A Source of Discomfort

ABC Heros: Planet America Hosts

So here were are. We've been here almost 2 months, and except for the trip to Tasmania, we're leading a pretty normal life. Well, normal if you don't have a car, which I realize is hardly normal for an American. Still. I clean, fix meals, go shopping (on my bike), work in the clay studio (carrying green ware on my bike is quite an adventure), and in the evenings we watch the news. First of all, there are two shocking things about everyday life that come to mind. The first is the utter pervasiveness of all things American, in spite of the country feeling so foreign sometimes. Movies, music, conversation. Movies especially. Our favorite theatre, which John refers to as "The Flicks on Steroids" has sixteen screens, and most of them are American made films. We've seen "The Post", "3 Billboards.. . " and several others. I've resisted seeing the one Australian made film because it looks so violent (a sort of wild-west/racially charged story that takes place in the Outback. Sam Neal is in it. . .turns out he's from New Zealand. . )  I will see it eventually. Just have to feel strong. It looks like one of those "no redemption" movies that leaves me feeling hollowed out for a week.

McDonalds is alive and well (no, we haven't been there). . .but they refer to in as "Mackers". Lots of nicknames for things, in general. LIkewise Pizza Hut. KMart, and something they call TKMaxx, which is clearly TJMaxx.

We were initially surprised to see so much about Trump on the ABC (Australian Broadcast Company) news nightly, though to be fair, there is a lot of world news in general. . .much of it admirably in-depth.

The Second shocking thing is that they produce a WEEKLY show, 45 minutes long, called Planet America. The title alone is pretty funny, suggesting that we're Isolationist, when really, we're just getting started, right? But the amazing thing about it is how spot on it is. We laugh, we cry, we feel embarrassed. And it's available to you too, though I doubt that many folks will want to sit through the whole of one. Still, if you have time for a view of US from one of our closest allies, take a look.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/planet-america/
 

It is smart humor that dares to be silly. Yes. You can quote me on that.

By the way, the P.M. and government officials have been quite restrained in their comments regarding the steel and aluminum (pronounced Al-Loo-MINN-E--Um) tariffs; even though Trump, in the presence of witnesses, specifically promised Malcolm Turnbull (the PM) that Australia would be exempt from any of that nonsense. They all seem to have the good sense to "wait and see" before saying anything they might regret. Keep calm and carry on, Mates. . .

Back in the City.

Look who I found. . . .old friends. This is another Gillie and Marc bronze, which is well beyond life- sized for humans, let alone rabbits and dogs. I scheduled a doctor's appointment, following the recommendation of our friend R, and this beautiful eating/shopping area was a sort of covered area within the complex where the clinic was located. It was right on the tram route that we usually take into town, but this interior space is only visible when you walk in. This is very typical of Melbourne. . . there are all sorts of unseen cracks and crevices that beg exploration.

It's a good thing about living in the city. That, and the doctor was indeed willing to help me with my prescriptions. Phew.  I'm sleeping again, and no longer considering having to leave this once-in-a-lifetime experience so I can get some sleep.

We also went to the Melbourne Museum this weekend; another downtown fixture. It was too large to see in one day, and I tend to get "museum head" even more quickly than I did as a younger person, but it was still great. There were all kinds of BONES. . .including lots of dinosaurs. Henry and George, I'm putting an image of a real skeleton they had of a Pigmy Blue Whale. Imagine how big the Not-Pigmy Blue Whale is! And while the dinosaur bones in the museum were casts of the original bones, these whale  bones were real bones. No touching, of course.

One of many Acacias that thrive in Australia. The bark invites touching

There were also some wonderful, well-labeled tended ecosystems (for lack of a better word) outside under glass or in courtyards. I was most interested in the plants, but there were also birds, skinks, lizards, the works! There is a lot of emphasis on indigenous culture these days, so there was one entire garden dedicated to native plants and how they were used by the Aboriginal peoples.  Unfortunately so much of it is the sad history of conquests and betrayal like our own in the U.S. I can only see/hear/read so much of it before I simply have to go. And then, there's the "museum-head" thing, too.

