Occulomency

Mornington Crescent

I hear that a reader is travelling to Mornington Island. Been there, done that, no T-shirt though. For those who don't know, it's located in the Gulf of Carpentaria off the north coast of Queensland. Mornington is flattish, brownish red and only has about 1000 people living on it.

It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. A little Caribbean in flavour, but with that unique Australian hard edge to it. I loved it, I really did.

I flew in on a chartered flight from Cairns, with some of the BTS guys, and it was my first real experience of remote Australia. When we landed at the airstrip, there was a battered old ute sitting on the apron with an old Aboriginal guy and his dog sitting in the cab. We wandered over and asked him if he was our ride to the hospital, he moved his head, almost imperceptably up and down, once.

It became apparent that neither he or the dog were moving, or were going to help load up the ute with the BTS guy's equipment. So we did that, and then climbed on the back of the ute, because as I said, there was no room for us in the cab.

The ute took off at an incredible speed and took us through the town to the hospital. We were hanging on the back for dear life...

Very funny experiance, never repeated anywhere else I went, I think Mornington is unique, and all the more wonderful for it. I hope you have as much fun as I did, try to get them to take you to the fishing shack up the north end of the island, it is sublime.

Try to avoid Doomadgee though, and if you do, stay at the Burketown pub or the Purple Pub in Normanton. Trust me on this.

Getting ready

Busy old week this one. Today is the only day I've not had to drive somewhere distant (York, York, Milton Keynes).

So I've had bog all time to update this vessel for the outpourings of my tortured brain. Mind you, it's been such a frantic week, I've had fewer outpourings than usual. There you go.

Yesterday, I did get to the cinema to see Iron Man.

My review: Meh.....

Off on holiday tomorrow, and I'm unsure of my connectivity over the next week, so it is possible this will be my last post for a week or so.

Let's hope the weather holds.

From Hell......

I'm sure that one day we will look back on this week and laugh heartily, but right now, it's kind of hard to do that.

We got to Birmingham at 6:30 pm on Sunday, a couple of hours before our flight was due to leave. We were told that the flight was delayed by about an hour and a half,which worried us as that was roughly the amount of time we had to transfer flights in Dubai. The Emirates ground staff assured us that all would be OK and we'd make the connexion (sense of foreboding anyone?)

So after saying our goodbyes to our most wonderful hosts (thanks go to both of our families for such a great holiday!), we got on the plane and sat there for nearly another hour before the sodding thing took off.

Seven and a bit hours later we were in Dubai, and that is where the fun started. We were too late to connect to the Brisbane flight. The lady I was dealing with (Affaff) was rude, uncommunicative and obstructive. She didn't give us options but just fired orders at us (this is after over an hour of queuing trying to get some information as to what was going on.)

She decided to try to get us on a flight to Sydney (connecting onwards to Brisbane) We had to walk pretty much the length of the Airport, which took about ten minutes (we weren't running fast enough for Affaff, who decided that being aggressive would win over our Western hearts, I could have cheerfully stabbed her in the face when she chided me for raising a finger (no, not that one) in an aggressive manner, but years of dealing with Simon have helped my self control whenever I feel violent.

They couldn't get the four of us on the flight, so Affaff told us to meet her at Gate 14 (where we came from). As she left, I realized she had our passports.

We got to Gate 14. No Affaff.

After an hour of being calm, I became, well, not calm, and caused a small scene which enable me to find Affaff, after the duty manager became aware that I was very angry.

She was in an office some distance from Gate 14, sorting out new flights for us. She just didn't tell anybody.

So our flight departed at 2:05am Dubai time (GMT-4). It was three and a half hours after we had landed, and we were, well, a bit jaded.

We had to check into a hotel (complimentary) after going through customs.

That was fine, if a little unsettling.

We got to the Hotel, I found a supermarket, cos we didn't have enough food for the kids, or nappies...

