Friday. [OE.

frígedaeg ‘day
of (the goddess)Fríg’; a Com.
WGer. transl. of the late L. dies
Veneris, day of (the planet)
Venus. The OE. name Fríg
corresponds to ON. Frigg, name
of the wife of Odin (not to
Freyja), and is the fem. of the
O.teut. adj. *frijo- ‘beloved,
loving’ ; see FREE.] 1. The sixth
day of the week. 2. A reception or
entertainment given on that day
1836. 3. attrib. as F. morning.
1592. ¶ 1. Black F.: applied to various
historic dates of disastrous events which
took place on Friday, as May 11, 1866,
when a panic ensued on the failure of
Overend, Gurney & Co.; etc. Good F.:
the Friday before Easter Day, observed
in commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion.)

a …z
 (3/7/10. reader, the Scribd site gives an vu ovmy 
but changg th 7 DAYS
(nproos) by omitting many freq ly uud symbols, by uung dfault fonts, & by reconfiguring the pagg -
so 4 reading (& lodd) the original 4m@ov Friday here: http://db.tt/CYsXvM)

(2nd edition)

19/2/99 (The Hat (alt. title: jehovah) (no 27). (Monday 3/12/01 (no 67))). Left
Saltwater at 7.30. Stopped before Genoa to dig out 27 Formosa lilies. Drove non stop. Planted
the lilies. Had rung Helen from Genoa to arrange to go to Brunswick st. Its 7.30 pm & Ive been
flatstick for the duration. Before leaving, when H is out of the bedroom, I am going to spread
luminous mushrooms about for when we get back. I picked them in the morning at Saltwater.
Am restricting myself to 4 drinks tonight: 3 sangrias & one drambuie. Its my new limit. I dont
want to go through the experience I had last year where after 5 drinks I had a torrid session of
sex & had to be told about it the next day. I realized, after Ben pointed out that the name Lee
Kernaghan on the hat I found is of a country & western singer, that it must belong to one of the
witnesses. Warren Willman I reckon as its almost too big for me & he looked as if he had a big
head. He was the short fat one.
21/5/99 (Port Germein (no 58)). Forcast was for rain on the weekend so I drove
500ks and am back in Port Germein. Stopped for a shower in the BP service station in Port Augusta
(10/10/09. & wr n nth@ rekshn darf 2moro). I had not had a wash, brush of teeth or change of
any clothing item since I was last here. Felt good too till today. The knowledge that I probably smelt
did the trick. Took the final shots of the graffiti tanks I had fotographed on 12/5/99. That finishes it for
the project: 7½ reels of film, one poem (10/10/09:

The Gift

searching for a shadow in a deep forest

its already twilight …. and there are only shadows

I stumble, I look for signs

a quivering in the air, a mistyness, a pulse
a quickening in the heart

I see a pale, pale lady bearing gifts

(excuse the gothic)
she looks familiar as from a previous life, or love
or poem

“these are for you, why are you here

have you been searching long?”

“I cannot tell …. awhile or since, hereafter or before,

it seems a little like forever in the air
I think that I am searching for a shade or shadow
(shadows inside shadows in this darkening forest)
and soon it will be night and I must hurry
if I am to find her”

“you are mistaken

it is always night here
and there is no one in this forest except you and I,

2
 you must be hungry, take these”

), 6 ‘meditiations’ (10/10/09.  Og no 5). Will go to the pub later, ring Helen; am anxious to find
out how Dan has gone in the new job. Time now to rewrite one of the ‘meds’.
12/5/00 (DANYO RESERVE (no 53)). (25/1/05. I ddnt put in jrnl ntriez on frdy 12th –
thrzdy 19th but th poem ‘The Room’ (2gthr wth 3 uthr poems: ‘The House’, ‘The City’, & ‘Masks’, woz
put out ndr th konfuzin titl ‘14/8/41’ (l8r I put out a set of trip notes wth th same titl.)) woz kmpletd @
th rzerv on my way 2 meet sVaAuRlNiAuSs. Here it iz:

The Room

at the root of every secret is violence

the trunk is supported by fear
the branches are lies
the leaves are tears
*
brave men dont have secrets
*
the most dangerous secret is the one everyone knows
because by not disclosing it everyone becomes complicit
*
the silence of conspirators
a hidden depth in the glance
a veiled thought
a wary step
a shrillness in the voice
*
in time a secret shared by all becomes
- a code, a belief, a legacy, a culture
*
what in the beginning was worn as a cloak, after it is embroidered,
becomes a frock coat or a dinner jacket
*
if everyone in a room shares a secret together they are conspirators
*
everyone in a room can have the same secret wthout knowing that his neighbour also has it
*
they may be too frightened to ask
they may be too ashamed to ask
*
you get better at keeping secrets with practice – from yourself too
*
secrets are known differently
*
if everyone except one has the secret they all must keep silent in case one finds out and
informs on them even if they only imagine him for they may not know if he really exists, for if
he does they have no way of knowing that he does, nor does he have any way of knowing that
they have a secret
*
you can choke on a secret

a … z art @O (11/10/09.  uu2 nsert a

‘c’ 2 th O 2 nd t © KOnvkshnn 4 KOpn th
owtt))

3
 11/8/00 (14/8/41 (no 8)). (9.15 am). I’m writing in the morning for a change having just
finished breakfast (Kelloggs Komplete Muesli). Last night after eating one of the two small avocadoes I got in
Port Augusta I did get stuck into the stubbies and drank five of the six; thats on top of the two I had on the
highway when I left Port Augusta. I could be getting a habit – the cells which have a trace memory of their
earlier life in the brine yearn to be pickled in alcohol in the next. The result was that for a change I slept heavily
in a sleep that lasted an instant. The penalty was that I woke up in the night needing to go for a crap. An
insomniac bird was calling quite close by; it was a butcher bird and I notice its still about. I had to put me shoes
and head torch on and muck around in the back of the van getting out the spade and the toilet roll which was in
the bottom container. It was cold; it always is on these occasions. As I was doing the job wondering what
caused a bird to have insomnia I heard a magpies fluted warble in the distance and even further away the
cawing of a crow and realized that it was almost dawn; a faint pre-dawn glow was just discernable. So I went
back to bed and didnt get up till 8.30. When I’m at Lake Gairdner I have the habit of watching the sunrise being
alerted to it by the first twittering of small birds near the van but the lake is 50ks westward and Lake Finnis
where I am is not the same. I feel rather well: the sun is warming my back, I can hear the oom oom of a crested
pigeon and the whistling wingbeats of others, there is a faint breeze singing in the needles of the acacia
overhanging the van behind which I am sitting writing on one of the plastic containers I keep my gear in. I am
thinking that when christ turned water into wine he didnt mean for us to draw the kind of lesson from it that is
taught from the pulpits. The butcher bird has just started calling again, and now others are joining in.
Now for the daily Saint, and I note with some excitement that its a modern one for a change. St Bertilla
Boscardin (virgin, 1888-1922) was born into a poor peasant family at Brendola, Italy. She was christened Anne
Frances. Ailing in health, of slight intellectual capacity, lacking in initiative, but with a balanced practical
judgment and firm will, she was sanctified in the unobtrusive discharge of daily duties. She went to the village
school and from an early age had also to work in the house and as a domestic servant nearby. She was dubbed
‘the goose’ and the nickname does not seem to have been playful, so that when she sought to enter the religious
life, the pastor laughed at the idea. Nevertheless, as he said, the girl could at least peel potatoes. At sixteen
Anne was accepted by the Sisters of St Dorothy at Vicenza and was given the name Bertilla. For a year Sister
Bertilla worked in the scullery, the bakery and the laundry and then was sent to learn nursing at the municipal
hospital. The local Prioress used her as a kitchenmaid, and she remained among the pots and pans till 1907,
when she was promoted to help in the children’s ward. From then on, Sister Bertilla was the devoted servant of
the sick; but soon she became sick herself, and for the last twelve years of her life was in constant and severe
pain from an internal malady that surgery failed to cure which eventually killed her. She died on October 20,
1922. Crowds flocked to her first grave at Treviso and later to her tomb at Vicenza. In 1952 Sister Bertilla was
beatified by Pope Pius XII and in 1961 she was canonized by Pope John XXIII, in the presence of members of
her family and patients whom she had nursed.
At the end of each days entry in the ‘Saint Companions’ there is a ‘reflection’ which I havent been
including in these jottings. Usually its a quote from the saint of the day. Todays is: “To God glory! … to my
neighbour happiness … to me hardship” (St Bertilla).
It may be that there is some fundamental flaw in my efforts to quieten the ghosts. My method is
language, it seems that I should be writing. When I write at my best its as if it speaks itself regardless of me; as
if I cease to exist. At those times what I say appears, to me at least, to have a depth of meaning and a particular
kind of transparency. Sometimes the meaning doesnt become apparent to me till many years later, and then
changes again. I was writing poetry on the abstract notion of what language is, a topic you might think is better
suited to lecture theatres in philosophy departments, over 25 years ago. It is my weapon. And yet it may be
necessary for me to accept that language has limits which prevent its successful application in certain tasks;
perhaps even in most of the tasks that count for me. Perhaps language cannot still ghosts. I wonder if it may not
be an impertinence or even an evil to think that words are enough. We have great faith in the power of words
because they have given us science and literature, and history. But they will not save a single one of us from
death. Frank Lovece tells me that there is a writer who talks about us “falling into history”. Is it possible that
the fall into history is the fall into language when Adam ate the forbidden fruit? (incidentally I surmise that the
Tree of Knowledge was not an apple tree as William Blake seems to think, but an orange tree, an almond tree
or a fig.) The achievements of language are our pride but it may be an insult to the dead to believe that their
cries of anguish can be extinguished by pushing a pen around. Perhaps its not talk that the spirits ask of us but
tears, or that we bow our head, or kneel in some quiet place, or that we wail at a wall.
I have just re-read the story of the fall, Genesis ch. 2 verse 8 – ch. 3 verse 24, in the bible that I keep on
the dashboard which was given to me some 30 years ago by Ron Heatherington who gave me a lift when I was
hitching south from Broken Hill. And I also note that St John begins his gospel with the words: “In the

4
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The genesis story confirms my
scepticism about the apple tree since the garden of eden appears to be somewhere at the headwaters of the
Euphrates River (in the middle east not the american one). The paragraph from St John on the other hand can be
interpreted as giving an importance to language that I am trying to question. Time to drink the last stubby and
go for a walk!
I am back. About an hour from home base a dark cloud formed above my head and over Lake Finnis
and there were a couple of rumbles of thunder and some lightning. But no voice spoke from the cloud – only
rain. There was plenty of sky in three directions but the cloud stayed directly over head or followed me. When I
left for the walk I had almost decided not to take the rain shell, a big no-no, but at the last moment I put it in. I
tried to shelter for awhile under a low fantastically twisted trunk of an old acacia, not very successfully. The
logistics in the van are very awkward when my clothes are wet as they drip onto the floor. Its been raining
lightly throughout tea time and is now. For tea I opened the first of my packs of crispbread and corn thins. They
are the secret of my capacity to survive independently for up to two weeks. They are delicious especially with
salami and the double smoked bacon which I also have in good supply. I only keep things which can last as I
dont carry an esky. I am writing this kind of detail as its going to end up part of the story I’m titling “14/8/41”
which will basically consist of a collation of my journal entries for this trip and I want Adriana Cozzolini to
have an idea of how a dinkum aussie behaves. The other survival secret I have is that in remote arid country
like this I dont wash, not at all – not even my teeth, because I want the 10 gallons of water I carry to last for as
long as possible. I put this last bit of info in for the education of any young ladies to whom I might give the
story. Anyway I also had a tin of herring fillets in mango and pepper sause and the second small avocado, all
washed down with a very large enamel cupful of coffee. I boil the water on a metho heater of the kind hikers
use and have a supply of both powdered milk and small cartons of long life milk. For fresh food I carry
tomatoes, onions and oranges. It was an eye-opener to see how quickly Lake Finnis got covered with a layer of
water. Its a good thing I didnt get caught in the middle of it and something to keep in mind for Lake Gairdner
where I’m sometimes several hours walking from the shore. My situation now is that I’m probably stuck here
as the road looks as if it cannot handle much water and there were already a few large puddles I had to drive
around in getting here and that was when Lake Finnis had no water in it. The big cloud that dropped the rain on
me seemed to head out east along the road. At worst I’d have to walk out back to Oakden Hill homestead 27ks
away which is a days walk. Even though no one was about somebody must be coming in to feed the dogs that I
saw in their kennels locked up in an enclosure. The highway is only 13ks further along. I cant afford to walk to
Mahanewo because that could be unattended also and thats in the middle of nowhere. More and more of the
stations these days are occupied only part time with owners preferring to live in places like Port Augusta. I’m
putting all this in for your benefit, Adriana, so you get an idea how an aussie thinks. Dont worry but, that was a
worst case scenario and I’ve just realised its Friday night and I’ll be able to listen to a final of aussie rules footy
on the car radio with more finals to come tomorrow and sunday.
In an article that Luis Borges wrote in 1922 (when he was only 23) he explains how even simple nouns
like moon, cat, fire etc. start out as adjectives or adverbs. I wont repeat his explanation. If you think how very
little children first learn a word it may already be evident to you. Or think of a tiger: if you meet one in the
jungle in india rushing at you from ten yards away its all adjective and adverb; if all that you know of a tiger are
pictures in books or on telly then its definitely a noun. I would not presume to explain anything about how
language works better than Borges has already done, however it may help to illustrate the point by using a word
that describes a scientific concept such as gravity, or specific gravity. Because such a term is more artificial and
learnt at a later age its easier to trace the process. These appear to be nouns but they do not describe anything.
There is no such thing as gravity except to people who dont know the meaning of the word. To anyone who has
to use the words it is apparent that they are not things but labels for bundles of very specific instructions,
adverbs if you like. Just to learn the meaning of specific gravity you have to perform a whole set of tasks: you
have to know what water is and float various objects in it and swim in it; you have to know how to measure
exact amounts of it; you have to be taught to do sums to work out volumes; you have to lie in your bath and feel
how you get heavier as the water drains out; and so on. So many instructions are contained in scientific terms
that you have to go to school to learn them all. Many scientific terms are like that – bundles of instructions for
precisely manipulating our environment. But for someone who hasnt been to school they are just nouns – names
of things. Nouns fix things down. Complex activities become stationary objects, mere things. So it is important
when using a word to make clear should anyone be listening at which stage of its evolution you are employing
it. If I use the words ‘stolen children’ to describe some aborigines I do not include in that term children who
havent been stolen even though their lives were traumatised in other ways. If I use the term ‘survivors’ I do not
include those who left europe before the war even though their lives were traumatised by the loss of relatives
who remained. To do so would be to devalue the experiences of the children who were stolen and the trauma of

5
those who survived concentration camps and ghettos (about 2½ thousand out of an initial 25,000 survived the
Kaunas ghetto.) The reason I prefer to talk about ‘the murder of the jews’ instead of using the word holocaust is
because ‘holocaust’ has become a noun. I suspect that to the man in the street holocaust means: the
entertainment industry, especially movies and Hollywood; newspaper fodder; political leverage; compensation
claims; the jewish lobby. When a reporter questioned Menachim Begin about civilian casualties being caused
by the shelling of palestinian refugee camps in Beirut “how dare you” he raged, “we are the children of the
holocaust.” As if the dead sought the company of corpses.
Its 8.00pm and I’ve just been talking to Mrs Manning of Mahanewo. Earlier a ringer towing his trail
bike on a trailer drove past east after a days mustering. He told me she would soon be coming in the opposite
direction and I asked him to tell her to stop so I could introduce myself. She tells me they have a track to the
edge of the lake but its rough. Apparently there is no tree there for shade. She can sell me some petrol. Its not
raining, the road to Mahanewo is fine, and the footy is on. Wow!
18/8/00. Here is a bit of maths for you, Helen. There are 28 Johns (by far the most of all the
names) in the ‘Saint Companion’ and 1 Helen. That means there is a 12 and a third out of 365 chance of a
saintly John falling on my birthday tomorrow and 2 chances out of 365 of St Helena’s day falling next to it.
Multiply the two sets of odds by each other and the chance of our saintly namesakes being together at this time
is 1 in 2245. And keep in mind that my mums name is also Helen. How significant is that! (19/1/10. “Now,
I’m not an other-worldly sort of person, nor a particularly irrational one. I actually make
a very bad mystic. Indeed, any adept of Jung would pick me immediately, I’m sure, as
locked far too firmly into reasoning and analysis at the expense of the psyche’s more
elemental and free-wheeling possibilities. So why am I sharing thoughts with you which
must seem to you as silly as crystals? Why invite your scorn? Because I’d like to make it
clear for the record that, as I see it now, ‘random’ is an inadequate description of the
course my life has taken – as poor as ‘self-determined’ or ‘genetically determined’. Not
that I want to suggest by that that I think any God in any orthodox religious sense has
had anything at all to do with anything, or that I think some things are ‘meant to be’ (by
whom, exactly?), but by the same token it’s hard for me to reconcile my experience with
the idea that all reality is just the aftermath of a mindless big bang. I feel, in other
words, a great wheeling-about inside since that first night in Cairo. I fee I can see what a
friend of mine, a Russian and a non-believer, means when he says: ‘Why must God be a
noun? It’s a verb!’” – Robert Dessaix  A Mother’s Disgrace). It gives me an excuse to thank
you for the typing and tell you that I  you and that I think youre a . Kate was right when she characterized
you as ‘the good ♀’. Should you be typing this before your birthday on 1 oct. I make the promise now to take
you out to  at Phan Phan in Victoria st., or if its a friday to the Bocadillo Bar, or to buy a scanner for your 
(23/2/10. wv just t a vth suprdoopr wth brli grafkk dsplad nr 27nch skrn – onli pr m
z2 lern how 2uut!), or the b.b.q. in your honour and invite all the kids, or to get a lobster and a Brown Bros.
Spatlese Lexia to wash it down with (or even a De Bortoli Noble One) for the occasion – or to do the whole lot.
The writing of the story is coming to an end and when its finished in a few days I’m anxious to rush back to
Melbourne and fall into your arms. Down here the easterly has not let up for three days and its just begun
raining, got to get out … and I did, right back to Port Augusta. On the way I dropped off the map at the
homestead and left a note saying I was sure to be back some day. The rain set in steadily as I drove out of the
yard. I put on a cassette, from Saulius, of a british group, the Mujician (Keith Tippett on the piano), from an
album called ‘Colours Fulfilled’ and it seemed just right at this time, for this stretch of highway. The last
quarter of the tape was of the David S. Ware quartet finishing off with a great tune called ‘Flight of i’ just as I
drove into town . I had told Helen that I might not be back till early September but I want to coincide the end of
the story ‘14/8/41’ with the end of the trip; so I’m on my way. Its raining lightly. After the daily saint I’ll check
out my message bank, ring Helen at school, buy half a dozen stubbies of Southwark Old Stout and another one
of Southwark Black Ale to take back to Melbourne.
St Helena (Empress c.250 – c.330), the mother of Constantine the Great, is said to have been of humble
Asiatic origin, an innkeeper in Bithynia, when Constantius Chlorus, then only an army officer, married her.
Twenty years later, however, upon becoming Emperor of the West, he divorced her for political reasons; but
Constantine, their only son, remained faithful and devoted to his mother and, once he ascended the throne, had
imperial honours paid to her. After his victory over Maxentius in 313, Helena too embraced Christianity. After
causing the erection of numerous churches in Europe, she undertook, at the age of 75, an expiatory journey to
the Holy Land, and there erected a church near the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem and another on the
Mount of Ascension near Jerusalem. In Rome she turned her palace into the Church of Santa Croce in

6
Gerusalemme, where to this day are enshrined a fragment of the True Cross and Pilate’s inscription. St Helena
is considered the Patron Saint of dyers and of needle and nail makers. Reflection: “Freely you have received,
freely give. (Matt. 10, 8).”
I am in a reserve half way between Port Augusta and Port Germein. Its beautiful in a bleak way. I’m
into the third stubby which will see me out for the day. Its a mangrove area and there are mozzies in the car
already. Its stopped raining. There were no messages in the message bank. Rang Helen who says Vi has had
another blood transfusion and a gastroscopy which has not discovered an ulcer. That means she has cancer.
Tonight Helen is taking Kate out to Brunswick st for her birthday. Kate’s on-again-off-again partnership with
Jock is on for the moment. I’m thinking about the reflection for last Wednesday (16/8/00) St Joachim’s day
(‘Yahweh prepares’) which says: “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt not sin. (Ecc. 7, 40)”.
What does it mean? I can’t get my head around it. Yes, most of us feel as if we are going to live forever, but if
we didnt would we behave any differently? Is it better to be foolishly optimistic or sensibly realistic? Everyone
of us is going to die and even the species will certainly disappear as the geological evidence proves, but doesnt
it make better sense to behave as if we will go on forever? Otherwise how can we justify watching a really
boring game of cricket? (though it may be that people who watch cricket on t.v. lead lives that are even more
boring than the cricket, or golf, or tennis etc. I make an exception here for footy. Collingwood playing a
winning game against any team but especially Carlton or Essendon is worth taking time out for). The
existentialists (Satre, Kierkegaard etc.) would agree with Eccl. 7, 40 but for different reasons. Helen and me
met a guy and his wife on the Yorke Peninsula who had a heart condition that was liable to knock him over at
any minute so they bought a bus to drive about to different coastal and bush spots to live in communion with
nature. But he was so enthusiastic that he sounded as if he was talking it all up and didnt really believe what he
was doing. Hmmm … I think I should go for a stroll on this strange, silent beach on the Spencer Gulf with
seagrass piled up on the shore and saltbush and mangrove.
8/9/00 (7/9/00 – 16/9/00 (no 10)). Bought J.M. Coetzee’s ‘Disgrace’, Jean Rhys’ ‘Wide
Sargasso Sea’ and Joseph Roth’s ‘Right & Left’- at Borders. Rode on into town to eat at Nam Lung’s (Hong
Kong is shut for renovations). Back to Ivanhoe where I had to buy a new back tyre for the bike. Todays
‘Australian’ has a picture of Dan in it. He says Kate came to the 8p.m. session of the fashion show (Spring
Carnival) to watch him walk the cat walk. He’s gone off to see Ben whom no one can contact since he’s had the
phone disconnected. Vi has decided to have the operation which will take place in the next couple of weeks
which means for the first time in a long while Helen and me wont be going away during the third term holiday
(which this year has been made to coincide with the Olympic games). Its off to the Bocadillo tonight as per
usual and I’m taking the 3 ‘date’ stories to give to the women singing in the spot the ‘bad joke’ guy used to
have.
15/9/00. Wrote a letter to Adriana. She said she found the empty chair in the photo arrangement
on the back of the story “14/8/41” (she has the picture as a letter) disturbing. I told her that since writing the
story and seeing as she has made the comment I also find it so – or at least intriguing. I realize now that the
impact of the picture is to pose the question whether there is a mantle to be accepted or taken up. It is a question
I’ve been forced to ask myself. So when I went into town to meet Barry Mate for lunch I first dropped into the
library to see whether Brian Maclure had found out what month Adar is. He referred me to the relevant section
of the encyclopaedia judaica on the Purim festival. I was relieved to find that its not august or anywhere near it!
I gave Brian one of the 3 large copper medallions I had from the 1987/88 world lithuanian youth congress. I
think this kind of thing is rubbish but the medallion is an interesting collection of symbols – the vytis, map of
Australia, globe, kangaroo over the globe. On the side opposite the kangaroo it says “the destiny of the tribe is
our responsibility” - and its not referring to the aborigines. Brian is into such things. Ah yes, Adriana asked
whether I would like my name and address in the lists of artists who participate in her Bajardo “Mountains”
exhibition in 2002 but I didnt as the only way I want to be represented is with the logo – a…z @ O – which she
is welcome to use. In the letter I was answering she had sent a portrait of Rubens and his second wife Helena,
no doubt influenced by Helen’s poems at start & finish of the story “20/6/00”. When I wrote in yesterdays entry
that every member of the crew of ‘Corpus Christi’ is insane I am using the word in the sense I used it when
writing about the shooting of children. Anyone who allows himself to serve on a ship called the ‘body of christ’
knowing that its armaments are capable of destroying the world is so far removed from the symbolisms that
have determined mans behaviour for thousands of years that his humanity is no longer recognizable. This is
especially true of christians and jews for whom one of the ten commandments bluntly orders – Thou Shalt Not
Kill. To put yourself in a position where you can kill everyone is an abomination. The capacity of the christian
churches over the centuries to accommodate themselves to societies that insert exceptions to the commandment
(which cannot be more clearly stated and is not broken by the example of anyone in the new testaments and was

7
interpreted everywhere by early Christians even more stringently to mean turn the other cheek) has invalidated
its legitimacy as a church (since the crusades (21/1/10. “Combat rifle sights used by US forces in
Iraq and Afghanistan that carry references to Bible verses – one quotes Jesus saying “I
am the light of the world” – are stoking concerns about whether the inscriptions break
government rules. Critics fear the Taliban could accuse troops of a Christian crusade
against Muslims.”  2daa Heraldsun p34)). This is now true of the jews too. I am not aware of even
any controversy having risen over the naming of the boat. What does that show about us? No one cares, not
even the church which claims to inherit christs mantle. The pope has said nothing (but he has a letter!). Why is
everyone silent now? Are we still the same people? Just remembered that the cassette of archaic lithuanian
nativity songs and words that Mrs Karazija said I would get during the week to learn for an event she is
organizing for nov25th at litho house hasn’t arrived. (So. ??) Off to the ‘street’ – wonder if the two girls singing
opposite the Bocadillo to whom I gave the stories will be there?
(11/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 1 (nos 1-16 of anthology))

1/12/00 (27/11/00 - 7/12/00 (no 17)). The ‘Lords Prayer’ which could equally be named the:
nazarenes, jesus’, prophets, teachers, masters, rabbis (less well perhaps), preachers, kings also indicated (if
words mean anything) that the kingdom he envisaged was here for “thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven” implies that the kingdom is not in heaven itself. The God whose will the prophet believed he
was acting out, who had sent him, was in heaven. After all the pigeon that had descended on him after johns
baptism had come from the sky. It was the same God, the master believed, who had spoken to moses from the
cloud & was the author of the commandments. It is the only prayer we know the prophet to have composed & in
saying it to the man who asked how to pray he says it is unnecessary. There are hints here of the buddha who
despised ritual but foresaw that men would honour his memory with excessive ritual. Simone Weil makes much
of the prayer explaining line by line how she uses it as a devotional exercise. She reads a great deal into what to
me seems simplicity itself. The origins of her emphasis on the upward gaze can be traced back through christian
artists to the pigeon & the cloud. I have said the prayer often enough out of childhood habit, more as a mantra
than with meaning. Last night I said it with more conviction, its meaning simple as it is, seemed more in
evidence. I am heartened that it addresses itself to a father (it could equally be a mother, things in heaven are
very different in these matters he says elsewhere). The omniscient (this term to describe god dates from the 1st
century according to Borges), eternal, indivisible god (it would be interesting to trace the convergence in the
meanings of ‘dominus’ & ‘deus’ in Christian writings. Dominus means head of the house (from domus –
house). Domina is the female master.) of the theologians is meaningless to me & sounds suspiciously as I have
said like an abstraction, scientific law or principle. Besides how could something that is indivisible have ears to
hear with or a mouth to answer. The atmosphere their god lives in is too rarified for shitkickers like me. I
suspect there is no alcohol served at his table: he may even be a tea-totaller (god forbid). The gods that lived at
olympus, ah, thats different, they knew how to party! I do not believe for a moment that the God whose will the
nazarene believed he was sent to fulfil is even distantly related to the god of the theologians who is no more
than a justificatory principle; an excuse for the status quo, especially for their own existence & of the church
hierarchies. I pray to the prophet & admit it here even though he said to do it in secret because in an age of
scientific triumphalism some people may be frightened to say even to themselves that they are so unfashionable
as to resort to it. I say to them in the hope that it gives them some confidence: look I’m pretty cool, with it, listen
to leading edge music, hang out in cafes, am known to have a few too many, admire beautiful waitresses – & I
pray. Because I am not talking to the high & mighty but to the nazarene who I happen to know was born in a
shed I am at times bold enough to address him in remarkably intimate terms. I say: jesus I am a lost child, guide
me. I ask to be guided because I am frequently tangled in scrub & am sometimes in dark places. I havent got a
destination in mind as I dont know where I should be going. Once I thought I should ask that I be allowed to be
a writer of some kind like Borges who has laid down so many signposts for me. That was before I came to
realize his stature & how ridiculously pretentious it was to nominate such an aspiration. Now I simply put up
my hand to be led as I blunder about in unstable terrain.
Its 10.50 am & I’m about to head off. Last night the fog rolled in as the sun set & during the night there
was a constant randomised patter of heavy drops on the roof of the van. They were falling down from the
condensation on the leaves of the overhanging gum tree. I had thought twice before parking underneath it
because I remembered the branch that crashed down on the first day but I realized 2 contradictory conclusions
could be drawn from that: 1, not to park under trees; 2, that when your time comes it will get you anyway so
there is no point trying to predict or evade it (the branch had fallen on a still day). Strangely a couple of cars
drove by in the night & a couple more came in separately past the other side of the horse yards. They wouldnt
have seen me. I imagine they might have been bushwalkers who had agreed on this as a meeting point. I suspect
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they are still camped down the track I inspected during the day because I havent seen or heard them come out.
At dawn heavy rain set in for about an hour & there was even a bit of ice in it. The sun still hasnt broken
through but is about to. I’m wearing a t-shirt, flanno & jacket as I sit in the car writing. Yes, this is the high
country. 3.45…. I’m 28ks further among snow gum on a bit of grassy track that goes off the road that goes off
Howitt Rd. to Dimmick Lookout only a few hundred yards from the lookout itself. Half way to here I passed
Lost Plain whose altitude is 1480m. I’m wearing my rain shell over everything else & found a pair of fingerless
gloves to put on. But its extremely beautiful with masses of flowers & flowering bushes in the grassy patches
among the gums. Ive never seen such a variety. Found a very strange fungi that looks like a red starfish. Back
near Arbuckle Junction there were two roadworkers one of whom advised me not to take the Dargo road as it
has a steep downward section that might test out my brakes. Instead he suggested I take a road (Marathon Rd.)
from Horseyard Flats due south to Briagalong & Maffra. That settles it as we used to go picnicking at
Briagalong a lot & I remember the great pools we used to swim in. By now its probably become a cute town & a
tourist destination but I want to see it again. Apart from the roadworkers I havent seen any one else or a car. The
last 12 or so ks of the road is closed for 4 to 5 months over winter as is the 20ks I’ll be driving tomorrow to the
car park from which you can walk to the summit of Mt. Howitt (1,742 meters). I saw patches of snow among
rocks on the way here & from the lookout I can see a mountain in the distance with snow in the south facing
folds. Back to anti-theology.
To say that 3 is identical to 1 or that 1 is the same as 2 is linguistic gibberish unless you mean it in the
way that ice, water & steam have the same molecular basis. You can say that the same substance has 3 states or
that 1 thing has a potential for transformation into another but you can’t say 3 is 1 or 1 is 2 in every conceivable
way. The prophet certainly never invented this nonsense: it was invented by the church hierarchy. He didnt say
that he & god were one & the same – he said he wasnt God. He saw himself as having a special role in that he
would sit at the right hand side but that implies a difference & thats about as much as we can understand of the
claim. To use language in a way that violates its basic practice is a pointless exercise because nothing is
achieved by doing it except an exercise in subservience to the authority that demands it of you. To say that you
have faith is a meaningless linguistic exercise so to say that you have faith in a contradiction is a waste of
breath. You cannot say anything in language if you dont adhere to prior consensus of usage. If the prophet had
not meant it metaphorically when he said the wine was his blood & the bread his body the disciples would have
been mightily amazed because it would have been his strangest miracle yet, & they were often amazed by his
deeds. I suggest he meant that he was their sustenance, or his words were their sustenance in the way a poet
might say it. The nonsense game played out by the theologians justified the church in roasting countless
heretics, burning books, gaining a grip over people by demanding mindlessness & of course the existence of the
theologians themselves. Once it was accepted that 3 is identical to 1 you could just as easily say black is white,
or dont kill means kill heathens & fry people or argue for 100 years over how many angels fit on the head of a
pin. & this whole laughable spectacle was presided over by the church whose practical justification was (though
not admitted) the need for an empire. The prophet on the other hand spoke in language that was understood by
fishermen. If we want to know the qualities of the God he said had sent him it is enough to read his words. He
said much less than the theologians. He said God could account for every hair on your head, that he knew your
thoughts, that he knew what was good for you (etc.). The language is easy – believing is another matter.
16/2/01 (13/2/01 – 26/2/01 (no 18)). 8.15 am. I’ve just reread the last part of yesterdays
entry & I reckon I got carried away a bit. I think I was still energised by the walk when I was writing. I dont
know any priests or mullahs, not even any politicians or journos. Most are probably excellent people. The point
I was trying to make is that those ‘doubles’, which probably start their life as expressions of mans complexity &
that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, lend themselves to misuse. When that happens they become
vehicles for laying down prescriptions & for simplifying our view of ourselves which is the opposite to their
original intent. I am also aware of the shortcomings of the phrase “neurological circuit” which I suggested as an
alternative. It smacks of the electrical circuit board & sounds mechanistic but I can’t think of a better one. It
should be understood that there are untold numbers of these ‘boards’, that they affect each other, that they are
changing as all organic things do, that they are not just resident in the brain but involve the entire nervous
system & body & above all that its probably quite silly (& not my interest) to isolate one specific behaviour
pattern. What I was trying to do was to suggest a model of human behaviour that puts emphasis on our
connection & dependence on our surroundings rather than on a theoretical ‘double’ which has the effect of
centering our gaze inwards. I’m conscious of how intimately we are connected to our environment (so much
that its not easy & may be impossible to draw a line between us & what is ‘outside’) & when we damage it how
hurtfully we are damaging ourselves. This applies even more to our connection with others for I feel quite sure
it is a closer one than the connections between the cells of our body … 4.50 pm. Eureka! I’ve found an access

