corby's guilt or innocence and the sentence that should be imposed.
Prosecutors have demanded she receive a life jail term if convicted, although the judges can still impose the death sentence if they see fit.
...
Marijuana is considered a schedule-one drug in Indonesia, along with heroin, and at least one marijuana smuggler has been sentenced to death in the country. Bali's drugs squad chief, Bambang Sugiarto, said he had only heard of one drugs acquittal.
"But that was a long, long time ago," he said. "The quantity was very small. Nothing like that has happened since I've been positioned here."
A senior lawyer for Ms Corby, Erwin Siregar, said he had only heard of acquittals "maybe in the 80s". He nevertheless remained optimistic the judges would find Ms Corby innocent.
She will face court again next week, when prosecutors reply to the defence's summing up. In a 75-page address, the defence tried to counter all the prosecution's arguments, questioned police handling of the evidence, asked why the evidence had not been fingerprinted, and asked why Ms Corby was questioned at the airport without an adequate interpreter present.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 30, 2005 at 04:52 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, 15 April 2005
Schapelle Corby Collapses In Court
After a week-long postponement of the trial due to a stomach bug, Schapelle Corby appeared in court again yesterday. It looks like she's having a pretty tough time (to put it lightly). I can't even begin to imagine what she must be going through.
The collapse forced her trial on drug trafficking charges to be temporarily suspended on one of the most important days of the hearing.
The Denpasar District Court had expected to hear today if prosecutors wanted Corby to get the death penalty if convicted of smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali last October.
The 27-year-old former beauty student from the Gold Coast arrived at the court handcuffed to an Indonesian female prisoner, who fainted shortly after they were let out of the police van and into a media crush.
Corby was dragged down when the woman passed out and Corby's sister Mercedes rushed in to help, yelling at journalists to "Leave her alone, all of you!" before using her handbag to hit an Indonesian reporter over the head.
Police were forced to carry the two prisoners, still handcuffed together, to a holding cell at the court.
Mercedes demanded a doctor be allowed to examine Corby.
She described her sister as "hysterical" and still suffering from stress and diarrhoea which forced the postponement of her trail appearance last week.
"She is still sick, but a doctor has been called because of what happened this morning," she told AAP.
"Did you see her getting carried like a baby, screaming and then being taken to the cell screaming."
Australia's consul in Bali Brent Hall called a medic to the court.
The trial was temporarily suspended while the doctors examined Corby in the court room, as scores of onlookers watched.
Corby was in obvious distress as she arrived at the court this morning, fearing prosecutors might recommend she face a firing squad if convicted.
A general rule of thumb in Indonesia is that judges will not go below one third of what the prosecution demands, and they rarely hand down a harsher punishment, observers said.
The Australian government has appealed to Indonesia for clemency.
In a similar case in Bali recently, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for a taxi driver who admitted possessing 3.9kg of marijuana.
Corby denies smuggling the marijuana into Bali airport in her unlocked bodyboard bag, and says the drugs were planted, probably by a baggage handler involved in a drug ring in Australia.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 15, 2005 at 07:59 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 12 April 2005
SmooveJ Productions Presents
The preview for my first feature film!!
On the eve of my departure from Australia, I figured it might be fitting to put some of the footage I shot while I was driving across the Nullarbor desert. As longtime readers will remember (all five of you), I spent three weeks in February driving from Melbourne to Perth with a couple of friends. I brought a video camera along and shot a bunch of wacky hijinks along the way.
I've spent the last couple of weeks editing the video, and I've gotten it down to a respectable one hour movie. Click here for an awe-inspiring two minute preview for "Crossing the Nullarbor".
If anybody wants to see the full thing, leave a comment or shoot me an email. If enough people express interest I'm sure I could figure out how to set something up to distribute some DVDs.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 12, 2005 at 07:53 AM in Australia, Film | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Monday, 11 April 2005
So Close But Yet...
When I drove out to Perth I heard lots of horror stories like this one. It sounds inconceivably retarded that people could head off into the desert without emergency water and supplies, but apparently people do it all the time.
According to Australian Associated Press, police in Western Australia said the bodies of a 42-year-old man and his 21-year-old nephew were found last Friday by a station worker next to their Land Rover on the remote Talawana Track on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert.
They said the men may have died some days earlier. They left the mining town of Newman, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, on March 28. Temperatures in the area have been above 40 degrees Celsius (104F).
Inspector George Putland, of police communications in Perth, said the men were not well-prepared for their trip, with an old vehicle and little water, AAP reported.
Another police officer, Senior Constable Greg Thomas, told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio that tragically, if the men had a good map they would have known that bore water was available another nine kilometers along the road.
He said the men's vehicle was unsuitable for outback travel in extreme temperatures and that they did not have enough food or water or a two-way radio.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 11, 2005 at 11:31 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ready for Takeoff
We picked up our passports from the Thai embassy today, so everything is ready to go. I've sorted through my clothes, and I'm down to four t-shirts and two pairs of shorts. Lean and mean - that's my motto when I'm backpacking.
Fiona, on the other hand, was going through a bit of a crisis when she saw me getting rid of old standbys like my Atari shirt and my "George Bush is a big fat fucking dick so fuck him right in his fucking ear" shirt. We compromised and decided to send some of my stuff home instead of donating it to the Salvation Army (the Bush shirt went to our Dutch/Aussie friend Joost though).
Today was also our last day in Melbourne. Kind of sad, but that's the way it's got to be. I'm a little bit worried though because I seem to have hurt my foot somehow. I'm not sure what I did, but by the end of the day I was limping around the city like a gimped-out version of my usually strapping and robust self.
Hopefully it will magically heal itself in the night and I won't have to deal with it in Bangkok. Time will tell, I suppose.
