Wednesday, March 14, 2007
14 DAYS
I have been quite enjoying the self imposed internet abstinence, but it had to come to an end eventually I guess.
I have finally got the wireless 'thingy' repaired and am fully connected, well as soon as I can get my computer to talk to the bloody router!!! ( here's where my two computer savvy housemates enter into the picture ;)
A lot can happen in two weeks.
The Sydney Road Festival was on ( photos to come later ), Cam finally left for the land of grey ( U.K. ) last Sunday, I went down to Cape Otway over the weekend and Al had a collision with a 4x4 ute on Saturday.
He's currently in a medically induced coma at the Alfred hospital intensive care unit.
Before taking off in a big iron bird, Cam had entrusted his Christine to my care.
Christine, for those not familiar with her, is a big 70's XB Ford Falcon, cream / beige in colour, with a penchant for cruising the highways and byways of this fair state.
All it asks for is a little oil and water every now and again, and a shitload of petrol to fuel its automatic 4.1 litre 6 cylinder drivetrain.
In the tradition of all that is 70's, it has two brown vinyl upholstered bench seats, so it can happily accommodate 6 fully grown adults in style and comfort.
The two spare tyres are both flat ( who needs a spare?! ), the oil cap and fuel caps had absconded long ago, there are more holes in the exhaust system than Johnny Howard's argument for using 'clean coal technology', the rust is actually holding a couple of the doors and the driver's floorpan together, one of the hubcaps falls off occasionally so you're always on the listen for the telltale ring bang ding, the fuel gauge only goes half way regardless of how much fuel is in the tank, the headlights would be well augmented by holding a zippo lighter out of the window, the outer door handles break in typical Falcon fashion and there is more oil on the outside of the engine than in it.
Having said all that, the damned thing just keeps truckin' and has been on many an outing far and wide, as well as possessing an amazing ability to preserve one's licence.
One can not speed in that automobile.
Not because it's not capable of breaking the speed limit, but more that one just can't be arsed rushing in a cruiser like that.
Driving this car requires some easy listening / reggae / funk on the radio and a hat.
A can of beer or joint help too.
Finding myself with the prospect of a long weekend and vehicle at my disposal, I decided to throw caution to the wind and head down to Blanket Bay at Cape Otway.
I hadn't been there since about a year and a half ago and felt about overdue for an escape form the urban sprawl that is Melbourne.
Having traversed about half the distance I got a phone call form Kerry.
That's when I received the really shitty news about Al's high speed meeting with the 4x4 that morning.
Apparently he'd come a cropper close to where I had my collision with the semi nearly 12 months ago.
I was looking forward to having him over at the bbq this Saturday.
It's meant to be a thank you bbq for all those who have helped and supported me during my recovery, I'm guessing it'll be a bit of a hollow celebration.
As always, I had pulled off the road to answer the call, and stayed there for a while after hanging up.
I eventually decided that it was best I keep moving and try not to dwell on it too much.
Easier said than done.
I eventually made it to Blanket Bay and reacquainted myself with the beautiful beach and rocks, which meet the southern ocean.
Being a long weekend, there were more people than you could poke a stick at and all the camping sites were well occupied.
I was fortunate enough to find a secluded solitary spot just out of Blanket Bay.
I didn't take a tent as I was pretty positive it wasn't going to rain and instead slept on an air bed next to the car ( in case any branches were to fall down during the night ).
It was absolutely awesome to be sleeping in the middle of the bush, under the starry southern sky, with nothing but the grunting koalas to keep me company all night.
The next morning I was hoping for some sunrise light in order to take some photos of the amazing rocky coastline.
All I got was overcast greyness.
None the less I spent some time in the cave ( a cave facing the sea where my mates and I spent a lot of time 18 months ago just hanging out drinking beer, and contemplating life, universe and everything, whilst listening to the droning bassy hum the wind was creating as it blew itself into and out of the cave ), watching a lone cray fishing boat go about it's business of pulling up pots.
Whilst waiting for the sun to tear apart the clouds I built a rock sculpture ( as I'd done previously ), although this time I was limited as to the size of the rocks I could use due to having one arm preoccupied with wielding the crutch.