9
to Murrah Beach. It took a bit of doing as everyone I talked to tried to subtly avoid telling me. Its down what
looks like a private road & in fact a sign says ‘Private Road, Sanctuary’ but I reckon its public land. The way it
was explained to me was that its a public access over private property & that you have to get the owners
permission. Bullshit! I can tell that it runs between two sets of properties & the 6 or so gates you go through are
all kept open because they are required to be by law. There is a game with language being played along this
stretch of coast: most of the roads that branch off the Bermagui road towards the coast have a ‘No Through
Road’ sign on them. Its the locals way of keeping visitors off the coast as they know that tourists who here are
interested only in the coast will interpret the sign to mean that you can’t get through to it. The spot I stopped at
last night right on the beach at Barragga Bay was at the end of a ‘No Through Road’ as is the nudist beach. & it
works; there is no one here & my van is parked on beaut spongy grass & the beach sand starts only 5 yards
away & I have a terrific, unimpeded view that takes in the entire coast to the headland & I can’t tell you how
dreamy it is & how I’m looking forward to a night time stroll & going to bed to the sound of waves & maybe
getting up for another stroll in the middle of the night. During the day I came past here on a walk of 6 hours
(9.30 – 3.30) because I wanted to walk Bunga Beach which I had viewed from Goalen Head yesterday. It was
worth it: the way the grazing land connects with the coast here is as beautiful in a different way as a wilderness
coast. At Goalen Head you find the largest field mushrooms (some people call them horse mushrooms) I’ve
seen, up to a foot across. I flushed a ground parrot (Pezoporus wallicus) & was able to creep up for a lengthy
inspection through the binoculars. I was very interested because I associate them exclusively with heath
whereas here its all pasture. On the way back I inspected some of the waters between the rocks on what is a
very jagged bit of coast between Murrah Beach & the nudist beach. The first pool I went into I found a fiddler
ray (Sydneysiders call them banjo sharks) straight away & then a juvenile blue groper but that was all. When I
got back to where the car was parked next to the track that goes to the nudist beach a couple came along (& a
dalmation) that I had seen drive past in a Volvo a few times when I was at Barraga Bay last night. She was
carrying a tripod & he was dressed like youd expect a writer in an opera might be. As it turned out the house at
Barraga Bay (& what a position it has) belongs to the writer Rodney Hall (I think a lot of houses here belong to
artists) whose last book I saw reviewed in the Age a few months back. The chap in the colourful suit asked me
if I wrote poetry. I had brought with me an entire set of my hand-outs for last year & the current one as I had
intended to give them to Silas, a kid I met last year near Bawley Point & by chance again on the same trip at his
partners place in Tathra. But when I called in on wednesday there were new tenants in the house & they didnt
know where Silas had gone. So now the pieces are all in the hands of Rodney Hall & co.& if they have a poetry
soiree tonight I hope they can use some of my poems.
There are a pair of saints today: Sts. Faustinus and Jovita (Martyrs ? – c120). The Priest Faustinus and
his brother, a Deacon, preached the Word of God with such fearlessness and zeal in their native Brescia, in
Lombardy, even during Trajan’s bloody persecution that the heathens were exasperated by their success.
Imprisonment, torture and fair promises of material benefits all proved of no avail in bringing them to worship
the Roman gods. As they were of noble parentage and much in the public eye, the governor submitted their case
to Emperor Hadrian when he passed through Brescia in 120 (Trajan having died three years previously). When
persuasions and arguments proved equally fruitless, they were condemned to die by the sword. Sts. Faustinus
and Jovita have been the chief Patrons of their native city Brescia from earliest times, and their names are found
in many of the most ancient lists of Martyrs. Although some of their “Acts” may be questioned as containing
later embellishments, there can be no doubt about the principal facts. Reflection: Collingwood are playing St.
Kilda at the Colonial Stadium in the Fosters Cup tonight (a …z @ O).
23/2/01. St. Peter Damian. (Bishop Confessor and Doctor of the Church 1007-1072). Peter
Onesti, the youngest son of many children in a poor Ravenna family of noble ancestry, was orphaned at an
early age and sent to tend swine. But his piety and intellectual gifts prompted one of his brothers, the Arch-
priest Damian of Ravenna, to pay for his education and Peter, in gratitude, added the name Damian to his own.
His subsequent progress was so rapid that at 25 he was already noted as a teacher at Ravenna and at Parma. But
life in these university towns was too worldly and distracting for him, and so he became in 1034 a hermit-monk
in the Benedictine establishment of Fonte Avellana in the Appenines, which was known for its austerities and
severe rule. Here his zeal and extreme penances brought about a temporary breakdown of his health, after
which he was appointed to give spiritual discourses to the monks of his own and several neighbouring
monasteries. St. Peter Damian was particularly devoted to our Lady. At the age of 36 he became Abbot of Fonte
Avellana and remained so until his death 29 years later. As such he wisely moderated the rule, established the
regular use of the discipline (a practice which was also adopted at Monte Cassino) and founded a number of
dependent hermitages. Together with his friend Hildebrand, the future great reformer – Pope Gregory VII – he
strove continually by pen and word to combat and correct the scandalous abuses then widespread in the church:

10
incontinence, luxury and laxity among the clergy, the buying and selling of Chuch benefices, and Papal
schisms. St. Peter Damian is best known for his terrible indictment of the clergy, the “Liber Gomorrhianus”,
published in 1051, and the “Liber Gratissimus” which concerned itself with the validity of simoniacal
ordinations. In 1057 Pope Stephen X insisted, under pain of excommunication, that the reluctant Abbot should
accept a Cardinalate, and he was made Bishop of Ostia. Besides being administrator of the diocese of Gubbio,
St. Peter served seven successive Popes with remarkable success on various delicate missions, as Papal Legate
and visitor to Bishoprics and Abbeys, and was in constant contact with all the eminent men of his age. St. Peter
Damian is invoked against headaches, because of his having suffered greatly from them. Reflection: “Let us
faithfully transmit to posterity the examples of virtue which we have received from our forefathers.” (St. Peter
Damian)
I feel that I’ve reached a turning point in the writing & a brief review & a disclaimer or two may be in
order. In taking issue with the cartesian duality, the metaphysical ‘doubles’ as I’ve called them, I’m only
joining an enterprise that is already well under way: Wittgenstein is a major player, Fergus Kerr (of ‘Theology
after Wittgenstein’), interestingly enough a dominican monk, is also a part of it. I want to stress that it is not a
matter of truth or truths. I dont know what those words mean but am inclined to agree with Foucault (at the end
of his essay ‘What is an Author’) that if we are to get a handle on them we should examine who benefits from
their use, who owns them; what purposes & masters they serve. (some yellow tailed black cockatoos have
flown over). Any number of different frames for viewing human behaviour & organizing discourse about
affairs can be erected & none of them may have much bearing on what people were want to call the ultimate
truths. If people are sustained by notions of spirit or soul or their comic book descendant the sub-conscious I
would not want to be party to destabilizing their world view (I’ve shifted to the couch by the table because its
shadier & I was being attacked by march flies but now I’m being bitten by mozzies). Its just that I am no longer
sustained by them & I feel sure I represent a large & growing fraction of the population. The ‘doubles’ have
gone past their use by date. (just watched a black snake of about 4 foot length with a very red belly slither
between the three couches from one of which I’ve just shifted; when I stood up for a better look it saw me &
headed for the scrub). I hope that it is evident to a careful reader that I am not only demolishing an old frame
but also trying to build a new one. I want a frame that does not do violence to my common sense, that is not in
contradiction to the physical sciences, & which provides a stage setting for the kinds of experiences I have.
Some of my experiences & perceptions might have in another age been grouped under the term ‘religious’ but I
am also including a variety of others which may be more frequent in the broad population than admitted to.
When I say I am searching for a stage setting in which sciences & my perceptions can coexist I am not also
saying that I expect science to be able to explain them. (had a crap, that means: spade, digging in white sand,
later a swim). There is a problem with contemporary perceptual structures: a good proportion of the saints, and
they were all extraordinary people, would today have been locked up in lunatic asylums. There is a professor in
Melbourne who has devised a program of drug treatment & counselling (re-education) aimed at quite a large
band of young teenagers that would eradicate the possibility of the kinds of perceptions I am talking about. Our
confidence knows no bounds: look what weve done to change the face of the earth, now we are ready to
engineer a different kind of man. A change of tack. I’ve remembered that when I was explaining yesterday why
it is obvious to me that we constitute a single organism, the creature man, I forgot to mention one of my main
reasons: the point by point analogy that can be made between the human body & the cell that is its building
block. Its as if the body is modelled but in a much more complex way & with new capabilities on the structure
of the cell. As I said the body can be seen as a very leaky bag of skin enclosing a set of organs. The skin not
only leaks & oozes but is constantly being penetrated (or in contact with surroundings) through a variety of
holes & apertures (mouth, senses) so that its more like a string bag than a cloth one. But thats exactly how the
cell is structured. It too is a membranous bag enclosing a collection of organs. The organs of the cell
(mitochondria etc) are thought to have originally been free swimmers in the primordial ocean & come together
into a symbiotic group before enclosing themselves into a membrane so as to better hang together & to prevent
their joint enterprise from being pickled by the increasingly salty oceans. Whats more the bag enclosing them is
also porous allowing a variety of chemicals, electrical impulses, viruses to enter & proteins (etc.) to spill out
into the blood stream. The surface of the cell bag is quite uneven, as we are, allowing a variety of things to get a
grip on it & in reverse it can form attachments with others. I heard a uni teacher who runs a course on possible
life forms (or something) say that a brain cell doesnt know it is part of the brain (I love these exercises:
Schopenhauer says that Spinoza says that if a stone projected through the air became aware it would think it
was moving of its own free will) & I would add that a blood cell travels about visiting the various organs of the
body just as some of us, nomadic bags full of organs, travel about from town to city. Though the blood cells
minister to the needs of the organs I am sure they have no more idea of what they are doing or what purpose is
served by the organs than we know what purpose we serve or what constitutes the organs of the creature man. It

11
is fun to speculate: are they the tribes, nation states, the institutions, the religions, the multinationals, the banks,
the large symbols we use to fix our identity, the languages, the discourses, the sciences and other disciplines,
infrastructures (such as rail, roads, electricity grid, microwave towers), is the internet one of them, and so on?
We dont know so we can keep adding anything we like to the list. We can’t even imagine.
4.30. I’m making Baragoot beach my own, learning its moods. Left at 12.30 heading north for the rocky
coastline past Baragoot Point. On a secluded beach there was a couple where the woman was naked & her
partner in shorts. Further along there was another naked woman. I think there must be something wrong with
me but I find naked women awfully attractive. I dont mind if they are throwing a stick for their dog to play with
or leaning back against a sandstone cliff reading a novel with their legs spread apart – they look good anyhow.
But I pushed on round the point past the deep crevasse I was in a couple of days back & as far as a major pool I
had snorkelled in under the Michael Lerner lookout. Then I headed back investigating each good spot with
goggles & snorkel, swimming in my thongs. It was like I used to do it years ago except for the snorkel which I
have to have now because I’ve become a weak swimmer & holding my breath while I’m looking down leaves
me short on energy. I saw some great scenery though still no groper, & probably wouldnt have done any better
if I’d carried wet suit & other gear. I’ve made a discovery about my Five Ten sandals that cost $100 & are
supposed to be state-of-the-art. The marketing hype says they are ideal for rocks & white water rafting. But
mine are developing bulges under the front ball of the foot. The only possible cause is that sand is getting in
through the slits the front straps go through to where they are attached between the two layers of the sole. The
sand is going to force the two layers apart. There is no way of getting it out. Its a major design flaw. Dont buy
them, theyre duds.
13/4/01 (7/4/01 – 18/4/01 (no 19)). Today is the day the prophet, who believed he was
sent by the god of moses, was crucified. Under the pretext of preserving his memory a great empire was built:
The Holy Roman Empire. The relics of the empire, the church hierarchies, are in turn crumbling away … I have
to include todays saint for the names alone. St. Hermenegild (Prince Martyr ?-585). Hermenegild was a son of
the Arian Visigoth King Leovigild in Spain, and of Theodosia, a Catholic Princess, but the court being entirely
Arian, he was raised in heresy. In 576, however, he married the Frankish Princess Ingundis, the Catholic
daughter of Sigebert and Brunhilde, and after taking instruction from Leander, the saintly Archbishop of
Seville, he became a convert to the true faith. Meanwhile, his mother having died, his father had married
Goswintha, a fanatical Arian, who proceeded to actively persecute her daughter-in-law for her hated religion,
and Hermenegild and Ingundis thought it best to retire to Andalusia. But the King became greatly enraged when
he discovered that his son had become a Catholic and ordered him back to Toledo. Hermenegild not only
refused, but allied himself with the Greeks and, supported by the persecuted Catholic factions, rose in arms
against his father. The latter succeeded in buying off the Byzantines and took Seville after a two-year siege. The
young Prince was captured, stripped of his royal privileges and banned to Valencia, while his wife fled to
Africa with their son. On Easter Eve of 585, according to St. Gregory the Great, King Leovigild sent an Arian
Bishop to bring his son Communion and promised forgiveness if he accepted it. But Hermenegild refused to
give up his faith and so was beheaded on Easter Day. Reflection: “I value the crown as nothing; I am ready to
lose sceptre and life too, rather than abandon the divine truth.” (St. Hermenegild). … 12.30. I had to leave my
camping spot because of the flies. You bring back hundreds of them from every walk & others find their own
way so that each day the numbers build up for they hang around the car overnight. I drove along a fence line
eastwards because I thought I’d have a look at Lake Beviss but when the track looked as if it might get sandy I
turned around as I didnt want to risk the embarrassment of having to be pulled out in a part of the property I
hadnt asked permission to be on. Then I walked around some small lakes (dry of course) off the main track
back towards the homestead but have now come back to park in the shade of a beaut tree on the track to Lake
Beviss. I was hoping to have a respite from the flies but they are assembling quickly & some are march flies
with a sharp bite (on go the long pants). The property like the entire district is very dry & unrecognisable to the
parklike appearance it had last august …. I’ve just been sprung by James MacTaggart doing the rounds of the
paddocks searching for sheep. He tells me that there are cattle on the property which explains the pad I saw
yesterday. He says its the driest he has seen the place in 14 years & they are getting ground down though in
good years its one of the best properties in the north east. They have a special problem with kangaroos which
come onto the property in extra numbers because they observe best practice by keeping it understocked. The
bureaucracy that issues permits for how many roos you can shoot can’t cope with that. We talked for over an
hour & he was a mine of information on whats happening from here to Tibooburra & even Wanarring as he
contracts (shearing, crutching) through that country 4 months a year & is on a number of government boards for
allocating funds. He shares a habit with me. When he gets back home with his gear he can’t relax until
everything is unpacked & in place. Oakden Hill has to be just about the tidiest homestead & yards Ive seen.

12
Everything is kept in working order, much like our place in Ivanhoe. Us tidy people are all the same. His wife
works in Port Augusta which seems to be par for the course around here so I was glad to hear that Connie
Manning of Mahanewo, the neighbouring station, was back home with her husband Paul this year from her
teaching job there. Thats what he was hoping for when I was on their place last year but with the dry conditions
I thought it may not have eventuated. Oh yes, James says he has never been on the island & I didnt tell him
about Frank & Marj … I have stopped for the night 10ks south along the shore at the spot I was at in august last
year.
17/8/01 (13/8/01 – 25/8/01 (no 23) (11/10/09. &n Port Germein (no 58))). 7.50.
Staying here. It didnt rain much yesterday & I’d be surprised if theres been enough to settle the dust out west
but its bloody cold, windy & cloudy so I might as well sit in the car writing. As you would expect from
someone whos written over 100 volumes (how did he and Hannah find time to do it?) Heidegger would have us
believe that language is our special compact with being with a capital B. The bible seems to give support when
it claims that the word with a capital W started it all. I dont know if Heidegger draws on it. If it were so then
those who dance, or labour in the fields, or carry heavy burdens, or are deaf & dumb, or are less articulate, or
stutter, or are insane, & all of those who suffer in silence would be relegated to lesser roles in the grand design.
& Heidegger did indeed see the world divided into a small inspired elite of which he was an honorary member
(Hannah Arendt must have bought all this for awhile) & the rest just making up the numbers. In this he was like
Nietzsche. I suggest that what we can certainly say about language is that it is responsible for science, literature
& religion. Increasingly, also, it is needed to regulate an overpopulated & over exploited globe as institutions
can communicate no other way. Hence it is the route to money & power. Its with the above qualifications that I
encumber my own efforts to write. I continue on.
If I were to fully answer the question who am I I would have to write down my DNA sequence, list the
books I’ve read, the friends I’ve talked to & what we said, the things I’ve written, describe the swamps I’ve
waded, rivers I’ve swum, the roads I’ve driven … and it goes on & on (you might get a better idea just from
seeing me because its all got written into the lines on my face – hence the photo on the cover). I would have to
tell you the things I’ve imagined & all the things I’ve forgotten. Its an awkward picture. It would fill more
books than you can fit in a library (unless it were Borges’ infinite one) & its still going on. To the state I am
simply known by my surname & two first names (though it has quite a bit of info in data banks of various
agencies & especially in a central one in Canberra). The name the state knows me by says hardly anything
about me but its purpose is to allow it to locate me so as to be able to punish me if I dont pay my taxes or if I
betray its secrets. In the future when we have chips implanted in us at birth it will no longer require us to
register names. Be patient, I’m getting around to making a comment on Heideggers being with a capital B. If I
were to describe the large animal (creature) humanity that I am a part of I would have to get each member to
give a similar list (unending) that I give. All the roads everyones travelled. Even Borges’ library might not fit it.
But if it did it still would not be an adequate description because its all in bits & the whole is different & greater
(unimaginably greater) than the sum of the parts. But Heidegger believes that he can put a label to the essence
(a word he uses a lot) not just of the human animal but to all things – the entirety. Then he spends a hundred
books explaining how the algorithm works. Its an ambitious project.
What is he doing when he uses the capital (capita: head in latin) & is it fair for me to comment on it
without having read him? (a guy just drove out of the local caravan park in a van the size of a bus pulling a
trailer with a shiny city type 4x4 on it; a steady stream of tourists, Brits on Wheels etc. come through
sometimes doing the rounds of a block or two; I dont think there is much here for them).
Language is a sharing (coordination, synchronization) of actions. It has to be a sharing because it cant
be learnt otherwise. Thats why a private language is not possible. It may be Heidegger gives explanations (in
terms of shared meanings) for an unusual use of the capital but if that were the case he would not need to use it
as the reader would have to have read the explanation in the first place & that would make it redundant (esp. in
Heideggers case as you would have to read a lot). When we make use of conventions in language we are often
unaware of what we are doing. They are learnt from childhood & taught to us by the previous generation who
learnt them from theirs. Conventions are actions (practices) that were learnt so long ago that we perform them
on automatic. They are a physical memory (in the things we do), as is language itself, & only their
abandonment is a forgetting. So what do we do when we use a capital? The most important thing is that we
particularize. We locate it in space in relation to other things. Expect to see a capital letter at the start of a
sentence. We write the names of capital cities in upper case so when we instruct the cruise missile all we have
to do is type it in & it can retrieve the exact coordinates from its data bank. The state has my name on file as
I’ve already explained to be able to assert its power over me if necessary. We name things so we can hold them
in the palm of our hand to gloat over, to own, to buy & sell. You cannot trade in things that dont have names.

13
To sum up, when he writes being with a capital B Heidegger is attempting to commodify it. By naming it he
asserts an ownership for which he is the broker (the price of access being the reading of his books; he gains
membership of a group called philosophers; he is paid by the uni.) & in his case he nominates an extremely
high value: for another use of naming it is to be able to place it in a list or hierarchy. In a list where all the
others are in a lower key the capitalized one is placed at the top. I dont buy it – my job is to cut if off. To find
gods secret name is to gain power over him. When you are on first name terms with him you can converse with
him. I think it would be pretty scary. I am inclined to write the word god with a small g & look for him among
(or reflected in) the myriad lower case inhabitants of a strangely beautiful world. Tomorrow I’m heading for
Lake Gairdner.
24/8/01. This is the penultimate entry of the piece of writing I will be handing out. It is the heart
of the matter I’ve been tending towards. Last night I realized I probably dont know how to say it. The aim of
the trip was to quell an incessant internal chatter by finding out what degree of clarity I was capable of. I have a
heading on my clipboard – “consequences”, and hardly anything else. Normally I have comments, underlinings,
asterisks, arrows going everywhere. Perhaps, since I want to write about the solidness of them, how they are in
the body & in the world of objects around us, it may help to bring the problem into relief to imagine how we
would design a world that would have no consequences. Here goes. Firstly we would ensure that language was
not rooted in the physical world but that words fluttered around like butterflies so we could sit in front of our
newspapers & tellies in a never ending wash of meaningless burble. We would have to invent souls, ghostly
doubles, to provide spaces where battles between good & evil could be waged, where credits & demerits could
be tallied on imaginary scales. The world of wrists cut with razors & heads smashed on brick walls, of sordid
betrayals & yes, of sexual ecstasies is too real to bear. It would be even better if we were actually ghosts, sort of
airy & flexible, so that we could go right through walls; & doors. We would need to have another life after this
one so that if we got it wrong we could get it right the next time. As it is if we screw up & we die its forever. If
there were another, very long life preferably in a resort it wouldnt matter what we did, or even if we lived in a
pile of shit, as long as we qualified in the end (early christians used to get baptised on their deathbed because
they believed baptism took away their sins.) Decision making should not be forced on us, its too burdensome &
exposes us to blame. We have to invent a system of authorities with direct access to god himself so that they
can tell us how things should be done & if the world gets blown up by all these contraptions weve made – then
we’ll blame them, or god. (& it will happen, thats what we’ll do). What I’m saying in a reverse way by the
experiment is that you dont have to look on the face of god as paul did to go blind, its enough to look at the sun.
But there is a problem & its in what it is that we do when we say we believe. I’m not talking about
specific beliefs: the migrating souls, the angels blowing trumpets, god on his throne or for that matter that the
sun will rise tomorrow (it wont always) or that right now I’m not on the moon. What we actually do is that in
every case we are saying that we will act as if it were so. The differences are in the amount of evidence that is
available to us but we will act anyway. In the case of souls & angels there is not a skerrick, in the case of the
sun well its happened every other time & I have to make a decision whether to stock up with food, & in the case
of knowing that I wasnt on the moon I would otherwise have to believe I was on a very large film set there or
that my brain had been rewired (there are movies about it). Nothing is certain though: things that have always
happened can cease & what we experienced can change. William James observes that if you believe in the
invisible world it may be you help to form it. Act as if it is & it will be. Christ said it was enough to believe.
But its true not only of the invisible world. Our cities, our machines, our medicines, all the things weve
invented did not exist once & were so far outside the wildest imaginings of ape men that they were justified in
acting as if they never could. And if they had continued acting that way they never would. Things didnt appear
out of nowhere. They were invented (acted out) step by step by people who believed. Before they became
visible they were part of the invisible world. The first ape that peeled a banana made a huge step. It acted as if it
would make a difference to divide into two (the first division) (chimps do peel bananas though some eat the
skin throwing away the inside while others do the reverse.) It acted against all evidence on faith alone. It turned
out to be a big habit – with many consequences.
What frightens me is the realization that jesus of nazareth must have known that language works like
this. He must have known that words become worthless when they are separated from the action which is their
only meaning. He must have known that to believe in everlasting life was to act as if it were true. I dont think
he believed in it or in angels & god & all those things but it had to be said that way because it was the only
language of the times. I think he really knew that he was a man, like you & me, & that he was going to his final
death. His problem was that people cried out with their pain & their death (awful pain & death in youth) & he
had to relieve their suffering. He knew that the only way was for them to believe in another, better life. He had
told them that if they came to him he would comfort them. How else can you comfort the sick & the dying?

