Today has been one of those days, nothing amazingly unusual has happened* but everything has been decidedly unusual. That sounds cryptic I realise, so I’ll explain; today was the King Island show, where people set up stalls selling cakes, jewellery and face painting, there are some showgirl/boy competitions and people come and get their cows judged. The college was running the face painting. The weather was very windy and threatening to rain. None of this, as I have said, is even vaguely remarkable. However 30 minutes ago the cloud suddenly left, just as the sun was setting. Now just after we had arrived back the rain had started, and the ground and air was still heavy with the moisture. This brought on one of those weird environments where everything is bright orange, smells funny and is deadly quiet. Weird really is the central concept I’m thinking of here. I thought the unusual light may make for some good photos so I borrowed Brian’s shoes (mine were left in the porch, but got drenched by unexpectedly horizontal rain) and headed to the lookout, a place at the top of the mine cliffs that offers a brilliant shot of Grassy harbour and the southern end of King Island. Coming the other way as i headed through Grassy was a van that had broken down, and, having no rope available, his mate was simply pushing him with the front end of his own Ute (pick-up truck) causing no small amount of damage to both cars. It was at this point and realised how surreal everything was, the environment was, in a word, weird. I was watching one man repeatedly and intentionally rear end his friend up a hill surrounded by wallabies that, for some reason become very bold after rain. Then I realised I had my face painted to look like a pink bunny rabbit, wearing a cowboy hat, and wearing shoes too big for me. The point I’m trying to get across is that, as a result of no unusual occurrence, I was in a situation where the surrealism of my surroundings was outstanding, and i reckon that is why I haven’t been blogging.
I have done interesting and cool things in Australia, take, for example, the Jetty jump. This is where all the kids put on wetsuits, head down to the harbour and leap into the same body of water as a large stingray which they can’t see. All of the people that read this blog know what salt water feels like; they know what a jetty is and would easily recognise a 15 year old if they saw one. They could even recognise a stingray, but can’t see one, much as we couldn’t. Though this was enjoyable, I will remember it, and when people in future ask me about what i did in Australia, I’ll be able to mention the Jetty jump. What is harder to explain, and I won’t remember is the atmosphere that pervaded the air and the stirring surrealism that shocked me into action in that one moment when I was wearing unnecessarily large shoes, painted as a rabbit with leprosy watching one Ozzy rear end his mate up a hill, and the point at which we both shared glances which said quite clearly ‘what the fuck are you doing?’
If you would like a timetable of what i have done in Australia, i can photocopy the one I’ve been given by my boss, but if you wish to read of my experiences, be prepared for some more decidedly strange thoughts and antics.
* as a pose to yesterday, when 200 whales beached 20km away from me, and I was unable to do anything to help as I had been forgotten in the rush generated by moving 50 children plus staff down to said beach to rescue said whales.
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