Stunning Tasmania
Trip Start
Nov 20, 2007
1
3
12
Trip End
Jul 31, 2007
Hobart,
Australia
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
And what a hot one it was. Champagne and sun yeh I'm coping alright.
I'm not actually in Tasmania now just wanted the maker on my map. Life is moving exceedingly fast and keeping up with this onl;ine thing is going to be a wee bit tricky so what I'm figuring is that I'm going to have to head off from doing the conventional timeline stories and just throw things in.
By the way Dolly loved Tasmania and we discovered she is very photogenic. I hope to get you those photos soon. In fact Tassy might just become a photo story. It was so exceedingly beautiful. Stunning lovely exquisite, boasting the cleanest air and water in the southern hemisphere it really was like going somewhere magical. sharing that journey with Grace Demain and his father Shahid was very special.
Let me tell you what I've just been doing, making strawberry Jam. It's all in pots cooling down. The other day I made plum jam from foraged plums, little tiny things they were and let me tell you it took a long time to get all the stones out. A long time...very Zen work. In the New Year I'll be off to the market with those. St Andrews market to be specific and while I'm mentioning St Andrews I'll just throw in that my mum lives in St Andrews in Bristol. Anyway this one is just outside Melbourne out in the forested hills. A total hippy things full of tarot readers, free faith healers, shiatsu, reflexology, organic and noin-organic produce homemade jewellery, essential oils and other bits and bobs ans last but not least the legendary chai tent. It's not the chai it's known for it's for it's social ambience because people will just hang there all day chatting or strumming some instrument or other.
Melbourne is a very musical place. Wonderful. My berimbau has started many conversations off. In many ways it has become a lover of mine, something I turn to in time of need and a faithful companion on exploration trips. I'm missing my caxixi at the moment, silly me left it at someones house about 30 km away. For those who don't know it's a rattle and the berimbau is empty without it. Without it one can play rhythms and get pretty groovy but the caxixi holds all the delicious subtleties and transcends the instrument to a completely new level. I may still struggle with other capoeristas because I don't know which rhythms go with what but on my own I've had more than a few years to develop a relationship with it and I love it.
I actually met a capoeirista from Rio de Janeiro a lovely tall slim Brazillian guy wuith medium length thin neat dreads. I was walking through Victoria night market with a plate full of food. Absolutely starving I was, you know when your brains fuzzy cos you need to eat and what do I hear...tch-chy doing ding tch-chy doiig ding...my body is heading there before my minds caught up. It didn't tale long for them to spot me and invite me to play. So in I go....hoping my wrist will be ok...but how was I to pass such a random game by. I played a lovely game with one guy and then the Brazilian dude handed his berimbau to someone and we had a lovely long game. It turned out he was a trainau from a student of Moraes. He had a lovely game of Angola, definitely some sly street style markings going on. I like capoeiristas who use there knees and elbows. Who can be very technical with their markings without being aggressive I thought we had a great rapport going and he seemed to enjoy himself. My legs felt it the next day...as did my wrist so I'll be holding back from training.
A few housey things.
I'm gonna be living with six others. Demian and grace. They're the couple who got married, she'll be studying Chinese medicine and he'll be doing wind energy solar energy and energy advice work. There is a guy called Luke, he also does wind and solar work and will be collaborating with Demian business wise. They already have a job sourcing stuff for Shahid who is a bit of a top Bloke. He's been working in rural areas of Pakistan setting up solar bits and bobs in small villages. Very inspiring. Then There's Michelle who is studying Kinesiology, she's out a lot and has a busy life. Luke and Michelle are both very good fire twirlers along with the last couple Sylph and Ohana. There both a little bit out of a bow,,,erm they like walking round Everywhere with barefeet..they do market stuff and I'll be joining them on that. Sylph trained some Japanese martial art for ages before leaving his Dojo to come to Melbourne cos he had a dream about it. Some time in the last couple of years he gave away everything he had and burnt all his id and stuff. Even burnt the clothes he was wearing leaving himself naked to all. As you can imagine he has a few fun stories to tell. Grace was coming over to England just when he was giving his money away and he bought her the flight. Ohana is a nifty thing with fire stuff and she also does contact juggling, she likes climbing trees which is great, I've been up a few with her and she is a social bunny.
So that's the people how about the place. IT's some forty km outside Melbournes big bungalow. We're in no way cramped. IT's right next to a river....it's a bit brown but it's a river all the same. Birds are constantly chatting away. We have possums in the garden, they're so cute. Plans for the house are as follows. Solar water heater. A greywater system, and Growing veg.
I'm tired of typing for now. Dolly and I will do our best to get some photos to you all soon. I hope your all well and enjoyed much warmth from friends and family over Christmas. Much love Smiles xx