14
Unless of course you make them well & then there would have been no problem if he were god because he
could have done it with the flick of a wrist. If he were god there is no sorrow at his death either for it would
only have been a step into the next glorious life. Gods dont really die (not the one god). I think he could see
how brilliant & beautiful the world was just as you & I can (more so) which made the misery of the destitute
unbearable for him. The paradox is that to feel pity for others to the extent that you die for them can only come
from the knowledge of the beauty that is denied them & to save them he had to abandon it. And he had to die
for otherwise they wouldnt have believed. For even as we wallow in words that can be meaningless we know
that it is only actions that count. He didnt die to gain everlasting life as the suicide bomber does (& to avenge)
or for god (the japanese one) & glory as the kamikaze pilot did. It seems that jesus knew that his death would
achieve the desired results for he was correct in predicting that his words would last. There is no doubt that no
other single action has had greater consequences. You can call it the opium of the people but the relief of
suffering for those without hope over two thousand years has been beyond measure. Perhaps that is what is
meant by - “in the beginning was the word”.
28/9/01 (22/9/01 – 1/10/01 (light type by helenz; heavy type by a … z @) (no 24)). Into
Cootamundra via back roads to get the paper, then onto Jugiong (where the publican wouldn’t get up for Miss
Australia - & the pub is very unused looking) where we set up in the reserve by the river we discovered one 40°
day travelling back to Melbourne from Sydney, where even the snake I saw was swimming it was so
oppressively hot (that’s the day we heard the local store-keeper’s assessment of the publican). Today it was
beautiful – the river running over stones & sand, the sun shining, the air mild & the trees shady. Didn’t think we
could top it, but we have. We are in the picture-perfect valley, on an expanse of bright green grass heavily
sprinkled with Salvation Jane, next to the Murrumbidgee River about 20ks downstream from Burrinjuck Dam,
with granite studded hills all around, birds calling, ducks swimming & trout jumping out of the water. You
can’t get better than this. There is a mixture of gums & casuarinas along the water’s edge, & it is a truly tranquil
place. The road (unsealed, grassy verged) has come through 4 or 5 properties & we are between 2 gates where
the road surface is grassy in places & looks little used – our very own Shangri-la. If the world outside wasn’t in
such a mess I could feel very happy. Rang home to check on the kids – Ben had a fall in the bathroom & cut his
chin (needed 5 stitches) & chipped a tooth (needed capping), but he sounds OK & Joe says he’s fine & that all
is well in our smaller world, & that’s enough for me.
I hope that the possibilities I fear are the products of an overheated imagination building on
journalistic exaggeration I’ve read in the papers. Arrange the following statements & questions in any
order to suit your political inclinations. Israel had put together an arsenal of a couple of hundred nuclear
weapons virtually in secret & with hardly any testing program (only a couple of tests with the
cooperation of south africa apparently). Could iraq in the period since the gulf war have produced a few
nuclear bombs that can be assembled from parts? Pakistan is thought to have about 30 hiroshima size
bombs – what a can of worms that could turn out to be. Last year pakistan & india were said to have
come close to priming their bombs. I’ve read a claim by a serious journalist that nuclear bombs are quite
easy to make compared to the difficulty of making rockets. Even if there are no suitcase bombs (apart
from the ones made by the side of infinite justice (no muslim is going to be fooled by the change of film
title to enduring freedom)) already in the hands of the ‘rogue’ states can it be long before there are? Can
the side of enduring freedom (which however sponsors the saudi regime which is one of the most
oppressive & whose intelligence service probably answers to the US) afford to wait to find out? Would
the knowledge of the existence of such bombs & the possibility of some being already set up in let us say
New York or Tel Aviv by itself be enough to topple the western financial structure without them even
being set off? If a bomb is set off in Tel Aviv about 100 israeli nuclear bombs will drop on the largest
arab cities. If one is set off in New York or Washington? Could a third party (eg china or its intelligence
service) fool US intelligence into a belief (by fake talk on mobiles in arabic about bombs) that such a
bomb was or could be set up in order to put the US & the arab world at each other? Are all intelligence
services fully accountable to their governments? There was a legion of nuclear physicists made available
to the highest bidder at the time of the collapse of the soviet union. Do the russians have a reliable system
of accounting for materials that can be used to make bombs? Can russian guards in nuclear
establishments be relied upon not to accept bribes or get drunk on the job? If the solution is to take away
their sovereignty from the rogue states (including north korea and youd have to include pakistan in case
the bombs fell into extremist hands) would the side of enduring freedom sponsor UN administration of
the kind that prepared cambodia & east timor for elections even though the costs would be far greater
than the Marshall Plan after the 2nd world war? Will the US prefer the cheap option of sponsoring client
governments with compromised intelligence services along the lines of the saudis? Will anyone even try

15
to tackle the kind of desperation that leads extreme people to become suicide murderers? My guess is
that just as hijackings stopped after the bombing of libya the terrorism of Al Qaeda will cease after the
death of bin Laden. The soldiers themselves will scatter to form new cells & identities to prepare for the
next & final move ten years from now. If the forces of infinite justice decide to permanently violate the
sovereignty of the rogue states they should in equal measure forego their own sovereignty & allow the
poor of the world entry into their countries: it would constitute a genuine sharing of wealth & just might
solve the problem. Buckleys chance! The US has the technology to monitor by computer every person
within its borders. The state always wants to be more powerful. Is that where we are heading?
Regardless of any temporary political alignment the issue of a bomb assembled in a capital city such as
New York will have to be faced. The broader issue is the relationship of technology to man – the
progressive subservience or even disappearance of mankind.
26/10/01 (22/10/01 – 2/11/01 (no 26)). 3.30. Ive just had a meal & a nap in the Lakeside
Highway Park on the edge of Brim (north of Warracknabeal). Now Im in the Commercial Hotel known locally
as the Brim pub. Its good here. Its about as opposite to a tourist destination as you can get. There is a general
store & a garage. The peppercorn tree by the pub gives enough shade for as many cars as are ever likely to be
parked outside. In summer its important coz it gets hot here. The lakeside park where Ill be spending the night
goes on for a kilometre. Its a Lions community project funded by a govt grant. There are any number of ageing
picnic tables interspersed among straggly black box gums. Signs everywhere: carparking, BBQ, boat ramp,
camping area, walking track, picnic area & a sign saying ‘toilets’ pointing to a large corrugated iron toilet block
out in the open only 15 yards from the sign. There is also a beautiful, coloured display map at the entrance of
the lake & surrounds. Only problem there is not a drop of water in it & hasnt been for some years. My kind of
place. Theres no one there of course & it felt good to have an after dinner nap. Im living in the slow lane; done
nothing physical at all on this trip; ready for an old mans habits. At Marnoo I was talking to a guy who was
doing his daily constitutional around the oval (3 times) who said he has a nap after dinner too. He was
complaining that people call him a pill popper because he takes 13 a day. Hes had a bypass & said if he didnt
do the exercise hed drop dead. Hmmm, us old guys got stuff to talk about. This morning from Barret fauna &
flora reserve I drove into Warracknabeal where I read the Age after inspecting the main street & buying ½ doz
buns . Nature abhors chaos: in my case order is imposing itself in the form of habits, the Age in the morning &
a couple of pots in the pub in the arvo. Its not as easy as you think to travel without some initial idea of what
you intend. Every time you get in the car youve got to make up your mind if youre going right or left. Just
before leaving Melbourne I did decide Id visit Ararat, for the symbolism of its name, and I probably did have a
subliminal intention of revisiting some of the country I drove through this time last year. Today from
Warracknabeal I started out westward on the dirt road to Antwerp but when after 10ks I saw a huge black cloud
ahead I went back & then north to here to get around it. & it worked! After I finish this entry & have a third pot
(10oz) Im going back to the ‘lakeside’ park to continue reading ‘The Music of Chance’ – the poker game is
about to begin. Back in Warracknabeal I rang H at work using the optus card. & yes, Ive learnt how to get into
my mobile message bank too. I had neglected to press the hash key after the pin number. That makes 37
numbers to press to get in. There will be no place for drunks or dreamers in the world of the future. The big
news is that H sold Vi’s house for her in West Heidelberg ahead of tomorrows auction for $180,000. The house
is falling down & she was never going to get more than $200,000 so its better to be sure & get it out of the way.
The kids are OK, she had a long talk to Egle in Sydney (they had a great time in litho land) who says mum is
probably going to be released from hospital in a couple of days but will be on mega doses of antibiotics for
months. Shes depressed: its one thing after another now. There are two guys in the pub. Theyre talking about
horse racing form, bills, pathology test results, anthrax & bin Laden. Earlier an old codger came up to me
anxious to tell me about the history of the place. His grandfather had come here with a team of bullocks in 1890
& gone on to Ouyen where there is a memorial to him. I hear these stories all the time, people respect a writer. I
told him I wasnt into history, otherwise he would have cornered me.
2/11/01. I had a big walk planned for today but yesterday I discovered I hadnt packed my hat. I
got away with it because it was cloudy but today I drove 60ks back to Wilpena to buy one. The sun is sharp
here; you cant spend 7 or 8 hours in it without getting badly burnt. I had an incentive to go into Wilpena
anyway as it meant I could ring H. What a surprise it was: the kiosk I imagined I would be meeting Saulius &
his mate (6/11/01. Port Germein. Gintas Kekstas, chief of intensive care unit at Vilnius Uni. Hospital; president
of litho society of parenteral & enteral nutrition (whatever that means, I didnt ask); passionate hunter of
anything that moves all over the countries of the former soviet union; been on months long expeditions in the
tundra etc.; goes to very many conferences eg. in greece, mexico, recently at the Munich Oktoberfest; has spent
2 years doctoring in the republic of yemen; asked me to send a copy of this article to him as his wife edits a

16
journal (what a delicious irony it would be to be translated from english to litho for publication in a litho journal
but I suspect my stuff comes too far from left field); his surname, like that of Varnas, is also a bird) at has been
replaced by a brand new ultra modern complex housing the shop & the info centre. International tourists would
feel at home here & judging by the accents most of them are. There were more people wandering about with
their heads encased in nets (the shop sells them); people who looked as if they would be pushed to walk around
the block were wearing huge trail type lace up boots. Any amount of bush gear was on sale in the shop but I
was lucky to buy the last packet of muesli there. If you want to learn all about australian nature you can do it
without leaving the complex because every type of nature book is available. Interestingly, yesterday, as I was
returning along a part of the Heysen Trail I noted that it looked as if it wasnt getting any use. Perhaps the two
go together: the bigger the info centre the less people go out to see things for themselves. On the way from
Aroona Valley I stopped to have a look at a snake on the road. It was a tan colour of about 1 metre & had a
faint blackish band below the ‘neck’. It didnt like it when I got behind it out of its line of view & flattened its
neck threateningly in cobra like fashion. Its tiny head looked innocuous but if its a standard brown snake I
know they are poisonous. All this country is full of emus. Ive seen hundreds of them. The reason may be that
there are fewer goats & the rabbits are gone; at least that was my impression on the walk yesterday. At Wilpena
I checked my message bank in case Saulius had changed his plans & rang H at school. She was out buying
books but I got through to her in the afternoon after doing a walk (and a dip in a pool that the tourists dont
know of) into the pound. I have definitely mastered the phonecard except that I dont know how to use its
message bank facility which I dont need anyway as Ive got one on the mobile. H is fine. She said Ben is
chuffed because hes saved up $4000. Sandra visited Vi & told her how good the house had been for her & Joe
(11/10/09.  thwr th p wr n on 2moro (13/12/09. We’re back! The pop-top sprang a leak last
night in Danyo Reserve, so we had to abort the expedition in order to get it fixed, hopefully, tomorrow),
Joe & nu ♀ Kt & ☼ Elliot wl nnu rntl rKOmrdashn klos2 Vz old ): then they both cried. H says
theres been an anthrax episode in Vilnius. I never saw mention of it in the paper this morning. I doubt if al
Qaeda have ever heard of Vilnius. I expect Saulius & his mate will be full of it tomorrow. After talking to H Ive
driven 11ks back north to a very beautiful private spot by a creek that Ill walk along tomorrow before going
into Wilpena to keep my appointment. Im in the shade of two callitris pines surrounded by vistas of blue
(salvation jane) & right in amongst it. There are emus browsing all about. I had planned to take Saulius & his
friend into Edeowie gorge on sunday but its going to be hot & they might not be up to a 9 hour day. Probably
well have to do the tourist round instead. I havent seen him since we spent a few days in the Burra area a year
or two ago though it feels longer. We had a correspondence that lasted 3 years about what happened to the jews
of lithuania. I harnessed all my resources in the writing of those letters & it may be the most important thing I
did over the period. I think we started out like players on opposing teams, kicking in opposite directions. But
like veterans of the game we came to respect each others style of play & perhaps, over time, we realized that
what was more important was that we were playing on the same field. I think we both respect each others
honesty & attention to detail. I learnt that the same facts can be marshalled to mean completely different things
depending on the perspective you start out with. Each ‘fact’ itself is open to interpretation & the meaning you
give it depends on your intention. Finally, I think, we both had enough of it. I certainly have left it behind: Ive
expended too much emotional blood on it. Ive closed it. In his last letter Saulius regrets my attitude. He says
new material is being discovered. The proclamations of the interim government that tried to function for about a
month from the 4th week of June 41 have been discovered in a private library (this was the govt that was
terminated by the occupying germans & most of its members sent to the Stutthof concentration camp). Mate!
That was 60 years ago. Its time to move on. The world is going insane again. There is a war on. (3/11/09. Pom
n :

when he saw that they had turned against him

and were practising every kind of perversion
he sent an angel to punish the people

for six days

the angel strode through the land
pestilence in the left hand
a flaming sword in the right
till half the people broke out in boils and sores
so that even little children were covered in pus
the other half he smote with the sword
so that the earth was awash with blood
17
 on the seventh day
he saw that his bidding was done
and a voice echoed through the heavens

this is my body
this is my blood )

(11/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 2 (nos 17-26 of anthology))

8/2/02 (7/2/02 – 22/2/02 (no 28)). The lightning was so fierce last night that I was
wondering what would happen if the van was struck (13/10/09. Sum yl8r  got me ( 23/6/06 )). I
was parked partly under a large cedar. The thunder made the van shudder. I liked it but I didnt get much sleep.
Then it rained lightly but steadily till morning. Its drizzling now (8.50 am). Ive put in the Leunig cartoon
because I think its true. The treatment of the so-called al Qaeda (the US administration is now saying they
cannot be distinguished in practice from the Taliban) prisoners is barbaric. I suspect they are being tortured in
ways that can be disguised by the misuse of language eg. by chemical means disguised as medicine,
interrogated under sedation, blindfolded, kept in confined spaces in strait jackets & prevented from
communicating in order that they be disoriented. It may be that the intention is to drive them insane in a
controlled manner so that we can get them to say what we want to justify our treatment of them & the conduct
of the war. (just went to the toilet & there are dozens of bunnies out there; the wind has picked up & its raining
heavier so Ive had to shift into the car) They may also be offered financial inducements, or threatened, to
achieve the same results. If they dont co-operate their murders can be disguised as justifiable executions by the
setting up of military tribunals (like the ‘troikas’ of Lenins days) to provide a veneer of legality. When a
civilized nation descends into barbarity it is amazing how easily the executive is able to recruit the services of
pastors, teachers, medical personnel & above all the judiciary. Eminent members of the legal profession in the
US (the former chief government prosecutor; an eminent lawyer with a post at Harvard) have argued for a
denial of rights for all foreigners & even openly advocated the torture of suspects. The public supports these
positions. I am told that lecturers have lost university postings for criticizing the president but I bet the lawyer
in Harvard advocating torture retains his. It was like that in chile & in germany too. My guess is that most of
these prisoners are just misguided boys with too much testosterone who are gullible enough to believe what
they are told by clerics, elders & generals. Some are probably so poor that they would hire themselves out to
any army to be able to send money home. Most were probably foolish enough to believe they were fighting for
the one god – gods soldiers. (As if in a feeble old age god needed their support!)

While cosmic wisdom understands all things are good and just, intelligence
may find injustice here, and justice somewhere else.
Heraclitus

To suggest that those from among the prisoners who cannot speak english (apparently most cant) are would-be
terrorists in any sense remotely comparable to the ones who piloted the aeroplanes into the towers is ridiculous.
The australian, Hicks, is probably no more than a foolish mercenary. If he had been a would-be terrorist he
would have stayed in australia and joined one of those ‘sleeper cells’ which US intelligence claims exist in
practically every country in the world. There is not much difference between those who enlist to take up arms
for god, or country, or god & country, or for pay. The cause of infinite justice & enduring freedom will not be
saved by men of war. Nor will “progress and freedom and choice and culture and music and laughter and
women” as the president claimed in a speech at a military academy in december last year. Whenever my
attention is drawn to camp x-ray I feel ill. Ive worshipped at the altar of european culture for too long. When I
was younger my heroes were Galileo, Copernicus, Alexander the Great, Napoleon. I admired the european
literary & musical inheritance. I studied classical Athenian democracy & still believe it represents the golden
age. Though a fringe member myself I was inclined to sneer at the hippies for their adoption of what I
considered to be the vague & meaningless languages of eastern mysticisms. New age talk still makes me bristle.
Now as I consider how we treat our prisoners I think were on the skids. We will implode. We have already
made the decisions in our ‘hearts’ that seal our fates. When dictatorial regimes & extremist groups in the
middle east mistreat prisoners they can at least argue that they have been hardened by an environment where
life is cheap, where everyone has been brutalized by poverty & hopelessness, where no one knows or expects

18
any better. We dont have that excuse. Intelligent & moderate people in the 3rd world will look at camp x-ray &
judge us for what we are. They will know, probably do already, that they are looking at the face of
technological modernism unmasked. All the double talk, & all the money thrown at the elites of those countries,
afghanistan etc., will not exonerate us. The cause is already lost … 1.50. Im sitting in the van overlooking the
lake (many black swans on the other shore) across from the bakery that is called Lakes Patisserie which makes
a lousy coffee & where I just ate a tasteless hamburger. This is Lakes Entrance. Its a miserable almost wintry
day. Judging from the number of elderly couples walking about hand in hand its a favourite spot for pensioners.
(my seniors card says “The holder is a valued member of our community. Please extend every courtesy and
assistance.”) I shouldnt have eaten the hamburger as I wasnt hungry but I wanted a table where I could take my
time to read the paper in good light. On the way here I heard that a distinction is to be made between Taliban &
al Qaeda prisoners. I wonder what purpose that will be put to. It doesnt affect the comments Ive made about
their treatment. All prisoners should be treated humanely. For once Im in agreement with Malcolm Fraser who
wrote an excellent article a few days back. If someone had told me years ago that a day would come when Id
hold him up as a man of principle I would have burst out in derisive laughter. As I get older I increasingly value
the capacity for fearless speech (I respected Brian Harradine; will vote for Bob Brown & the Greens in the next
federal election finally breaking my labour party habit; even the comely Natasha is coming across as a lady of
principle). I had not intended to write on topical ‘political’ subjects but am glad Ive expressed my views on this
one as I would not want to have abetted the forces of barbarism by a failure to speak up. Its my tiny
contribution in the immediate circle of my friends. Recently Ive scored some lavish praise for topical comments
& though I squirm with pleasure at the flattery (celebrities & the rich probably take praise in their stride
knowing that they deserve it) it puts me on my guard. I must be saying things that are easy: perhaps without
realizing it seeking to please. Nevertheless I continue with the comments. Those who kill others in war are
murderers. When states attack others they will always find ways of calling it self defence. When we treat others
inhumanely we will always find it easy to say that we do it for the benefit of humanity. Religions that are
prepared to supply pastors for the armed forces stink. By doing it they legitimise deliberate killing. They do it
because they know that if they genuinely upheld the commandment ‘thou shalt not kill’ they would be
persecuted by the state. The cessation of the persecution of the early christians by rome was conditional on the
church abandoning its commitment to uphold the commandment. Are there any religions that do not make that
compromise? Perhaps the jehovahs witnesses? The bahai in the middle east? The falun gong movement? I dont
know enough about any of them. How did japanese buddhists, who presumably dont believe even in killing
animals, conduct themselves in the 2nd war? Did they refuse to enlist? Pershaps all religions are on the nose ….
Im about 7ks past Bemm River which is about 20ks south of the Princes Highway on Sydenham Inlet. Ive been
here often. Its 5.20. I come here for the privacy though there are always mozzies & Im already being buzzed. Its
a densely vegetated area with quite a few bird sounds. The ocean is just over the dune & its nice to walk to
Pearl Point to the west. (the mozzies are thick & they are biting through the nylon trousers). People come to
Bemm River for the quiet. Once when I was here every conversation I overheard over several days was about
fish: whether they were biting, who had caught what, etc. Right now I am getting a whiff of rotting fish from
pieces that have been thrown into the scrub. I wish that people didnt do that. At Bemm River I bought 3
stubbies in the rather impressive new pub (one drinker inside) that has been built to replace the old one that
burnt down years ago. For a long time you could only drink at what was little more than a temporary shed.
There is also a big caravan park & a general store. The beaches are known for the paper nautilus shells that get
washed up in certain years. Last year me & H got about a dozen along the coast about 40ks to the west. On the
way several ks before Newmerella I stopped at the roadside cross erected for Kevin J. Hawkins. I wanted to
write down his name for the journal. The cross is made of railway size sleepers & is about 6 foot high. On it it
simply says Kevin J. Hawkins 1946 R.I.P. 2001. There is a rose planted at the foot of it. I saw his dead body
sitting in his car, his face singed, his head split vertically at the back, with his brains spilt out hanging over the
back of his neck like the flap of a legionnaires hat. I described the accident in the story ‘13/2/01 – 26/2/01’. He
was a prawn fisherman (Lakes Entrance) returning home to his partner in Newmerella. There was another death
then which is marked by a bunch of flowers on the opposite side of the road. It will have been the truck driver
who I thought was dying when I heard his groans in the grass. The drivers partner was the one who couldnt
move because of the pain in his back. A few weeks ago there was a report of another death of a Newmerella
resident. I think a man of similar age was murdered by a girlfriend at Lake Tyers.
15/2/02. As I said destiny has played tricks on Vi. It gave her two unsuitable husbands. The first
was a philanderer. Her son from that marriage, Dean, who was raised in his grandmothers household became a
successful manager of many large companies. When he parted with Coca Cola Amatil they gave him a $19
million golden handshake. Noel, Hs dad, a heavy drinker all his life, was pathologically jealous. I think Vi

19
would have become a successful manager herself. I feel sure its from her that Dean inherited his abilities. Her -
good sense, cheery manner & leadership ability earnt the respect of anyone she came in contact with. But life in
the workplace was made impossible by Noel, for whom the liklihood that she might glance at other men &
notice that not all of them were as morose as him, was intolerable. The ever present danger of him arriving at
the workplace to cause a scene by making drunken accusations meant that she had to leave her job, which she
loved, as head girl at Coles. The justification given was that a womans place is in the home. Vi could have (&
would have liked to I think) made a mark in society for she had natural elegance, a quick wit, tall figure, a
capacity to tell a story & an easy way of holding centre stage. She had a good humoured but tolerant disrespect
for the pretentious that would have allowed her to hold her own in any company. There is an irony then in the
fate which prevented her from having even the normal social life that anyone expects of visiting & being visited
by friends & relatives or taking part in community activities. Noel was shy in company & would drink steadily
becoming more morose as he went. Under the circumstances socializing was always tense & there was a risk of
a price having to be paid afterwards. It just wasnt worth it. So Vi devoted herself to raising her daughter &
since both parents doted on her it was what made their life comprehensible. I think that was Hs role, whether
assigned by the gods or demanded by necessity doesnt matter. The buying of books, the homework, school
functions, her obvious successes: dux of school, head prefect, scholarships provided a veneer of normality to
the outside world such as there was of it. It all seems so long ago. Vi has forgiven & appears to have forgotten.
The question I always used to ask was why hadnt she left him, because she had often been driven to the edge.
The answer given by H was that she was afraid that wherever she hid he would eventually find her. And
perhaps kill her. Yes, it was a real consideration, maybe the decisive one. Strange how cooperative our
memories have been in letting it submerge & also strange how easily dredged up now that a life has to be
reviewed. I suspect it was H herself who was most responsible, by providing a meaning, for them staying
together. I think she saw it as her duty, or if she didnt its how she acted, to make Vis life tolerable in purgatory.
& I think she succeeded. Its why the memories have been allowed to fade. When it wasnt H then it was the
grandchildren. No grandparents doted more on them than Vi & Noel & the long period over which everyone of
the 5 of them used to spend each weekend (& often weeks at a time when H was in hospital with the next one)
there even in their teenage years was a process which finally closed many wounds. It was the golden age. The
marriage really did become normal. Though Noel gave Vi only a moderate weekly allowance (no one ever
worked out where the rest of his pay went & both H and Vi wondered if he wasnt supporting someone they
didnt know about) her generosity had no bounds. They would come home with money jingling in their pockets
at a time when we gave little, me being old fashioned & not wanting to spoil them. I think if they had asked for
more she would have given & gone hungry. I am not suggesting she be given credit for being generous because
though she scrimped & saved pennies all her life (jars for small change, jars for money for the rates) & though
her proudest achievement was the purchase of the housing commission house which she did by forging Noels
signature (he wouldnt co-operate) & paid off out of the same weekly allowance, she simply did not value
money or possessions. Her life which once had been devoted to H was now centred totally on the kids. It has
been another irony of her fate that lately they have not been frequent visitors though they are not far away. She
doesnt expect them to but when one of them visited her at the hostel not so long ago she told H afterwards she
felt as if her heart was going to burst with pride. Over all this time she has never lost her good humour though
an acid edge, which has always been there, has become more pronounced. In spite of two failed marriages she
had succeeded, till now, in retaining her dignity.
(I dont want to cast stones. I dont make judgements, am not, dont have the capacity. But as Voltaire said
somewhere the dying (or was it the dead? ) dont ask to be mourned just that the truth be told. I got on well with
Noel. The circumstances that made him the person he was are no longer recoverable. I hardly ever heard him
talk about his childhood or youth. This is as much as I know about him. His father, Granta, had a stable of 18
horses in Bourke st. just near where St. Augustines (where me & H got married) is. Noel could remember
playing marbles in the street before parts of it were paved. The primary school was right there as was a police
station & lockup. He remembers the kids singing to the prisoners for pennies they threw. He left school at 13 to
work. In those days gangs controlled parts of the inner city. I wish I had paid more attention to the occasional
stories he told about them. There are hints that Granta was a hard man. (26/2/02 hard? – “an old bastard”
according to Noel - helenz. (7/4/10. Recently, while following up research on my great-great grandfather,
Robert Dryburgh (see Wednesday 3/9/08), in the State Library I discovered that Granta (William
George Dryburgh) was a stableman, not an owner, according to the Victorian Electoral Rolls 1919 – 1931.
At other times of his working life he was a cellarman, a labourer or a cleaner.) ). The only mention of him I
ever heard was of pig shooting expeditions to the Riverina in N.S.W. I dont think Noel depended on H as much
as Vi did as his life was his work. As long as I knew him he worked for the british car manufacturer Roots as
the traffic manager which was a responsible position. In his entire life I think he only took three days off work.

20
He was greatly admired and liked by the drivers who when he retired gave him more bottles of whiskey of
every variety than I had seen in one room. After a lifetime of serving the same company his retirement benefit
was a pittance because when Roots & Chrysler amalgamated (actually Chrysler took them over) long serving
Roots employees were swindled out of their retirement funds. Thats it.)
22/2/02. Ive written about a topic we dont practice talking about. Dont get me wrong I am not
planning an early exit. Every year is a bonus. Tonight Ill be back in Melbourne. I intend to have a good time at
the Bocadillo bar, and afterwards.
19/4/02 (15/4/02 – 26/4/02 (no 29)). I was kidding about getting drunk but perhaps I
should have as I still feel out of kilter. I slept very little. For a start I hadnt realized how close I was to the
highway. Noise carries in flat country; you hear an approaching truck miles away. Then there was the sheet
lightning which was so bright I had to keep my eyes shut from getting blinded. Its interesting how muted the
thunder is with this kind of event, just low growling & rumbling, no obvious connection to the flashes. There
were a few showers which made me keep thinking of some tyre marks I saw that show the dirt can turn soft in
spite of the patches of limestone. I doubt if Ill be able to find shade today. It was a mistake to carry so much
food. I cant leave the car shut out in the open & walk away for half a day. The couple of showers has made the
moss turn greenish by morning. Before it wasnt visible at all. Things change suddenly here. Before dawn I
drove to the shore track & a few ks to the west for breakfast where Im parked now (8.00). The sun has broken
through the cloud & its already quite warm. But the main thing that kept me on edge during the night was a
question I was grappling with. The problem was posed a few weeks ago by Tom Fryer. Hes been doing it hard
& I had said to him that he should hold it together for the sake of his music. His response was: “Why?” I said Id
try to answer it on the trip. Ive been turning it over & the answer, if there is one, keeps getting more
complicated or receding. I want to give it a go but I dont want to spend half the trip doing it; and thats how big
its getting. Last night it occurred to me that the way to start would be to first examine what it is that we do
when we ask “how?” & “why?”: the different anthropologies of the two similar looking words. It was
Wittensteins unique genius to recognize that the grammatical similarity of words can mask completely differing
usages. So I tossed & turned trying to tease out the underlying structure of each. Ill give a report later. Right
now Ill see how far this track takes me ….11.20. Im about 15ks further around the bay at the narrow neck
separating it from the southern ocean that goes on to Point Weyland. (Youre right Gintai, the sign says you cant
camp here). Ive just had a dip in the nuddy by way of a long overdue wash & even brushed me teeth. A couple
of 4x4s have rolled up. I wouldnt have been naked if I had thought it was likely. Didnt enjoy some parts of the
track as you cant avoid driving over brick sized shattered limestone which I imagine could cut through a tyre.
Point Weyland is the point you see across the mouth of the bay from Venus Bay township. You come to the
edge of the cliff facing the southern ocean with surprising abruptness & it looks just like the fotos you see of
the cliff bordering the southern edge of the Nullabor Plain. Took a foto of a sign with a picture of a man falling
headlong down the cliff under an exclamation mark. Might as well have a go at the words.
Of the two ‘how’ is the easier one. If someone asks me what am I doing when I try to answer it I know
that my initial move is to gesture, draw lines in the air, make shapes with fists or fingers. I say its like this &
then like this & if you stand next to me lets do it together & youll get it (flaying arms for swimming; swinging
motion for golf). I might go on to draw diagrams & instructions on a piece of paper. Science is an elaboration
of the initial gestures. Its task is to answer the question “how?” A feature of the answers is that we know when
its satisfactorily completed which happens when the moves of the person asking the question exactly reproduce
the moves of the person giving the answer. They have come to an agreement. I am not uninterested in science &
am impressed by what has been achieved (but lately I feel only disgust) but my overwhelming, life long I
suppose, preoccupation is with the question: “Why?” Its my special condition, misery, illness or punishment.
So when you asked the question, Tom, with a particular emphasis, I recognized a shared affliction. Philosophers
claim that the discipline that tries to answer it is ethics. It came to me as quite a surprise last night to realize that
when I try to answer it I have no urge at all to gesture, draw pictures or make any of the moves I do when
answering the other. It made me realize (I can see a shingleback lizard) how radically different they are from
one another both in the asking of & the answering. These differences can be highlighted by looking at the
situation of children saying why to adults. Its a definite stage in the development of some kids & can be
aggravating because when you give an answer they respond to it by saying why again. You shouldnt smoke.
Why not? Because it will make you sick. Why should I care? Because you might die. Why worry, Ill die
anyway (etc. etc.) Dont resort to god in your answer because the next question will be tougher – who is god? If
you say because god loves you then youve answered one question with two because love is just as hard to pin
down. There is no standing side by side, synchronizing moves. The child looks up at the adult, teacher or father,
or some other authority. You look down. Its significant that in these situations youll often hear the sentence:

21
“Who said so?” If it goes on & on youll probably be forced to answer with things like: I say so; thats how it is;
because I hold the purse strings; because Im bigger; because Im older than you; because I just know; because
Im the father (two more 4x4s have gone by; theyre going through the gate to the point about 6 ks further). Some
children will accept the first answer they get & go on to be adults who will be satisfied with answers that are
laughably silly as long as they come from a teacher, an official, expert, or churchman. Others continue with the
pestiferous questions & you realize after a while what is at stake is your authority. Some of these may grow up
to be adults who are never satisfied & keep on asking till there is no authority left standing. I think youll agree,
Tom, that it is easier to be the first kind of person. The way we ask “Why?” & the way we offer or accept an
answer are processes by which we locate ourselves, or nominate our position in an hierarchy – of the owners of
meanings. Ill try to answer your question another day.
4.30. Tyringa Beach. As the crow flies its about 18 ks from where I was but Ive done 50. The side of the
van is 3 steps from the edge of a cliff of about 10 metres with a vertical drop down to jagged rocks over which
the water is churning. It will be great to sleep to tonight. The front of it is facing south west into a stiff breeze &
I would think that if you projected a line forward from it over the southern ocean it would miss antarctica & not
hit land again till it hit the coast of california. I came on a track that branches one north west & the other south
east along the cliff top. The car is on a platform of flat limestone. The cliff edges are undercut by up to several
metres so it pays not to stand on the very edge. But Im not a sleepwalker. Fortunately the breeze is directly off
the sea so its mild. There isnt a bush over 3 feet as far as the eye can see in either direction. The limestone is
inclined to be whitish & glary but there is a beautiful beach nearby where the rocks along the waters edge are of
rusty granite which is the underlying strata. I know that no amount of description will enable you to imagine it
unless youve been to one of these beaches yourself.