The only thing left to do now is get travel insurance for all our ridiculously expensive crap. It's going to cost us a bundle of money to insure this computer and our various cameras and such, but it's worth it if only for the peace of mind. The less you have to worry about, the less time you have to spend worrying. Or something. Give me a break - I'm tired.
So that's that. Glenys is taking tomorrow and Wednesday off to spend time with us. I'm not sure if we'll be doing anything. A couple of relaxing days sitting around drinking tea and eating Tim-Tams would be just about right. But you never know around here. We could just as easily find ourselves whisked off to some remote mountain top or some secret, secluded beach.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 11, 2005 at 09:29 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, 10 April 2005
Schiavo Down Under
A truly surreal echo of the Schiavo case is unfolding in Australia. A few months ago a guy was arrested for attacking his wife and leaving her for dead in the trunk of his car for five days. Now he's fighting to keep her in a persistent vegetative state so he can avoid being charged with murder:
Joseph Korp, 47, yesterday signalled the legal battle to keep his wife, Maria Korp, 50, alive as a magistrate deferred a decision on whether to grant him bail.
If Korp was granted bail and his wife subsequently died, his charge of attempted murder could be upgraded to murder and his bail revoked because a magistrate cannot grant bail on a murder charge.
Korp and Tania Herman, 38, were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and intentionally causing serious injury after Mrs Korp was found unconscious in the boot of her car near the Shrine of Remembrance on February 13.
Mrs Korp, a mother of two, remains in a persistent vegetative state at The Alfred hospital. If she survives another month, doctors will classify her condition as a "permanent" vegetative state.
Korp's lawyer Michael Tovey, QC, said his client would oppose any move to turn Mrs Korp's life support system off. He said any ruling to make that decision would be challenged in court and could result in years of litigation and legal argument.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 10, 2005 at 09:29 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, 03 April 2005
Climbing At Arapiles
This past weekend we went rock climbing at Mt. Arapiles. It's been a few years since I did any climbing, but I managed to do three climbs, and I only fell once. A personal record for me.
Here's a picture of me rapelling down the side of a cliff I climbed:
Posted by flow Frazao on April 3, 2005 at 08:08 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Schapelle Corby's Sick Father Rushes To Indonesia
As if the Schapelle Corby Saga wasn't bad enough, it turns out her father is terminally ill and may not have long to live:
Mr Corby said he was distressed when he later saw news footage of his daughter begging for her freedom so she could return home and see her dying father. "The doctors had told me I only have six months to live. But since then, I've responded to treatment they've been giving me. While the damage is now done, this latest medication is keeping me around longer than they expected.
"I could have five days, six weeks, two years left; who knows? But the sad thing is, Schapelle has already lost her gran in the time she's been stuck in jail. She missed the funeral, which was very hard on her because there was no chance to say goodbye. At least that hasn't happened to her with me."
One thing I will say is that I think the Australian government is handling the situation pretty well. A lot of Aussies are freaking out on John Howard (see the comments on this post), but he's in a bit of an awkward situation. All he can do at this point is give Corby's defense team everything he can to help them. He's already let a prisoner out of jail to testify in Bali on Corby's behalf, but it's not like he's going to send MI6 in after her or anything. Australia has to let the trial take it's course and allow the Indonesian court system a chance to try Corby.
Obviously, if Indonesia does sentence her to death it will be a travesty of justice. If that happens I hope the Australian government comes out swinging. Hopefully it won't come to that.
Posted by flow Frazao on April 3, 2005 at 08:37 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack
Saturday, 26 March 2005
Schapelle Corby - Can I Get A Witness?
 |
After weeks of navigating a complex terrain of international treaties and agreements, the Indonesian and Australian government appear to have worked out a way to allow the prisoner to speak on Corby's behalf:
A request is expected to be made, maybe when Corby's trial resumes in Bali today. If the trial is adjourned for another week, Victorian police have indicated they could escort the prisoner to Indonesia.
The prisoner will claim Corby was the unwitting victim of an interstate marijuana smuggling ring. Her lawyers say the evidence is crucial to her defence.
If found guilty of smuggling four kilograms of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar airport last October, the 27-year-old beauty therapist could face the death penalty.
This case is garnering a lot of attention in Australia. Travelling abroad is an integral part of this culture, and people are terrified to think that this young girl could easily have been their daughter, sister, or friend. Imagine getting off a plane in a foreign country and opening your luggage in front of the customs officer only to find a huge bag of drugs. What a nightmare.
Another point that has people horrified at Corby's plight is the fact that she faces the death penalty. The vast majority of Australians consider it to be a barbaric and inhuman practice. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with Aussies who are amazed that the US still kills it's prisoners. They react to capital punishment the way Americans might react to, say, female circumsicion.
The general consensus, therefore, seems to be that the Indonesian judicial system should be allowed to take it's course. Hopefully Corby will be found not guilty in the end and everything will be OK. However, should the courts sentence her to death there will be massive outrage, especially after the incredible amount of foreign aid Australia has sent to Indonesia (tsunami, Bali bombing, etc.)
Posted by flow Frazao on March 26, 2005 at 07:09 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 17 March 2005
The Schapelle Corby Saga
The headlines today - New Evidence Makes Corby Cry:
"I can't even talk. I feel numb," beauty therapy student Schapelle Corby said from a Denpasar cell, tears streaming down her face.
But Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty yesterday said the new evidence was "hearsay on hearsay".
The new evidence was produced on Wednesday by Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who said that a prisoner in a Brisbane jail had told her lawyers in a sworn statement that he overheard a conversation between other prisoners about drugs having been mistakenly planted in Corby's bag."
On the evening news last night were numerous shots of the 27 year old girl sitting in front of a judge with tears streaming down her face. All I can think about when I see her is "holy shit that could be Fiona."
Corby's lawyers have requested a one-week adjournment so they can bring the prisoner from Australia to testify on Corby's behalf. The judge, however, has yet to decide whether he will even admit the evidence.