Eventually I realised that the sun was not coming out and decided to go exploring over the rocky shore.
Even on one crutch I got further than any other time I'd been there and ended up taking some photos for the hell of it anyway.
I stupidly chose to drive back along the Great Ocean Road.
It meant being stuck behind people doing 40km/h and rubber necking at the scenery or behind great big lumps of 4x4's loafing about and generally getting in the way.
I saw one 3 car pile up in a seaside town and it was completely beyond me how they managed that doing the 40/50km per hour with cars and pedestrians everywhere.
Having had very little luck finding decent fish and chips of late I decided to stop off at a rather unassuming take away shop in Anglesea and give their fare a try.
After about 10 minutes I took my paper wrapped packet of salty and oily goodness down to Bells Beach and proceeded to tuck in, with a semi warm can of VB to wash it down with.
The fish was not oil soaked, but had just the right consistency with batter that was just brown enough.
Both had the kind of structural integrity that would be the envy of many an engineering feat and the size of the shark fillet wasn't too bad either.
Where the whole thing fell down as a package was the in the chips department.
They were just too damn soggy and had the consistency of a freshly soaked sponge.
Still, it was a vast improvement over the past samples and a disappointment that it was only available over 100km out of Melbourne!
As I'd gotten closer to Melbourne I spotted a gaggle of about 10 harley davidsons ahead.
Not long after that I came across a blockage in the road and no prizes for guessing as to what the cause was.
There in the middle of the road were two of the things, broken down.
And with typical harley arrogance, instead of pushing their useless boat moorings out of the way, they just left the paint shakers where they'd shat themselves to block up 1 out of 3 lanes.
Bloody typical.....
Monday, I spent some time at Moomba with mum, walking around and checking out all the sights and sounds, watching water skiing, laughing at the punters on the rides, etc.
Quite an enjoyable afternoon although, I was pretty knackered after all that and ended up having a quiet one in that night.
Overall, a great weekend, although I've been paying for it ever since.
Today is Wednesday and I'm still sore as!!!!
Hopefully will come right by the weekend.
Here's hoping that Al will come out of it as soon and best as possible.
.
I have finally got the wireless 'thingy' repaired and am fully connected, well as soon as I can get my computer to talk to the bloody router!!! ( here's where my two computer savvy housemates enter into the picture ;)
A lot can happen in two weeks.
The Sydney Road Festival was on ( photos to come later ), Cam finally left for the land of grey ( U.K. ) last Sunday, I went down to Cape Otway over the weekend and Al had a collision with a 4x4 ute on Saturday.
He's currently in a medically induced coma at the Alfred hospital intensive care unit.
Before taking off in a big iron bird, Cam had entrusted his Christine to my care.
Christine, for those not familiar with her, is a big 70's XB Ford Falcon, cream / beige in colour, with a penchant for cruising the highways and byways of this fair state.
All it asks for is a little oil and water every now and again, and a shitload of petrol to fuel its automatic 4.1 litre 6 cylinder drivetrain.
In the tradition of all that is 70's, it has two brown vinyl upholstered bench seats, so it can happily accommodate 6 fully grown adults in style and comfort.
The two spare tyres are both flat ( who needs a spare?! ), the oil cap and fuel caps had absconded long ago, there are more holes in the exhaust system than Johnny Howard's argument for using 'clean coal technology', the rust is actually holding a couple of the doors and the driver's floorpan together, one of the hubcaps falls off occasionally so you're always on the listen for the telltale ring bang ding, the fuel gauge only goes half way regardless of how much fuel is in the tank, the headlights would be well augmented by holding a zippo lighter out of the window, the outer door handles break in typical Falcon fashion and there is more oil on the outside of the engine than in it.
Having said all that, the damned thing just keeps truckin' and has been on many an outing far and wide, as well as possessing an amazing ability to preserve one's licence.
One can not speed in that automobile.
Not because it's not capable of breaking the speed limit, but more that one just can't be arsed rushing in a cruiser like that.
Driving this car requires some easy listening / reggae / funk on the radio and a hat.
A can of beer or joint help too.