In settling in after our visit to Tasmania, John and I have become keenly aware of the fact that we are not fundamentally "city mice". We had both thought we might like to be, but the truth is that we want to see the sky and some unpeople'd, unconcreted earth when we look out our window, or step out our door.

There are too many people. I do not wish any of us gone. It's just clear that finding a Place to call Home that we're comfortable with will be increasingly difficult. It feels so fundamental to me. Having some space. Surely, so many folks live in these very densely populated situations, that if nothing else, we may have to continue to evolve so we can stand it. Without shooting each other. Or becoming depressed. Or Or Or.

Tonight we have visitors from Boise coming over for dinner. A treat. And beautiful weather for it as well. . .

The Tasmanian Experience Continues. . . final bit

I'm realizing that the Tasmanian experience will likely not be completely conveyed in this blog. There was so much, and the blog entry format, by nature, needs to be short and spicy. Not exactly my forte, but I'm working on it. . .

On our final 2 days, we ventured away from Bicheno, to explore Cradle Mountain, which is part of a  huge (about 25% of the Tasmanian Island) World Heritage site within Tasmania. There are no roads through the site, though there are entry points at the edges, with Cradle Mountain being the closest to the East Coast. The little guy above is a Wallaby. . in the wild. . .who graced our presence while we were on a walk around the restaurant where we had a meal on our last day there. He was completely unafraid of us, just eating the ground-cover pictured, and we sat quietly and watched. While they are built like miniature kangaroos (hard to see in this photo), their eating habit was very reminiscent of rabbits, though they obviously aren't afraid the way that rabbits are. We had a nice long look.

We saw this wombat while we were hiking around Dove Lake in the Cradle Mountain area. He was running his little rolling run down the boardwalk built around part of the lake. I heard some locals call this walk "The Wombat Expressway" later. Apparently they like the easy travel, though not-so-much the tourists. Still, these guys didn't seem frightened at all. . .just mildly annoyed that we were taking up space on their expressway.

It's easy to see why Cradle Mountain is so named. The shape of it reminded us of our own Sawtooth mountains, though these are isolated peaks. The vistas around the lake are breathtaking, as are some of the other ecosystems along the trail.




Below is The Enchanted Forest part of the trail.
It is deepest darkest Tasmania, full of over- and under story flora that we're unaccustomed to, even in the East. It feels more like a rain forest, and though this area has that much rain, it also gets fairly cold in the winter. As a closing remark, we were incredibly lucky to have clear beautiful weather while we were hiking about around Cradle Mountain. They only have 40 clear days a year, and we got one of them!

The Tasmanian Experience continues, part 2

'Roo. A face to fall in love with. . .

The Bonorong refuge gave us a chance to get up close and personal with, among other creatures, Kangaroos. I can't express how much I was touched by these animals, even though it was clear that they were out of their natural setting, and uncommonly (dangerously?) comfortable with Homo sapiens. Their fur is thick and soft, and their faces very doe-like. In fact, I thought they must occupy the deer niche here, until we saw deer here (in the wild) as well.

'Roo. Front paws.

'Roo back foot and toenail. Wow.

Clearly, though, these guys have some formidable defense attributes. Closeup, the front paws are not something you'd want to swipe at you, and the single long toenail on the hind legs are also not for messing around with. 

 Here's an aside. Blogger, the blogging website I'm using, doesn't give me an accurate preview of what will be published. So if the images seem out of sync with the subject matter is, that's what's going on. Sigh. Always something.

'Roos. . .not always laying down!

We headed directly from Bonorong to Bicheno, our East Coast beach destination. But that's probably enough for this entry. 'Roos rule!

The iconic Kookaburra

The Tasmanian Experience Continues. . .

Cunts... and other conversations, 2008–11

Greg Taylor and friends

Oh, Dear. I'm forgetting so many things already! In Hobart, we visited The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), a very quirky, architecturally improbable and unique museum. It had the usual collection of perplexing art. . .much of which I find inscrutable, too obvious, technically wanting or just creepy. Wow. My own brand of art snobbery. For example, there was a diorama (for want of a better word) of stuffed kittens serving tea. . . .maybe 2 dozen stuffed kittens. They were made of REAL kittens that a taxidemist had stuffed and set up in this unsettling tableau. Truly creepy, and not fun to look at once you realized what it was.
The building, however, was extraordinary, and set in an extraordinary Tasmania setting. . .on the estuary/river that passes through Hobart. I didn't photograph the kittens, by the way.