One thing that's interesting about this case is the total lack of support Corby has gotten from the Australian government. Her defence team is being funded by a guy named Ron Bakir, who founded the "Mad Ron's" chain of mobile phone stores 10 years ago. I hate to think what would've happened to her if this guy hadn't stepped up to the plate.
BTW - "beauty therapist" is Australian for somebody who works in a day spa. See also "waste management artisan" (garbageman), "lipid submergement technician" (fry cooker), and "software engineer" (web surfer).
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 07:31 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (269) | TrackBack
Avalon Airshow
A couple shots from today's airshow:
An F-111 taking off. The thrust on this airplane is equal to twice the power of the entire starting lineup of the Indianapolis 500. It almost makes you shit your pants (but not quite).
The logo of the New Zealand Air Force. It is quite possibly the least intimidating insignia known to man. This may be part of the reason why New Zealand has yet to conquer Australia.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 07:11 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 16 March 2005
Australian Media
The first time I came to Australia was December 2002. I was here for about six weeks, and it was an interesting time (for me at least) because I was able to compare and contrast the Aussie media with the American media.
At the time, the American media was in full-on "Gulf War Part Deux" mode. Every time you turned on the television you were reminded that war was imminent. When I came to Australia, however, it was a different story. The news programs here were more oriented more toward information and less toward hysterically babbling talking heads. It was a welcome change of pace.
However, in the past two years it seems that the Australian media has undgergone a lot of change. They seem to have adopted the American methodology of having three stories in heavy rotation supplemented by a smattering of "infotainment" news (Michael Jackson, the Oscars, etc).
True to form, there are currently three stories which are dominating every news outlet. One, the issue of pedophilia, has been a constant since my arrival in December 2004. Australia is currently VERY concerned with child molesters; so much so that they've taken to passing laws forbidding people from taking pictures of children at the beach. Parents are being chastised by lifeguards for taking pictures of their own children playing in the water. It's crazy, but that's what media-fueled hysteria does to people, I guess.
The second is Prince Charles' wedding/Prince of Denmark wedding. This is now tapering off, and I suspect it will be replaced within the next week or so.
The third story has been building for the past 6 months or so. It involves a 27 year old woman named Schapelle Corby who was accused of attempting to smuggle 4.1 kg of marijuana into Densapar, Bali last October:
Shocked, at times tearful, Corby said she had never seen the marijuana before. She insisted it must have been inserted in her luggage during transit. So any video images showing the boogie board bag's size and shape while it was in Corby's care were important. Her defence lawyers asked for them. But the closed circuit TV at the Brisbane Qantas check-in was experiencing problems and any images recorded that morning were wiped 25 days later.
If convicted, Corby will face the death penalty.
There are more than a few holes in the Indonesian prosecutor's case. Why would anyone risk a death sentence smuggling marijuana from Australia to Bali, where it will sell for much less than they could get in Australia? This is not only the biggest marijuana importation into Bali intercepted by customs. It is the only one.
 Schapelle Leigh Corby with her lawyer |
Corby contends that she is an innocent victim of an Australian smuggling ring. She believes that the drugs were placed in her luggage by baggage handlers in Brisbane and were meant to be removed when her bags were transferred in Sydney. For some reason that didn't happen and she was left holding the bag (literally) when she arrived in Denpasar.
This case has generated an outpouring of public sympathy in Australia. Because travelling is such an integral part of Aussie culture, people are quick to recognize that what is happining to Corby could easily happen to anyone.
Corby goes before a tribunal of judges today with what the defence claims is new evidence that could potentially clear her name. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 04:03 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Avalon Airshow
For the past three months, Fiona has been working for Airshows Down Under. She got the job through a temp agency, and somehow she's managed to snag me a sweet volunteer position. I'm one of the two official Media Escorts for the Avalon Airshow. Basically, my job is to stand beside the photographer's circle and ensure that only people with Media passes enter the inner sanctum, which is literally right next to the runway.
Apparently, this is the biggest airshow in the southern hemisphere. They've got all kinds of planes - F-15s, F-16s, F18s, F-111s, C-17s, Blackhawks, and so on, and when those jets take off it's a hell of a thing. When the planes go hurtling down the runway you can feel their power. It's beyond loud - the force practically liquifies your bowels. It really appeals to the 9 year old boy in me.
I read an article a few days ago that was talking about the ecological effect of the airshow. The scientists (or whoever did the study) was surprised to find that the noise wasn't much of a problem. The biggest impact the planes have made is not from the roar of the engines, but from the intimidating shape of the planes.
It seems that all types of animals from wombats to eagles recognize the hawklike appearance of the planes as a dire threat. I believe it. When those fighter jets turn in toward the crowd they cut a figure that is scary as hell. It's almost like your brain responds on a reptilian level and your only thought is "That thing is about to fuck me up."
Of course, this isn't the Baghdad Airshow. Only the bogans will be getting fucked up, and it'll be by VB and not the Mother Of All Bombs (BTW - nobody drinks Foster's here).
From what I can tell airshows are all about triple rolls and the easy-looking-but-supposedly-very-difficult Four Point Turn. At least, that's what the announcers are always yammering on about. But between you and I it's nothing more than an excuse for grown up men to play with grown up GI Joe toys. They've got everything - tanks, planes, helicopters - even an ill-timed "Wall of Fire" that has yet to go off within five minutes of when it's supposed to. Yesterday it went off in the middle of a glider's flight. The announcer was like "And now, ladies and gentlemen, witness the glorious spectacle of silent flight." Two minutes later 40 massive explosions went off and sent up a 1,000 foot wall of flame.
At any rate, it gets me out of the house and I get to go check out some stuff I've never seen before. Tomorrow is the last trade day before the airshow is open to the public, so I'm sure things will get much more interesting when the Australian Nascar contingency comes out to play.
The awesome spectacle of silent flight.