Finding myself with the prospect of a long weekend and vehicle at my disposal, I decided to throw caution to the wind and head down to Blanket Bay at Cape Otway.
I hadn't been there since about a year and a half ago and felt about overdue for an escape form the urban sprawl that is Melbourne.
Having traversed about half the distance I got a phone call form Kerry.
That's when I received the really shitty news about Al's high speed meeting with the 4x4 that morning.
Apparently he'd come a cropper close to where I had my collision with the semi nearly 12 months ago.
I was looking forward to having him over at the bbq this Saturday.
It's meant to be a thank you bbq for all those who have helped and supported me during my recovery, I'm guessing it'll be a bit of a hollow celebration.
As always, I had pulled off the road to answer the call, and stayed there for a while after hanging up.
I eventually decided that it was best I keep moving and try not to dwell on it too much.
Easier said than done.
I eventually made it to Blanket Bay and reacquainted myself with the beautiful beach and rocks, which meet the southern ocean.
Being a long weekend, there were more people than you could poke a stick at and all the camping sites were well occupied.
I was fortunate enough to find a secluded solitary spot just out of Blanket Bay.
I didn't take a tent as I was pretty positive it wasn't going to rain and instead slept on an air bed next to the car ( in case any branches were to fall down during the night ).
It was absolutely awesome to be sleeping in the middle of the bush, under the starry southern sky, with nothing but the grunting koalas to keep me company all night.
The next morning I was hoping for some sunrise light in order to take some photos of the amazing rocky coastline.
All I got was overcast greyness.
None the less I spent some time in the cave ( a cave facing the sea where my mates and I spent a lot of time 18 months ago just hanging out drinking beer, and contemplating life, universe and everything, whilst listening to the droning bassy hum the wind was creating as it blew itself into and out of the cave ), watching a lone cray fishing boat go about it's business of pulling up pots.
Whilst waiting for the sun to tear apart the clouds I built a rock sculpture ( as I'd done previously ), although this time I was limited as to the size of the rocks I could use due to having one arm preoccupied with wielding the crutch.
Eventually I realised that the sun was not coming out and decided to go exploring over the rocky shore.
Even on one crutch I got further than any other time I'd been there and ended up taking some photos for the hell of it anyway.
I stupidly chose to drive back along the Great Ocean Road.
It meant being stuck behind people doing 40km/h and rubber necking at the scenery or behind great big lumps of 4x4's loafing about and generally getting in the way.
I saw one 3 car pile up in a seaside town and it was completely beyond me how they managed that doing the 40/50km per hour with cars and pedestrians everywhere.
Having had very little luck finding decent fish and chips of late I decided to stop off at a rather unassuming take away shop in Anglesea and give their fare a try.
After about 10 minutes I took my paper wrapped packet of salty and oily goodness down to Bells Beach and proceeded to tuck in, with a semi warm can of VB to wash it down with.
The fish was not oil soaked, but had just the right consistency with batter that was just brown enough.
Both had the kind of structural integrity that would be the envy of many an engineering feat and the size of the shark fillet wasn't too bad either.
Where the whole thing fell down as a package was the in the chips department.
They were just too damn soggy and had the consistency of a freshly soaked sponge.
Still, it was a vast improvement over the past samples and a disappointment that it was only available over 100km out of Melbourne!
As I'd gotten closer to Melbourne I spotted a gaggle of about 10 harley davidsons ahead.
Not long after that I came across a blockage in the road and no prizes for guessing as to what the cause was.
There in the middle of the road were two of the things, broken down.
And with typical harley arrogance, instead of pushing their useless boat moorings out of the way, they just left the paint shakers where they'd shat themselves to block up 1 out of 3 lanes.
Bloody typical.....
Monday, I spent some time at Moomba with mum, walking around and checking out all the sights and sounds, watching water skiing, laughing at the punters on the rides, etc.
Quite an enjoyable afternoon although, I was pretty knackered after all that and ended up having a quiet one in that night.
Overall, a great weekend, although I've been paying for it ever since.
Today is Wednesday and I'm still sore as!!!!
Hopefully will come right by the weekend.
Here's hoping that Al will come out of it as soon and best as possible.
.