Here's an example of the obvious. Rows and rows of the female organ along a dark wall. Maybe 150 of them? A nice idea, of course, since it's what we all want to see, but still. . . .

The other visit I almost forgot was to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. We stopped on our way out of the city enroute to Bicheno. It was my first face-to-face with a Roo, as well as a chance to see the Tasmanian Devil and other species unique to Australia and/or Tasmania. To the right is where John and I are likely to end up. Ha. But seriously, folks. The Tasmanian Devil, that most unlikely of anti-heros, is endangered. One of the missions of Bonorong is to breed them and re-introduce them into the wild. Oddly, they still can live many years after they pass breeding age, so so sign labels a very large enclosure where the older devils were allowed to live out their dotage. Below are signs sort of explaining the devil. Honestly, it's amazing that they evolved and stayed around this long, but they are sort of endearing, in spite of their BugsBunny image.






John took the image below of a Tasmanian Devil at the refuge.



 Note that all of the animals at the refuge are either there for the breeding program, or in most cases being prepared to be released. The only permanent members of the gang there are those who for some reason can't be released back into the wild, usually due to injury. More on that in the next post.

The Tasmanian Experience: First Days

Forgive this long period between posts. WiFi was surprisingly hard to come by once we got out of Hobart, the Tasmanian capital. . .and when we could find it, it wasn't up to much! That fact did not impede on the wonderfulness of the trip, though, in spite of John having some worries about an impending proposal deadline. My only misgiving is that we only had one week. A month would have allowed us to scratch the surface a little deeper! In fact, it's the first place in Australia where I could envision myself living.

I initially thought the title of this post would be "And here's another breathtaking beach. . .", much as an

couple of our extended camping trips in Idaho/Montana could have been called "And here's another beautiful Alpine Lake." Which one was it? The one pictured above is definitely Sandy Bay Beach, which was our first stop in Hobart. We stayed in the Hill House Airbnb (highly recommended) hosted by M and G, and this beach was down the hill. . . a lot down the hill. . .from it. The hills in Hobart reminded me of San Francisco. Very very steep, but no worries of snow and freezing so they often go straight up and down very steep hills. Our trusty rental car was up to it, fortunately. In fact, he was really quite great in every respect.More on driving later!

The poster on the right was in downtown Hobart, or the CBD as all of the business districts here seem to be called. There is a lovely humor in things Australia that I so appreciate. Even when the news commentators are skewering something or someone, it's done in a way that brings laughter. There was a bit on Trump (they have a 30 minute in-depth news show on America every week. . .can you imagine?) that had us laughing and crying simultaneously.

So. Tuesday we flew into Hobart, explored all day Wednesday, including a hike up Mt. Wellington (we could have spent a week exploring trails there), and then off to Bicheno, a well-known beach on the East coast of Tasmania. On the way, we stopped at the beach to the left, Kingston Beach, and headed on.

Brilliant Flowers on a yet-to-be-identified tree

Here's a word about driving in Tasmania, though I expect we'll find it on the continent as well. Roads are narrow, and almost all of them are only 2 lanes. The exception is highways around cities, where they are often 2 lanes each way. But none of them have shoulders except for the main routes, signified by a number only. For example, "The 1". The others are designated "A", "B", or "C" (C being a very narrow winding, sometimes unpaved road), and they are all very narrow by our standards. Add that to the fact that you're driving on the left now, The turn signals are where the windshield wipers should be, and vice versa, and you have a challenging driving situation. Thank goodness I insisted on an automatic transmission! Add that to the fact that many of the drivers are tourists from countries that usually drive on the right side of the road, and you have a prescription to be careful. It's not a fast place to get around in, and it can be a very dangerous place.