(click below for a complete list of planes in the show)
MILITARY
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE
RAAF
FA-18 Hornet 3
Hawk 3
F-111 3
PC9-A 2
AP3-C 2
C-130J 2
Caribou 2
Roulettes 6?
Sopwith Pup 1
Winjeel 1?
CT-4A 1
RAN
Seasprite 2
Sea King 1
Seahawk 2
Squirrel 3
ARMY
Bell 206B-1 4
UH-1 Iroquois 2
UH 70-A Blackhawk 4
CH-47 Chinook 2
ARH Tiger 1
---------------------------------------------
ROYAL AIR FORCE
Nimrod 1
------------------------------------------------
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE
Boeing 757 1
-----------------------------------------------
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AIR FORCE
Super Puma 2
---------------------------------------------------
US MILITARY
F-15 3
F-16 3
C17A 1
KC-10 1
KC-135 1
B-52 2?
----------------------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT
Aerochutes 4
Sea Fury 1
Grumman Avenger 1
Boomerang 1
Curtiss J4 Jenny 1
DC-3 2?
DH Drover 1
Edge 540 1
Edge Airtourer 160 1
Wilga 1
Super Constellation 1
Catalina 1
C-47 1
P-40 Kittyhawk 1
Wirraway 1
Mustang 3
Nieuport 1
Airvans 5?
Pitts S1S 1
Beech Debonair 1
Harvards 4
(Southern Knights)
Storch 1
DH 82 Tiger Moths 3
US PAID PERFORMERS
Powered hang glider
Dan Buchanan
Quicksilver MXL11 Ultralight
Bob Essell & daughter wing walking
Self-launching sailplane
Steve Coan
Stearman
Eddie Andreini & wing walker
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 05:49 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Is This A Problem In Australia?
I just saw a commercial on TV about torturing cats. A firefighter in full uniform was sitting in front of a fire truck holding a cat. He said something along the lines of:
He's right kids. It's those yappy little dogs that need torturing. Now get to it.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 05:05 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 08 March 2005
A Royal Visit
The big news in Australia for the past week or so has been the visit from the Royal Family. Being an American I don't give a crap about these things, but this particular visit has been pretty funny.
 Mary & Fredrick |
Who cares about the Danish Royal Family, you might ask. Well, nobody actually. Except for the Danish up until a few years ago. But then Prince Frederik came to Australia and happened to meet a smokin-hot Tasmanian girl named Mary. After a year or two of what I can only imagine were some pretty impressive dates they got engaged, and a few months ago they tied the knot.
Now they're cavorting around Australia looking all happy and rich and drop-dead gorgeous. Everywhere they go there are throngs of people waiting to see them and yell nice things at them, and they do cool stuff like race yachts against each other (and Mary kicks Fred's ass). Australians love them:
This week she out-rated the Oscars on television and, significantly, she has eased more notes from the wallets of Sydney's wealthy than even Diana, Princess of Wales, did at the height of her fame.
Ticket sales for Mary's charity functions in Sydney will edge towards $2 million.
When Bill Clinton came to dinner in Sydney, he drew 50 journalists - last night, Princess Mary netted 130.
Prince Charles, soon to marry longtime booty-call Camilla Parker-Bowles, has not been quite so well received. The other day I heard a DJ crack this joke on the radio:
A: One is a shining member of the Danish Royal Family. The other is just a Great Dane.
Poor Charles can't buy a break. Every time he steps off a plane or out of a car there are news cameras there and that's about it. The comparison between the two Royal Families has been, shall we say, striking.
And then yesterday Charlie went over to New Zealand to try his luck and was promptly greeted by a young girl with her bazongas out. I'm sure he was thrilled, until he read what was written across her tits:
The topless protester's slogan reads:
'Get your colonist shame off my breasts'.
Photo: Reuters
Why England's colonist shame would be scrawled across this chick's jugs I do not know. But it's clear she wants no part of it, and by extension, no part of Prince Charles.
I look forward to seeing her reaction to Princess Mary, though.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 8, 2005 at 06:59 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 16 February 2005
St. Kilda Festival
Along with hitting the Chinese New Year celebrations this past weekend, we also checked out the St. Kilda Festival in Melbourne. The self-proclaimed "largest free festival in the southern hemisphere" was a blast.
 click to enlarge |
 click to enlarge |
At one point, this girl jumped up on top of the speakers and the crowd went absolutely ballistic. After a while one of the djs went over and told her she should probably get down, and she was like "no worries". If she'd tried something like that at a show in DC she would've gotten an earful (at best) from a security guard. It was so cool to see so many people out having a good time at a huge party without the enormous police presence you'd expect to see in the States.
I also made my first attempt at breaking a Guinness World Record. Me, Fiona, and about 6000 other people got together and made out for 10 seconds straight in hopes of breaking the record for the Most Couples Kissing Simultaneously:
Oh well. It was still pretty hot to look around and see thousands of couples pressed together, even if we don't get a mention next to the world's heaviest twins on their motorcycles.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 16, 2005 at 08:21 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Year of the Rooster Surprise
I was in Melbourne for the Chinese New Year celebrations. It was good fun - lots of explosions and dragons and meaty treats on sticks. If you've been to one of these things then I'm sure you know what I'm talkin about.
But after a while the sensory overload starts to wear you down, and the only remedy is beer. So Fiona, myself, and our buddy Andrew ducked into a pub to take advantage of the happy hour prices and the happy Chinese bartenders. I started telling Andrew about some people I knew from growing up in West Hartford. You know, the whole "I used to live downstairs from this family who moved to China and the two daughters wound up becoming big huge Chinese movie stars who drive around in bulletproof limos wearing diamond tiaras" kind of thing.
Knowing my propensity for being a bullshitter, he was like "yeah, OK buddy. whatever you say." But I was like "No, for real, maybe the limos aren't actually bulletproof, but this girl Charlotte is in the movies over there."