All showered, all needing sleep, all fed. we tried to relax. We got a bit of sleep I suppose but had to wake at midnight to get the bus to the airport. If you've seen the film Bullet, you'll understand the journey to the airport. And the place was incredibly busy at that time of day.

We got on the flight, (Alistair was sick everywhere!) which stopped at Singapore on it's way to....

You guessed wrong.

Melbourne.

Melbourne at 1am the next day.

Our flight to Brisbane was not until 6am.

5 hours in a closed airport.

Nice. But at least we cleared immigration at Melbourne which meant we didn't have to do it in Brisbane. And dealing with Aussies, well it's just so easy.

The kids coped well, as I suppose, did we. But our will to live had been sapped.

We met with fellow Emirates refugees who were lovely, we had coffee and shared our horror stories. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the kids. We just felt so sorry for them.

So we got home, finally, after about 60 hours of traveling all up, which was way too long. Now we are all jet lagged to buggery. We are working in shifts to look after the kids as there always seems to be one of them awake.

It must get better soon. But I'm glad to be back home after such an ordeal. The good thing is that the holiday was so nice, and spending Christmas with family again so much fun that it totally overshadows the problems with Emirates. And the problem wasn't the flights, it was the ground staff at Dubai.

I doubt that we will ever fly through there again.

Last train to Clarkesville....

Afternoon, it's about 3ish on Sunday afternoon as I write this. In two and a half hours we set off for Brisbane. Some 31 hours after that we actually arrive back at Chapel Hill. What what! (Sorry, watched the Madness of King George last night, and he's pretty sane compared to my current mental state right now.)

Properly Cold

Just been out for a nice pint of Marstons and some fish and chips at this very pleasent little pub in Lowdham.

It's been a very nice Christmas all round this year, with a distinctly Doctor Who theme running throughout.

Dreamworld

Today was a theme park day. Went down to the Gold Coast and spent the day at Dreamworld.

Top day. The most frightening ride is still the Giant Drop, which shares a 118 metre tower with the Tower of Terror. The Drop is the tallest free fall ride in the world, and is the equivelent of dropping 30 storeys.

A good ride, Actually, the Claw (a Gyro-swing ride) is pretty good too.

So what else?

Storage! Looking at my post concerning funky computers I had owned or used, brought my attention to storage media I have used and loved, and actually how useful in todays terms the storage is.

Todays media is:

The 5.25 inch Floppy

The old RML 380z had a pair of 360kb 5.25 inch floppy disk drives, we used to notch them to double their data storage capacity as the disks were double sided, but the drives were not.

My disk box was (and still is) highly decorated with pictures of Duran Duran. Thank you to Duncan for keeping it safe for all those years. It's a piece of history.

I continued to use these 5.25 inch floppys up until the end of my A-levels in 1987 in various BBC micros.

So how useful are they in todays terms? Well, they are shite.

Nearly 1000 of these disks would be required to hold a single episode of Doctor Who. A staggering 175000 would be needed to hold the contents of my iPod. This would form a stack taller than the Tower of Terror.

Blimey!

Avada Kedavra

We went to a medical education session up at the Noosa Sheraton this weekend. I had to look after Ali G whilst the Prof learned about ulcerative colitis.During the day Ali & I plodded around Noosa, played hide & seek in the hotel room, and generally had a bloody nice time.

We met in the River View bar after the days lectures had finished, the Prof had her first experience of Bombay Mix, and I had a very dry Martini (staight up, with a twist).

We got Alistair in bed on time. The Prof and I had a glass of Bollinger (I had bought a half bottle earlier at the bottle shop).

The Prof went down to have dinner with the other delegates.

I ordered room service.

I ordered well:

1 glass of Bollinger.

Half a dozen natural oysters, with a side of a crab aoli and buttered brown bread.

1 glass of Wirra Wirra Church Block 2004.

3 Pork and Tarragon sausages with a pumpkin and potato mash with pan sweated peas and an onion jus.

Vanilla bean creme brulee with caramelised grapes and fresh stawberries.