It is actually amazing how quickly you can get used to it, though. After a week, John and I both felt comfortable enough to take on city driving pretty easily. The speed limits are typically 100-110 km/hour (equal to about 60-70mph) on the traversing roads, and we got comfortable with that speed only on the roads with shoulders. This makes me smile, envisioning myself as a pretty hip person, but driving like an old lady. Still. Life without injury is quite a behavior modifier.  And the natives feel free to pass, so it all works out. We'll do more driving in the future, especially in New Zealand, but I'm glad we've had that first experience.  For today, I'll close with some more images from the first two days. As usual, the flora and the bird life is extraordinary.

Tree ferns on Mt. Wellington

Tree ferns as part of the understory of Eucalypts

A sandpiper-type bird (but really large!) at Kingston Beach (this is why I use other folks bird photos)

I never get tired of this Eucalypt's Bark. I think it's a Red Gum.

TASMANIA!!!

We flew out of Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania today. . .early this morning. My first impression of Tasmania lived up to John's colleagues assessment that Tasmania is the "Jewel of Australia". It is verdant. . . with both natural forests and a ton of agriculture. These first few shots were taken from the airplane as we were approaching the Hobart airport.







 We also felt a sort of cultural shift as we got off the airplane into the airport. Mind you, the Hobart airport is tiny relative to the Melbourne International airport.

One thing that the Tasmanian's take VERY SERIOUSLY is the importation of any agricultural product. They have a fruit/veggie smelling BEAGLE. You can't make this stuff up! It was so cute it almost killed me.








First impressions, of course, can always be misleading. But as we walked out to our rental car (there's a whole 'nother blog post that needs to written on driving-on-the-left), I told John "This feels so different. So calm and laid back". What a lovely start to this vacation. My only concern as I look forward to another 6 days in Tasmania is that there is just too much to
see. . .too many hikes that will be left unwalked. . .too many former prison colonies unexplored. But that just means that we can come back again. . .right?

Lorikeets and flycatchers and mynas. . .oh my!

I mentioned this creature before. . . the Myna bird. Turns out, they're from India, and are considered an invasive species in Australia. Like the English Sparrow, though, what a success. And I love hearing her variety and enthusiasm of song. I wake up to hearing her, or one of the many dove/pigeon species every morning. Sweet.

John and I have taken to walking in the evenings. The weather has been beautiful, and we have good light until 8:30p, so it's been a great way to explore. . . especially the Royal Park and it's environs. One evening this past week, we finally got a good look at the very colorful parrot-like birds that we have only gotten flashes of in the dimming light.They are Rainbow Lorikeets, and they absolutely love the Red gum tree (a Eucalypt) fruit that is ubiquitous here. We saw a flock of maybe a dozen, but they were so busy eating, that we were able to watch them for quite some time. By the way, sorry I'm not using my own photographs. Bird photography not a strength of mine!

Both of these birds have this Very Familiar feeling about them. The myna is so robin-like in size, in how it hops, how it cocks it's head, how it so easily adapts to the urban setting. And I think their coloration is lovely, in an understated way. I was a little sad to hear that they're considered pests here. Then again, I guess humans could be considered pests as well. Smile.

The lorikeet looks like a parakeet (called a "Budgie" here) on steroids. For any of you who have ever lived with a parakeet, they have a funny way of hopping side-wise on a perch. And a sweet cocking of the head, and an almost murmuring kind of talking, in addition to various screeches and chatters. But these guys are about 2 1/2 times the size of a parakeet. We've also been able to see some Splendid Fairy-wrens over in pond area that has been developed in the park as an artificial wetland. Judging by the insects and concomitant birds, it's a big success as a wetland. We also saw a very acrobatic little guy that was black, white and gray (a little bigger than a wren) that was catching bugs on the wing. "Flycatcher" came to mind, and indeed I think it was either the Satin or the Leaden Flycatcher. Both are in this range, and like wetlands.

This is the Satin flycatcher, and below is the Leaded flycatcher. Very Very sweet.

There are, of course a lot of bigger birds. I already talked about the Australian White Ibis, but there is also a variation on the Magpie, the Australian Magpie, and a slightly smaller black-and-white bird (but still bigger than a robin) called the Butcher bird. So much life in a very densely populated city! It really is amazing. When we walk on the paths in the Royal Park, there are always warnings to either Not disturb the skinks (!), or to beware of snakes. Of course, John posted a sign on his blog that said "Beware of Cars", which is one of those things that just sounds hilarious to the American ear, but that sign is posted wherever cars might be sneaking out of alleys.