And then, as if by divine ordination, who should come on over the satellite TV but Char!!!
It was crazy! I mean, not only was I in AUSTRALIA, but I was just talking about her! It was so cool! I have no idea what she were saying but she looked great!! And now this guy will never doubt me again!! It was so awesome. I drank a lot of beers that day because it was just such a cool thing that I really had no choice.
Naturally I got so excited I almost fell off my stool, but before I toppled over I managed to snap a picture:
Look how professional she looks with her bidness suit and whatnot! I have no idea what she's selling but I definitely want to buy it.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 15, 2005 at 05:53 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 10 February 2005
The Real Thing Indeed
Yesterday we went to dinner with at Adam's house. Adam is a friend of Harold and Angie's who we've hung out with a couple of times. He made a Thai curry that was delicious and we spent a few hours hanging out and talking with everybody.
There were about 10 people there altogether, and somehow we got around to talking about American TV. I mentioned that Australian television commercials are by far the cheesiest things ever committed to film in the history of the moving image. Seriously, it's even worse than the crap ads they show on the Spanish channel back in the States.
It is interesting to watch though. You can instantly tell when a foreign ad comes on because they're the ones that are slick and well produced. There are some ads that I even recognize from back home.
For example, you might know the Coke ad where this surfer guy is trying to open his bottle. He struggles with it for a few seconds and then some hot looking girl surfer comes up to him, grabs the bottle, and uses the kid's belt buckle to pop the top.
That commercial gets a lot of play here, but the interesting thing is that all the voices are dubbed over with an Australian accent! It's bizarre to watch - every time I see it I just have to laugh. Who knows, maybe Aussies only feel comfortable buying their sugared water from other Aussies.
I'm hoping they start implementing this on a broader scale. They could start with the news. Maybe they could overdub George Bush's voice with that overenthusiastic, idiotic Crocodile Hunter guy. At least then he'd be entertaining.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 10, 2005 at 08:49 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Back In Geelong
I've returned, and I'm feverishly working on a photo update. Hopefully within the next few days or so.
Sadly, the internet at Peter & Glenys' house is down, so I can't do much. I'm currently sitting in the library, but there's a one hour time limit which is no good at all for my leisurely pace.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 10, 2005 at 12:03 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, 05 February 2005
Flying Solo
Well, I made it to Perth. Sadly, Gigi, our 1983 Mitsubishi L300 van with the cracked head, did not.
It can only be by divine providence that we made it 2500 km across the Nullarbor desert only to break down in Esperance - the first "city" (pop. 13,000) we came to. Our intention was to wake up early on Saturday morning and drive 450 km to Albany, but when we checked the oil and water it was obvious that Gigi had finally shit the bed. I'll never forget the last time I saw the luminescent green liquid shooting out of her radiator - it was graceful, pathetic and heartwrenchingly final.
There was simply nothing to discuss. We all knew that repairing the crack in the head would have cost more than Michael and Laetitia had paid for the van in the first place. With heavy hearts we recruited the help of a friendly Australian and towed Gigi to a wrecker who forked over a measly $275 for our not-so-trusty steed. That night we drank more than a few drinks to her memory, and the next morning I caught a bus to Perth.
It's almost impossibly anti-climactic to cross a continent with two good friends only to arrive at our final destination alone. We sat three across the front seat all the way across the desert talking about how we were absolutely positive Gigi was going to make it. However, as George W. Bush has proven time and time again - it is possible to be both certain and wrong.
It's not the first time I've been alone in a city and most likely it won't be the last, but this time my sense of solitude is especially acute because of the long, hot road I've come by. I miss my desert posse, I miss my family, and I miss my wife, but I've come this far and I'll be damned if I'm going to miss Perth.
So I'm off. A full report is sure to follow.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 5, 2005 at 08:43 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 02 February 2005
Out of the Desert
We made it through the Nullarbor! I'm sitting in the library of Norseman, Western Australia (pop. 1200), and this is the first town we've seen with a population of over 47 in 4 days. It's been a long, hot drive, but we're getting closer and closer to Perth every day. It's not fast at 80 km/hr (48 mph), but it's progress.
Amazingly enough, we've had no major problems with the car. We drained the radiator and added some "Chem-I-Lube" on the advice of a guy we met in Streaky Bay, and ever since then it's been smooth sailing. We lose about a liter of oil a day, but that's about it.
The drive has been pretty spectacular. The cliffs along the southern edge of the Great Australian Bight are breathtaking, and they're right up alongside the road for about 300 km.
We've seen shitloads of kangaroos, but this morning we had an extra special treat. We stopped to get some fuel and as we pulled out of the station we ran over a big snake that was crossing the road. I'm not sure what kind of snake it was, but it was brownish and I'm assuming it was sinister and deadly. We pulled over to take pictures of it (as it was our first snake) and we filmed it getting run over by an enormous Road Train. Sick, I know, but it was pretty cool.
This afternoon we head to Esperance, and we hope to be in Perth on Friday. According to Lonely Planet, this next stretch of the trip will bring us through forests of the largest eucalyptus trees on earth.
Posted by flow Frazao on February 2, 2005 at 01:16 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 27 January 2005
A Crack In The Head
I'm currently in Port Augusta, about 300 km north of Adelaide. It's a small town that deems itself the "Gateway to the Outback". Interestingly, it's the first place we've seen significant numbers of Aborigines.
We got some bad news on our way out of Adelaide yesterday. The mechanic in Kingston told us that we had a crack in the head of our engine. To me, this sounded like a serious problem, but he told us not to worry. He said he puts Mitsubishi engines together all the time and sees these cracks alot.
Just to be sure, we stopped at a mechanic in Adelaide, and he told us we'll be lucky to make it out of the Nullarbor. He said if that crack works it's way all the way through things are going to get very interesting. At best, we'd be firing on 3 cylinders instead of 4. At worst, it'll blow the rocker cover off and oil will go all over the place (again).
