5.12 some australia tidbits from the guidebook: aboriginals parcticed ritual burial here 15000 yrs before construction of the pyramids in egypt. they were very passive, lived off the land, and coexisted -- over 300 distinct languages were spoken. britain began colonizing, claiming "terra nullius" (land belonging to no one) and pretty much destroyed their way of life. following the american revolution, britain was no longer able to transport convicts to north america, so eventually 168000 were sent to australia, before transport was abolished in 1868. in WW2, it as the USA, not Britain, who helped protect australia from the japs, by defeating them in the battle of the coral sea. this caused loyalties to shift away from britain towards the US. but now they accuse us of "cultural imperialism", because they get so much of our media, food, and drink. burger king is called "hungry jack's" here, because a local place already had the name. the oldest rock formations contain crystals dating them 4.3 billion years old, making them part of the earths original crust. it has 144 species of marsupials, and is one of the 12 most biodiverse countries in the world. there's a heroin problem here, so they installed blue lights in public restrooms, so the junkies can't see the vein. so far it has worked. aus is home to both of the worlds only 2 monotremes (egg laying mammals): platypus and echidna. their young suckle on a spot where mom's milk oozes through the skin. platypus has a soft duck-like bill that is electrosensitive and venomous spikes on the ankles. echidna has a 7cm snout, 15cm tounge, spines on the back, and can bury its feet when scared so that only spines are exposed. it lays its egg and hatches it in the pouch. there are also many marsupials: kangaroos, wallabys, quokkas, bandicoots bilbies, possums, koalas, wombats, quolls, and tasmanian devils. lake eyre, usually dry, has filled only 3 times in 130 yrs. when full, flowers bloom and plants grow at a breakneck pace in order to complete their life cycles before the next drought. there's even a species of "water holding" frog that goes into suspended animation, remaining in the caked mud for years on end, only to pop up when the rains come again.

5.24 planted beet root, onion, and celery in exchange for food at robyn francis' permaculture ranch. permaculture is a set of "design concepts for the creation and maintenance of human settlements which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural

5.25 took robyn's permaculture tour. her motto is "pragmatic in an ecologically sensitive way". this place is amazing. so many eco designed systems that integrate water, irrigation, natural filtration treatment, soil, edible landscapes, dams, living fences, composting, chickens, geese, ducks, fish, prawns, bees, butterflies, birds, herbs, fruits, veggies, cooling etc. thousands of species live together harmoniously on this little farm and they take no water from the city. after the tour and lunch, we did some more work for robyn in exchange for food (we got 6 duck eggs!).

5.28 today is "reonciliation day" in australia - for the aboriginals who've never signed a treaty and had a generation stolen (whites were allowed to take a baby from its parents if either parent was black, and put it in a foster home). they expected 100,000 to march in sydney, but ended up with 250,000! we marched in the streets of nimbin with about 50 people, had our faces painted with a symbolic white "mother earth" swatch, crossed a symbolic bridge and then sang a traditional nundjalung song. then a few aboriginal elders said some words

6.4 yongala dive. its been called the best dive in oz, the SS yongala ship wreck dive. sunk by cyclone in 1911, 122 people (2 infants), are all still in there. you can see 2 human femur bones. they didn't know the ship had sunk until a horse washed up on shore, with its hind quarters eaten off by a shark. it was supposed to be the captns last before he retired - he thought he was safe inside the barrier reef but ha d no radio, so they couldn't warn him about the cyclone. howz that for early retirement. the sister ship sunk on oz west coast 1 yr later at the same latitude. because the wreck is on a sandy bottom hundreds of miles between the reef and the coast, it's become an underwater desert oasis, hosting heaps of aquatic life. though it sunk in 1911, it wasn't found by divers until 1958, when it was immediately protected as a historic site and marine park, so it hasn't been looted by scuba pirates like some wrecks. saw diverse, colorful soft coral wafting in the sea breezes, huge groper fish the size of a vw beetle, a sea snake was biting one diver's flipper (they're very poisonous but have a small mouth), a green/yellow spotted sea turtle was eating soft coral, a large eagle ray the size of a queen size bedspread. by far the best dive i've ever done.

6.7 darwin. now leaving australia for indonesia. oz was truly great, the land of extremes. one month was definitely not enough to do it justice. things i'd like to see on the next trip: fraser island, whitsundays, 12 apostles, uluru, aboriginal culture, darwin, daintree (and other) rainforests, croc feeding, tasmania, perth, and a platypus. the people are very laid back, down to earth, rugged, and caring. their sense of humor is acute and they can take the piss out of just about any culture. the lingo is great: good on ya mate, no worries, spot on, full on, fair dinkum, cuppa, go on, bisquit, whatya reckon, how ya going mate, mozzies, servo, shout me a beer, eh?, bloke, bludger, digger, cobber, esky (cooler), icy pole, lolly, dodgy, pom (brit), piss (beer), reggo, road train, root (screw), saltie (croc), sheila (babe). they seem to not mind if things move slow, or are uncultured. we met several americans who were on holiday, but now want to move here. as jacob said, "i've adopted australia, now if only australia will adopt me." local joke: whats the difference between an aussie bloke and a cup of yogurt? the yogurt has more culture.