rain.
on monday, the river woke up in its bed. wet stuff came along and covered the road. it sparkled gleefully between trees that sighed and drew it up into their fat bellies. it tripped playfully along its course, threading its way between rocks to split the town in two. this happens only a few times a year, and local folklore says if you see the todd flow three times you never leave alice. so i stand warned. i rode through the sudden current, spraying kids and dogs to left and right. dogs swimming and kids pretending to be crocodiles and lots of laughing at nothing very funny except water and the joy of it. us outback folk bein' simple like.
a new bike. she's red. she's been to prison in south australia. i decided to call her ruby. the bike i was riding before got stolen, and my swag with it, after a big ride out to simpson's gap with my friend alex and a campout in the riverbed where we got bugged by ants all night, but damn it was fun. the twisty track winds 20ks through scrub and trees and many a dry riverbed and even under the full moon we couldn't see exactly where the next bend was headed until we were halfway there.
other camping missions, too: out to glen helen the other weekend and another riverbed, a swim in ellery creek (the town pool - 20ks out and almost always full of cool water) and in the morning a swim in the glen helen gorge where we navigated our way around a belgian tv crew. i chose to wade the creek bit holding my bag aloft so i could sit in the shade and read hemingway. it was deeper than me (the creek, not the book) so i ended up swimming with my bag on my head. krusty said i looked like viet cong between the reeds. we lie on our backs in the cool brown water and watch black kites play games in the wind between the rocks, which rise up in crazy vertical layers. if you watch the shadows you can see wallabies perched on the ridge, hopping improbably along.
wildlife report continues: i've been honoured to spy a couple of perente, big lizards with cool dot-painting patterns and aged, indifferent eyes. a massive spider (wolf? looked like a grey tarantula), roos in the backyard, no snakes yet. been loving the nature thing so much that i'm doing a wildlife carer's course on sunday so i can help save cute things, if only from link and tipper (the ranch's resident canines). this is a bush-life thing i've always wanted to do, so now seems like a good a time as any.
the water in the river has subsided now, leaving the odd busted jerry-can and dried corpse of a long-dead roo in its wake. just like a snake, the water popped up to say g'day, then slithered its long body back underground until next time.
until next time then.
on monday, the river woke up in its bed. wet stuff came along and covered the road. it sparkled gleefully between trees that sighed and drew it up into their fat bellies. it tripped playfully along its course, threading its way between rocks to split the town in two. this happens only a few times a year, and local folklore says if you see the todd flow three times you never leave alice. so i stand warned. i rode through the sudden current, spraying kids and dogs to left and right. dogs swimming and kids pretending to be crocodiles and lots of laughing at nothing very funny except water and the joy of it. us outback folk bein' simple like.
a new bike. she's red. she's been to prison in south australia. i decided to call her ruby. the bike i was riding before got stolen, and my swag with it, after a big ride out to simpson's gap with my friend alex and a campout in the riverbed where we got bugged by ants all night, but damn it was fun. the twisty track winds 20ks through scrub and trees and many a dry riverbed and even under the full moon we couldn't see exactly where the next bend was headed until we were halfway there.
other camping missions, too: out to glen helen the other weekend and another riverbed, a swim in ellery creek (the town pool - 20ks out and almost always full of cool water) and in the morning a swim in the glen helen gorge where we navigated our way around a belgian tv crew. i chose to wade the creek bit holding my bag aloft so i could sit in the shade and read hemingway. it was deeper than me (the creek, not the book) so i ended up swimming with my bag on my head. krusty said i looked like viet cong between the reeds. we lie on our backs in the cool brown water and watch black kites play games in the wind between the rocks, which rise up in crazy vertical layers. if you watch the shadows you can see wallabies perched on the ridge, hopping improbably along.
wildlife report continues: i've been honoured to spy a couple of perente, big lizards with cool dot-painting patterns and aged, indifferent eyes. a massive spider (wolf? looked like a grey tarantula), roos in the backyard, no snakes yet. been loving the nature thing so much that i'm doing a wildlife carer's course on sunday so i can help save cute things, if only from link and tipper (the ranch's resident canines). this is a bush-life thing i've always wanted to do, so now seems like a good a time as any.
the water in the river has subsided now, leaving the odd busted jerry-can and dried corpse of a long-dead roo in its wake. just like a snake, the water popped up to say g'day, then slithered its long body back underground until next time.
until next time then.
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