It was lovely. I'm not permitted to say how lovely, but the Prof tells me that her meal was decidedly ordinary, and it sounds like I had a much better time.

Cameron, iTunes is the most effective way of separating one from one's money yet invented by humanity. I admire Steve Jobs for his ability to create a device, software package and music store that are streets ahead of the competition. The iPod video is the most incredible device I own, and I own a few devices!

I note, on a different subject, that Google have announced that New Zealand is the world leader in search requests for "sheep" and number two in the world for requests for "girlfriend", I am sure these facts are not connected.

I've been to Thargomidah (but I've never been to me)

Right so, first off, I'd like to express my happiness at being back.

Sunday May 7th
Brisbane - Roma 482km

Uneventful drive to a nice little motel in Roma, Aussie Pizza (The Bonza Bite) for tea, no Big Brother eviction show or F1 due to the TV channel being Imparja which is an amalgamation of Nine and Ten, especially formulated to miss out any bits I might want to watch. Happy? You bet!

Monday May 8th
Roma - Injune - Roma 192km (674km so far)

Went to Roma Hospital, and then on to Injune. Lots of working and not much else. I've been up here about 4 years ago, in fact the Injune Motel was the scene of one of my less sensible moments, as I recalled when I drove past the dump, which has had the bare-faced cheek and affrontery to be done up.

It must have been about the first audit trip I organised, I decided that Roma - Injune looked a long way on the map (it isn't) and so I decided to stay the night at the Injune Motel. I asked advice from Simon and Stephen, and they said it was a fine idea. Bastards.

Injune has no food. I had to drive back into bloody Roma to buy a pizza! Dammit! Lesson learned, never ever trust anyone who wears a cable knit cardie.

This time, I was staying in Roma, so all was well. Got a chinese take away from the Ruby in Roma. Special fried rice in fact. Yummy!

Tuesday May 9th
Roma - Mitchell - Surat - St George 384km (1058km so far)

Quite a long day, went to Mitchell along the Warrego Highway, then doubled back on myself back through Roma and down to Surat and finally on to an overnighter at St George. Ate at the motel, can't remember what though, think my mind may be blotting out the horror.

I'm not that keen on this area, it's cotton growing country, dead flat and just a bit non-descript and dull.

Wednesday May 10th
St George - Mungindi - Dirrenbandi - St George 339km (1397km)

Mungindi is in New South Wales. The hospital is in Queensland however as it is on the other side of the river from the town.

Dirrenbandi, small, remote, great dirt roads. It isn't really anywhere, it's somewhere else instead... Hang on, thats A A Milne...

Had dinner with the relieving radiographer in St George. Cheap and functional steak and veggies, generally not a bad night.

 

Thursday May 11th
St George - Cunnamulla 315km (1712km)

Westward Ho! The countryside changes over this 3.5 hour drive dead west, starts getting red and scrubby. Cunnamulla was a surprise. I'd watched the documentory on the town a few years ago and, from that source of information I thought the town would be the absolute pits of hell. It isn't. It's a pretty nice place. Rural and remote sure, but it's an OK place. Stayed at the posh Motel, and apart from the cold (it was about 3C in the morning) it was a nice stay.

 

Ate at the Billabong Hotel. It was well above average pub food, steak and veggies, but nicely done. I was aware at this stage that I was making sure I was home in time to watch Deal or No Deal, the lonelyness was starting to get to me.

 

Friday May 12th

Cunnamulla - Charleville 224km (1936km)

I know I've been away from home too long now. The drive up to Charleville follows the railway and is pretty spectacular. Fantastic red soils and a very nice viaduct about 30km south of Charleville.

Charleville is a pleasent little town. Ate at the motel, and the food was really good. Had barramundi, chips and veggies. Very nice. Deal or No Deal was good too.

Saturday May 13th
Charleville - Augathella - Morven - Charleville 370km (2306km)

The day was as boring as batshit.

