fishing in robin hood's point

Archer Point about 20kms south of Cooktown is famed for fishing. So on a Sunday (a day-off to keep the sabat day uli, as you do), we drove down there for a bit of sight-seeing and fishing. 

There are no houses/residences in archer point but we saw a few residents (transient campers not a band of outlaws) and about a dozen vehicles. We also met a couple of guys collecting trash and litter along the coastline. I don’t know if today was clean-up oz day. What we saw later along the beaches - tons of litter including beer cans and the ever present plastic bags, the unfortunate evidence of human waste pollution in the middle of uninhabited coastline, is truly disgusting, but reminds a gesture of acknowledgement to the effort of the guys doing their bit to clean up the environment.

There's a couple of small lighthouses in archer point, one of them in an island a few hundred meters out from the mainland. There were boundary markers around the lighthouse on the Point, perhaps marking out the area leased for lighthouse and marine safety purposes. There was also the remnants of a jetty long since abandoned. The views from the lighthouse were spectacular. You could see where the rainforests merge with the eucalypts up on the hills that drop steeply to the sea.
A few secluded and inaccessible beaches with white sands beckon to the north and south as well as on the small island on the southeast. In another time, with another partner, it would be nice just to camp out in any of them for a couple of days.
At the lighthouse we met a pair of couples (retirees out for a Sunday drive).
One of the men told a story about how the jetty came to be there. Apparently in the early 1960s an Englishman invested in growing grain in Lakeland (about 50km inland to the southwest) for export to Japan. The government refused assistance to his endeavours, so he forked out his own money to build the jetty and roads presumably to transport his grain from the field to the bay and for shipping to japan. Our acquaintance said that in the end the Englishman lost 10m pounds sterling in the venture ( i hope robin's hoods didn't rob him).

Since we came here for fishing, we drove down to the jetty site from the lighthouse over an old disused and deep-rutted rocky road, and then clambered along a narrow precipitous path to the rusted ruins of the jetty. We then tossed our fishing lines in along with a wish or two (for a big fish or two). We had some tugs on our lines, which may just be snags but may also be the fish that got away (yeah i know - there's a few mebbes there but wait here's more). A school of medium-sized fish (maybe tuna?) swam past and a really big one (maybe a shark?) glided along just off the coastline. We did catch three small (baby) cods in about a couple of hours, but no major whoppers to tell tales about. We also had a solitary turtle entertain us. It frolicked along near our lines for a few minutes before going along its unhurried merry way. Some white butterflies flew past too just a few meters above the water.
Alas nothing to make merry men of doleful fishers.
so what was robin hood's point?
go figure...

trails of trouble

This week involved a lot of walking and hiking up mountains, hills and gullies to do special deliveries. And this was no picnic!

Our client I believe is a monk or at least a hermit who has lived up in these desolate inaccessible hills since 1978. His ancestors first settled in this area back in 1866.





The terrain this side of cooktown is very rough and desolate and harsh at the best of times. In the beginning of summer the conditions are a lot worse. The hot humid air makes for labored struggle to walk, even to breathe, let alone to keep going after a only a few meters of trudging uphill. And if that was not bad enough, the ground is littered with loose rocks, fallen logs and branches and the odd hole.








For good measure there are thorns and lantana that appear in certain places.

Now when one is laden with gear and materials of awkward lengths and sizes, some fragile and sensitive packages, and the odd water bottle, the going gets tough.

Am one tuffy not going - well. Am dressed up like a squire, water-logged boots on my feet (from sweating). Thick heavy gaiters strapped on and with gaiters or overboots dragging down like lead on the legs.


Then with one hand (waving free) letting go of the shoulder load for one second, trying to keep the hat on from the burning sun and swatting insects or spiderwebs or green ants falling from overhanging branches. The other hand (not silhouetted by the sea) keeping the glasses from fogging up from the sweat pouring out of one's body; with the third limb twisting here and there maneuvering to keep the load from getting entangled with vines and undergrowth; with the fourth limb trying to maintain footing on the loose rocks and slippery slides underfoot; with the fifth limb going limp –
no wonder one climbs like a wimp.



what another climb? man you must be putting me on!
or is this a mirage?

yonder is a black mountain. i wonder if a wizard lives there. perhaps a lizard does.

Another day we hiked up to the hills on the verge of a rainforest and down to a steep and deep gully. As we were packing up we could hear the roar of thunder and the sky has turned black. And we had to rush out of there before dark.
Every which way looks the same, and any which way we could easily get lost in the dark. There’s good tracks in dem dar hills too. Yes good for kangaroos and dingoes or the odd cow or two too. So that on your second trek up you miss the turn because you think you recognize a feature and you’ve been there and done that, you stop and say: I’m going the wrong way here. Oh that’s orright what’s an extra mile, and a few minutes, and a few liters of sweat? It’s a breeze actually.
What say?

The breeze.

That’s the thing you don’t see.

You know that which blew your hat back down the hill. Now of course when all is cursed and done, one then looks forward to the downhill stroll, with a lighter load too – what a bonus! Got rid of a couple of packages and two liters of water. Suddenly you fall. Your leg’s broken or feels like it’s broken. It has turned to jelly!

Mama woo ooh woo.

And then to compound one's interest, I mean misery – it starts raining. Well It actually started raining on the way up but… no wonder when one’s gone a hundred meters or so-

To make things really hard, tough dried brown and brittle grasses that grow to 2m high are a constant presence. These have stalks that can pierce the skin when hit at an angle. They’re even treacherously slippery if you step on their flattened long leaves. This time of year, the grass are very brown and tinder dry. A grassfire is thus a constant threat and at the whiff of one we’d be out of there in a jiff.

To really illustrate the danger of a fiery menace, there was a bushfire to the south of our site. We paused to observe it soon after we noticed the smoke. The fire had spread linearly along the base of a mountain (black mountain) for about a kilometer within a few minutes. This was aided by easterly seabreezes which sent flames upwards of 20m. The smoke was visible for miles around. Had the prevailing winds been from the south we would have abandoned work for the day. Such is the risk of a hot and dry Australian summer aka bushfire season. And when the country is experiencing very long droughts as it is, the threat of fire is very high and very real indeed.

ps

And now to the news: the southeast of the state (abt 2000km away) has been ravaged by storms all week. These are some of the fiercest storms to hit the southeast in decades and have caused death and destruction along their paths. The storms and rains have now lasted nearly a week.
What the????

So what's the lesson for today then?

a. keep fit

b. find another job

c. don't go to the tropics in summer

d. tell the boss to shove it

e. ________________________

f. take the road well travelled (where?)

g. all of the above

paths of victory

we shall walk.

Goin’ troppo (november 08)

If you were wondering... m polichay's gone troppo this past month.



Cooktown in far north queensland, is the northernmost town on the australian mainland. It is just under 2000km from brisbane. Work requires that i deliver up there so i've gone troppo.

On monday the 11th i hied off to FNQ. Took a 2-hour flight to Cairns, then picked up a 4WD hire hilux for a 4-hour drive north to cooktown.
photo on left is a view of Smithfield north of Cairns from a lookout point under the controversial skyrail, going up to Kuranda in the rainforests of the great dividing range.

After kuranda, along a 250km trip we go past mareeba, palmer river, annan gorge and finally cooktown. Rainforests surround the areas around kuranda NW of cairns. Heading westerly towards mareeba on the tablelands the landscape evolves constantly from typical tropical vegetation to also typical open eucalypt forests. From mareeeba northwards is typical open scrubland, very flat and often desolate. The great dividing range runs parallel to the highway on the east and its hills and mountains keep looming but never seem to be reached. A strange sight greets the first-time visitor at lake Mitchell. This body of water seems so incongruous in the midst of often straight long grey tarred roads, brown grass, brown earth and the pale green tops of singed dark-trunked eucalypts. Again the vegetation changes hue on the descent to the coast from the tablelands. Now there are patches of tropical trees and shrubs, which soon become thicker and greener along the low lying coastal plains. The eucalypt forests still predominate until annan gorge on the south of cooktown. Pockets of scrub vegetation intersperse amongst black rocky hills, the biggest of which is black mountain. (was too busy sightseeing that i was near the end of the trip when i thought ofthe camera)

This is Black Mountain south of Cooktown. The hardy scrub vegetation are either reclaiming their original habitat or are still receding and ceding their places to the huge boulders fired and turned black by millennia of volcanic activity.

On the southern outskirts approach to cooktown, the vegetation is now dense tropical rainforests hugging all the landforms from the plains to the hills and to the rivers, coasts and bays. Many of these areas are national park reserves which should stay in their original state for ages to come.

Mt Cook (after the explorer James), is a prime example of a well- preserved natural environment.

So write to your legislators and local officials. Lobby them for more heritage protection especially the ecosystems. World heritage protection areas now serve as major tourist attractions.

let us not wait for them to become museum pieces before we act.

they saved paradise put off a parking lot...

how does joni sing it?

it does always seem to go

you do know what you got and it's gone

taxi!!!!

plodding along

the slow one now will later be fast



the site is taking a while to take shape

but please bear with me

my house is getting too heavy

now showing

at a cinema near you. this was a while back but there might be reruns somewhere. i wonder what's showing in the other seven.

good car to drive

after a war.
it's a late 1920s dodge, not a cadillac i know but was good after ww1 and ww111 maybe

i actually hired this car for a girl i know. it was for a formal do. went well of course but the car didn't do too good.

tim, the owner-driver was very gracious to go the extra mile for us so we turned off to the highway. unfortunately the strain on the belt fan at higher speeds of 80-100 kph was too much for a car that was designed for a top speed of abot 40-50 kph. a fin of the fan broke off and cut through the bonnett. and tim ended up paying 10 times more in repair cost to the fee i paid to hire the car.

what will you have?

whiskey, bourbon or brandy? not much choice but it's all i've got.




in case anyone's wondering, i keep the black and blue labels on a display shelf... at the bottleshop or liquor store. eyes only he he.
and for every jim and johnnie and jack and scot and whoever that you wish to come to your aid, be they red or white, or until they're black and blue,

remember wise old aristotle's exhortations:

to be virtuous one has to be non-extremist he he.

play it again sam!

The last two lines of Sam Cooke's song 'a change is gonna come' goes:
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come.

It has brother. The change is come!
Barack Obama take a bow. America take a bow.
I believe you have elected Obama and judged him at the ballot box, not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character, by what you saw in him, by what he had to offer...
and that is no mean feat.
that is one big leap for mankind.
oh yes my faith is restored - reason will always prevail over prejudice.

Full credit to Obama for his gracious acknowledgement and acceptance of the burden of leading America to its next phase, hopefully to a brighter and better world.
Hopefully he will lead the American nation to achieve what Dr King implored so many years ago - to rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
And indeed:
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
Okay yes I include Mt Cotton in that

Credit also to Sen McCain for similar grace in conceding defeat and accepting the verdict of the American people.
If there's one thing that stands out to me about McCain during the campaign, it was when this woman supporter of McCain at a town hall rally said:
"I've heard that Sen. Obama is an Arab."
McCain respectfully cut the woman off and said:
"No, ma'am. He's a decent family man and citizen"
That says a lot about McCain and he can stand proud for standing up to the low tactics of his supporters.
I wish him well.

sunday mornin' come undone

on a sunday morning leisure drive i got sideswiped on the way here to my favorite net cafe. a little shaken is all but could've been worse. what happened was this bus pulled off the kerb, the driver obviuosly not checking his blindside, clipped the side of my car, took off a side mirror and left dents and gashes for good measure. he/she did not even notice what happened and simply drove off leaving me to ponder whatever's to ponder. thankfully i was not hurt, i wasn't even mildly annoyed. was just disappointed not to get the bus details for insurance claims.
so all you drivers out there beware. accidents lurk around the corner. many of them are due to no fault of one or all of those involved. keep driving safely and defensively and get home or to your destination in one piece.

on a sunday morning drive-around (maybe drive-alone? i should have walked then i can sing the correct line)
wishing out loud that i was stoned (wishing i had a load of stones? hey mr Kristofferson 'home' doesn't sound too bad here, but like dylan said everybody must, but especially that bus driver should, get stoned!)

Barracking for Mccain

bar·rack Australian To shout support for a player or team.

A few days out from the US presidential elections and thoughts are swirling around my head.
12 months ago during the nominations I felt that Americans were not quite ready for an African-American to be their president. That’s why I thought that the Democrats would be better off with Hillary Clinton as their candidate. I was in favor of Obama over Clinton because I believed that Clinton was too far right. Even if Obama was an unknown at the time, he showed a lot of promise, a fresh face and a fresh voice and a fresh message. Nearly a year on and obviously Obama was chosen as the Democratic party‘s standard bearer. Now if Obama was white he would win hands down over McCain. And to me that’s the unknown factor – the race card. The Bradley effect. Should Obama emerge as winner come 4th November, I will applaud America for it will have achieved great strides in its race relations sooner than I expected. If however by some dark twist of fate McCain is elected then that would be a sad day indeed. Sad because by now, in this day and age, I feel humans should be above racial prejudice.
So I urge America on. Go enfranchise yourselves. Go exercise your right to vote and exorcise the worst administration from the white house. America and the world will be so much better off. The worst that could happen is that Obama will turn out like Carter – a lot of promise but not much to show for it. Or he could turn out to match his rhetoric with great achievements as a pragmatic president. And we will be celebrating this point in time as a milestone in history.
Whatever the outcome, ultimately it is your collective prerogative America - down the road towards change or more of the same old same old. I will respect your choice of course whichever way. I will just be either enraptured or sad.