Michael, Laetitia and I talked about it and decided we haven't come this far just to turn around. We're getting to Perth even if we have to abandon Gigi in the middle of the desert. This little twist just adds an element of excitement to the journey.
Finally, I found out today that the Eyre highway through the Nullarbor desert has the longest stretch of straight road in the world. 145 kilometers without a single curve.
It's going to be a long ride.
Our tentative plan (click for larger image)
Posted by flow Frazao on January 27, 2005 at 10:12 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Melbourne to Adelaide
If you ask an Australian how long it takes to get from Melbourne to Adelaide, they'll tell you it's an 8 hour drive. They're wrong. It's taken us a week.
Of course, we're taking it nice and slow. We came down along the Great Ocean Road, which was absolutely spectacular, and hugged the coast pretty much the whole way. Each night we'd drive as much as we felt like and then find a nice spot and camp out. After checking the oil and water, we crossed the Victoria/South Australia border on the morning of our third day and we were all amazed by how suddenly and drastically the country changed.
In Victoria everything is relatively lush and green, but the moment you cross that line, it changes to the brown of heatblasted earth and dry grass. There are trees here and there, but nothing like what I was used to. From what I understand, the Nullarbor Desert (which we'll be driving across) is more barren, but it's hard to imagine how that's possible.
After we crossed the border we drove into town and got some lunch. Then we piled back in the van, three across in the front seat, and barreled on through the heat of the day.
Now, there's one thing about driving in Oz that takes some getting used to. In America, when you look at a map and see Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Haven, Hartford, and Boston, you assume that there's all kinds of towns in between. Not so in Australia. When the map says there's 200 km between towns, there is NOTHING in between them except for scorched earth and deadly animals.
So you can imagine our state of mind when our van started filling with smoke 100 km after Mt. Gambier and 60 km outside of Kingston.
We pulled over, and the entire underbelly of Michael and Laetitia's Mitsubishi 300L Express (Gigi, for short) was seething with intimidating blue smoke. I said, "That looks like oil smoke, guys." And they both said, "Uh, oh, what does that mean?"
When I'm the one who knows the most about cars you know you're in trouble. The day suddenly seemed much hotter.
We lifted up the front seats to look at the engine and wouldn't you know it? Someone, and I'm not pointing any fingers, forgot to tighten the engine cap when he added the oil a few hours earlier. It looked like oil had spilled out over the entire car. Not to mention it was about 50C (100F) outside and we were running on a bone-dry engine.
We added all the oil we had left and flagged down a car because none of us had a clue what to do. This Australian guy took a look at it and said we'd probably be fine until Kingston, but we should definitely get some more oil when we pulled through. So we piled back into the car and took the next 60km nice and slow.
When we pulled into the BP station in Kingston we shut the car off and went to talk to the mechanic. He came round and asked us to start the car, and when we started it up it started making all kinds of weird automotive farting noises while it shot water up out of the radiator. This was a new development, and we stood around watching in awe and fear.
He told us it was probably the head gasket, and Michael, Laetitia and I looked at each other and silently wondered if any of us knew what a head gasket was. The mechanic told us they couldn't know unless they took it apart, but if it was the head gasket then it could cost up to $500. Worst of all, he told us we weren't going ANYWHERE until it was fixed.
There we were stuck in Kingston, home of 1600 people, a giant lobster, and The Sundial of Human Involvement. We did the only logical thing - we gave the mechanic the keys and headed straight for the pub.
In all honesty though, it could have been much worse. We could have blown this so-called "head gasket" in the middle of the Nullarbor and then we would have been well and truly fucked.
Of course, in the end it all wound up working out amazingly well. While we sat drunkenly wondering if we'd ever get to see Perth with our own eyes, we got to talking with a 23-year old Aussie guy named Cameron whose family owned a farm just outside of Kingston. He offered to take us out the next day and show us his farm and tell us about what his normal day was like.
It was incredible. He owns a 4500 acre farm that streches out as far as you can see with 700 head of cattle and around 10,000 sheep on it. We drove his tractor, and then hopped in the back of his truck and chased kangaroos across the paddocks at 40 km/hour. Then he showed us his lamb-castrating machine.
For me, it was an amazing thing to see. The life of a farmer is so inconceivably far away from anything I know that I spent the entire afternoon in a state of constant awe. It was great, and because of Cameron I can honestly say I'm happy our car broke down in Kingston.
I'm running out of time in this internet cafe, but suffice it to say we got our van back after three days and $350 dollars. It seems to be running fine, and we made it the next 300 k to Adelaide with no problems. We'll probably spend another day here and then take off tomorrow morning. If I had to guess I'd say we'll probably be in the desert by Sunday and hopefully in Perth by Wednesday or Thursday.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2005 at 09:36 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Tennis, Anyone?
As most of you know, I could give a rat's ass about sports. However, I'm currently travelling with an East German guy and his French girlfriend and they're both into tennis. Apparently, one of the biggest tournaments in the tennis world is going on right now in Melbourne, and the number 3 seed is this guy named Paul Hewitt who's from Adelaide.
We've been watching this guy off and on for the past week, and he's won all of his matches. Last night he played the semi-final game against an Argentinian, and we watched the game in Adelaide. Obviously, the locals were totally flipping out, because not only is Hewitt their boy but it was also Australia Day yesterday:
Watching this guy win in his hometown was pretty cool. There's this cheer in Australia that they do when they're feeling patriotic and drunk that goes "Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!" and then another group of them will reply with "Oy Oy Oy!!!". They did this with every single point that Hewitt took, and in a four hour match that is a shitload of Oy's.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2005 at 08:36 PM in Australia, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 19 January 2005
Crossing the Land of No Trees
I'm setting off on an adventure tomorrow morning with a couple of friends I met in Fiji. You may remember Michael the German and his French girlfriend Latitia. Well, they've bought a used van and they've invited me to go along with them to Perth.