I'll close with an image of the Splendid Fairy Wren. They truly are, well, splendid! Even though they are small (think sparrow sized, but with a more impressive tail), their color makes them easy to spot.

If anything, they're even more splendid in person. . .the light reflects off their feathers in the dimming light making them look iridescent. . .

Guns and America. . . a view from here

I had already started working on a post that talked about all of the wonderful birds that we are seeing daily in in Melbourne. Then I saw the news last night. The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) has a reputation for being pretty unbiased, though I have grumbled a couple of times that they were interviewing only pro-Trump Americans. As time has gone on, I've come to realize that that isn't true. They are Not quick to judgment publicly, though, and certainly seem to strive for a neutral tone. So. . . after the reporting on the school shooting in Florida, they did this piece. . .


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/the-facts-when-it-comes-to-guns-in-america/9452134

In case you can't take the 1 minute 49 seconds it takes to watch this, here's what Mr. Jones has to say.

• There are almost as many guns in America as people: 300,000 guns, 323,000 people: 2X as many guns per capita as 50 years ago .
• Americas represent 4% of the world population, yet own 48% of the privately held guns.
• Not all Americans own guns: 50% of the guns are in the hands of 3% of the people.
• The average gun-owning household has 8 guns.
• After Sandy Hook (2012), 24 states made it easier to get guns, and sales increased in all of those states.
• There have been 300 U.S. shootings since 2013.
• Mass shootings, horrible as they are, account for only 1/10 of 1% of gun deaths. The rest are person-on-person.
• In 2018 (that's only 2 months), 30 people have died in mass shootings in the U.S. 1,817 have died in other gun deaths in the U.S. 
• Finally, since 1970, more people have died by guns in America than in every war since the American Revolution.

As if I don't already have a hard time sleeping, this had me up last night.  We need to find some answers, folks. This makes me cry just thinking about it. What. What. What is wrong with us?

Perhaps you remember that the Australian's endured a mass shooting at a children's camp in 1996, called The Port Arthur (Tasmania) massacre. 35 deaths, 24 more injured. They did not eliminate guns, as some 2nd Amendment supporters claim. To read the specifics see

https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrSbmNjKIZaxbwAjasL5gt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?qid=20090418123055AAuM5Dy

The resulting laws have not completely eliminated gun violence, but they have curbed it dramatically.

I'll close by saying that I'm sorry to present such a disturbing piece, but I think we can all benefit from seeing ourselves from afar. And of course, by remembering that the Australians are our friends.

When I'm 64. . . at St. Kilda Beach

You may remember a previous post, where I posted these bronze sculptures that I was so taken with. . . and I had fantasized about having my birthday dinner at this restaurant. Well. It happened. St. Kilda Beach was even more fun than it was the first time. For one thing, it was considerably cooler, in every sense of the word. The coolness wasn't just pleasant. It brought out a Whole Lot of Other folks, all of them having fun. We got a better view of the famous Luna Park (also featured in some of the Miss Fisher Mysteries), which has this lovely wooden roller coaster.





There were folks selling craft items (think a Boise Saturday market, scaled way down), folks learning to juggle, and what looked like it must have been a statewide set of beach volley ball games. . . there were at least a dozen nets, conveniently portable, with a lot of laughing folks playing ardent games of volleyball. Four on four.

We watched the sailboats for quite some time from the Penguin Pier, which has a very old building that currently houses an overpriced restaurant, as well as a colony of penguins which one only gets to actually SEE at sunset, when they come in from the water to sleep in their nests among the rocks on the end of the breakwater. We had to leave to go to dinner, but I do BELIEVE they live there. . . .







All in all, in spite of my sleep deprived state, it was a wonderful evening. Oh. And did I mention we had wonderful food? A great bottle of Yarra Valley Pinot Noir and of course, I started with a martini in memory of my Dad.

Then we came out into the evening, with the setting sun, and many many people who were clearly just happy to be there. I was one of them.