I lie in the van

on the borders of sleep
and as the shell of my life falls away
breached by the steady rhythm
of the pounding sea
I surrender to the night

the sea grows louder

till its roaring mingles with my dreams
and on the wave of sleep
I am carried to a shoreline

where I know
it has always been so
that on such a night
I will be taken
back to the sea

26/4/02. Ive still got mice in the car: the shy ones that wont go into the trap. Ive brushed out the
new droppings but theyre everywhere. (28/4/02. Caught the last mouse yesterday evening in the trap. It had
gnawed through 6 cartons of milk during the day on friday.) (3/5/02. Streaky Bay. Got new mouse/mice in the
car.) (6/5/02. Tumby Bay. The following night the mouse had gone & Ive been free of them since. Rang H from
Cummins: Vis got into a nursing home with an activities program (21/5/02. Called Bodalla & run by the uniting
church & the nurses are chatty & she likes it); Joes broken up with Mon; Kate finished the teaching round
satisfactorily; Dan has gone to London & claims that if it doesnt work out he will try something new when he
gets back (21/5/02. Made a reverse charge call saying that the agency had put him up in the city centre & he
was loving it. Could be away for 6 months he said but has not done a job or looked for work yet & I give him
about a month); Ben is depressed.)
*
Meaning is entirely in the usage. The commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill has been used to provide a
cloak of moral high ground for killing people under its various clauses of exception to the rule. To accept them
requires me to erect barriers between myself & others with the supposition that under certain circumstances
people might become inhuman & unreachable. I do not have the knowledge to make such judgements & if I
did would not be prepared to assume the authority to act on them. I do not recognize the legitimacy of any

22
government that funds armed forces let alone produces weapons of mass destruction. I despise the christian
churches for their pretence to be honouring the memory of the man who (though he said he had not come to
change the law) had wanted to reinterpret the commandment so that men would have become like lambs
(sacrificial?) (most of the other animals dont kill members of their own species either.) His radical proposal
would have changed the world but it was counter-intuitive & doomed to failure. His example lapsed. No one
can know the future because it would make change impossible but we can discern potentials in the present.
Perhaps he feared that unless they changed men would destroy themselves.

The prophets voice possessed of god requires no ornament, no sweetening

of tone, but carries over a thousand years.
Heraclitus

& I sense that our civilization is drawing to a conclusion. There will be many afterwards who will say
we saw it coming but then we didnt. & I suggest, should there be anyone who hears what I am saying, that
preparations be made. I make only one: I reaffirm my loyalty to the memory of a mild prophet, teacher & healer
who failed to change human nature & wanted to help others but couldnt save himself. (3/5/02. Yesterday at
Speed Point just out of Yanerbie which is 19 ks south of Streaky Bay I met a traveller who seemed very
competent. He had fitted out the ½ bus we had coffee & biscuits in himself. He was an ex-abalone diver & a
surfie. We shared a knowledge of very specific spots on the NSW coast such as Goalen Head. He is based out
of Torquay in Victoria. He advised I get a Mitsubishi 4x4 as they have had plenty of time to refine it & the parts
would be much cheaper than the VW & people knew how to work on them. He said he had a vision of jesus
when he was in an alternative community in fiji & his life had only one purpose now. On the front of his van
was the quote from John 10.10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.” He was predicting an apocalyptic age. I regret now I didnt stay to listen more as he would have
talked on & on. I gave him some of my ‘pieces’ because of our common interests & drove off to have a meal in
private by the water at Yanerbie. On reflection I cannot detect any difference in the status of his experience &
the relevatory ecstasy described by Blaise Pascal whos ‘Pensees’ I have with me in the car. But because Pascal
was a great scientist & is acknowledged to have been one of europes foremost intellects his experience is taken
seriously but an ex-abalone diver & surfie wasnt able to hold my attention even though I have had a related
experience myself.)

To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists,

manifesting itself to us as the highest wisdom and the most
radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend
only in their most primitive forms – this knowledge, this
feeling, is at the centre of all true religiousness. In this
sense, and in this sense only, I belong to the ranks of
devoutly religious men.

Einstein

15/8/02 (11/8/02 – 21/8/02 (no 30)). 8.55 am. Today is a big day for Vi in the
Bodalla nursing home, maybe one of the better ones in Melbourne as such institutions go (theyve
got her painting & give her plenty of attention; shes visited by an excellent doctor; she enjoys life at
times). One branch (14, the 15th is in the US) of the family, her descendants through her son Dean,
are arriving by private aeroplane (belonging to a friend, Frank Lowe) to introduce her to the latest
additions – a great-grandchild and a great-great-grandchild, by whom she has been promoted to a
great-great-grandmother. They have booked a conference room in the Hotel Sofitel where they are
assembling at about midday & Vi is meant to arrive a bit later for the introduction. Then they wine &
dine till about 4 when she is to leave & the rest head back to the airport to return to Sydney in Franks
plane. The most problematic part of the arrangement has fallen to H who has been worrying for 2
weeks how to get Vi there & back again at the appointed times. You cannot book a wheelchair taxi in

23
advance according to the hiring agency H was told. They are in short supply as the government
subsidy has not been reviewed since the 80s. At christmas many nursing home patients get left
stranded & miss out on xmas dinner & what for some is their only outing for the year & their only
opportunity to see their family. & the situation is getting worse as the demand increases. Its made
more difficult for H as she cant leave work having used up her 5 ‘no doctor certificate’ days looking
for Vis nursing home earlier in the year. Dean says to tell a driver that he will get a $100 tip. It might
work. (31/8/02. it did - helenz). Another way of doing it would have been to have the event at the
nursing home, which I imagine, none of them has visited. But then they would get to see the woman
who is always ‘asleep’ with her mouth open in a grimace of pain & who is fed through a tube inserted
into her stomach. Or they might meet the cranky (“who do you think you are!” she says to the nursing
staff) polish lady who is the only other person there who is regularly visited (by a daughter who also
volunteers with the feeding of others). & they might notice all the others lying about with vacant eyes
who dont get visitors at all but it doesnt matter, H says, as they wouldnt know if they did. (31/8/02.
actually, they didnt go there simply because there is no room large enough to hold them all except
the day room and the chapel, both of which are usually in use by residents or staff - helenz) Last
week Doig got Vi to circle one of 5 options on a document listing various levels of medical
intervention in case of emergency. This document is designed to indemnify the home against
litigation should relatives accuse it of neglect of duty. The best interests of the nursing home & also of
the patients (so they dont end up like the lady with the tube, or vacant, or line themselves up for a
stroke or other calamity that will prevent them expressing an opinion) are served by circling the option
for least intervention. The best interests of the pharmaceutical & medical technologies industries, the
doctors (everytime one walks past the bed of a comatose patient nodding hullo or glances at a record
sheet he earns a fee) are served by circling the option for aggressive intervention e.g. heart
resuscitation, hospitalization etc. Vi circled the option which says do not instigate aggressive
procedures, just keep the patient pain free and comfortable. But should you get rushed to hospital,
probably non compus mentis, as is likely to be the case in an emergency at such an age, it will do
whatever it chooses no matter how aggressive the intervention because this doco that Vi has signed
applies only to Bodalla & the hospitals have their own separate procedures. If you havent had a
chance to clearly express your opinion they will do what it takes (eg. scores of unnecessary
pathology tests, scans, etc.) however intrusive to protect themselves against the possibility of
litigation. Even if you do clearly express what you want as was recently the case with a woman in
Melbourne who wore a medal around her neck asking that she not be resuscitated & tried to commit
suicide (which is legal) with an overdose she was revived by the ambulance crew. But what are the
chances of someone who is pushing 90 understanding any of it! Hope Vi has a good time with the
relos this arvo.
*
It wasnt always so & maybe it need not be so now. Montaigne gives many examples of how
men have died & I add a few of my own but of the very greatest. As Heraclitus said: “The lord to
whom the oracle of Delphi belongs says nothing; he indicates, shows.” For it may be that in the way
they died they showed more than in what they preached. Mahommed died with his head cradled in
the lap of his favourite wife (the youngest). The buddha is said to have died after choking on a chop
(but at the last ‘poets’ meeting Frank Osowski disputed this version claiming that it was a mushroom.
He claims my version is caused by an error of translation & that the buddha was a vegetarian.)
(31/8/02. Frank is right – the translator mistook the meaning of the term “he had the chop”, taking it
literally rather than figuratively – helenz). The greatest of all healers, the nazarene, was crucified
lamenting with his last words that he had been betrayed (or would be?). Heraclitus, about whom it is
told in the 9th book of Diogenes Laertus ‘Lives of the Philosophers’ refused an invitation by Darius to
visit his court with the words: “Heraclitus the Ephesian to King Darius, Son of Hystapes: hail! All men
are estranged from the truth and seek vainglory. As for myself, I flee the vanities of palaces and will
not go to Persia, contenting myself with my inconsequentiality, which is sufficient for me” was
devoured by dogs. The story goes that he had come out of his reclusive retreat ill with dropsy &
sought to cure it by covering himself in a pile of manure. The dogs had already got to him before his
death was discovered. (31/8/02. and let that be a warning to all bullshit artists - helenz).

*
4.45. I forgot to mention yesterday that the country around Kimba is the greenest Ive seen on
the trip. Even here, 8 ks west of Yardea at the same spot I stopped at last year there is some spongy

24
grass about & a few pools of water in the creek in the cleft of the hill. I called in at the station around
midday because I wanted to find out if they had a track & if I could get permission to go to Lake
Acraman about 30 ks north from here. It has caught my imagination because there are no public
roads anywhere near it & because Ive travelled the roads on all sides of it knowing its there in the
middle somewhere. Then a couple of years ago I saw it mysteriously in the distance from a hilltop. Its
about 25 x 25 ks & what clinched it was when I was reading an article recently in the newspaper
about the chances of earth getting hit by an asteroid & that we are just about due for one it mentioned
that if one of the size that made the famous crater (whose name I forget) in WA or of the size that
formed Lake Acraman (of dry salt like the others in these parts) collided with us a sizeable proportion
of life on earth could be obliterated. I hadnt known it was formed by a meteor (& it probably isnt since
newspapers make these things up) but if so it fits in with my doomsday scenario about the future of
our civilization & so I would like to spend a few days on its shores. I have two 1:250000 maps (the
southern one is called Yardea) which when joined have the lake exactly in the centre. But there was
no one at the station except 2 very friendly black dogs & 2 geese one of which kept lowering its head
& hissing & extending its neck in a threatening posture as if it was going to rush at me & nip me. It
was making a variety of very loud calls to alert anyone about that an intruder was present. I hope this
white goose is not destined for the pot for it was putting the dogs, who wanted only to be patted, to
shame. So Ive come here for the night (did exactly the same walk as last year) hoping that there is
someone at home tomorrow seeing as its the weekend. There is some kind of honeyeater in the
mistletoe which is in flower just behind me with a loud attractive warble but I cant get a good enough
look to identify it. Before I went on the walk as I was fiddling in the back of the van 4 emus sneaked
up to investigate me. They are curious as long as you dont turn around to look at them. I did & they
ran off (cattle also dont like eye contact from close up). There were very many large flocks of them all
along the way & you have to drive carefully not to run into them. Yesterday I saw 3 jet black goats.
Also a sheep ran off with a lamb & a goat kid of the same age following. I had a big scare today.
When I got here I couldnt open the tail gate & my entire system depends on me accessing from the
back of the van. It doesnt have a handle on the inside that can open it manually in an emergency like
the Nissan did. Id almost given up when it occurred to me that it looked as if it might be being
jammed by my very fancy large bumper pushing up against the bottom edge of the gate. So I jumped
up & down on it & it did the trick. The 8 bolts on the brackets that hold the bar in place must have a
bit of play in them that allows the bar to creep up to lock into a higher position when I drive over
corrugations. Ive also got the pop-up extended for the 1st time because I wanted to keep the van cool
when I was on the stroll. (Just heard on the radio that there is an emu plague.) Im about to have a
bite to eat & then a couple of stubbies for a nightcap.

Ah, with Coopers Stout my fading Life provide,

And wash my body whence the life has died,
And in a Winding sheet of Hopleaf wrapt,
So bury me by some sweet Gardenside.
Omar Khayyam
27/9/02 (21/9/02 – 3/10/02 (cursive by helenZ; plain by a…z@) (no 32)). John had a
bad dream last night in which he was chained up & in desperate fury, kicked a hippy with a mighty kick,
only it was the van wall & he nearly busted his big toe. Then, adding insult to injury, on the walk we did to
Harrow along the beautiful track off which we are parked, he leant on a fence while I took a photo & was
electrocuted! Ah, the joys of country life. The walk was most picturesque, with rolling hills & magnificent
trees dotting the paddocks. Some farmers are planting new trees to eventually replace the soon to decline
mature ones, but most aren’t – the paddocks will be bare & the lovely park-like feel will be gone in 20-50
years if more of them don’t think ahead. Had a beer/lemon squash in the old pub, inspected the
completely-made-of-logs lock-up, & then set off, in the rain, to retrace our route back to the van (leaving
out the nasty bare-foot excursion over the blue-metal screenings on the ford across the track where it
crosses the Glenelg in favour of the longer route over the proper bridge at the other end of town.) The way
home was cold, windy & wet, but we did it. A farmer in a truck passed us on the way & waved pleasantly,
but didn’t offer us a lift. I speculated that farmers probably walk about in the cold rain as a matter of
course, so wouldn’t feel the need to come to our rescue. After a much appreciated meal, we specked
along the creek on both sides of the track. In the ground level hollow of a big gum John noticed a hawk
(brown? Swamp harrier?) which was obviously either sick or injured, perhaps by the gunfire we have heard
– there are lots of ducks on the water, and empty cartridges along the banks. The expedition was cut short
by more bad weather, so we holed up in the van while it blew over.

25
 Harrow is a pretty town, nestled along the river valley, struggling, like many towns of its size, to
stay viable. They have a sound and light show advertised, which presumably illustrates its history as a
settlement. There is also an oval/sportsground dedicated to Johnny Mullagh, an aboriginal cricketer who
played for Australia against England in 1868(?) & was a star of various Wimmera teams. (13/10/09. Here is
the entry on him from the Australian Dictionary of Biography, adbonline.anu.edu.au: “MULLAGH,
JOHNNY (1841?-1891), Aboriginal cricketer, was born on Mullagh station, near Harrow, Victoria, and
originally answered to 'Mullagh Johnny'. His Madimadi tribal name may have been Muarrinim; his
romanticized portrait in the Harrow Mechanics' Institute suggests that he was part-European but neither
surviving photographs nor contemporary testimony support this inference. He was a capable stockman and
assisted with shearing, spending most of his life on J. B. Fitzgerald's Mullagh property or on David Edgar's
Pine Hills station. He became a celebrity and local folk-lore is rich in anecdotes testifying to his popularity and
undoubted strength of character. Since legends lack verification and either contain racist overtones or exude
sentimental paternalism, they are best ignored.¶ About 1864 Mullagh and other Aboriginal station hands
learned the rudiments of cricket from Edgar's schoolboy son and two young squatters, T. G. Hamilton and W.
R. Hayman. In 1865 an Aboriginal team defeated a European one at Bringalbert station. The victors then
challenged Western District clubs with much success, Mullagh emerging as the most versatile player. By
September 1866 Hayman secured the coaching services of T. W. Wills, financed through the Edenhope Club.
Wills led an Aboriginal team on to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day and then with Hayman took
the players on a financially disastrous tour to Sydney. Mullagh was one of the few successful players. ¶ In 1867
Hayman, two financial backers and Charles Lawrence, a former Surrey all-rounder, regrouped the team,
smuggled it out of the colony and conducted it efficiently on the first Australian cricket tour of England.
Between 25 May and 17 October 1868 the thirteen Aboriginals captained by Lawrence played 47 matches in 40
centres, winning fourteen and losing the same number. Mullagh and Lawrence carried the burden of the tour,
Mullagh playing in 45 matches. ¶ Few cricketers better merited the title of all-rounder. At his best against fast
bowling, Mullagh batted high in the order and completed 71 forceful innings, averaging 23.65 from 1698 runs
(94 highest score). Underarm bowling was then optional but he favoured the round-arm delivery, with a 'free
wristy style'. His 1877 overs included 831 maidens and numbered twice those delivered by any other
Aboriginal. He is credited with 245 wickets for an average of 10, although he captured 257 wickets. In addition
he often kept wickets. His performances won him a cup at Reading and sundry monetary presentations, but his
great match was at Burton-upon-Trent: he top scored with 42, took 4 for 59, caught a fifth and as wicket-keeper
stumped the other five. All matches were enlivened with athletics and displays of Aboriginal prowess; Mullagh
was the star boomerang thrower. He also threw the cricket ball further than most challengers and cleared the
high-jump bar at 5 ft 3 ins (160cm). ¶ Mullagh never played intercolonial cricket but he represented Victoria in
1879 against the All England 11, scoring 36. Until the 1890 season he played regularly with the Harrow Club, a
member of the Murray Cup competition. His prowess apparently overcame racial barriers and he was widely
respected. He died unmarried on 14 August 1891 in his camp at 'Johnny's dam' on Pine Hills station. He was
buried in the Harrow cemetery, and the Hamilton Spectator sponsored a district subscription for an obelisk to
his memory at the 'Mullagh oval' in Harrow. He must be rated as a player of class at a time when cricketing
standards were at a low ebb.”
Cockatoos are ubiquitous here & often “serenade” us with their harsh calls – warning cries
probably. They inspired this bit of doggerel :

Of all gods screechers, great & small

There’s one that screeches most of all
One whose screeches can’t be bested
That cockatoo – the suphur crested.

I dont know if it was a hippy that I kicked. He was a young guy with long black hair & I dont
think he meant any harm. It was just that we were chained to the same rail & he was within reach.
There was no good reason for it. It was the sort of thing you do when you are being treated like an
animal. Anyway the kick really connected (it was with the aluminium frame of Hs bed) & I could tell
from the way he screamed out that he was hurt. That was when I woke up & I was screaming out too
& then groaning & moaning abjectly for a long time. At first I thought that I had finally broken my toe
as Ive always expected that sooner or later I would (Ive kicked the wall of the previous van several
times; & even H!) but Ive got away with a purple bruise, swelling, & probably the loss of a toenail (the
big one). H said “are you orright, are you orright?” a few times & went back to sleep as I was writhing
& groaning. This morning she proposed (said the thought came to her during the night) we walk into
Harrow which took me 2 hours of painful limping in one direction!

26
 15/11/02 (11/11/02 – 20/11/02 (no 33)). 8.55 am. Its a rufous (rufiventris) not a
golden whistler that Ive been hearing. Brushed me teeth which with a dip in the Rose river yesterday
evening by way of a wash makes me ready for Myrtleford. Before leaving on the trip I was wondering
if it wasnt time to quit writing. I have probably already said what has been most important for me to
say. I have often written under a compulsion as if I was only a vehicle. It is not obvious to me that
what is important cannot be said in a few pages, or sentences, or perhaps in a single syllable. I would
not want to become a person (like academics, writers, journos, preachers) who keeps repeating
himself out of habit or to satisfy expectations. At some point about three years ago I fell into the
knowledge that this is what I should be doing & was grateful to have had the experience. I hope the
knowledge to stop comes equally clearly. I have collected three book length folders of master copies
(with front covers in colour) of my pieces & when I hold them I know the pleasure that artists get
when they encapsule themselves in their work. I could present them to someone & say this is me, or
at least it was. Like Montaigne saying his writing is only himself, a way of projecting, an ego trip. I
have felt the temptation to accept an identity (eg of a writer? (13/10/09. t tz how H dd mi onth 
@ www.scribd.com ( ‘community’  ‘search people’ - insert: arunaszizys  ‘view documents’
(3/11/09. rf wrdd  ♪st th@ thst 12t lod +v m most frq li uud sm - makk m ree
n dfklt 2 dsfr. Sotgoo!))) so as to provide myself with a set of guiding rules & a structure to
govern my transactions with people. But if I were to allow it I would be violating something important I
know about myself. We fix down separate identities in a fluid world like putting on armour & view
each other through chinks in the helmet. In my case its tempting to continue the writing habit because
it provides me & H with a shared task. It feels good to cooperate closely with a partner. Another
inducement is that it fits in with the travelling habit since I no longer spend 8 hours a day walking, my
joints wouldnt allow it. But it may be that three years doing the same kind of thing is long enough if I
am not to become set in my ways. The problem is not so much how others view you, its easy to cope
with when you receive the odd compliment. The difficulty is not to play a part. …. 12.15. Just got a bit
of a surprise. Im stopped for a bite to eat at the Marshall Spur Recreational Area on Lake Buffalo
(you should see the blackberry infestation in the district, entire hillsides are covered) and put up the
foldout table & next to it the clothes box which I use to sit on. Went to the front of the van to turn the
radio off & as I went back to sit down a brown snake was on its way under the van between the box &
table. I didnt want it to get into the engine works so I got it to go off by throwing pebbles on it &
tapping the ground with a stick. Would not have been hard to step on this one if you were
daydreaming which is the only way they present a danger. Im off…. 4.35. Im at the Junction Picnic
Ground in Bogong Village half way up to Falls Creek from Mt Beauty down below at the head of the
valley. I am next to two large rhododendron bushes covered in white blooms. I am pissed. Ive got a
great excuse for being in this very european looking environment (under a pine tree) on the edge of
one of the more boutique little towns in victoria. The water is roaring over boulders in the two
streams. There are all kinds of little walks from here. & its all for me coz Im by myself. My excuse is
that it would be irresponsible to drive on down the mountain in the state Im in. I know that they cant
do nothing about me being here, not that anyone is going to try to evict me. When I got to Falls Creek
on my way to Omeo choosing this road coz I thought Id visit Bruce & Cathy Smith & Adam Cadd (see
story ‘The Hat’) who recently got married to the sister of Don who gets my track notes I found the
road was closed because of a dispute by departments over who is responsible for its maintenance.
But I had already bought my night cap stubbies at Falls Creek in the expectation of parking among
the snowgums on the plateau. So now Im drunk & Im staying here for the duration. After Buffalo Lake
I bought petrol & the paper in Myrtleford & then took the road a few ks further that branches off the
road to Bright & goes to Mt Beauty. Ive never been on it before & its typical of mountain valleys. Read
the paper over a pot of beer at Towonga looking out at Mt Bogong which I climbed with a couple of
friends as a youth. I remember we carried so much beer in the large (750 ml) cans they had then that
we had to drink them on the way up because they were too heavy to carry. I also remember the
Cleve Cole Memorial Hut on the top which has since burnt down & been replaced. On the morning
we were going up the mountain I went to the toilet (in Bright? Towonga? Porepunkah?) & a guy came
in & said Marilyn Monroe had died. When I told me mates, Mick Hennessy & Graham Ching, they
didnt believe me. After reading the paper I checked the mobile & there was a message from Kate
saying shed caught up with everyone (Joe, Ben, H) & they were all fine & Ben was cheerful & that I
should drink a lot of water (she must think Im being dessicated in bone dry drought affected country.)
Thanks Kate. Time for tea.

27
 (12/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 3 (nos 27 – 33 of anthology))

28/3/03 (February 24 (no 34)). Its 12.15 pm. Me & H never got out of bed till 11 &
st
Dan still hasnt surfaced. Its his 1 sleep in his childhood bed since he got off the plane. I was
reminding him yesterday of the mportance of regular sleep & healthy eating when you are trying 2
combat xessive stress. (There is an xellent book by Kurt Vonneguts son (who later got a medical
doctorate @ Harvard) after a breakdown giving the same advice. Unfortunately I must have lent it 2
someone who hasnt returned it & its probably no longer in print.) Often enough these simple
requirements are impossible 2 achieve with the best intentions. Dan reckons a glass of red wine @
bedtime is the best guarantee of sleep 4 him. Yesterday evening he had a couple with Kate & H. I
agree with him & have a lifelong habit of resisting medical drugs using them only as a last resort. I
probably use fewer drugs (almost xclusively antacid for the oesophagitis) over 10 years than the
average person these days uses in a year (I notice kids use disprin routinely now). However there are
times that you can b so severely assaulted by storms of perceptions that its handy 2 have access 2
medication just in case they require immediate dousing. So I am glad that Dan has seen his way
clear 2 a consultation with dr. Doig on monday 2 discuss if medicine can help his efforts 2 establish a
regular sleeping pattern. As parents all we can do is provide a safe & stable base 4 him 2 find his
feet. Hopefully when he wakes (was up at 2.30 pm.) he will have distanced himself from his traumas
in Paris. In the long term the issue of an income will rear its head as it always does in these
situations. At our age parents are no longer fit 4 the role of raising children (though I notice mothers
when necessary will maintain it till they drop) specially adult ones (who might be nclined 2 sleep
through the days & spend nights rearranging the furniture) whose self esteem is damaged by the
knowledge of their dpendence on the people they would most like 2 mpress. In an effort 2 protect
their dignity (4ever undermined by societal attitudes & institutional requirements) curious inversions
can take place as 4 instance where the sick person convinces himself that he is responsible 4 the
welfare of the parents whose financial contribution is payment (perhaps inadequate) 4 services
rendered. Consequently he may b reluctant or unable 2 access either unemployment or sickness
benefits so perpetuating the problem. Its a vicious circle. Verbal structures, however elaborate, are
always @ the service of unarticulated needs. @ times, under pressure of circumstances, they are an
attempt 2 hide what remains mbarrassingly visible 2 everyone. This is no less the case in the general
community. We are all capable of it. John Howard did a trip around the world 2 drum up support 4
war that he called a peace effort. The toll of all the lying has become noticeable on the faces of Hill,
Downer, & Ruddock. But Johns face seems unmarked, buoyed perhaps by the knowledge of his role
as a man of destiny on the world stage. @ litho house a guy @ the bar (I notice that drinkers are
smarter than professors) told me that he will no longer vote 4 the libs as Johns relationship 2 George
reminded him of Mussolinis 2 Hitler – a little man who would b a big man. (13/10/09. Leunig toon
nth rjnl omtd). Adding 2 my comments on the events of last month. A papal legate visited Baghdad 2
tell Hussein that an attack on iraq was not justified. The pope might have said something of the sort 2
Tony Blair too. How xtraordinary it is that an organization which is supposed 2 represent the
teachings of the nazarene claims 4 itself the right 2 dtermine what is or is not a just war. 4 make no
mistake, these pathetically minor admonitions serve no other purpose than 2 activate the claim. They
will not retard the march 2 war by 1 beat. If the catholic church were really serious about promoting
the teachings of the prophet it would be shouting loud & clear from every pulpit that no one who goes
2 war is a follower of christ, & xpel them from the organization. It would 4bid its members 2 pay taxes
4 the purpose. It would not supply pastors to the armed services. & of course, if it did all that, it would
lose the support of those who are not genuine followers & find itself persecuted by the state. No one
who reads the story of christs life in good faith (single sentences can b used 2 support any point of
view) & considers its xample as a whole can have any doubt that it is a complete perversion (the
opposite of what he represented) 2 suggest that there is room in it 4 a theory of a just war. The theory
of the just war (ie the war where god is on our side) was the invention of theologians after christianity
bcame the official religion of the roman empire (there are parallels here with the USA & also with
Tony Blairs talk of moral war) under the emperor Constantine. (By contrast Mohammed was a
political leader who led campaigns against his opponents. So we have the curious situation of muslim
leaders writing letters 2 newspapers saying islam stands 4 peace @ a time when a muslim nation is
about 2 b attacked by a coalition of christian powers who claim 2 b the disciples of the original
pacifist. It was like that with the crusaders.) I notice too that the vatican has opened its archives so
that it can b proven that it did not stand idly by when europe under Hitler was murdering its jews.