For those of you who are geographically disinclined, Perth is on the opposite side of Australia from Melbourne. The drive is across the bottom of the country, through a long hot desert called the Nullarbor. The drive is about 500 miles longer than the distance from London to Moscow, if that gives you any kind of scale.
Fiona, meanwhile, will be staying in Geelong and going to her new job. She is a good wife who knows how to support her husband, and I intend to take advantage of it while I can.
I'll do my best to post along the way, but after Adelaide there seems to be nothing but tiny 800 person towns for about 1500 miles. But you never know - Kangergoolie might be a bustling technology oasis in a land known only for the longest stretch of uncurved railroad track in the world.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 19, 2005 at 10:26 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 18 January 2005
A Land Down Under
Finally got some pics up. I can't believe I haven't posted any since before Christmas. It's incredible, really. I mean, it's not like I do anything all day long. I've had plenty of time. I guess I'm just a lazy bitch.
Whatever. Enjoy the photos.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 18, 2005 at 06:34 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 06 January 2005
Return From Buffalo
Once again, we brought the bad weather with us to Mt. Buffalo. The day before we arrived, Angie had been swimming in the lake. The next day, we were bundled up by the fire while the rain poured down on the tin roof of the Butt Hut.
As much as rain does suck while you're camping, there's nothing like waking up in the middle of a forest covered in thick fog. It's eeiry and beautiful, and when you combine it with the minty, eucalyptus smell of the Australian bush you get an experience unlike any other.
I have more pictures to upload, so I'll post them as soon as I can. Until then, here's what's been happening since I've been away:
- Former South African president Nelson Mandela reveals that his son Makgatho has died of AIDS.
- Kyle Van Horn sent a camera via USPS with a message on it asking the postal workers en route to take photos with it.
- Torture advocate Alberto Gonzales eagerly awaits his appointment to Attorney General.
- And the big news in Oz today is that the Australian government has pledged an historic $1 billion aid package to the tsunami disaster. That's almost as much as George Bush spent to get reelected.
- Finally, try typing "How much did George Bush spend to get reelected?" into Google. Their "Did you mean" suggestion is spot-on.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 6, 2005 at 07:10 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, 02 January 2005
Return To Mt. Buffalo
It looks like we're going to be heading back up to Mt. Buffalo for a bit more freezing cold weather. This time we'll be going with Fiona's parents so it's going to be a cramped little campsite, but maybe that'll help keep us warm.
We caught up with Latitia and the German today, and they came in and ate all of Glenys' chocolate cake. I don't care what anyone says, Europeans are greedy sweathogs and they cannot be trusted around sweets. I had set aside that cake for a week's worth of breakfast and now it's all for nothing.
Anyway, we'll catch up with them again when we get back from Buffalo. I'm hoping that I can talk them into staying in Melbourne for a while instead of taking off, but we'll see how it goes.
Obviously, no posting for a couple of days. Hopefully I'll have some decent pics when I get back.
Posted by flow Frazao on January 2, 2005 at 07:31 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, 01 January 2005
Feliz Ano Nuevo!
I would love to be able to write something eloquent and inspired at the start of this new year, but I'm just too tired. We went out in Melbourne last night and had a great night. I think we got home this morning at around 10:30.
Without getting into it too much, let's just say New Year's in Oz is the same as it is everywhere else. Everybody gets a good drink on and starts kissing each other, and the rest fades out into a hazy blur. We hopped from club to club talking to people and screaming "Happy New Year!" to each other until our voices were hoarse, and then we slept it off for a few hours in the car before heading home.
Anyone who's ever tried to sleep in a Honda Civic knows how spent I am now, but to be honest my exhaustion runs even deeper than that. Over the past four years I've celebrated New Year's Eve on three different continents, and my life has changed more than I ever would have thought possible. If you had told me five years ago that I'd be looking for a place in Melbourne with my Australian wife after having spent the past three years crisscrossing the globe I would have just laughed. I mean seriously, who could dream of such a life?
I've got more to write about, but I just can't do it right now. I'm too tired and Fiona's making bedtime very attractive.
So a big fat Happy New Year to everybody. Hopefully 2005 will be a banner year. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and get a chance to watch Bush squirm at his impeachment trial or something.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on January 1, 2005 at 07:24 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 30 December 2004
A White Christmas In Australia
For the past 4 days, we've been camping at Mount Buffalo with Harold and Angie. For those who are as unschooled in Australian geography as I, Mount Buffalo is about 4 hours Northeast of Melbourne. It's one of the highest mountains in Oz, which sounds impressive but actually is not. This country is known for a lot of things, but tall mountains are not one of them.
It was a beautiful drive up there, and it was an interesting contrast to the long drives I'm used to in America. On the east coast, for example, the longest you'll go without passing a city or town on I-95 is about 20 minutes. Not here. To get to Mount Buffalo we took the Hume highway which runs from Melbourne to Sydney (a 12 hour drive). There is almost nothing in between. Every hour or so you might pass a tiny little town, but that's about it. Nothing but huge expanses of flat, dry land. It was pretty impressive.
On the way to Mt. Buffalo we had a bit of a surprise. Fiona and I were tooling along in the Civic we borrowed from Harold and Angie when all of a sudden Fiona hit the brakes hard and veered over to the shoulder of the road. As the car slowed down she said, "OK, don't make any sudden moves, but there's a spider in the car. When I stop you're going to have to get out of the car slowly."
Yeah right. You can imagine my reaction after reading stuff like this for years:
The male Sydney Funnel-Web Spider is the world's most deadly spider.
Both the male and female Sydney Funnel-Web Spider carry atraxotoxin, the world's most dangerous toxin to humans as produced in the animal kingdom.
As soon as Fiona said the word "spider" I had the door open and one foot on the ground. In my haste I forgot to undo my seat belt, so my first attempt at evacuation almost resulted in decapitation.
