Long Weekend
I’m over being sick now, thank you.
I caught some bug (proly the same one that many people have gotten recently) last week and by Fri night my nose was all runny even though there were no other symptoms. I woke up Sat morning with a really sore throat but and generally not 100% but I went for my ride to Frankston anyway and actually enjoyed it. That physical exercise whilst under the weather proly pushed my body over the edge and I deteriorated during the day.
I was supposed to go to a friend’s place in the country for her farewell do. My body said no but I still went. 2 hours drive later I was in Guildford, home of the famous “Big Tree” near Castlemaine.
A little bit of food, a codral and a couple of wines later I was ready for a “nap” (at 8.30pm!). I went to lay down in my car, which was parked away from the house so I could be left in peace…or so I thought.
I was having a fairly pleasant, if not a little chilly, sleep when I suddenly awoke to a glaring bright orange light in front of me. When my groggie eyes focused I realised that it was a 15ft bon fire…and it was only metres away from my car! Someone decided that the nice little fireplace inside the house and the fire buring in the steel drum just outside was not enough. So they piled on a truck load of flammable items onto a pile and stood back (it was still smouldering in the morning). By now nearly the entire party (except for a few oldies) had moved to this new and exciting location.
After the initial shock of it all my exhaustion put me back to sleep again. However, I woke up again an hour or so later again to the sounds of a guitar and a chorus of drunk girls singing something that may have been the chilli peppers. After that point I really couldn’t sleep again. When it was time for everyone to bed up for the night I was forceably removed from my car and put into a room to share with missus and a few others. I had wanted to stay in the car in fear I would pass on whatever bug I had to someone else, but they said I’d freeze to death if I did that.
The sleep inside was not much better either, but I won’t go into that. The next morning I got up at 7.30am and wondered outside to take a few pics. I’m glad I listened to them and didn’t sleep in the car.
Everything outside had a layer of ice or frost over it. After a hearty country breakfast we said our goodbyes and detoured to Vaughan Springs for a stroll before coming home around 2pm. All the driving, exercise and cold weather made me completely wrecked and as a result I haven’t wanted to ride to work the last 2 days. I’ll proly stay of until the BBC ride on Saturday. Glad I got away though, even if it was only overnight and I missed half the party.
Couple more pics.
So sad!
I read this article from The Age newspaper that said the Yangtze River Dolphin (or Baiji) has officially been announced to be extinct. It was a very unique animal because it was a fresh water dolphin and only found in the Yangtze river, China. Its demise was attributed to China’s rapid industrialisation, in particular the three gorges dam project. And it looks like the dolphin is not going to be the only victim.
I guess I have a particularly strong feeling about this because 1) Its the only animal I can think of that has become extinct in my lifetime (that I can recall) 2) Its a dolphin and they’re cool! 3) Not many people know, but I have some abstract dolphins tattooed on my arm (e.g. people know I’ve got a tatt but when they ask I just say its a random pattern).
This story really puts into perspective the impact humans are having on the earth. Who, knows how many more animals will become extinct in my lifetime. And lets not even go into the plundering of the earths forrests and other natural resources…
Bye bye flipper of the East!! ‘~’
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