The night, after a nice steak from the motel, I went to the Cosmos Centre, outback astonomy. I wasn't expecting much. It was fantastic, 3 Mead 12" SGT's, and really terrible viewing conditions, there was a full moon you could easily read a book by. We looked at Alpha Centuri (and was able to see that it is indeed a multiple system), The "jewel box" cluster, which was incredible, some galaxy or other, I forget which, Jupiter, you could see stripes! Finally Saturn, and could clearly see the ring systems. It was really very, very impressive. Reminds me of something my father told me, look at the stars, the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us.... no, sorry, that was the Lion King. Got confused there.

So I want a telescope and I don't have time to grind a mirror, so I shall have to wait a long, long time.

Sunday May 14th
Around Charleville.

Went to see the Stiger Vortex Rainmaking Canons, which were used in 1902 to try to break the drought, they didn't work.

Then went round the Historical House, which was very interesting. I returned to the motel in the mid-afternoon and played Project Gotham 3 until my eyes fell out. Don't worry Cam, I won't mention that the church of xbox has found another convert, just make sure you sign up to Live, it makes the game, it really does.

Monday May 15th
Charleville - Quilpie - Thargomindah 405km (2711km)

Roos, Emus and red dirt roads. Quiplie is forgettable,the drive to Thargomindah isn't. The sight of  dozens of roos bouncing into town in the late afternoon is not one I'll forget. Sitting on the hospital verandah with the director of nursing (well she's the only nurse, cleaner, cook, ambulance driver, radiographer.... you get the picture), watching a proper outback sunset, makes me feel a very long way from West Bridgford.

Had tea in the motel. Jason, the bloke who owns the motel, is a seriously good cook. He is however glacially slow. I sat down at 6pm (after Deal or No Deal) and finally got to order at 6:45. One of the other patrons (yes it was quite busy with locals) took my order and said to help myself from the bar and keep my own tab. So I did. He had Kilkenny draught cans in the fridge, so I had a few of them whilst I waited and chatted with the owners of the service station. When the food arrived at 8:10 (not kidding) it was bloody nice. I had progressed to a claret that would make Pommeroys plonk taste like Chateux Laffite. I had a rack of lamb that was just beautifully cooked in a red wine reduction. I can't believe that the best meal I had over the whole trip was in Thargomindah!

Tuesday May 16th
Thargomindah - Cunnamulla 202km (2913km)

Leasurly drive, went to the hospital in Cunnamulla and took a heap of x-rays. Found out I actually quite miss taking pictures of people. Strange.

Ate at the Billabong again after Deal or No Deal had finsihed. Met with a pair of Grey Nomads from Brizzie who were pleasent company for the evening.

Looking forward to getting home at this point.

Wednesday May 17th
Cunnamulla - Roma 527km (3115km)

Happy 3 years!

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, then found there was no power in Cunnamulla, so no brekky, no coffee, no sympathy from Beevers.

Also no fuel. Looked at the trip computer in my 3.8 litre V6 wagon, it said 300km until empty, Charleville is 200km away so I thought "No worries" and commenced the drive. After 45kms computer said "100km until empty" and I turned back. Filled up and started again. Got to Roma, and met with person I had missed the week before. Long day.

Deal or No Deal was great!

Ate from the Chinese again, same thing, still nice. Finished the plonk,
slept.

Thursday May 18th
Roma -Brisbane 472km (3587km or 2224 miles)

Only one event worth mentioning on the drive. I was just leaving Toowoomba (about 120km west of Brisbane) on the dual highway when I saw a car heading straight for me coming the wrong way. Scary.

Got home at about 3pm. So pleased to see beloved and Ali G again. 12 days is too long, and I've been away too much recently.

It's been an interesting trip, very useful work-wise, but it's great to be home.

I've put a photo album up of all the shots I took during the Trip, it's accessable through the sidebar.

Busy

This morning I drive up to Gympie, then on to Hervey Bay for the night. I'll then go up to Childers tomorrow and then drive back down to Brisbane to see Paula's cousins in concert.