When the car came to a halt, Fiona sprang to action and killed it with a 400 page, textbook-like map of Victoria called a "Melways". I stood by and tried not to scream like a little girl.
With that behind us, we headed up to the summit of Mt. Buffalo. It took about an hour to get from the bottom to the top because of all the twisty roads, and when we finally reached the campsite it was about 15 degrees colder than it was at the base.
Harold and Angie had warned us that it would be cold, but I had no idea it would be as cold as it was. The next day it actually snowed. Seriously. Harold and I had gone for a hike while Fiona and Angie stayed in the hammocks and read. As I was making my way back to the site (Harold had stopped to talk to some people), I felt the first flakes fall. I couldn't believe it. By the time I got to our campsite Fiona and Angie were scrambling out of the hammocks trying to get everything under the tarp.
So it looks like I got my White Christmas after all. I had almost forgotten how it felt to freeze your ass off for days at a time. Now I remember, but I'm looking forward to forgetting again.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on December 30, 2004 at 08:15 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 23 December 2004
Two Shopping Days Left
Pretty good day today. I started off with a workout - it's getting embarrassing going to the beach every day with my soft and squishy body. In America I fit right in, but here it's a different story.
After lunch, Glenys, Angie and I headed down to Torquay to sit by the ocean for a few hours. It's so strange to go to an enormous beautiful beach and not see anyone on it. I'm used to beaches in the states where there are tons of people playing frisbee and walking around and basically just sitting on top of each other. There's none of that here. I guess if there's one thing they've got in Australia it's a lot of space.
After hanging out in Fiji for a couple of weeks I was shocked by how cold the water is here. Keep in mind, I'm from Connecticut so I'm used to frigid, icy surf, but this was too much for me. I went in for a couple of minutes, but my nipples were becoming a safety hazard so I went in to warm up. Luckily the sun was blazing and I had Talib Kweli on my mp3 player so everything turned out just fine.
When we got back to the house Peter was outside mixing a load of concrete by hand, which was a bit of a surprise giving his heart attack history. He was standing by the side of the road sweating his face off and turning this massive barrel thing. Glenys was surprised, to say the least.
I went out to help him and did my best to pretend I know anything at all about laying concrete. It's amazing what a few well-placed "yeps" and "oh yeahs" can do for your image in the manual labor arena. I'm certainly no Luigi Fontanelli, but I have to admit - when it comes to laying crete I've got skills. That new step out by the side door is a masterwork.
For dinner we went over to Harold and Angie's and I made a phenomenal risotto. Again, I'm no Luigi Fontanelli, but my risotto is delicioso. Even Harold murmured his approval at one point. After dinner we sat around and talked about our upcoming ascent of Federation Peak in Tasmania. More on this later, but suffice it to say we're planning some serious "bushwalking" as they say around these parts.
We left Harold and Angie's at around 10:30 and I doubled Fiona home on my gay little pink bike. Luckily it was all downhill so I didn't have to do any work. Otherwise Fiona would have wound up doubling me and that would have just been unacceptably pussified (you know with the pink bike and everything).
Finally, I was surprised to learn that many of the department stores in Australia are open all night long tonight for Christmas. I mean, that's standard operating procedure in America but I honestly didn't think Aussies were into that type of Tickle Me Elmo/Cabbage Patch Kid silliness. Apparently no one is immune from the capitalist juggernaut that is Christmas.
Except for Jews. I guess they don't give two shits about Christmas, do they?
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on December 23, 2004 at 07:16 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 20 December 2004
Venturing Out
Went for a bike ride yesterday. It's really difficult riding on the opposite side of the street (note use of the word "opposite" instead of "wrong"). At one point I was making a right turn and somehow I got confused and forgot that in Australia a right turn means you're turning across oncoming traffic. I almost got myself killed in my first week down under.
But the funniest part was the reaction of the other driver. Naturally I felt like a big moron and put my hands up to say "Whoa, sorry about that", but the other lady had beaten me to the punch. By the time I realized what was going on she was already waving her hands all over the place with a super apologetic look on her face. It caught me by surprise - I guess I was ready for a bit of hornblasting or at worst a savage American-style beating.
I think people here are just incredibly safety conscious. Apparently you'll get a ticket if you get caught riding a bike without a helmet. And it's not like it is in the States - it's not that they can give you a ticket, they really willfine you. Hard to imagine, but that's what I hear.
Hopefully they don't issue citations for riding while gay, because if that's the case I'll definitely get a ticket. I've been riding Fiona's old pink bike from when she was a girl. I won't even bother describing it, I'll just post a picture tomorrow.
Assuming I don't get hit by a car before then, that is.
Posted by flow Frazao on December 20, 2004 at 10:39 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, 18 December 2004
Back In Oz
Got into Melbourne last night at around 11 PM. Glenys, Peter, Karen, Jeff, Harold, and Harold's friend Adam were all there to meet us at the airport. Right before we walked through the gate I took a look at my passport and noticed that it was almost two years to the day since we last walked through that same gate. In some ways it feels like ages, but at the same time it seems like it could have been just yesterday.
Karen and Jeff weren't planning on coming back to Geelong, so we sat in the airport for about an hour and had a cup of tea. It's so strange to see all these people face to face after so many years of thinking of them as disembodied voices on the other end of a phone line.
As is the way with families, everything felt completely natural and conversation fell into a natural rhythm. Which is to say Fiona talked and everybody else tried to follow along.
Anyway, we're at Fiona's parents' now and we're having a barbecue for dinner tonight so I'm going to sign off. I'll try to do some proper posting tomorrow and I have loads of Fiji shots and other goodies, but it's going to take some time to get everything sorted. For now, I'll offer you a couple of teasers:
And finally, this is the view from Wayasewa:
Posted by flow Frazao on December 18, 2004 at 03:26 AM in Australia, Fiji | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack