The other day, I caught trains across Sydney with Oriana. Because we were talking in Spanish (loudly, perhaps - Spanish is a language to be spoken loudly), we got into conversations with various Spanish speakers on the trains.
We talked with Angel, a young man from Mexico, who is here studying business and dancing tango.
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Posted 18 December 2010
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I woke up at first light, unrained-upon and ready for action. I packed up, made a quick cup of tea, then headed back out to the road. Things were still pretty quiet, but this time I did get a lift, with some government electrical contractors in many-wheeled trucks that looked like they could drive over […]
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Posted 26 November 2010
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Dear Nowheresville,
I have noted with momentary curiosity that you were the recipient of the Northern Territory Tidy Towns Award, 1992.
While I warmly congratulate you on your erstwhile tidiness, I regret to inform you that this achievment has not been sufficient to interest me in your town. I will not be stopping on this occasion.
Regards -
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Posted 22 November 2010
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Dear Concerned Taxpayer,
I have noticed that you are writing letters to every major newspaper in the country every week, and I note your concern regarding the cost of social services for Aboriginal people. I understand you feel that, as a taxpayer, you are being “ripped-off” when your tax dollars are spent on those ungrateful natives.
However, […]
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Posted 22 November 2010
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I arrived in Alice Springs, fresh out of the desert, dusty as a season in hell. Alice was an oasis, a place of shade and semi-decent espresso coffee. I was delighted to find a town so bustling and cosmopolitan, here in the middle of country so harsh and desolate.
I stayed in Alice for a couple […]
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Posted 22 November 2010
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In the Djapu language or Arnhem Land, the word for tea is “gopi”, though it hasn’t always been. In the early or mid-twentieth century, both tea and coffee would have first been introduced via contact with white Australians. It was natural then that Djapu should adopt words for these from English; however, Australian languages have […]
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Posted 22 November 2010
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I spent today visiting for the first time the Anangu Pitjantjatjra Yankuntjatjara Lands, in far north-western South Australia. In fact this was the first time I had been on any of the Aboriginal homelands. It was pretty terrifying, but not so much from the human or social aspect. The main problem was this: driving out […]
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Posted 16 November 2010
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For some reason, I thought they would be connected up in Coober Pedy. Ha! Wireless internet? My phone doesn’t even work here.
I’m in the pub, drinking a beer. But I’m not here because I wanted a beer - that’s just incidental. I’m here because inside the pub is the only shady place in town, and […]
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Posted 12 November 2010
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The temperature here keeps loitering around some intermediate zone. Mostly it’s neither hot nor cold. As the molecules in the air vibrate, I get this buzzing in my head, nervous thoughts bouncing around in there like a demented pinball machine.
I woke up last night, jumped out of bed and turned the lights on. I’d been […]
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Posted 07 November 2010
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The first thing I noticed was the sun. Me and Oriana arrived in “winter” - that’s what they call August down in these parts - though it immediately challenges notions of European seasonality. We found ourselves sitting on our suitcases in the sun, on a railway platform, somewhat jetlagged, Sydney Central Station, about 11 o’clock […]
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Posted 29 September 2010
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