28
Apparently there are some letters which rebuke the murderers & ncourage the bishops 2 resist them.
2 have said so little so quietly that it has 2 b sought in archives is, under the circumstances,
tantamount 2 having had condoned it – it soothed the conscience without ndangering the privileges. I
piss on the churches. I state my case clearly so as not 2 b guilty of like equivocation. Returning 2 the
present. Since getting up this arvo Dan is perfectly normal. He is keen 2 b helpful & climbed up on
the roof 2 clean the guttering & clear the ivy off the tiles. H is dropping him off @ Joe & Bens & as he
left he said hed catch up with me 4 lunch @ litho house on sunday which is convenient as I was
intending 2 go there 2 see if I could get hold of his letter from france (mayb from The White House –
the l’hopital Maison Blanche?) 4 the journal. With a bit of luck his problems are no greater than b4 he
left 4 europe – ie that he cannot find a suitable niche 4 himself in society (& come 2 think of it that he
is now in debt 2 FRM (& 2 Madison as well H says)). 2night H & me are off 2 Brunswick st & then 2
Miller st.
14/3/03 (March 11 (no 35)). Im writing in the Tumby Boatshed Diner @ a table next 2
a large window facing a strip of green lawn overlooking the ocean & the pier. The very large imposing
two storey Tumby Bay Hotel is on the town side across the road & a couple of 100 yards 2 the south
towards the pier is the Seabreeze where I intend 2 watch the Wizard Cup final btween Collingwood &
the Crows on telly 2morrow night. The norfolk pines along the esplanade make a big contribution 2
the attractiveness of the township & provide the essential shade which is in short supply on the Eyre
peninsula. Many more pines have been planted throughout the town & r each watered @ what must
b considerable xpense through a system of hoses connecting the whole lot. The water is piped 2
Tumby Bay from an artesian basin @ the back of Port Lincoln 2 the south. It seems a dubious
practice bcoz if the system breaks down all these trees might die & if they survive 2 grow large they
will require much more water. It is an overcast & breezy day. As there had been no bird chorus 2
wake me earlier it woz already daylight when I got up. Yesterday evening I rang H & everything is
OK. Dan had spent the morning helping Bill remove the ivy & left him grubbing out the roots. He is
further improved & keen 2 b of help. Hes got some work on sunday @ an event @ govt. house. 2day
he is visiting Rasa Blansjaar jnr. Earlier I had fotografed some of the civic rt around the place
especially a set of pictures each about 4 x 3 foot decorating a cyclone wire fence of a playground by
the pier. These colourful paintings in the naïve style xtol the bird life of the Tumby Bay Mangrove
Reserve. So after breakfast 2day I went 4 a look. Its the most southerly mangrove on the peninsula &
covers, @ a guess, several square ks. A small section of it is being promoted as a tourist ‘spot’.
There r a couple of short stretches of 4med pathway of a standard sufficient 2 handle the wheelchairs
of the disabled (& a special gate 4 them), a rotunda with a faded display of pictures & info on local
birds & fish, & a short wooden walkway 2 a structure the size of a toilet with a slit 4 a window facing a
mangrove tree which I suppose is meant 2 b a bird hide. Nearby is a notice saying that if u watch
carefully u will b surprised @ how many small creatures u will see. Some of the shrubs along the path
r labelled with their common & scientific names. I found it a bit dpressing, no more than a token
gesture aimed @ the tourist trade, a way of scoring grants from the govt, perhaps an aid 4 involving
the local schoolkids or clubs in a bit of community work. Several of the boards stressed the
importance of preserving the mangrove nvironment drawing attention 2 its fragility. In fact the phrase
“fragile mangrove environment” is being repeated like a mantra but a few hundred yards away @ the
only entry point 4 the tidal flow that feeds the ntire area of the flats is the marina dvelopment where I
could see a large tracked vhicle with a mechanical rm & bucket dredge dpositing dirt in2 the back of a
truck. It was deepening the ntry channel. This dvelopment, an imitation of 1 u might find in victoria (eg
Paynesville) or anywhere along the east coast, is being done by the local council (I visited the real
estate agent) & all the blocks abutting the water have already been sold @ high prices. Some have
been built on & there r several that have fancy cruisers moored @ floating docks next 2 their
backyards. The water in the marina is deep & blue as they usually r & the ntry channel has 2 have
enough depth 2 allow passage 4 the kind of boats rich people like 2 have. 1 day every house will
have its boat. It occurred 2 me that if u were 2 draw a schematic dsign of the mangrove channels as
seen from the air u would nd up with something very similar 2 a medical texts dpiction of a persons
central nervous system. The small cove of deeper water is the head, the single channel through
which the tide ebbs & flows is the spinal cord @ the neck, (I am taking a break 2 eat a piece of
whiting (with sauce & a sprig of parsley & a wedge of lemon) 4 $4.40) (I bought it after a discussion of
the difference btween frozen (the shop across the road called The Fish Plaice is selling Nile perch
imported from africa) & fresh & telling them about the xtremely dlicious piece of whiting I had got the

29
last time I ate fish from a shop in Lakes Entrance in gippsland) which dvides & subdvides in2 ever
smaller channels. (or like trunk, limbs, & branchlets of a tree) (@ another window table there is an old
bloke in a wheelchair who is having the same meal as me. He has no use of his arms & controls the
wheelchair by pressing a pad with his chin. His wife breaks off bits of fish & puts them in2 his mouth
with her fingers). The houses & especially the boats in the marina will generate a variety of waste oils
& cleaning agents which will inevitably spill in2 it & b washed in2 the ‘fragile mangrove environment’
on incoming tides. There is a parallel here with psychoactive drugs & medications which it is claimed
affect only the brain (eg synapses etc) but whose influence is evident in their effects on a persons
bhaviour & ntire body (eg tardive dyskenesia, weight gain, changes in facial expression, inactivity,
changes in sexual function) among long term users. The confidence that we know what we r doing
has the same source in both cases. …. Finished reading ‘A Life’s Music’ by Andre Makine. The
french have gone gaga over him but I thought it was 1 long cliché. The music was schmaltzy as
composed by some1 who hadnt xperienced the events dpicted (2nd world war etc). So it turns out as
he wasnt born till 1957. Ive also brought his ‘Confessions of a Lapsed Standardbearer’ & ‘When We
Were Orphans’ by Kazuo Ishiguro. 2night Im gunna watch the news @ the Tumby Bay 2 see if it has
a better telly than the Seabreeze then Im going back 2 the spot I woz @ last night.
18/4/03 (12/4/03 – 24/4/03 (cursive by helenZ & block by a … z …) (no 36)).
Another driving day. Last night we gave up the idea of going to the pub to watch the game as we found a
great spot right on the river bank (it’s the Snowy Creek by the way, not the Mitta Mitta) where we were
snug and private and were able to rekindle a fire from some previous visitors’ fireplace and a great one it
was too. John had to knock the coals off the 2 big chunks of wood otherwise it would have burnt all night
(he thinks it was willow). Arrived at Thredbo, via Khancoban, about 1pm and explored the town. Met Matti
in the pub – he was there to hang around the pinball machine and check out the talent – then spent the
rest of the day with the Garricks. Their unit is very comfortable, serviced, and can sleep 6 easily, in 2
bedrooms and using a fold-out couch in the living area. John Garrick’s sister and brother-in-law and their 2
kids were there from Brisbane, for dinner. They are staying at the pub. Rasa and Joe and Egle’s mum are
due in today from Cooma. We slept in the van in the carpark (we prefer to be alone, a la Garbo) behind the
AIS which has a high-class facility here – swimming pools, gyms and other training facilities for serious
athletes as well as the health-conscious locals.
6/6/03 (3/6/03 – 12/6/03 (no 37)). 8.45 am. Its cold but the sky is cloudless & whn
the sun clears the big trees on the other side of the bank it will wrm the van quickly as I sit writing
nside. @ 8.00 I heard church bells, sevral joggers have gone by , a man took his dog 4 a run by
driving his car while the dog ran bhind. It should b a good day. After talking 2 Nijole on sunday I woz
xplaining 2 Andrius Vaitekunas my objections 2 the use of the term ‘lithuanian genocide’ 2 dscribe the
@rocities suffred by lithuanians @ the h&s of the soviets during & after the 2 nd war. In lithuania they
talk of 2 genocides: of the jews by the germans & of lithuanians by the russians. I woz njoying his
company 2 much & the glass of red wine he always buys me 2 adequ@ely make my point or 2 make
it sufficiently 4cefully. The topic came up bcoz ther is a dsplay of fotos being prpared (mayb 4 the
yearly commemoration (15/6/03. It woz 2day) of the victims & the dported) & some1 had rferred 2 it
by th@ misnomer. I am taking the opportunity 2 make the point again as he is 1 of those in the
community who get my writing. By its derivation the word genocide means the annihilation of a race
or tribe of people. The litvaks were dstroyed; the ethnic lithuanians were not. No order 2 xterminate
ethnic (non-jewish) lithuanians woz ever issued. If the soviets had ordered their xtermination as the
german leadership had of the jews thn they & their collaborators (which most (I had a lot of trouble
dciding whther 2 say many or most & crossed each word out sevral times. I havnt done a straw poll
but my mpression is th@ even those who dont make the claim mply or blieve it) lithos claim wer
dsprportiontly (or only, or mostly, or acted as a 5 th column) jews) would have annihilated thm just as
completely (they had more time in the nd) as the germans & their collaborators (lithuanians) did the
jews. The soviets who had since Lenins days adopted state terror (nowadays u would call it state
terrorism) as a legitimate means of effecting social outcomes murdrd, torturd, brutlizd, perptratd
barbarisms, dportd 2 siberia (my fathers brother (a vet) ddnt know his wife who had bn separately
rrested woz in a camp only 100ks away nor did she th@ he woz (neither had known of the others
rrest); when he woz able 2 return after Krushchevs dstalinization minus his toes which had bn lost 2
frostbite & unable 2 take prt in family life (17/6/03. his children who had bn designated ‘children of the
enemies of the people’ & wer dnied state privileges in a country wher every1 dpended on them had
bn raised by a crazy aunt. His father (my gr&father), a peasant owning 12 hectares of birch swamp,
woz dispossessed & also classified as an ‘enemy of the people’) bcoz he woz emotionally
dysfunctional he found out she had died there) but they did not order the xtermination of the

30
lithuanian race. Those who collaborated with soviet state terrorism did not system@ically round up all
the people of lithuanian ethnicity (in the 1940 dportation jews were overreprsented) whom they could
find regardless of age or sx & shoot them @ short range 2 b buried in pits (dug in advance) nearby.
Th@ is why when I hear lithos say ‘lithuanian genocide’ (not th@ the word blongs to any1 & by now
it has bn dluted (16/6/03. over the period of my lifetime) 2 the point of having bcome useless. Ive
heard koori activists rfer 2 the glue sniffing epidemic in the nland as a white genocide of aborigines &
talk of “cultural genocide”. So why use it@ all?) I always thnk of the holocaust (burn all of it) which is
not their ntention when they say it. Guilt draws @ention 2 itself by the way it keeps silent & blushes –
the parallel in language is its dliberate misuse. The term I favour, should a title b given 2 the dsplay,
is RED TERROR IN LITHUANIA. …. 4.00. Maude, N.S.W. Some claim th@ language (labelling) by
structuring the way we prceive the world dtrmines how we will act. But 2 say it like th@ is msleading
& suggests a rversal of the order of what happens. The primary sources of action r mute & simple by
comparison 2 the elaborate linguistic systems that evolve from thm. We act 1 st thn xplain or justify
later & thn we act again & construct further elaborations (some might call them tissues of lies). Th@s
why the sins of the fathers r passed down the generations & lies r multiplied. We view ourselves
backwards but must live 4wards (Kierkegaard). We cannot nfer the eye from what it cs (Wittgenstein).
(15/6/03. we know we have eyes bcoz we c ourselves in mirrors & each other but the meaning of
what we c as ndividuals is 4ged by agreemnts & what we c jointly does not allow us 2 dduce the
configuration (or nature) of our joint eye (gaze).) A consquence of our progressive complxfcation in
language is that it is mpossible 2 learn from the past – history doesnt rpeat itself…..6.00 The bank of
the Murrumbidgee (see ‘12/4/03 – 24/4/03’ p 4) near Maude. Norm, who lives in the pub & has gout,
says the river is the lowest hes cn. Whole stands of full size river red gums r dead. The fishing is
good apparently: yellow belly & cod r plentiful & there rnt as many carp as there used 2 b. I saw the
lttle bearded guy in the pub who woz barracking 4 Collingwood when we watched the footy (vs North)
when we were stuck here but he didnt rcognize me. Woz tmpted 2 pull a stunt on him by saying I
reckon u r a magpie fan but rsisted. I came here bcoz I wanted 2 read the paper in a pub & the
choice woz btween Booligal (which isnt the Royal Mail I realized whn I passed it @ Booroorban on
the way 2 Hay & which is operating again) 90ks north & Maude 60ks west. Chose Maude bcoz of the
spacious well lit bar. In this country it means I havnt gone anywhere. Flocks of white geese r still
waddling about in front of the pub & they mix well with the pelicans on the weir. There is a bush toilet
here of local dsign & construction which is a beauty. Its made by cutting the side of a corrugated iron
water tank vertically & pulling 1 edge nside the other so u have an ntry but r out of view from outside.
Never cn th@ b4 & its a great idea. In the morning I topped up with water & ptrol, fotografd a mural
on the sprmrkt wall, got a more dtailed map of western New South, had a look @ the weir a bit out of
Hay off the road 2 Maude, bought another biro. The wind is still strong & there is some cloud in the
west. The strngth & direction suggests there wont b serious rain otherwise I wouldnt b parked here.
The sign says 60 people live here. Bsides the pub ther is a genral store.
4/7/03 (June 28/29 (no 38)). This is very dry, stony country so we left an offering
(bacon rind and some bits of the meat) for the ants before we went on a walk up Italowie Creek in the
Balcanoona Range. We had already walked for an hour before John realized we’d missed the creek
entrance, so had to back-track till we found it. It was a great stroll past imposing rock walls (tillite) with
tea-tree, river red gums, white tea-tree and occasional callitris pines. Its very rocky underfoot and looks as
though huge volumes of water have rushed along it, piling up dead trees and underbrush against larger
obstacles. The bed is wide too in parts, giving the illusion that a major river once lived here. Apparently
nearly all the water in these parts comes from summer thunderstorms, as there are very few springs of
permanent water. We heard a wonderful bird song – a complicated set of liquid trills, clucks, toots, etc
sounding like a well-developed language – which came from a spiny checked honeyeater (John looked it up
in the bird book when we got back to the van). On the way back we saw some native orange trees
(Capparis mitchellii) called Iga by the aborigines – dark green leaves and a similar size to orange trees,
with a large fragrant flower in the season (John says – they weren’t in flower) and a fruit about the size of
an orange which is deep green and full of pulp. There is an aboriginal story about it on the parks
noticeboard at the head of the Italowie Bush Walk (15.7ks between Italowie Gap, where we are, and
Grindell’s Hut). Here it is : “The Iga lived in and around Italowie Gorge using the water from the springs
there. Occasionally they travelled north to visit their relatives. One day they heard of some relatives living
in the south at Baratta Springs and decided to visit them. As they travelled they spread out towards the Mt
Chambers area (Awadinha). When the Iga reached Baratta Springs they met their relatives there. Their
reception however wasn’t good. The Baratta Springs people told the Italowie Gorge Iga to go back to their
own country. Today the native orange grows around Italowie Gorge and down towards Baratta Springs
where only a few trees grow. Those trees are all ‘travelling Iga’, as are other native orange trees in the
Flinders Ranges.” This story is known to all the Adnyamathanha (“hills people”) who live here – this is the

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collective word for the 5 distinctive groups who have coalesced in the area: the Wailpi, the Kuyani, the
Jadliaura, the Piladappa and the Pangkala. The aboriginal name for this place is Itala Awi. They must have
been a very hardy and resourceful people. When we got back from the walk, the ants were having a party!
Forgot 2 mntion ystrdy @ Rawnsley Park, the prv@ly ownd station caterng 4
toursts b4 u get 2 Wilpena, the ownrs hav bn grading an xtnsive network of
tracks 4 years 4 no other purpose than 2 provide a driving xperience 4 ownrs of
4x4 vhicles. The tracks dsfgure & gash some of the most btiful & fragile country
in australia & r prtculrly offnsive 2 the eye by the way they go nowher in prtculr.
Ther is a new 1 u can c on the way 2 Wilpena whch goes strght up 1 of the small
hills 2 a lookout @ the top. A sgn by the road says th@ the tourst park caters 4
“self-guided” 4x4 driving. Arkaroola, north of here, another prv@ely ownd park has
sevral 00ks of 4x4 tracks 4 city people who use thm 2 confirm their slf-image as
ntrpid xplorer types. These r the same guys whose wives dliver their kids in 4x4s
2 kndrgrtns in Ivanhoe & Brighton etc. We r staying here again 2nght. The spot is
(by my gauge) 86ks from Copley whch is 5ks from Leigh Creek. We dscovrd this
mornng ther is now a dsignated campsite only 10 mnutes walk up the road whch
u nter past the roadside nfo board. The chrge ther is $6.50 as ther r no toilets. It
woz mpty. $4/day must b how much they calclate is the value of the prvlege of
crappng under a roof in camps with amnities. Its a lot 4 taking the fun out of it.
Ystrdy we wnt 2 bed @ dark as is our custom. Th@ woz btween 6 and 6.30 pm
(Melbourne time) & 2day we got out of the van @ 9.50 am. Th@s over 15 hours of
bedtime & w r not sick. Givn the rght nducemnt I can spnd evn longer in bed.
During the nght I woz again, 4 the mpteenth time, askng myself why I m doin it – I
mean putting out these journl ntries whch I h& out 2 any1 rgardless of whthr they
r gunna read thm or if Im evn going 2 meet the people I give thm 2 again. Ive givn
various xplnations in the past: the satsfaction of ncapslating myself; 2 allow
othrs 2 c@gorize me by being able 2 point 2 the folders of master copies & say
this is what I do; 2 share a task with H; 2 b social; 2 occupy myself with on trips
now I dont do 7,8, or 9 hour walks (but I thnk I would if I woznt writing); 2 mpress
publcans & people in small towns; from habit; etc. etc. Montaigne kept finding
new xplnations 4 why he woz writing 2. It makes me thnk the reasons r fbricated
2 satisfy the curiosty of any1 who mght ask. Ther r things u do, oftn the most
satisfying, wthout justfcation. Its prbbly the case with me but 2 keep up
ppearances here is a more laborate xcuse 2 add 2 the list. We all mpinge on each
other contnuously. The tiniest thght in private revrbrates & leaves its mark both
on the ownr & thrgh him on othrs. Passivty also nfluences outcomes by ffectively
ndorsing the status quo. Moreover society is full of those who bombard us with
advice on what 2 buy, how 2 act, whthr 2 screw 4wards or backwards. Gvmnts
make us fill out heaps of docments. Little Johnny Howard (the Prime Miniature)
tells us on telly who w r (decent, tolrant, freedm lovng, brave) & George Nucular
Bush pontficates on good & evil. & whthr I like it or not I 2, 1 nsgnfcnt ndvdual
(scarcely more than a bit of cosmic dust), m prt of the babble, this waxng &
waning (Heraclitus). My views may b as ncomprhnsble 2 most othrs as theirs 2
me but th@s as it shld b if each of us is a dffrnt prspctve (thgh prhps of the same
prsm). Those of us who make no claim 2 the ownrship of ‘truth’ may yet suspect
th@ we hav a small purchase on it, a tiny contrbution 2 make (14/7/03. Its
ntresting 2 consider the strategy I m guilty of in claimng the possbilty of evn a

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small purchase on truth (dspite earlier dsclaimng ownership) 4 its merely a
longwndd way of sayng ther r @ least some thngs u do (eg. dstrbute writing)
wthout the need 4 justfication. But I mbarkd on this passage (my elaborate
xcuse) 4 the bnefit of those rquiring xplnations (reasons). So all I hav done is
dsguisd (pushed out of view) the nxplicble by overlaying it wth prtty words. A
salutary lesson – truth claims r usually suss!) wthout whch the whole cannot b
completed (shld ther b such a possbilty). @ least I dont want 2 b held accountble
4 rmainng silent whn I shld hav spoken seeing as Im capable of it (16/7/03. I
notice in 2days Age th@ Ian Chappell spoke up about the SAS boarding the
Tampa. I congrtlate him.). I hope I rpay the pleasure I get from rcognzng I share
my prspective wth those from the past by contrbuting 2 a like rcogntion wth the
occasionl readr in the presnt. I hold a mirror 2 others who travl along minor
roads, prferring winding tracks 2 highways, & who @ times r nclined 2 push in2
the wind.
22/8/03 (August 18 (no 39) (13/10/09. *….* wth nsrtt z← Port Germein (no 58))).
*8.20am (Melbourne time, 7.50 SA time) Very still. During the night I heard cocks crowing. Sky clear.
Im sitting bhind the van on the clothes box. The tail gate is raised as Ive just had breakfast. A large
enamel cup of coffee is within reach on the back tail bar. Im 8 metres (just stepped it out) from the
high tide mark but the waters edge is a few hundred yards away. My field of view includes the
Flinders Ranges stretching south, the Port Germein pier, & 2 the right the Port Pirie smelter with its
tall chimney. I am being warmed by the mornign sun; the rain band isnt due till 2morrow. A book I
finished a day or 2 b4 I left is Anne Applebaums ‘Gulag’ which cost me 80 bucks in hard cover a few
weeks ago & now can b got in soft cover 4 $60. I think I read these things (27/5/05. 2dai Im fnshn
‘killing me softly’ x Dr Philip Nitschke & Dr Fiona Stewart ©, pub 2005 x Penguin Books whch iz
ddk8d 2 “the spirit and determination of Mordechai Vanunu”) 2 make myself depressed (See my point
on p5 – helenz 31/8/03) (Ive also read Robert Conquests ‘The Red Terror’ (?) & Solzenitzins ‘Gulag
Archipelago’ when they 1st came out a long time ago & numerous tomes on Hitler & the 3 rd Reich &
on Mao & the cultural revolution.) Here is some material from ‘Gulag’: “Later, the criteria for arrest
became more precise, or, at least, as precise as any Soviet criteria for arrest ever became. One
document of May 1941, concerning the expulsion of “socially foreign” elements from the Baltic states,
occupied Romania, and occupied Poland, demanded, among other things, the arrest of “active
members of counter-revolutionary organizations” – meaning political parties; former members of
police or the prison service; important capitalist and bourgeoisie; former officers of the national
armies; family members of the above (that includes me); anyone repatriated from Germany; refugees
from “former Poland”; as well as thieves and prostitutes” (p422) & “Another set of instructions, issued
by the commissar of newly Sovietized Lithuania in November 1940, said deportees should include,
along with the categories above, “those frequently travelling abroad, involved in overseas
correspondence or coming into contact with representatives of foreign states (my dad had been 2
england 2 buy aeroplanes 4 the airforce & my mum had been educated @ the Sorbonne in Paris (c
her book ‘Elena’s Journey’ by Elena Jonaitis, Text Publishing, 1997.. ISBN 1875847502));
Esperantists; philatelists; those working with the Red Cross; refugees; smugglers; those expelled
from the Communist Party; priests and active members of religious congregations; the nobility,
landowners, wealthy merchants, bankers, industrialists, hotel and restaurant owners.”(I am interested
in these things becoz they happened in my own lifetime & human nature hasnt changed 4 the better
(the reverse in the west (25/5/05. provn x our kmplsti in trchr)) & particularly Im interested in the
mechanisms which underlie paranoia @ a societal level bcoz it isnt going 2 take much 2 make us
turn against each other & (believe me) it will happen.) More from ‘The Gulag’: the Volga germans
(there since the days of Catherine the Great) were deported on the grounds th@ the soviet
authorities had “trustworthy information” (does this sound like our own information which cannot b
revealed (25/5/05. ie on WMDs) in order 2 protect intelligence sources?) & 390000 Chechens (the
entire population) were also deported by Stalin. The NKVD used american made Studebakers
recently purchased through the Lend-Lease program & shipped over the border from Iran. There are
many descriptions of how the Chechens were taken off the Studebakers & placed into sealed trains:

33
they were not only deprived of water, like “ordinary” prisoners, but also of food (c “Gulag” p429). Up
to 78000 of them died on the transport trains alone. Their exile, although actually carried out in 1944,
was announced in the newspaper Izvestia years later as having taken place in June 1946. The
deportations of entire other minority nations (eg Karachai, Balkars, Kalmyks, Ingush, Meshketians,
Turks, Kurds, Khemshils, Greeks, Bulgarians, Armenians) were never made public in Stalins lifetime.
(I have been interested in the fates of those who were murdered but whose stories have not been
told eg the gypsies under Hitler. In the case of the 5000 or so child victims of Hitlers eugenics
program the hospital administrations & their staffs of doctors & nurses responsible remained intact
in2 the post war period but their codes of silence (joined by guilt) were never broken.) (31/8/03. Its
also worth remembering here th@ professor Spanner, assistant professor Volman & their associates
@ the Danzig Anatomical Medical Institute were never prosecuted 4 making soap & leather products
from the corpses of citizens of the USSR, poland & other countries killed in german concentration
camps)…* Port Germein → Hawker (where I read the paper @ the rail station café; had 2 messages
on the mobile, 1 from H & 1 from Kate who is staying @ my mums & will visit Egle & Elyte & signed
off “your darling daughter” which is nice; finally got through 2 H @ school & she assured me
everyone is OK; there was a mob of oldies in caravans in town & they were ridiculously dressed in
adventure gear shop clothing; bought 2 stubbies for the road – have I ever driven north from Hawker
without a stubby in a holder between me legs?) → Blinman (remember those great cartoons in the
room bhind the bar? Well I asked the bar-man who the artist was & he pointed 2 the only other
person in the bar. He pretended 2 b a local but when I sprung him with the question “which art school
did u go 2?” he admitted it was in Adelaide. People r always trying 2 pretend they r locals but they
only fool very green tourists. His name is George Aldridge & he is a relo of Percy Grainger. He said
he too is an eccentric. He told me the name of the station where he lives on a homestead hes
bought but I didnt listen properly as I was drunk). → the spot 25ks east of Blinman we were @ b4 we
left the Flinders on the last trip (c ‘June 28/29’ p15) (someones been here in the meantime: theres a
new firering; the wind is sighing in the casuarinas & I heard the desert bellbird again; the sun is
dipping below the horizon; Im sobering up but have overeaten & feel like a drum; going 4 a walk 2 get
the gut 2 settle; its great).
26/9/03 (September 20/21 (cursive by helenZ ; block by a…z...) (no 40)).
Strolled along the river track briefly, and then continued on sussing out the countryside, looking for an
entry into a scenic low series of hills called the Lachlan Ranges. On the map there was a track off the Lake
Cargellico road leading to Brewsters Lake which is located at their foot. Couldn’t find it but did find a
beautiful stretch of country with calitris pines and big stretches of everlasting daisies (mainly yellow, some
white) which abuts the road and which seemed to be some sort of reserve or park by the looks of the open
gates, the absence of private property signs and the untouched nature of the vegetation. We followed a
track into it and came across cultivated land (barley fields and jojoba bushes as we later learnt from
notices) so thought we must have got onto one of the large agri-businesses characteristic of much of the
Riverina. Retreated and had another go at the Ranges via Baker’s Road off the Lake Cargellico road
noticing as we did that what we’d been on was a property owned by NSW Agriculture as part of the
National Resources Management Strategy for “the assessment of ground water recharge under different
crops” – a sort of experimental area covering a huge acreage. So we figured it was OK to use the tracks so
invitingly displayed by the open gates. We found a beautiful area under calitris pine, wilga, cassia,
scattered currajongs, gums with glassy leaves and even a couple of native mint trees with white flowers.
Ground cover was big stretches of yellow everlasting buttons, goodenia (5 petalled yellow flowers on
bright green foliage), blue and mauve daisies, a corn-flower like plant covered in round cobalt blue
blooms, and tall everlasting daisies in deep gold. Scattered about is the faithful Salvation Jane. Its truly a
picture. After a walk we went back to Hillston along the Kidman Way to check for messages. None. Rang
Bodalla and Margaret assured me mum was OK (she’d had breakfast and was at the morning tea to
celebrate the winner of the footy tipping competition). Rang Ben and relayed the message live as his
mobile was switched on. He had visited every day, and twice today and says he’ll go again tomorrow.
(1/10/03. I found out later he even tackled the Director of Nursing to establish that he thought his
grandmother was ill.) Thanks, Ben – you’ve done more than anyone could reasonably expect. Back to our
“find” for late lunch/early tea. The wind has picked up and is quite strong. Judging by the amount of fallen
Ill have 2 ask Wing how a
timber we’ve seen, strong winds may be a feature of the area.
cultivation or meditation practice can have an influence on whether 1 fears or
doesnt fear death. It may b u stop fearing death when u lose the desires of life,
death being an absence of life. There may b dangers 4 society if too many of its
members have no fear of death. Perhaps suicide bombers r people who dont fear
death. In my case I think it inclines me 2 b careless about the deaths of others.

34
Death seems nothing, u dont live 2 regret it. I feel sorry not because people die
but if their lives have been unfulfilled or while they r alive if they suffer from the
fear of death (from which death releases them) or 4 others who suffer as a result
of their deaths. It may b children dont fear death (adults call it having no concept
of it). I have no memory of fearing it as a child. Then someone comes along &
draws a picture of a skeleton with a scythe & calls it death (or youre going 4 a
convivial ch@ over lunch & someone sticks up pictures of tortured corpses along
the way) or talks about hellfire or other eternal punishments (eg. absence of god)
& changes something we can have no concept of (xept as an absence) in2 a
terrifying ordeal. Apparently an xpression of peaceful repose often comes over a
persons face @ the last moment. Stalin however was contorted & horrifying in his
death throes. I think I lost my fear of death as a result of personal experiences
which r rare though not so xeptional there isnt a literature describing them. The
realization there is nothing I want which I dont already have adds 2 my
carelessness. But I fear pain & if I was told by a doctor I had only a few months
left it may b I could learn 2 fear death 2 though I doubt it. It seems strange 2 fear
something every single person on earth has 2 xperience as did every previous
person. I worry about how my death would affect H & hope our children would
cover 4 me. H knows should I fail 2 return from a walk or a swim I will have died
the way I wanted 2. If I am severely incapacitated by stroke or something Ill have
2 try 2 starve myself 2 death but I know theyll take advantage of my helplessness
2 stick me in hospital & force feed me – the medical industry depends on it.
These r not the comments I had meant 2 make about your statement, Wing. I had
meant 2 say a few things about what it is we do when we speak subjectively – ie
about so called ‘inner states’ (eg. I fear or dont fear death; feel guilty; love; pain;
happiness etc.) but Im putting it off, mayb till we meet over lunch.
31/10/03 (October 27 (no 41)). All decisions & arrangements 4 Vis funeral were
made by H. Costs were not a consideration as Dean insisted on paying. Even so, H made it as
simple & basic as she could (she said if a plain pine board box painted white had been available it
would have been the most appropriate. As it was she chose the 3 rd cheapest which was plain
enough, white with gold coloured handles. It was placed on a st& 2 the side @ the front of the funeral
chapel @ Le Pine in Ivanhoe entirely covered with a huge bouquet of deep red roses), the funeral
charge was $6000. This is a sum byond anything Vi would have seen or thought 2 have spent on
herself in a lifetime. H prepared the commemorative card where the photo on the front (in colour) is 1
of the latest taken & the 1 on the back is the earliest in our possession. I havnt heard of Canon Henry
Scott Holland, dont share his sentiments & dislike his style. Otherwise it was a beautiful card I
thought & H had enough made 2 send 2 people who might b interested or might have wanted 2
@end what was a private funeral, unannounced & restricted 2 immediate family. After the arrival of
the gr&children Vis life had been devoted ntirely 2 them & from then on I wasnt aware of any
aspiration, request, or desire th@ she had 4 herself. Here is a smaller copy of the card (13/10/09.
photocopies in original). I pointed out 2 H th@ in the list naming Vi & her descendants there was a
circularity in th@ the 1st & last words were ‘Violet’. H had not been aware of it when she had the card
made up. The last name ‘Emma Jane Violet’ belongs 2 Vis 1 st great-great-gr&aughter who was born
on 10/10/03 in the afternoon of the same day on which Vi had died in the morning. Her mother
Rebecca was named after Vis mother and shares Vis birthday – 25th July…. 2.45. This is how strong
the wind is. I was sitting on the back bumper under the tail gate & the van started rolling backwards.
Thats never happened b4. I had 2 put the h&brake on. I wont b putting the pop top up 2night. I am
149ks from Hay @ the same spot where Ive been 2wice b4 on both of whch occasions Ive written
entries which Ive published (c ‘3/6/03 – 12/6/03’ p11 & ‘September 20/21’ p10.). Its the spot on the
Daisy Plains Road where me & H had our disagreement bcoz I wanted 2 go west & she wanted 2 go

35
southeast 2wards civilization & mobile telefone range. Th@ was on our last trip & she had won the
argument. 2morrow Im heading west in2 the wind & the direction of Pooncarie. Ive just done a little
calculation which tells me its 250ks away so @ the rate I travel it might take a few days. In the
morning I repeated my Hay routine. There was a message from Kate hoping my ribs were OK &
telling me Im supposed 2 send copies of my stuff 2 the library in Canberra bcoz I distribute it 2 the
public. Its not true. I send & h& out my pieces 2 particular individuals otherwise Id have 2 abide by
copyright laws whch would undermine 1 of the essential str@egies of what I do. Nor am I an author 4
reasons well analysed in a famous essay by Michel Foucault. Nor am I an artist in possession of a
business number whch I might use 2 write off my publishing, petrol & van costs against my tax
payments. I could do it but will not put myself in the position where it might b thought I was writing 4 a
financial advantage (even though it must b obvious I would never do th@). 4 the same reason I have
rejected offers 2 have arts grants arranged. & there r other more subtle & insidious trade-offs whch
go with accepting the label of artist. I would never allow myself 2 blong 2 any organization, institution,
or loyalty group whch I thought was capable of influencing or imposing obligations or restrictions on
what or how I write. I will not add Canberra 2 my mailing list. Had a message from H & again
managed 2 get through 2 her @ school. Shes going 2 Miller st 2night till tuesday arvo so shes out of
contact xcept 4 her mobile message bank. Egle had rung from Sydney worrying about the effects of
Vis death on me. I am preoccupied with illness, old age & decrepitude, & yes death but so was the
buddha. I dont think Ive dwelt 2 much on it. Rather Im surprised @ how quickly & completely people I
have known have disappeared 4 me. As if they had never xisted. Joe, Ben & Tony r shifting in2 a
new house in Separation st. Its got 4 bedrooms which is great as Joe has been sleeping in the
kitchen @ Gooch st. But its only 4 a month or so till the place is dmolished. Dan has sent 2 emails
from New York. Hes done a shoot for the US version of FHM mag & has a few other possibilities. He
sounds happy H says. The last thing I done in town b4 heading off was 2 read the Age @ Robertsons
Hot Bread Kitchen across the main street from the newsagency as Ive been doing each day. I asked
4 the strongest possible mug of latte & when the same cheery girl who served me yesterday brought
it over she asked if she had managed 2 make it stronger this time & where I was going. Her name is
Abby Bunyan of “Mutherumbung” Station, Booligal NSW 2711. The owners of “Daisy Plains” r Peter
& Jenny Bunyan who I presume r her parents. I am parked on their property. I was able 2 give her a
copy of ‘September 20/21’ as I had brought 2 (gave the other 1 2 the people @ Ruffy) & promised 2
send a copy of this 1. I told her if she was talking on the fone 2 her folks this arvo 2 tell them the guy
staying overnight in the white van across from the derelict shearing shed isnt dangerous. Im looking
forward 2 a good night as I like it when the van is buffeted by the wind.…7.20. Went 4 a stroll on the
dead fl@ plain 2 the nearest windmill I could c. The pleasing thing was the track curved about 4 no
discernable reason. When I got there found the tanks were derelict & though the windmill was
spinning it was disconnected from the shaft. Left @ 5.10 & got back @ 7.00. A health report: its now
15 days since I cracked me ribs & they r improving daily. Dont notice any little clicks anymore & a
while ago was able 2 clear me throat & even get away with a hesitant cough so when I got back 2 the
van I blew me nose 2 4 the 1 st time in 2 weeks. Incidentally Im drinking a cup of Continental Cup-a-
Soup GOURMET Country Style Pea & Ham with CROUTONS & I recommend it. Its dlicious & Im
gunna go & blow me nose again. Sleep well.
7/11/03. I am finishing off what is probably the last piece Im putting out 4 the year (&
mayb permanently since I never know whether Ill b writing another 1) with the passage H read out 2
end the funeral ceremony. Immedi@ely aftewards the coffin was carried by Tony (Tony & Sandra
with infant Elvira had come unexpectedly but they r family), Joe, Ben & Dan 2 the hearse. Then me,
Joe, Margaret, Sandra & Tony went back 2 the house while the rest accompanied the coffin 2 the
crematorium in Fawkner where the actual incineration took only about 10 minutes. When they
returned we spent a very convivial afternoon reminiscing about Vi. Dean in particular had good
stories 2 tell about her & Walts early years & his own childhood whch H hadnt heard b4.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die
A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted
A time to wound and a time to heal

36
 A time to break down and a time to build up
A time to weep and a time to laugh
A time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing
A time to get and a time to lose
A time to keep and a time to cast away
A time to rend and a time to sew
A time to keep silence and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate
A time of war and a time of peace

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

(13/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 4 (nos 34 – 41 of anthology))

20/2/04 (16/2/04 – 27/2/04 (no 42)). Got up @ 7.30 2 a somewhat crisp mornng but
its warmng up fast & the condnsation on the front & back windows has already evapor8d. Straw
necked ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis) r 1dring about in the paddock nearby & a white ibis (sacred ibis)
(Threskiornis molucca (recently T. aethiopica)) just flew overhead. 3 weeks ago on our usual friday
evening @ the Bocadillo (6/3/04. the setting 4 ‘25/1/00’) Bar (wher Paul Brickhill (c ‘3/6/03 – 12/6/03’
p.2) has bn noticeable x his absence since mine & Hs rturn & wher Ive dscoverd from the waitress
(who (5/3/04. found out her name 2night: Jemima Chan; (her sister, Jasmine, has done a creative
writing course)) is studying pharmacy (“1ce daily 4 just 1 week not 3”)) & had it confrmed x Victoria
th@ Peter the very pleasant waiter (c ‘3/6/03 – 12/6/03’ p. 2) who has bn @10ding 2 our rquests 4 a
whole year is the TREASURER of the mining company PASMINCO moonlighting as a waiter since
his rrival in Melbourne from Sydney. What was th@ all about? Prhaps he was gathrin m@erial 4 his
other secret life as a writer. I m askn Victoria 2 pass this on 2 him (if he is back from his holidays in
Hong Kong) & hope he gets back 2 me on it: his conduct cries out 4 xplanation. I underst& now why u
lookd so tired early on a friday evening m8, with barely nough time 2 switch out of suit & tie after a
week of countin $s 2 head off 2 the BOCADILLO in waiters garb. Hope it was worth the trouble & u
find an nding 4 the story) the BAD JOKE MAN (Grant ) poppd in after a long absence 2 say hello. He
has bn on my mailin list the whole time since I 1 st mntioned him in ‘25/1/00’. His reappearance addd 2
a sense of circlarities & th@ something was over. After he gets this I m taking him off the mailin list
since I hav a good xuse now th@ I hav no mor to say 2: TRIM THE MAILING LIST. He askd “who did
the picture of SADDAM the yanks put out rmind u of?” & strght away I said THE BOXER (otherwise
known as THE GREEK) who used 2 1der up & down Brunswick st botting cigarettes & urinating in
public till he got knockd over x a car & killd. Both me & the BAD JOKE MAN had thght of going 2 the
funeral but it was over x the time we found out. The BAD JOKE MAN had plied his trade 4 3 years up
& down ‘the street’ as a rsult of whch he is rcognized in the captals of europ (has a girlfriend in
Helsinki who is coming out to oz) & has dscovered he had 2 fan clubs in Melbourne (yes, Adriana I
mix wth famous people & it woz him who posted u the ARTE POSTALE letter from Amsterdam whch
2gether wth the 1s posted from VILNIUS, ST. PETERSBURG & MOSCOW x Danius Kesminas (“Did
a bit of writin’/Gonna be a DJ/Read a bit of Nietzsche/And whatever comes my way/Yea darlin’ gonna
move to London/Take the artworld in a love embrace/I’ll meet everyone at once/Start an ‘artist run
space’”) who mght bcome evn mor famous (or nfamous) if our most popular daily newspaper the
Herald Sun on saturday january 3 on p.23 under a bold headline ‘Great Expectations’ is 2 b blieved
whn it claims (& ther is a foto of his mug flankd x the mugs of Andrew Demetriou on the left h& &
Mark Latham (our future PRIME MINSTER) on the rght h& side & a full lenth shot of Guy Sebastian
of ntern@ional fame) he is 1 of the 10 australians 2 WATCH in 2004 (& Im watching the TRICKY little
SO & SO (xuse the language (29/2/04. Got home ystrdy @ 1.30 am. H startd typing @ 3.00pm trying
out an idea I had of using dffrnt fonts 4 dffrnt classes of words b4 we finally ab&ond it as 2 time
consuming. In the evning it ccurred 2 me th@ now hes famous Danius mght object 2 me calling him a
SO & SO & sue me so I thght Id go over 2day & check wth him. About 5am Nick, Josh (from Hay) &
Damien (from Benalla) the musicians (& theyr gunna set up a sound studio! & on the other side of us
ther used 2 b an opra singer but thank god shes gon) nxt door rrived home & s@ on their ver&a
yarning away & singing not realizin they soundd loud nough 2 b in the house with us. H got up & shut

37
the window but it ddnt help. After sunrise but still very early I staggrd out of bed (I had bn dreamin
th@ whn I askd Danius if he objected 2 me calling him a SO & SO he was outraged th@ I was
mplying he was versensitive) 2 nswer a knock on the door from a TAXI I hadnt calld. Ddnt hav 2 visit
Danius as he was @ litho house (2/3/04. Thanks 4 the CD, Giriau, but I think I left it on the table coz I
was drunk from the BOČIUS Danius was buying 4 us) from wher Iv just come with Rohan Drape &
Niel Kelly & I ran it past him xplaining he should say he was outraged bcoz I hadnt said he was a BIG
SO & SO so I could say in the writing th@ he had said it but he got confused about what it was I was
askin him 2 do. Its 2.15 pm & H has just walkd in the door aftr her weekly visit to our ldest 2 rsume
typing.) Adriana) who rght now is in NZ in Janet Frame (whos 3 part autobiography ‘An Angel at My
Table’ I read 2 weeks ago) country vsiting Jane Craw4ds (6/3/04. who mght know Chris Broughton,
also a KIWI, @ the Errol st Wine Cellars opp. litho house who says Janet Frames autobiography is
mor a literry cnstruction (fiction?) than in the style, 4 nstance, of the great frnch tradition of n10se
autobiographical writng (2 whch I aspire ?). 2day he lent me ‘The Life of James K. Baxter’ (“better
than any ozzie writer”) x Frank McKay & ‘Brief Interviews with Hidden Men’ x David Foster Wallace, a
yank, who sometimes rminds him of Thomas Bernhard.) folk coz th@s wher she hails from) foold
even u, dscerning as u r, & had u 1dring about the STATE OF MY HEALTH) 1 of whch may still b
going. He used 2 carry a cardboard notice saying th@ 4 a $ he could tell u the 3 worst jokes or a joke
worse than u could but Tom Fryer of the MAKE IT UP CLUB whch I also mntion in ‘25/1/00’ (wher
Rod Cooper who was @ the door tuesday last week told me th@ the prvious night he had dreamd
his wife had rjected him bcoz his COCK woz 2 BIG) but whch was then calld IMPROVISED
TUESDAYS (& what I do is closely rl8d) stymied him with: Q: What did the cow say 2 the farmer? A:
stop h&ling me TITS & just get on wth it & FUCK me. (xuse the language again Adriana (whos l8st
hyperbole is: “You are extraordinary” & who wishes I do very well in her (5th in a row) ARTE
POSTALE expozione titled ‘Lemons’ whch is on right now in Menton on the Riviera & I ddnt evn know
I was in it but cest la vie as they say in the casinos) but its how MUSICIANS in australie talk & I hav 2
rport it accur@ly). Prhaps its not sprising then th@ Toms grlfriend (2 whom he snt the ARTE
POSTALE (I cant bring myslf 2 say: MALE ART) letter whch I snt 2 him x way of xmas/new year
greeting whch had bn snt 2 me x Frank Osowski) walkd BACKWARDS from Flinders st station up
Swanston st & 2 the Flagstaff gardns dressd in purple (royal colours since the Phoenicians & l8r
much loved & used x church hierarchy) wher she strippd off 2 medit8 STARK NAKED (compare it 2
my ffort whn I s@ 4 3 days STARK NAKED in a heat wave watching a test match on telly eating
nothing but YABBIES (bcoz a friend of the Egans † the road was stuck with a mountain of thm (from
Lake Albacutya in the mallee country) after his business of supplying rstaurants went bust (he had bn
ahead of the times)) washd down with beer whch I would get wthout havng 2 st& up x calling out 2 1
of me kids 2 fetch another can from the fridge. No 1der they r havng trouble settling down! Also
compare 2 a man who dresses up in a suit & tie & goes 2 work in a hghrise office in a city
SKYSCRAPER 5 days a week 4 thrty or 40 years walking FORWARDS) then went 2 holland
(Amsterdam?) via Kabul wher she now works as a CLOWN. Its getting hot, Im having a dip. Put on
the goggles & found the mango peel I had thrown 2 the pelcan (Pelecanus conspicillatus) yestrday
evening who had cght it in midair but droppd it whn it realized it wasnt a fsh. Deep down the water is
very warm & on the surface quite cool: why doesnt the cold water sink like I was tort @ school it
should? → Metung (read the Age @ the pub over the water; a guy threw a bucket full of whole fsh 2
a dozn pelcans; a cruise boat came in (about $30 4 3 or 4 hours) → Nungurner (a swim off the jetty &
8 blackberries pickd x the h&ful) → Kalimna (checkd out an access 2 the lake I hadnt known of) →
Lakes Entrance (bought frsh local fl@head & scallops (grilled) @ the same shop we 8 @ on our way
home from our midsummr trip; shoppd in Woolworths; filld up with petrol; talkd 2 H @ school) →
Kalimna (wher I m writing in the pub overlookin the lake & ocean from a cliff & hav dcided 2 spnd 1
mor night in the area bcoz it would b good 2 read the Age either @ the Metung or Kalimna pub) →
Nungurner (it rminds me a bit of our spot @ Smiths Lake, honey, xept Im more priv8 being shieldd
from the jetty x a tree; thers a toilet in a little park about 150 yards away; fact is Im beautfully situ8d
backd 2wards the edge of a seawall looking out @ ½ doz boats moord nearby; very slght lapping of
water against the wall & hardly any breez. Dcided 2 prop here 4 the night.
27/2/02. As I said, the 1st piece of writing in the 1st of the 4 foldrs (1/year) whch
hold the work Iv don since I bgan h&ing it out is a 1 page ssay titled ‘ART’ (anagram of R@). In
it I wrote th@ if I wer n rtist whch I said I wasnt my aim would b 2 loosn the joins whch hold
2gethr the fragmnts of colourd pane whch provide the prspectivs thrgh whch we view the

38
world & ourslvs. I said I would rathr rock the boat than b 1 of thos who rows it. I hav bn
neg@iv. I m the rverse side of the coin – tail 2 the head. I hav xamind & undrmind edifices
built from words (worm in the cor; termite in woodn foundations). Let othrs build. I m s&. If
ther wer a pebbl whos rmoval triggr the l&slide whch brings down the ntire hillside I would
rmov it (I hear rumbling). Othrs make laws & prvide nswers. I giv reasons why ther r no
nswers. I ask questions. I hav bn calld a cynic – a dog. I accept the title. I m shadow 2 a rising
sun.
9/4/04 (3/4/04 – 12/4/04 (no 43)). → WoodsPoint (strolldaO) → Jamieson → Mansfield
(bought 6 buns; checkd mssage bank) → T@ong (via Swanpool; read ppr @ T@ong Tavern again
as w did last sundy so wev don a full O) → stoppd 4 the nght ½k back along Swanpool rd @ a small
picnic area nxt 2 a bridge). I’m glad to be out of the mountains – I was beginning to feel hemmed in. John
despairs of finding places I like, since I’m not really keen on extreme situations, feeling either too exposed
or too compressed by them . I’m a lot like Goldilocks – not too hot or cold, hard or soft, lumpy or smooth,
but just right – like here: open, but with gentle hills in the near distance which don’t throw shadows too
soon to block out the benign warmth of the sun until its time for bed. There were 25 more windy, narrow
ks to negotiate from where we were last night to Woods Point, though the drops were not as fierce. The
town is pretty, with heaps of old mining equipment scattered about for atmosphere. Like Grant and
Walhalla it’s a remnant of its former pub/church/shop/bank/house –strewn self. The 4x4 crowd was out in
full swing, camping in every available flat spot along the creeks, especially along the Goulburn, Victoria’s
largest river, which we crossed just after Woods Point as a mere trickle. Many of them have trail-bikes so it
will be a roaring Easter break for them. Mansfield was chockers – like Bourke St. on a weekday – with most
shops open and everyone in spending mood. So much for Easter contemplation and reflection. We couldn’t
wait to get off the main road and into quieter country, where we can actually hear the birds singing and
there is a constant hum from crickets. Kate left a message on John’s mobile – she caught up with Ben, Dan
and Joe at Katie’s 21st which she said was really enjoyable, attended by family and friends and celebrated
in “tradional” style. Everyone is well. She may be co-hosting a dinner party with Rasa Blansjaar in the near
future. The only other Tarkovsky film Iv cn so far, on tuesday last week, was ‘SACRIFICE’. Its his last
& in ‘Sculpting in Time’ he says it most succeeds in xprssing his own point of view. @ the time he
was filmng he had lready bn diagnosed wth the cancer whch was 2 kill him but he was still hopeful of
recovry. He says: “Has man any hope of survival in the face of all the patent sigs of impending
apocalyptic silence? Perhaps an answer to that question is to be found in the legend of the
parched tree deprived of the water of life, on which I based this film which has such a crucial
place in my artistic biography: the Monk, step by step and bucket by bucket, carried water up
the hill to water the dry old tree believing implicitly that his act was necessary and never for
an instant wavering in his belief in the miraculous power of his own faith in God.” @ the time I
told Vaidas I liked it least of the 3 I had cn: it seemd 2 bergmanish (they had nfluencd each othr) 4
me & I was findng the yin/yang & the jungian male/female balances 2 4cd. Howver a few days later
@ night I had 1 of those flashs of ndrst&ing I m subject 2 (15/4/04. EUREKA ! – in the right
hemisphere anterior superior temporal gyrus (whch has bn linkd in studies 2 the drawing 2gethr of
dstntly rl8d n4m8ion.)) & realizd th@ the film was PROPHETIC in a way whch could apply 2 me. But
now a week later again I m nabl 2 rcall what it was th@ I saw so clearly about its PROPHETIC
nature. Prhaps the realiz8ion had com in a DREAM (I was in bed) & as somtimes happns wth a
dream u can rtain memry of the feeling of it aftr losing the imagry & the thghts. In the case of
Tarkovsky the prophetic lement may b th@ havng givn the fullst xprssion of himslf of whch he was
capabl ther was no longr any reason, as he was soon 2 find out, 4 his life 2 contnue. Ther r of course
far mor ovrt ways in whch it can b cn 2 b profetic but I assure u his films hav mor layrs 2 thm than 1 st
meets the ey. I wll hav 2 c ‘SACRIFICE’ again in a mor sggestibl mood. I m putting in a longr quote
from the final part of ‘Sculpting in Time’ 2 acquaint u furthr wth his point of view & prhaps ncourage u
2 c his films. The section from whch I take the xrpt has the O of a LAST TESTAMENT & I m sure x
the time he was writng it (‘Sculpting in Time’ was put 2gethr from notes writtn ovr a long period) he
knew he was dying. The things peopl say @ the nd can b mportnt: “It seems to me that our age is
the final climax of an entire historical cycle, in which supreme power has been weilded by the
‘grand inquisitors’, leaders, ‘outstanding personalities’, who were motivated by the idea of
transforming society into a more ‘just’ and rational organization. They sought to possess the
consciousness of the masses, instilling them with new ideological and social ideas, bidding them
to reform the organizational structure of life for the sake of the happiness of the majority.

39
Dostoievsky had warned people of the ‘grand inquisitors’ who presume to take upon themselves
the responsibility for other peoples happiness. We ourselves have seen how the assertion of
class or group interests, accompanied by the invocation of the good of humanity and the
‘general welfare’, result in flagrant violations of the rights of the individual who is estranged
from society; and how, on the strength of its ‘objective’, ‘scientific’ basis in ‘historical
necessity’ this process comes to be mistaken for the basic, subjective reality of people’s lives.”
Its what he said but I think he does it bettr in film.
30/4/04 (29/4/04 – 1/5/04 (no 44)). Did the banking & rranged 4 a credt card. Saw
Doig 2 burn off a small wrt on me face & askd 4 & got som Temazepam tabelts in case I need thm 2
hlp m sleep on the flght. Probelms wth sleep r my achilles heel & if I get @ackd x a buzz of words I
can b ncapabl of sleep & get 2 agit8d & could go crazy (so Ill also take a supply of valium & largactil).
I sound like a crock but the fact is I hardly evr use th stuff. Rode in2 town 4 lunch with LfOrVaEnCkE
& diaCnAdSrTeRaO. Back in Ivanhoe @ 2.30. Rturnng 2 th topik. It may b th@ som peopl travl in
strght lines (→ ): careers measured x promotions & ncreass in salary; uni courss in dgrees; rearng
famlies till the kids can leav home; etc etc. But I go me&ring on obscure journies along minor paths
oftn in Os. Here is a xampl. Over th years Iv noticd a prtculrly elgnt gent on 3 or 4 ccasions shoppin
in th suprmrkt in Ivanhoe. I judgd him 2 b O my age. His style of dressng suggstd he was connectd
wth th theatr. Then O a year ago I saw him in Errol st. Whn I strt †ing paths wth som1 4 no pparnt
reason I get intrestd. Then last week or th week b4 as I was gettng ready 2 leav on me bike aftr
buying a book (cant remmbr if it was ‘Literature and the Gods’ (from whch I quote Nietzsche writing a
last note 2 Jacob Burckhardt: “Actually, I would rather be a professor at Basle University than God:
but I didn’t dare push my private selfishness so far as to neglect, just for myself, the creation of the
world” as quoted x Roberto Calasso bcoz this is Calassos own position though dsguised so as not 2
ppear rdiculous) x Roberto Calasso (I had bn told th book was going cheap on th rduced prices tabl x
KcOoTnZAgBeAoSrIgSe (“HIC RHODUS HIC SALTA”) pub. x Alfred A. Knopf © 2001. ISBN: c –
375 – 41138 – 0 in whch Calasso says: “One can squeeze a juice, a “flavour”, rasa (my sisters
name, meaning dew in litho, & hence no doubt of sanscrit origin) from anything, says the
Jaiminīya Upanisad Brāhmana.” or Tzvetan Todorovs ‘ the fragility of goodness’ © 1999 pub.
Wiedenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0 297 646702 wher he says & I quote: “Memories conflict because
the glorious role in the past – the role of the hero or, in other contexts, of the victim –
constitutes a precious symbolic capital in the present, one that confers prestige, legitimacy,
and ultimately, more power on those who can successfully lay claim to it. But memory is not
merely a place where wills collide, each seeking advantage over the other. Memory is also open
to the establishment of truth.” without giving any ndic8ion of noticing the contradiction in the claim)
@ Readings in Lygon st. Carlton he stoppd 2 talk 2 th lady hoo was nchainng th bike nxt 2 mine. So
whn he left I askd her hoo he was as I keep †ing paths wth him I said 2 her. His name is
cEhAeGsLtEr (great name says LfOrVaEnCkE) & he has writtn 10 or so books & he has 1 an Age
Book of the Year AWARD & he is working on n OPERA. I hav nevr heard of him nor has any1 I know
but I made nquiries @ a new bookshop specializing in 2nd h& ozzie lit calld THE GRISLY WIFE (from
a titl of a book x rHoAdLnLey) BOOKSHOP (like the 1 sheLlEtEon used 2 hav here whch specializd
in ozzie POETS & wher 1 of me kids found ‘clocks ticked on’ x ZjIoZhYnS © 1975, the author. pub. x
‘flying duck enterprises’ @ 214 darebin road thornbury, 3071. designed x: david g harris, typeset x
margaret, terry & david, printed by strawberry press, assistance & advice: terry, arpad, andrew & πO.
ISBN 0 9598272 0 X) whch has just opend opp. the st8ion in Eaglemont Village & they had 2 of his
books (‘Play Together, Dark Blue Twenty’ ($25) (Belongd 2 Leonie Clancy in 1987) McPhee Gribble
Publishers © 1986. ISBN 0 86914 031 0. Typeset in Garamond by Bookset Melbourne Made and
printed in Australia by Globe Press, Melbourne, & ‘House of Music’ ($27.50) 1996 set in 10 point
Palatino, is printed by Print Synergy, Nottinghill, Victoria 3149 and published by Trojan Press, 23
Langs Road Ivanhoe 3079 Australia. © Chester Eagle. ISBN 0 9592077 1 6) so I bought thm & read
thm. ‘Play Together …’ is O Melbourne Grammar & is autbiografcal & not a p@ch on JjOaYmCeEsS
‘Portrait of an Artist …’ (whch I had thght woz O me whn I read it as a youth) & the short stories in
‘House of Music’ rnt much eithr but @ least hes a local livin here in Ivanhoe (b. 1933) & I can tell hes
bn 2 th places he mntions in his writng. What cght my @ntion was th@ in 1 of the supposedly fictionl
short stories he refrs 2 a persn x th name DOUGIE being airliftd in a mergency 2 BROKEN HILL x the

40
Flying Doctor Service whch is based ther. Now whn I was DOWN & OUT in White Cliffs (my +res :
Permissive Occupancy Site No. 11 in the “Blocks Area”) ther really was a DOUGIE, good friend of
mine, airliftd 2 the hosptl in Broken Hill. I reckon it must hav bn th = persn & nxt time I † paths wth
cEhAeGsLtEer Ill ask him. I srmise th@ Chester has vsitd White Cliffs & 4 all I know I hav talkd 2 him
in the pub but was 2 drunk 2 recall it. Thes thghts nfluencd me 2 change me plans 4 th trip I was
going 2 leav on nxt week in th north eastly drection & I dcided 2 go north 2 White Cliffs nstead but
now it in turn has bn ovrtakn x the trip 2 litho wher I was born 19/8/41 in KAUNAS (KAUEN/KOVNO)
& livd nxt 2 the NEMUNAS (NIEMEN) rivr 4 the 1st 3 years of my life. Howver 2 make up 4 not going
2 White Cliffs I nclude th follwing xtract from IN TRANSIT (in whch th 3 protagnists Mallacoota Man, I,
& Jim Brown r thinly dsguised versions of me – if Freud can do it so can I). @ the time I wrote what H
dscribed as the most sc@logical book sh had read I was bcoming ncreasingly convinced th@ a fixd
IDENTITY was neither dsirabl nor possibl 4 me so prhaps it is fitting I put out this xtract O th desert
just as my @ntion turns 2wards a country of lakes & deep greens & wher the sky is said 2 b low &
leaden & the peopl grey (my mum says a vsiting frenchman told her so b4 the war): “As Jim zipped
up his fly he heard a car door slam. Peering behind him through the scrub he could make out a
battered four-wheel drive with a couple of beer cans standing on the bonnet. His memory had fully
returned now. As he strolled up to the landrover which was parked in the middle of the wide dirt road,
he observed that Shaky was peeing into the hole of a colony of giant bull ants. For them the drought
had truly ended. Shaky’s old blanket and an oily hessian bag which he had used as a pillow lay in
fro-nt of the car. He had the dubious habit of sleeping on the bare ground in the exact centre of a
road or track. Jim knew that Shaky slept like a dead man and would never hear the drunk rousabout
who one night would come hurtling down the road on his way home from a gymkhana and cannon
into the ba-ck of his car killing him instantly. Jim had slept twenty yards away preferring the security
of the scrub. ¶ They were on their way home to White Cliffs on the last leg of a mail run that had
taken five days. Most of that time had been spent getting lost and bogged on station back-tracks.
The most unusual feature of this mail run had been that the mail usually got to its destination ahead
of the mail-man. This is how it happened. ¶ The regular contractor claimed to have had a heart attack
the day before he was due to do the weekly run and asked Shaky to help him out. The mail-man’s
heart condition had been caused by a week of solid rain which had left the countryside sodden. Even
under the best of conditions this mail run was a losing proposition. In selling contracts for the remote
runs the government depended on an unending supply of outback operators, who lured by the prosp-
ect of a regular income, were too naïve to make sufficient allowance for vehicle costs. Needless to
say, Shaky, known throughout White Cliffs as a soft touch, decided to take his own battered
landrover for the trip. The night before several casual references were made to the possibility of wet
conditions on the tracks but generally they concentrated on small talk and personalities as was their
usual practice. They drank till 2 a.m. or thereabouts which was also par for the course. It was a
feature of life in White Cliffs that no more than one task was ever attempted in a day. The task might
be to fetch young Steve from the shearing shed twenty miles away. Or it might be to shoot an emu to
provide Freddy Tree’s dogs with meat; emu meat was very oily and said to be good for a dog’s coat.
The men with whom Jim lived were morally spent, intellectually bankrupt; there was no one here who
boasted of possessing a multi-layered mind. One job was the most a man could cope with in a day.
The mail was tomorrow’s job. ¶ Their preparation was thorough as usual. They were woken up
sometime mid-morning by the various incomprehensible expletives Freddy Tree, from the next
dugout, made when he threw a saucepan of water from the forty-four gallon drum by the entrance
over his head. That was the beginning and end of his morning ablution. They each crawled out of
bed according to their various fashions, at a pace that was in harmony with the shattered nature of
their lives. Shaky got two cans of beer out of the kerosene fridge and handed one to Jim. Jim’s
morning prayers, for he was a lapsed catholic as you know, consisted of stumbling out the doorway
into a day where the sun shone with a metaphysical brilliance. He could hear someone retching
behind a mullock heap. His hands were shaking and his mouth felt like the bottom of a bird cage. He
raised his spare hand, like St. Paul, to shield his eyes from the blinding glare. It was a typical start to
a day in White Cliffs. Breakfast consisted of scrounging leftovers from the previous night. He found a
piece of cold yellowbelly fried in crumbs: it was delicious. Shaky and Freddy cracked another can:
they did not partake of solid food in daylight. Much later, while Freddy was feeding the dogs, Shaky
drove the three hundred yards into town to collect the mail bags. When he came back it was already
afternoon. It was decided that Jim would accompany him on the mail run. Next followed a long
discussion on whether the dogs, who were sitting expectantly in the back of the rover, should be

41
allowed to come along. Freddy decided that they should not. Finally, Jim and Shaky, each with a
freshly opened can in his hand, climbed into the rover and were off. ¶ There are a number of
insanities / In the world / And my grandfather had them all! // Let us suppose that one fine day
/ You wished to go / To the other end of the world // In an ox-cart. “Aha”, he would cry, /
”Aha!” / Hurry, my little man, // Hurry, my child, run and bring / My prayer shawl / And the pots
of clay, // And three pieces of cheese, / Two onions / And six pieces of well-salted meat, // Two
strong shoes and a pair / Of cotton socks / And one convenient shirt. // When one goes on
such a long / Journey, / When one is finally serious, // When one really undertakes / To go / It
would be a shame not to be ready. * (x Leonard Wolf) ¶ Three hundred yards and one minute
later they pulled up outside the pub. This was normal practice and an essential part of the
preparation for any task that they undertook. They had to stock up with tinnies. But first, now that
they were at the pub, they might as well catch up with the latest information. The barman, who
usually knew everything, told them about a new arrival by the name of Hans who claimed to be able
to find opal by using a divining rod. The idea was that you could locate fault lines in the opal dirt by
finding areas of greater moisture. According to Hans it was in such places that there was a better
chance of finding opal. At this stage Dougie Bow and a few of the real drunks arrived and it was clear
to Jim that they were settling down for a relaxed session of drink and conversation. The discussion
on this occasion centred on the knotty problem of whether Freddy Tree’s unorthodox method of
training dogs worked equally for both sexes. That in turn led into questions of morality and finally
deep philosophy. One drink followed another and the afteroon moved into its second phase. It was
not unusual for them to get so engrossed in this part of their preparation that by the time they tottered
out the pub door the sun was already low in the sky: then Steve would have to stay at the shed for a
day longer; the dogs would have to go without their emu meat. The mail however must get through.
So with an hour to go before sunset, at a time when the mail man would normally be well on his way
home, Shaky and Jim, having stocked up with an enormous quantity of tinnies which now lay
haphazardly among the mail bags, set out on the journey proper. ¶ The first leg of the run took them
to Clancy’s, the local station, only ten or so miles down the track. The track was completely dry and
the surroundings showed no signs of the previous week’s downpour. Apart from hitting a large pot
hole, which it was clear to Jim Shaky had not seen at all and which made them stop and rearrange
the cans immediately behind the back seat, they reached Clancy’s without incident. The station
owner, a regular at White Cliffs hotel, was in a jovial mood and invited them in for a beer. They
reluctantly refused the invitation in order to indicate to him the importance of their mission. He was
not impressed however and they took the line of least resistance. A can or two later they stood up
ready for anything. It was already dark and the station owner raised an eyebrow at their boldness in
pressing on. He had been under the impression that they were going to spend the night at his place
and offered them a choice of a woolshed or the shearers’ quarters. But Shaky who had sheared all
through this county and into central Queensland assured him that he still knew the station back
tracks. The owner advised them either to take the high track or better still to go back to the
Wanarring road until they came to the front track into the next station. Shaky strode to the landrover
with a reassuring wave of his can and they were off again. They went the back way because it was
more direct. ¶ They took off with a lurch and before they had gone a kilometre Jim could tell that
Shaky thought he was on a graded road. They hit a bump at speed and nearly flew off the track. He
glanced at Shaky’s face. He looked as if he was in a trance: his eyes were bulging and staring
straight ahead, his arms were held in a peculiarly rigid way, elbows up high. Shaky was driving into
another night, perhaps from his past or in his future, or perhaps into the night of his soul. It is said
that the geography of nature corresponds to the outlines of a man’s soul. That it does not do so
exactly became obvious when at a bend in the track they just went straight on. They blundered about
in a copse of belah and bimble-box until they regained the track lucky not to have got bogged, for
though there was no sign of surface water, the ground underneath had to be wet. Some kilometres
later they nearly cleared a washout that cut straight across the track. Unfortunately Shaky’s attempt
at flying the landrover landed him about a metre short of the other side and they found themselves at
the bottom facing the wrong way. Jim knew that there was no way they would get back up but he had
not counted on the depth of resources available to the true drunk. Shaky exploded into activity driving
the landrover in all directions at once, riding the steering wheel like a shearer trying to hold a scrub
ram. Next thing they were on the road again and what’s more, facing the right direction. The furious
activity had the effect of some external realities penetrating into his inner journey for he now slowed
down to a pace more consistent with the surface he was driving on. In this more peaceful mood

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Shaky became talkative and embarked on a long story which could easily have been the story of his
life except that Jim could not understand a single word he said. His mouth moved, various sounds
came out, but not a single word could be understood. Shaky was talking in his sleep. Jim reached in
the back and got two cans. Shaky passed him the can opener from the glove box and Jim held the
can between his feet as he opened it. He was bouncing up and down on his seat as he did it and
paid the penalty for facing downwards by copping a tremendous spray of beer directly in his face. It
was their misfortune for the rest of that night never to have more than half a can of beer at a time.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the midst of Shaky’s strange monologue, the road suddently went
underwater. They did not realize how big the puddle was till they rounded the corner for their
headlights did not reach the other end of it. They were driving straight up the middle of what
appeared to be a river and it was only the serendipity of honest drunks that found them several
hundred yards later, on dry ground. Shaky now lapsed into several sentences of what appeared to be
human language. Jim thought it meant that they were about to arrive at the next station but instead
they arrived at a stock dam. They almost drove into it but stopped in the nick of time. Shaky was
really coming good now, Jim could understand nearly everything he said. He knew which dam it was.
They drove around it till they found a trough; Shaky felt he needed a wash. Then they drove to
another spot where they both had a leak. Then they opened two more cans and again lost half their
contents. Then they drove off again. In good english now Shaky explained that he had to go back
almost to the puddle where another track would take him to the station. Jim noted that the track they
were on had no tyre marks on it and so could not be the same track they had come to the dam on.
They turned around and went back to the dam. The trouble now was that they could pick up tracks
going everywhere in their headlights as they had probably driven around the dam several times. In a
flash of inspiration, drawing on all his resources as a bushman, Shaky hit on the idea that if he drove
round and round the dam in circles of ever increasing size he would finally drive over the track (there
were only a finite number of tracks coming into the dam) with his own tyre marks on it. So it turned
out. A few hundred yards further they found the track they had been looking for. They drove on some
miles or maybe they were kilometres. They had to be very close now so when they came to another
stretch that was underwater there was an incentive to keep going. Even at night this puddle looked
murky and treacherous. They drove into it with sinking hearts. They churned on and on and still there
was no end in sight. Then Jim realized that they were still churning but they were not moving forward.
He looked at Shaky and recognized that glazed look in his eyes again. After a while as they settled
deeper into the mud, water began coming in through the floor. Soon it covered their feet. Shaky
regained sufficient consciousness to switch off the ignition and immediately fell asleep with his chin
slumped on his chest, hands on the steering wheel and feet underwater. Jim took a can from behind
the seat, the can opener from the glove box, his sleeping bag, and waded out onto the dry ground by
the track. ¶ Next morning Jim woke up ravenous. He felt as if he had not eaten for a week and when
he thought about it he realized that his last meal had been that piece of cold fish he’d had for
breakfast the previous morning. When he asked Shaky what he had brought in the way of food it
became clear that no provision for eating had been made. Shaky had expected to be fed at the
stations. He now wandered to the back of the ute and pulled out a loaf of bread from a consignment
that was meant to be delivered with the mail further up the road. As the delivery was already a day
late they reasoned that one less loaf would be needed. Shaky ate a couple of slices while Jim
finished off the rest of the loaf. They contemplated their predicament with resignation. The water was
a third of the way up the door and they could not see the end of the puddle for it stretched all the way
to the horizon. They did not look each other in the eye for they were consumed with shame. The
cause of their shame was the fact that only five metres away, running parallel to the track they were
bogged in, was an alternative track, on higher ground and perfectly dry. There was nothing unusual
about that: in this country when a track became too sandy or sank too far below the level of the
surrounding countryside, people simply drove alongside it till a new track was formed. They had been
blind indeed last night. ¶ Christians have always known that God has a hand in the affairs of men. If it
were not so the prayers of the devout would be useless. But, ¶ dont pray loudly / with
impatience // as if the Lord be deaf // in the mothers womb / the infants bones / grow silently. ¶
Some are not prepared to concede though, that His intervention in man’s destiny is governed by laws
which are not amenable to human logic. Man tries with his clocks and his measures to impose his will
on time but succeeds to confound himself with what is only an illusion of power. Fathers and mothers
take pride in manipulating their children through schools and universities. They boast about their
successful parenting as if they had some insight into the nature of man. Buffoons! Your sons may be

43
doctors and engineers but that still will not prevent them from becoming wankers, (deleted), students
of pornography and pompous bores. Your daughters will grow up to be vacuous cows, social
climbers, consumers of sedatives and clients of psychiatrists. ¶ Shaky’s and Jim’s resignation was
firmly grounded in an instinctive understanding of these profound theological truths. An
understanding which was sharpened by the consumption of vast quantities of alcohol. They placed
themselves in the mighty hand of God with such ease that the Pope himself would have been proud
of them. ¶ though we will drink your wine / we cannot / drink your vinegar / as you hold us in
your hand / protect us / from the nail ¶ Salvation came in the form of a grader driven by the owner
of Clancey’s. He had radioed his neighbouring station late the previous night and discovered that Jim
and Shaky hadn’t made it through, which is what he had expected anyway. He set out following their
tyre marks in the morning and found two mail bags, one belonging to the neighbouring station, that
had fallen out of the landrover when they had hit the washout. He returned with the mailbags which
were now being delivered by a ringer who worked on his property and had to head north today
anyway. He set out again but in a grader this time for Shaky’s tracks, though erratic, were tending
towards low-lying country where he was sure to get bogged. The track that Shaky had taken after
they left the dam was heading away from the homestead they were supposed to be going to and
would have taken them all the way to the swamps of the Paroo if they had not got themselves
bogged meantime. It was lucky for them that it happened as early as it did for if they had made it
closer to the Paroo, and they were always going to get bogged ultimately, it may have been difficult
for the grader to get to them. As it was they were still on Clancy’s and for that matter not very far from
the homestead. And that’s how two bags of mail reached their destination ahead of the mail man.
God’s will be done! ¶ I won’t go into a detailed description of the next five days. They were bogged
every day, sometimes several times a day. They lost most of the mail bags and as with the first two
they were found by station hands and delivered to their destination ahead of the postmen. They lost
themselves many times; indeed it could be argued that they were lost all the time. Their mission took
on an air of unreality. By the third day station hands were anticipating where they might come to grief
and were waiting for them at strategic spots with a beer and directions. Jim later discovered that the
station owners, who were all in radio contact with each other, were by then monitoring their
movements with wry amusement as if following the blundering progress of rats in a maze. Their
peripatetic mission had led them into another dimension where their failure to achieve specific goals
did not impede their progress towards the fulfilment of a greater purpose. Now they were almost back
in White Cliffs. None too soon either, for their beer had run out and they were thirsty. ¶ Back in White
Cliffs Jim was overcome by a craving for meat. After five days on the road surviving almost solely on
bread (as you guessed it that consignment was never delivered) Jim could have eaten a horse. He
went from dugout to dugout looking for any left-overs but found only two small chops on a frypan at
Freddy Tree’s. He knocked off a couple of patches of tiny maggots and wolfed down the meat. His
stomach immediately felt better for their diet in White Cliffs normally consisted almost entirely of meat
and fish. Feed the man meat! He sometimes wondered if the excessively long time it took for the cuts
and abrasions on his hands and legs to heal was in some measure due to the absence of vegetables
from their diet. Right now, however, it was meat that was needed. As he was walking past the
general store on his way to the pub where he had left Shaky he noticed someone coming out eating
a meat pie. Ah! The luck of the Irish! There was a bus load of tourists in town and the store had
heated up some pies. Jim devoured three of them and felt almost back to normal. In the pub the
regulars were seated around the bar drinking stubbies of Southwark, for this was in the days when
draught beer and Forsters had yet to reach White Cliffs. Here is a brief curriculum vitae of several of
them: ¶ Shaky had been a shearer and now had a crook back. He was admired through out White
Cliffs for his good cooking and because he kept a clean kitchen. The stereotype of the swearing
swaggering bushman exists only in the mind of city types. Down here a bushman was judged more
by his cooking and other small disciplines that he subjected himself to. There was a black mark
against any man who went to bed with his boots on. Jim had done that till he learned better. Shaky
was a man of few words and known to be a soft touch. He is dead now. ¶ Skeeter was a drifter. He
lived in a string of sheds and makeshift shelters that stretched all the way to the Gulf country. A shed
on the common a few hundred yards behind the pub was considered to be his when he was in town.
In the days when short back-and-sides were still obligatory he earnt a few bob on the stations and
shearing sheds cutting hair with proper barber’s scissors which he carried in his swag. He also
carried a guitar. He claimed to have been a jockey in Adelaide and to have been cruelled by love. On
other occasions he said he had roved for Port Adelaide. He was deeply in debt to alcohol and now

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sits in a grim institution for acute alcoholics in Dubbo or some such place, staring vacantly into
space. His mind has died but his body refuses to co-operate. ¶ Dougie Bow had been a pilot. He was
a specialist at finding good opal in the mullock heaps after rain in the days when it was still possible
to get big stones that way. He was proud of his eyes. Jim once saw him, after a drinking session at
three or four in the morning, nearly cut his thumb off attempting to hack a piece of meat off a
kangaroo carcass for his dogs. On another such occasion he drank a mouthful of sheep dip which for
some unaccountable reason he kept in an old unlabelled wine flagon and which he mistook for plonk.
He was rushed to hospital in Broken Hill by the Flying Doctor Service and did not return for a week. A
week after returning he repeated the mistake and died. ¶ Barney Brady was an old geezer who lived
for the tourists in the days when that breed were still a rarity in White Cliffs. He loved to engage them
in conversation, spinning them tall tales, and even taking them to his dugout to show them what an
original one looked like. Jim was later to become his neighbour when he purchased the adjoining one
from Fred Sealy who got spooked by the snakes that had taken up residence inside it. Barney died
from old age as did Tiger Harris who lived on the other side of him. ¶ Young Steve had been crossed
in love and had been doing odd jobs all over eastern Australia prior to settling here. He often worked
as a rousabout and copped a lot of flak for wearing a long pony tail. A local station manager with a
big reputation for fistic prowess poked fun at Steve’s hair in the pub one day. Steve king hit him and
knocked him out with one punch. Subsequently, the manager often drank with Steve without ever
recognizing that it was he who had knocked him out. ¶ Horst was one of the first to live in a dugout
after the war. He had been an engineer in Rommel’s army but instead of obeying orders to line up
with the rest to surr-ender and then spend years as a P.O.W. he simply walked away in the opposite
direction and lived with an arab family till the war ended. He was a misanthrope and a fierce
opponent of Jim’s in chess and speculative thought. He was always planning to move to a spot thirty
miles away as he claimed White Cliffs had become too crowded. He had already mentally prepared
himself to die for a year when he bled to death from an ulcer which he had refused to acknowledge. ¶
Freddy Tree had been a medical student and a Stuka pilot in the second world war. He had a wife
and daughter in Venezuela and had jumped ship in order to become an illegal immigrant here. He
was known as the dog man. One of his dogs was trained to cull a sheep out of a flock and drive it
back to the car parked by the track. Freddy was never short of meat. He had another dog that he
rented to surrounding properties. He was famous for his methods of training dogs but modesty
prevents me from revealing them; besides I’m frightened that my mother may get to read this
someday. He was on probation forever, after getting acquitted of a murder charge. It was Freddy that
had befriended Jim and invited him to share his dugout when Jim first arrived down and out in White
Cliffs. He always used to drink a bottle of Bacardi between eight and ten in the evening and then go
down to the pub for a fight. Later he shifted in with a black woman with half a dozen kids in Wilcannia
and now has a picaninny of his own. Freddy’s favourite words were “Yabba, Dabba, Doo!” ¶ These
were Jim’s friends: colourful but benign. None of them were weirdos like the guys he’d done time
with. They were weird really weird. That’s why he spent so much time studying, so that he wouldn’t
have to talk to them. There was a Kiwi there who was in for flashing himself to private school girls.
He was turned on by girls in uniform. He seemed a perfectly nice bloke, just your average flasher, till
Jim found out that back in Kiwiland he’d fallen in love with a cow; when the relationship turned sour
he drove over her with a tractor. They have some weird cows in New Zealand. I read in the paper
that there was one there recently that had a relationship with an elephant seal: she loved his trunk.
Anyway, compared to the types he’d lived with inside, these men were positively unspoilt. ¶ White
Cliffs still looks much the same now as it did when Jim was there. But it has undergone a spiritual
death. This coincided with it finding a bigger place on the ever burgeoning tourist itinerary. The
individual changes that caused its death are subtle but taken together they have been lethal. ¶ Those
innocents, those children of fate that Jim lived and drank with are nearly all gone. They have been
replaced by practical men of the world in control of their lives. The new men are not trapped here as
they had been; but as with a prostitute who is good for a short time and easy to leave, they come in
winter and go back to their city homes in summer. Some of these new arrivals are here to profit from
the tourists by selling them the various useless articles that they so love to buy. ¶ If you examine the
three rises surrounding the town proper you will notice that the dugouts in the hill behind the pub are
as palatial as suburban homes and that their occupants can insulate themselves from their
surroundings just as completely as they can in Melbourne and Adelaide. Their television reception is
better than in the capitals because it is beamed direct from a satellite with no surrounding electrical
interference. Notice too the shiny four wheel drives parked in front of them. In Jim’s day that hill was

45
bare. ¶ White Cliffs has become gentrified. The car bodies that once gave it a surreal and desolate
character have long since been towed away by the Progress Association, not because the locals
found them offensive but because they believed that the tourists would. The obligatory carseat by the
dugout entrance is also a thing of the past. There are fewer dogs and some of them look as if they
are bathed and groomed. There is an enclosure full of giant solar dishes that provide electricity for
the modern dugout lamps and the town’s four streetlights but cannot generate enough power to run
the hotel’s refrigerators. Consequently the pub generator, which used to be turned off at about eleven
plunging the town into a silence so profound that you could hear ringing in your ears, now runs the
whole night. That acre of silver monsters is, of course, a compusory item on every tourist’s itinerary.
The primary school teacher no longer lives in a tramcar. The publican takes tourists on sightseeing
flights. You can buy fresh milk in the general store. There is a caravan park with coin-in-the-slot
showers and laundry. ¶ The most hurtful change of all has taken place in the pub. As you walk into
the bar you see men standing tall in their R.M. Williams elastic sided boots and their Akubra hats.
They are drinking cold beer on tap from glasses. A TV can be heard from the next room. They look
smug for they see that they are dressed in the style of the other men in the bar. What they don’t
realize is that every man jack of them is a tourist and a fraud. Their expensive city four wheel drives
covered in stickers to signify former conquests are parked out front. They have been driven here fifty
metres from the caravan park, where these fakes and dilettantes will spend a maximum of two dusty
days before roaring off again on the new Wanarring Road to their next conquest. In Jim’s day the
cars lined up outside the pub looked hardly in better shape than the ones that littered the rest of
White Cliffs. What’s more they were unregistered and usually full of dogs. The occasional tourist had
to walk past these cars with his heart in his throat into a bar full of wizened shattered men covered in
dust and with faces ravaged by alcohol abuse. The tourist would stand respectfully by the door
holding his can wondering how these derelicts could afford to buy a beer at triple the normal price. If
a study of their faces gave him some slight insight into the desperation that made such extravagance
possible he would know that he did not belong in the same world as they did. He would finish his
beer quickly and leave quietly never to return. Now they lounge about as if they own the place. They
talk loudly about petrol consumption and crap like that. They hog the pool table. The few genuine
locals that are still left creep into the bar to buy their half dozen and sneak off, like strangers in their
own town, to drink back in their dugouts. It makes me so angry that I can’t hold myself back any
longer. ¶ You voyeurs, you masturbators and arse lickers. I, an obscure Greek of Armenian
extraction, have the blood of antiquity running in my veins. I was there in the searing heat under a
murderous load when the pyramids were built. If you glance into my eyes you will see that they are
smouldering with resentment for I am partly an Arab. When I was in Jerusalem they invented tear
gas, rubber bullets and public floggings to get rid of people like me. I look at your plump city features,
your contented smug expressions – and I spit on you. I’ve been to Siberia and Tibet. ¶ Nod by the
fireside / With your family close, while your books and clocks / Scheme to impose / On the
natural world a pretense of order // I know better / Padding noiselessly outside, / at the
settlement’s edge // My face narrowed in a red-eyed stare // To pierce the chill, my coat riveted
onto me. // You would shoot me, / using the legends of my ferocity / To excuse your own. /
And yet / You have had warmth to thaw your heart. / I have had snow to freeze mine. // I was
born in a foodless winter, / In a gaunt death of branches / When the snow held a glitter like
prophecy. / I have seen that glitter often / In the split-second of a near miss / With gun or
trap. // I serve your delusion. / In the image of my lean grey form / You deposit dread and
terror. / You persuade yourself that every dark force / Can be similarly shot, baited, held off /
With bolted doors. // While you can shudder at me / You need not shudder at yourself. // So be
it / I remain as I am, / Possessor of a grim pride / Being able to stand the cold. * (x Peter
Kocan) ¶ I’ve been to Balmain too, but more about that later. Right now I must return to White Cliffs
and the connection between circles, wheels and tourists. ¶ The Greeks of antiquity, my ancestors,
had a belief that the circle represented perfection. It was perfectly symmetrical and it had no ending.
There was a strange and irrational relationship between its radius and its circumference which
appealed to their sense of mysticism. They were able to explain the movements of the moon, stars
and even the erratic planets by a fabulously complex model based entirely on small circles driving
larger circles inside other circles again. The model, as perfected by Ptolemy of Alexandria, required a
truly agile mathematical mind to be understood. Men clung to this system for over a thousand years
while it became ever more complex as new anomalous observations had to be incorporated into it.
They were mesmerized by its paradoxical beauty. The more complex it became the more amazing it

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was to comtemplate that such an intricacy of mathematics could have at its core the eternal simplicity
of a circle. ¶ the song that you sing / is silent / as a star / in its journey through space // we on
our distant planet / are deaf to / the song / of your night // the galaxies of space turn on eternal
wheels / the music of infinity / is not for mortal ears ¶ I can assure you that none of these
considerations play any part in the tourist’s attachment to wheels. No sensitivity to beauty of any
kind, let alone the beauty of ideas, burdens his mentality. It goes without saying that you do need
wheels to get from A to B but your average tourist usually has an infatuation with wheels that goes
way beyond this. The purpose of all his wheels is to distance him as much as possible from his
surroundings without actually keeping him home in Melbourne or Sydney during his holidays. In the
Far West of New South the regular tourist beat takes him from Willandra to Mungo to Kinchega to
Broken Hill to Sturt National Park to White Cliffs and then home, or vice versa. Most of his time is
spent roaring along flat, well graded roads from one dusty camping park to the next. He rarely
spends more than one or two nights in any particular spot as he doesn’t have the faintest interest in
his surr-oundings. His real interest is in wheels and the machinery that makes them go. He never
uses station tracks or camps off the road, he doesn’t swim in the dams and he wouldn’t dream of
walking further than one kilometre. Like the man who prefers the picture of the nude in the magazine
to a live naked woman in his arms, his experience is almost exclusively visual, consisting mainly of
what he sees through the window of his car. ¶ I have devised a scale which allows you to assess the
level of depravity of a tourist by the number of wheels he travels with. You find out where you belong
on this scale by adding up the number of demerit points you score. The scale goes from 0, which
means you are a perfect human being, to 100 demerits, which means you are a 100% dead shit.
Though the scale ends at 100 it is possible to score much more. ¶ The only way you can avoid
getting demerit points is by not having any wheels which means walking. No one ever walks to White
Cliffs as the nearest town is Wilcannia, 65 miles away. That just shows that nobody is perfect. If you
came here with only two wheels you earn 5 demerits. A score of 0 to 10 means you’re a galah. In
Australia this is a term of endearment; we send a footy team called the ‘Galahs’ to Ireland each year.
If you did come on two wheels it would mean you rode a bicycle and that you are probably a student.
Quite frankly I would rather you had stayed home studying even though I admire your grit. In the
three years Jim lived in White Cliffs no one had ever ridden into it on a bike, though the local mad
woman was known to spend the occasional night riding about the town on hers. Don’t get the idea
that I’m rigid about the number of demerits you earn per wheel. If you ride a motor bike you score 15
demerits which puts you in the second category. A score of 10 to 20 makes you a wacker. If you are
also wearing a leather jacket with the name of your club on the back of it you get an extra 10 points
which makes a total of 25 and puts you into the third level, that is the 20 to 30 level, who are prawns.
If you are one of those Japs who rides a bicycle right round Australia in about three months just to
prove his masculinity and that he’s descended from the Samurai, and who after seeing nothing
except his front wheel and the courrugations in the road, tells the press how empty the place is, you
immediately score 100 demerits, which of course puts you at the top of the category of dead shits. As
I said, there is nothing schoolmasterish or inflexible about my scoring system. Four wheels earns you
a minimum of 25 which makes you a prawn at the very least. That’s not too bad really, most of us are
prawns, but the only way you get so few demerits with four wheels is if you’re driving an old holden or
falcon. A new commodore or new falcon or any other new car scores at least 30 demerits which
pushes you up into the category of dills. If your new car is an expensive four wheel drive then you
start with forty-five points. A score of 40 to 50 means you’re a dag. Pulling a trailer takes you up to
six wheels and earns you ten extra points. Having an attachment for carrying a bicycle by itself earns
you an extra five points and with a bicycle attached you get 15. A trail bike gives you an extra twenty,
and two trail bikes an extra 50. If you are also carting along one of those three wheelers with balloon
tyres and you’re not heading for your dairy farm add 40 to your score. I leave the additions up to you:
50 to 60 demerits makes you a drongo, 60 to 70 a nerd, 70 to 80 a wanker, 80 to 90 a dickhead and
anything over 90, as I said before, is a dead shit. If you have a kid who plays around in the camping
park with one of those radio controlled toy dune buggies you get 200 points, whichever way you
came here. If one of them ever comes near me I am going to crush it like a bug. If you are a Yank or
a Jap you start with a handicap of one hundred, you get an extra 100 if you’re over 80 years old. In
that case you’re a super, dooper, dead shit and you should be back in your geriatric ward in Tokyo or
Los Angeles or wherever you come from. ¶ The highest scorers that I have ever seen were three
Japanese, apparently grandfather, father and son of about ten, which by the way gives them a
starting score of 400, who got off an air-conditioned bus, that’s another 100 each, outside the Yanco

47
Glen Hotel. The grandfather took a photo of the father and son standing in front of the pub grinning
diabolically, then all three trooped back into the bus. The whole exercise took about one minute. For
the next twenty minutes that the bus was parked they stayed inside. All three of them had been
wearing R. M. Williams elastic sided boots, for which I gave them 50 points each, Akubra hats, which
is another 50 points each, and a complete Davy Crockett, now better known as Crocodile Dundee,
outfit, buckskin fringes and all, for which I gave them 1000 points per head. That gives them a total of
4000 demerits. I don’t know what to call them. ¶ I don’t want you to get the idea that I’m crook on
wheels; it’s the tourists, those parasites that skim along the surface of life without ever getting burnt
by its fire, that I am down on. Without the tourists wheels are okay: ¶ there are wheels in clocks
and watches / wheels of time / there are wheels in bureaucratic departments / wheels within
wheels // and a man may easily / be tangled up / in all those wheels // but don’t worry / it
doesn’t matter // as long as you are in time with / the wheels of God. ¶ To my eternal shame I
was a tourist myself once.” H is typing th +vntures of BRjOiWmN & Im O 2 bcom a 2rist again!
28/5/04 (Melbourne → Kaunas (no 45)). (just turnd off th kids cartoon on th st8 litho
TV whch I had turnd on hoping 4 th news @ 9; it was a russian produktion wth litho voice ovr) Had
my 1st full nghts sleep wth th help of 15mgs of valium & wash & showr & brushd me teeth & m back 2
normlty havn, as far as Im ware, faild 2 xprience any sgns of jet lag. This hotel & my room r uttrly
beautful like somthn from a 1930s movie – watr stains, wall pper rising @ the edges, brass fittngs 4
the head lamps, old worn red karpt. Whn sh was xplainn breakfast was in a rstrant down th street
(missd it this mornn) th rceptnist xused th@ this was not an xpnsiv hotl. But I couldnt b bettr housd @
any price. Rturnn 2 th trip here. A friend of Vaidas, Romas Mekisa, pickd us up @ Riga @ 1am ystrdy
havn bn kontaktd x Vaidas @ short notice. Petrl is xpnsiv so my kontrbution was 2 pay him $75 (aust)
= 150 litai 4 th cost of his 500k O trip. He took me drektly here th room havn bn lready bookd x
Vaidases brothr. Still in l@via w woz sprung x cops 4 speedn & had 2 pay a 5 latu bribe 2 get out of a
35 latu fine. Vaidas says last year he paid mor in bribes than 4 petrl. All th cops here r on the take.
They lay in wait in sneaky positions wher th chances r ↑ youll make a mstake. In this case the sgn
ndik8n th nd of the 50k zone was an nusually long way past a tiny town & Romas had ssumed w wer
lready in th 75k zone. @ th litho/l@l& bordr I used my litho passport (yes! I m now a citzn of urope (I
would like 2 b a citzn of th O but it would mean th only 1s against hoom I could b protektd would hav
2 b xtrtrsstrials), a dual passport ownr, havng rceivd my litho 1 a few days aftr complainn in my last
piece of writn (c ‘29/4 /04 – 1/5/04’ p11) th@ 8 months aftr I had bn told it would take 3 months I still
hadnt got it) 4 th 1st time. Anyway, w got → Kaunas @ 4.30am whr w woz pulld up x th cops gain hoo
checkd Romases passprt, drivers licence, & car nsurance, wthout a word of xplan8n as they r
supposd 2 do ccording 2 Romas hoo ddnt querie it coz he was 2 tired. Th@s lithol& 4 u & Romas
said I should void 1drn O Kaunas @ nght whch should b easy as dawn is @ 4am & it doesnt get dark
till mdnght (1/8/04. l8r I crrctd thes). Its 9.50 & I m keen 2 get going strtng wth ppr & breakfst in
LAISVĖS ALĖJA & then → old town (SENAMIESTIS) gain. Very briefly yestrdy I: walkd all day & saw
a Kuosa (Corvus monedula), & a Kiele (Motacilla alba) & othr birds I hadnt cn or heard b4 this
being not only my 1st trip 2 lithol& but also 2 europ (I bought a bird ID book in th mornn & hav me
bnoclars); vistd various churchs & was takn 2 the roof of th jesuit 1 (I told thm my mothrs brothrs had
bn tort x thm & I woz tort x thm in Melb. & Kun.l Kazimieras J. Ambrassas SJ hoo has writ a book O
oz & knows heaps of lithos in Melb. ncluding Andrius V. gave me a booklet ‘Aukštyn’ x him 2 pass on
2 Martynas Didžys (4/8/04. wth hoom I rowd up th Yarra from Altona → Northcote in a canoe whn w
wer kids) & he offrd me a meal (whch I dclined) & would like us 2 eat 2gethr nothr day but Im busy &
havnt evn kontaktd my relos yet) & was givn ntry → old synagog whr th doors wer nlockd 4 me; vistd
th beautful Vytauto parkas & othrs; walkd O in an  of tiny dcrepit woodn houses wth low eavs in
winding streets such as Žalioji g, Serbentu g. Vyšniu g, etc. whch raisd feelngs & mmries I ddnt know
I had rtaind; but mostly I walkd in th ‘old town’ hoos evry street I would like 2 xplor (& esp th dkrepit
courtyards whch u ntr thrgh stone archs). Im →. (10.20am) ….5.50. Was goin 2 start writn but Vaidas
just rang 2 say he will b here in ½ an hour so Ill just put in sevrl of th birds I saw: th commn duck on
th Nemunas (Niemen) (3/8/04. c front covr) is Didžioji Antis (Anas platyrhynchos); th seagulls r
Rudagalvis Kiras (Larus ridibundus); a tiny bird @ a nest box in a clump of trees on th bank of th
Neris is th Margasparnė musinukė (Ficedula hypoleuca); & th domnant crow in th city wth an
mprssiv wheezy call & black & grey plumage is th Varna (Corvus corone); & I saw a Dagilis
(Carduelis carduelis) whch has bn ntroducd 2 oz & known ther as th goldfinch.

48
 4/6/04. Ddnt sleep last nght. Th beer, coffee & f@y foods life style is c@chn up wth me.
O 11.30 I had a beer in a bar x th fountain & w@chd th nght life. A lot of loud youths & tartd up girls.
A guy threw a girl → fountain & sh was thrown ↓ 2ce mor x othrs. I sensd a pack mntalty. Sh was
laughn it off. 2day was th 1st warmr day of th summr (a month l8 evry1 says) & it was noisy outside
well in2 th mornn. Youths brayn. Ther is a disco nxt door. Then what soundd like a distnt car larm got
goin & went on & on. It ccurd 2 me 2 check th wndow & it was opn.They opn it whn Im out 4 vntl8n as
ther is no (5/8/04. & th hot watr pipes in th walls cant b swtchd off) airconditionn. It is doubl paned &
whn I shut it ther was no mor noise. Still ddnt sleep & feel heavy headd. 2nght Ill hav 2 pop som mor
pills & I hope Juozas isnt offndd (Im → his place in Šiauliai (Shialev) x th 5pm train). He will want me
2 stay @ his place but Ill try 2 xplain I prefr a hotl as I need ‘space’ 2 write. Ystrdy I went back 2
Smetono (4mly Biliuno) g. & was met x th mothr of Alvinga (4mr wife of Juozo brothr Jurgis hoo now
livs wth a new famly in Minsk aftr a midlife crisis whn he ab&nd his med. career 2 bcom a folk rtist &
hoo parntly has a very beautful & prmtiv SODYBA in a backward part of bielorus) hoo servd food
(potato pancakes & sliced meat) wthout 1ce ncouraging (oppsit 2 th Mushrooms of Rimeisiai hoo in
true peasant style try 2 4ce u 2 eat) me 2 eat while eatn hungrly herslf. I was glad coz I had ovreatn
on buns cookd in oil whch r sold in th stalls in Laisvės Alėja. Juozas says they go hungry @ times. Sh
showd me th room wher Felicija my gr&mothr had died & in whch sh thinks I had also bn 4 my 1st 3
years. 0 came back 2 me. I ddnt feel kom4tabl in her kumpny. She → a few times 2 wake Alvinga
hoo is dprssd & sleeps all day, keepn merican time sh said. I checkd out th yard bcoz it features in
many fotos my mum has. Th dog in a wire cage long nough 4 it 2 run O in was goin brserk & throwin
itself gainst th walls. It is noticeabl th@ peopl keep large vicious dogs as th idea is not 2 warn of
ntrudrs x barkn but 2 protekt u x killn thm. ReUgDiIdNiSjKuAsS says som kids hav bn. Whn Alvinga
finally srfaced w → brisk walk 4 sevrl hours & it turnd out n4m@v & njoybl. I hav troubl hittn it off wth
peopl of my own age. Alvingas situ8n is th@ sh married her 2 nd husb&, also a litho but hoo had 1 a
migrants VISA 2 USA in th lottry, aftr her own VISA xpired & cant get back → th US until he gets US
citznship whch should b this year. Its an on-again-off-again rl8nshp anyway. He sends money but I
noticed her mum pressd a note in2 her h& whn I said 2 Alvinga wed stop @ a bar. W walkd O in th
beautful large 4st park (Panemunės Šilas), observd th sunbathrs @ th beach x th Triu Mergeliu
Bridge, saw a newly built fenced & g8d dvelpmnt 4 th rch (no1 makn an honst livn or x th laws of th l&
can f4rd such a hous) had a beer, saw th TB santorium 4 kids (lmost non-xistnt undr th soviets but
now skyrocketing but I read in th mornn Kauno Diena th@ ccordn 2 europ fficial figs th konomy has ↑
x 6% each of th last 2 years, th highst % in europ. Whch do u think is a mor signifcant measure? Th
gap btween th rich & poor has bcom unbridgeabl sh says. Rapid systemik change ↑ som & ↓ othrs
wth th rubbsh. Ther r many gaps in th meagr social welfare systm. Sh doesnt get nmploymnt bnfits
coz sh hasnt workd in a litho firm havng bn workn in th US. I hav bn told x evry1 nanmously th@ my
thght of walkn † th beautful rolling, nfenced countryside (cows & horses r ndvidually tethrd & u c
womn in th fields wth buckts milkn a cow or carryn mayb 2 buckts on their shldrs; whn w wer leavn
Rimeisiai I could c Antanas Mushroom workn his block walkn bhind a 1man plough drawn x his hors
– like a llustr8n x Van Gogh) is out bcoz eithr they wont put u up thinkn u r a possbl robbr or if they
find out u is an ozzie whch they certainly would whn u nquired @ th village genrl stor 4 ccomod8n
som drunk (coz ther r a lot of dmoralized drunks in th VIENKIEMIAI) mght knock u off coz he thght u
was a millionair. & I hav no doubt ther is no room in th new konomy 4 future Mushrooms or their very
shy grown son (his girl left him coz he took 2 long) hoo squattd on his haunchs wth his back gainst th
wall (like u c vietnames do in oz) as I talkd 2 Milda & Antanas in th kitchn). Thn w walkd † th
Užtvankos Tiltas (whch holds back th watrs of Kauno Marios) from whch w got a great view
northeastwrds of th Nemunas dottd its ntire lenth x white swans (5/8/04. ther r 3 kinds: Gulbė Neblyė
(mute swan) (Cygnus olor), Mažoji Gulbė (Cygnus columbianus), & Gulbė Giesmininkė (Cygnus
cygnus)). W took 1 of th microbuses (1 Lt from anywhr) → city & partd kumpny havn succeedd in
reachn each/other. I got 2 th Metropolis just as Vaidas was → look 4 me in th nearst bars. Brigita &
Miglė wer waitn in th car & w → 2 vsit ReUgDiIdNiSjKuAsS & wife & daughtr in a modrn fl@ nxt 2
Vytauto parkas wth a view ← kitchn ovrlookn centrl Kaunas & senamiestis. They r mong th 1s hoo
hav made it & I must say Im mprssd x his work & his mannr. He will drop off (but ddnt) his vrsion of
an old map of senamiestis @ th rception desk 4 me 2 use as a covr 4 this piece whch Ill mail 2 H
2day nstead of writn lettrs. He says in soviet days his new studio in L. Zamenhofo g. (whch runs →
Muitinės g. whr I had said hullo 2 th klasskly garbd JEW hoo ReUgDiIdNiSjKuAsS said was no lokal)
used 2 b an ordnry soviet unit from whch an old womn ran a SLY GROG (& a bite of sausage) joint

49
aftr hours 4 those in th know. Th street (4/8/04. c rght h& side of covr map) is named aftr a doktor
hoo came from VARŠUVA (WARSAW) & set up a praktice ther. ReUgDiIdNiSjKuAsS konsidrd
naming his studio ESPERANTO (but dcided it woznt ppropr8) bcoz L. Zamenhof(as) was th nv-
ntr of ESPERANTO (so evry1 would b abl 2 tork 2 each/othr). I m going ↓ 2 get this fotokopied &
then → PO → H (19/6/04. It was on the verandah when I came home from school on Thursday, the day
after you rang. I’m finished typing it now, at Miller Street, at 8.20 pm on the coldest day we’ve had yet in
Melbourne - 9˚at 1.15 pm as I was walking into town, with an icy southerly blowing. You managed 9792
words in between all the travelling, talking, eating and drinking – helh&z). Th nxt piece will probbly b titld
ŠIAULIAI → VILNIUS. Bon voyage & travl well.
11/6/04 (Vilnius 1 (no 47)). 9.00am. Im goin 2 post a kard 2 LfOrVaEnCkE & then Ill
b goin past th libary again. It is mportnt 2 know whr it is coz ther is a toilt in it on the 5 th floor. BriLgAita
knows of only 1 publk toilt in Vilnius. Its nothr reazon why its good 2 b bookd rght in th centr of old
town whr u spnd most of your time – u kan lways go back 2 your own place 4 a CRAP (but I also
karry a small roll of toilt papr (in rubbr b&) should I need 2 duck bhind a tree (or rubbsh skip) in a
mergncy). I 4got 2 mntion ystrdy, SA&NrIeGwA, th@ I did st& out front of th libary & look @ th room
your gr&fathr had livd in near x. Its mpossbl 2 get 2 know all th s & th labyrnthine konnktions thrgh
ncient rchways but its worth tryin. Th rstord 1s r filld wth parkd kars but in th othrs u c old womn, kids,
nglekt & many, many k@s. But u dont c k@s & men searchn thrgh th rubbsh kontainrs as u do in Ka-
unas bkoz most of th nkum of th kuntry is spent here 2 @rakt 2rsts & 2 make it a nice place 2 liv in 4
th new rch & th govt peopl. I m usin th red fountain pen givn 2 me x DiC&ArSeTaRO (stoln from th St-
8 Libary of Vic (23/8/04. stole nothr 1 & gave it 2 me 4 me brthdy (c ‘14/8/41’) on 19/8/04)) 2 write in
th note book I karry O wth me verywhr. I sppose u r in italia x now & Im lookn 4ward 2 komparin
notes whn w r back in Melbourn. I think my sistr Eglė is in Helsinki 2day on her way 2 Paris or som
such place 4 a konfrnce. Im takin th bottl of Malūnininku wth me 2 giv 2 nothr drunk as its 2 strong 4
me & not 2 my taste eithr …. I ddnt → far down th street as in a small bookshop x th Vilnius niversity I
kame † th book ‘Jews, Lithuanians and the Holocaust’ x Alfonsas Eidintas “a noted Lithuanian
historian and political scientist …served as Lithuanian ambassador to the United States
…since January 2002 … has been serving as Lithuanian ambassador to the State of
Israel..” I think this was th book mntiond 2 me x KOmZyLkOoVlSaKsIS & I had said ther was no
point in don8n a book 2 th litho libary in Errol st Nth Melb whch was writtn in litho as hardly any1 ther
of mine or th youngr genr8n reads it. So now th@ I hav it in nglsh I can read it myslf in an e4t 2 lay th
ssue 2 rest whch I feel th need 2 wth som dspr8n & then Ill don8 it 2 th libary. Th book is publshd x th
Nstute of Tern@ional Rl8ns and Poltkal Sciences Vilnius Niversity: “First published in Lithuanian:
Alfonsas Eidintas / Žydai, lietuviai ir holocaustas. Leidykla Vaga, 2002. / The translation
of this book to English was contributed by Amos Eiran and Kuty Friedman, Kuty and
Rami Girguzhinsky, Dani and Yoram Barnea. / In memory of their families: Tauber,
Giguzhinsky and Bernstein, who lived in Vilnius, Lithuania, and were murdered during
the Holocaust./ Translated from Lithuanian by: Vijole Arbas (parts I and II) / Edvardas
Tuškenis (part III). / Publication of this book was supported by / Lithuanian Culture and
Sport Foundation / Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania / International
Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes
in Lithuania / ISBN 9955-9613-8-4 / © Alfonsas Eidintas, 2003 © Versus Aureus
publishers, 2003.” It kost 52.95 Lt & I also bought a weekly ppr ‘The Baltic Times’ 4 5 Lt. ….
11.25pm. Th bars (Lygon st x Chapel st x Brunswick st x Fitzroy st many times over) r chokka. I think
th nght is just bginn. Krowds of 2rsts led x guides wer verywhr all day chokin up th narrow sts but
nevr goin → labyrnth of s bhind th façade. I met th x-ballrina & her rtst dghtr & boyfriend gain this
evnn (m drinkn Bobeline) but only ch@d a short time as they wer on their way somwhr. Iv stoppd
tryin 2 nswr why I speak litho so good whch evry singl persn asks me (they say peopl dvelop an
akcent (28/8/04. You already said it on p1 – helh&z) ftr only a few years away) as I dont know th nswr
myslf. I bought ‘The Baltic Times’ 2 read ovr breakfst. It says ther is a bill b4 th l@l& parlmnt 2 prvent
dual citznshp holdrs holdn hgh govnmnt offce. Ther is also a pikture of a gathrn in stonia of 4mr SS
legion mmbrs in front of a † 2 honour their dead kolleagues. I hav 2 find a mor brevi8d way of
writin othrwise Ill go on 4evr. B4 or ftr breakfast (23/8/04. shows how konfuzed Id bkum)
(ŠALTIBARSČIAI & GIRAS) I was told @ th ‘Lietuvos Giventoju Genocido ir Rezistancijos
Tyrimo Centras’ (Juozas had said I must visit) th@ their muzeum was just off Gedimino pr. so ftr
postn kards 2 LfOrVaEnCkE (23/8/04. askd u 2 tell Alek I had left th ‘Vicnet is Under Threat’ leaflt in

50
th Vilnius libery but u ddnt) & 2 my mum I went ther & dskovrd it was lok8d in a cellar (like many
kafes whr if u go downstairs u ntr a labrnth of rooms like som ndrgO opal mine) whch used 2 b a KGB
prizn & terrorg8n place. In th 2 nd or 3rd cell I saw an nlargemnt of a foto from my mums lbum whch
ddnt ltgethr srprize me as I knew sh had givn it 2 som such nstution years ago. I told thm th foto was
from our famly lbum & th lady in charge gave me a kopy of th ntrnet ntry O th man JONAS ŽEMAITIS
–VYTAUTAS (my mum had th photo bkoz he was briefly a boyfriend (mayb her 1 st) of hers in Paris)
whch Iv read but Im quotn nstead from th dskription (in litho & nglsh) on th wall in th korrdr outside th
cell. “Born on March 15 1909 in Palanga. A graduate of Kaunas Military Academy and
Fonteneblo (France) Artillery Academy. Kaptain of the Lithuanian Army. A participant of
armed resistance movement since 1945. In 1947 was elected the commander of the
Kestutis district. A year later under his initiative the Jura District was founded which
united the greater part of western Lithuania partisan units. J Žemaitis was one of the
organizers and ideologists of the Movement of the Freedom Fighters of Lithuania, which
was founded in February 1949. He was first chairman of the presidium of the Council of
the Movement and had the rank of partisan general. On May 30, 1953 was arrested and
on November 26, 1954 shot to death in Butyrovka prison in Moscow. The burial place
unknown.” & from th ntrnet ntry: “Pusantru metu J. Žemaitis buvo laikomas Vilniaus
KGB kalejimo rūsiuose, tardymui buvo nuvežtas net i Maskva. Tačiau jis
kategoriškai atsisakė dirbti okupantams, liko ištikimas karininko ir partizanu
vado priesaikai./ 1954 m. lapkričio 26d. Jonas Žemaitis buvo sušaudytas
Butyrku kalėjime.” Th boyfriend of th ballrinas dghtr says ther is a monmnt (23/8/04. ther is a
monmnt 2 very1 in lithol&) 2 him somwhr. → thrgh th cells, torture chambrs, xkution room, konfinemnt
cells (0.6m²) it bkame mor pparnt 2 me how powr konfines th of thos it subjug8s. Since in sleep
u can skape from konfined s ther wer 2 cells whr a priznr was made 2 st& naked on a foot wide
raizd piece of cemnt & if he fell he fell ↓ freezn watr. As I write I hav troubl prvntn myslf from kryin.
Praps I hav bkum a maudln drunk. It is not bkoz of th famly konnektions but bkoz of th rooms men
wer tort-ured in. My mmry of cellars is of dark, safe places smelln of earth & spuds & rottn appls
(probbly from germny) whr th k@ follwd u 2 nvestg8. But th cellars of Vilnius tell many othr stories.
L8r I prayd (I say guide me (bkoz I m on somkind of path whch isnt sgnpostd) & I m a (or your)
servant (bkoz servants sneak O nvestg8n what th rch & pwrful r up 2; & they grog on & grope womn;
& they steal & tell stories; & they bow low wth dsrspekt)) in th CERKVE wth th green onion spires not
far away. I make th sign of † from rspkt 4 th old womn I c ther (th PROGOSLAVU CERKVĖS r th
most beautful of all 2 my taste) & bkoz (though I know it is rl8d 2 suprstitions & steppn or not
steppn on kracks & washn h&s ovr & ovr) x doin it I m an x10sion of th rptitions & Os of atoms
& planets & I m proud of th konnektion & of havn gon byond it. I m very quiet in beautful places
but in th mornn I saw a pair of 2rsts from a guidd group gettn thmslvs fotografd in front of th pikture of
KRIST on th † bhind th altr of th ŠV KAZIMIERO (JESUITU) BAŽNIČIA & 2rsts talkn loudly koz they
wer litho (x th way most 2rsts here r poles) kathliks in th tiny CERKVĖ near whr I m writin (ther r litho,
polsh, & progoslavu chrchs verywhr). From a hill near th CERKVĖ I prayd in I kould c th domes of
nothr 1 but whn I got ther I found it was part of a large prizn. No sound kame from bhind th razor wire
(I kant rmmber if I mntiond th 2 othr prizns Iv found here 1 of whch had th rmains of a chrch in it). Th
hgh walls th@ used 2 sO som chrchs & cerkvės r now ready made 4 prizns. Thn I went gain →
cerkve † th rivr from Gedimino pr. & then → new SINAGOGA but it was shut. L8r I 8 t @ th UŽUPIO
KAVINE (on th way I saw a Didysis Dantčiasnapis (Mergus merganser) wth young as I → along th
fast flowin Vilnia whch flows → Neris) a very klassy kafé vrlookn th rivr (wth a skulptura of a mermaid
in th wall on th opp. side) whr I bought a ŠV.Jono (but I havnt cn nside th chrch though very1 talks O
it & its just near x) Kepsnys (St Johns pork with chanterelles & hot vegies) 4 18.40 Lt (+ 2 BOKALUS
of beer x 5 Lt each) & it was dlicious as all food is here. Ftr meetn th ballrina l8r gain I did find th only
publik toilt in Vilnius & it kosts 50c as gainst 24c in Kaunas whch tells u how th prices diffr btween th
2 cities. Šiauliai, of course, is cheapr gain. Ftrwds I → O feeln lonely koz so many peopl wer larfn so
much in streetside kafes & I had bn kryin so much. Still l8r in a small chapl (modrnized nside in
mnmalst style) I was kopyin out th follwng words but it klosed b4 I had time 2 fnish so Ill write down th
rest 2morrow: GESU, CONFIDO IN TE / JÉSUS, J’AI CONFIANCE EN TOI / JĖZAU, PASITIKIU
TAVIMI / JEZU UFAM …..
18/6/04 (Vilnius (no 2) (no 48)). Taurius (14/10/09.  erlir ths ywnwwr n ), a
konsdrably larger persn than me, woz an ngineer 4 a faktry supplyin ‘black s’ → soviet air4ce. Th

51
numrous faktries thrghout lithol& whch used 2 supply th old soviet mltary hav shut down az haz most
of th mnfakturin ndustry. 1 of hiz dghtrs, Rasa, is a doktr. Th uthr, Jurgita, (a dzignr) wth dghtrs Irutė
(6) & Gaia (7) livs wth thm (no sign of husb&), a typkl stu8n in lithol&. Taurius took me → his
SODYBA 20ks out of Vilnius whr (he sed) they go 2 rkuvr & 2 raffrm their roots. It has a large veggie
& flowr gardn & backs on2 4st & he, like Juozas, fferd H & me th use of it. But thr woz a huge
rottweiler roamn free down th lane btween th row of gardns & l8r Jurgita told me how whn sh woz livn
thr lone ftr her husb& left 4 maskd guys broke in & threatnd her & took her komputr (I gave her Dans
website ie. Dan Zizys + model x google so they kould hav a look @ his piks on her partklarly slow
komputr) & now shs 2 skared 2 b thr lone. Taurius rmmbrs (he sez) me as a littl kid az thgh he is 3
years oldr he used 2 play wth me. They had movd → th Panemunė haus just b4 w had left. He sed
my gr&muthr Felicija woz 97 whn sh died whraz I had lways ‘known’ it 2 b 99. Whn I woz in Kaunas
(8/9/04. c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p9) Alvingas muthr Elvira had sed 93. On th road → Trakai (a big
2rst trap (8/9/04. Howard Jacobson lso vsitd (c ‘Vilnius (no.1)’ p2)) thgh beautfully stu8d) I mntiond
his dad had bn a mmbr of th kmmnst party (@ litho haus in Melb an old lady hood bn a studnt of
Jonas (my fathrs, & Juozases fathrs bruthr & th fathr of Taurius) had 1ce fixd me wth a meannful &
kkus@ry stare & volnteerd sum naskd 4 info thgh I ddnt evn know hoo sh woz) & he sed he nevr had
bn. Then he sed he woz of very changabl views & may hav bn a sympthizer 4 while. Then he sed he
may hav pplied 2 join & bn rjktd but had nevr bn a mmbr (8/9/04. c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p8). W
may hav bn talkn O diffrnt periods. TIME! But th most xtrordnry news 4 me woz 2 find out th@
Juozases mum had not died in SIBIRAS but had rturnd durin Kruschevs d-stalnz8n & livd wth Juozo
dad. Her sentnce had bn 4 10 yrs & sh had bn an aktiv supportr of th PARTIZANS (c ‘Šiauliai’ p8 &
‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p5) kkordn 2 Taurius supplyin thm wth medk8n. I had thght & writtn sevrl
times th@ sh had died wthn 100ks ← Juozases dads kamp & he had only found out whn he got
back. Taurius hoo had kontinued 2 liv in th haus in Panemunė in Kaunas ftr w left (prhaps in th very
room I spnt my 1st 3 years) sez th bridge ovr th NEMUNAS (NIEMEN) rivr whch konstutes my singl
mmry of lithol& from my chldhood woz blown up x th rtreatn germns th day b4 th russkies rrived O a
munth ftr our famly had fled westwds. It woz a huge xplosion. They had 2 take sheltr in their cellrs &
th wndows of th hauzes in th street (nkludin ours) wer blown out. Ftrwds thr woz a famin. Az w wer
torkn w wer drivin thrgh 4st & th roadside woz blue wth LUPINAI (lupins) in th  of Žemieji Paneriai
az w passd th turnoff → GENOCIDO VIETA whch is whr th jws of Vilnius wer → 2 b murdrd ← th
ghetto in th city. It woz rainn, Taurius made no sggestion, & I had no nkln8n 2 c nuthr PAMINKLAS.
@ th time Taurius woz xplainn th meann of th litho word STRIBAS (plural: stribai) whch derives ←
ruski word meann guardians of th peopl but in litho it iz a driziv (do not b kareless O how u uze it in
nfamliar kumpny or l8 @ nght or ftr a few drinks) term 2 dskribe KOLABORATAI (collabr8rs) &
NAIKINTOJAI (xtermn8rs). Th last of thm left th kuntry whn it gaind ndpndnce. Taurius knfirmnd what
Juozas had sed th@ they wer drawn from th same type of peopl hoo had killd th jws. He sed
RUSLAVAS hoo had STRANGLD A SKOOLGRL durin a tterrorg8in now livd in MOSCOW & nuthr
famous name in lithol&, DUŠANSKIS, livs in ZRAEL. In Trakai he paid 2 x 8 Lt 4 tickts → th kastl &
muzeum & wldnt allow me 2 rkompns him. Thr woz a sound stage bein set up in th  4 an evnt in th
evnn. L8r I xplaind 2 him I hadnt bn → singl muzeum (8/4/04. I had 4gottn O th genocido muzeum (c
‘Vilnius (no.1)’ p9,10)) or → a place whch charges 2 → durin my stay in lithol& & Id get mor njoymnt
→ O th kastl or → shors of th beautful lakes or havn a beer but w bought 2 bottls of giro (KVASS)
nsted of beer koz he had 2 drive. Whn I went 2 pay & ask-d how much th lady bhind th bar said: “5 Lt
kadangi geras lietuvis jei rusas tai būtu 6 Lt” (5 Lt koz your a good litho 4 a russki its 6). L8r Taurius
took me 2 th rmains of th oldr KESTUTIS kastl nxt 2 th walls of whch in a haus no longr thr he had
livd as a kid while Jonas his dad was teachn in th . He sed his dad had bn very klose 2 th
KARAIMAI (not 2 b konfused wth TOTORIAI (from hoom he klaimd th ruskis got their partklar kind of
swear words based on fmale (partkulrly muthrs) rgans) but whn w went 2 c nside th KINESA it was
lready klosed. Thr r only 300 KARAIMAI left in Trakai. Back in th city w had a long dinnr of cepelinai
etc & beer & Taurius opnd a bottl of br&dy & w lookd @ old fotos & I talkd him out of his very prsistnt
f4ts 2 get me 2 kum on a 3 day kayakin trip early nxt munth az I will b in Nida then & I sed Id go
mushroomn whn Im here gain th week b4 I leav lithol&. He told a joke O a jwsh (lots of jwsh jokes he
sed & I sed like irish jokes in oz I spose) guy hoo woz komplainn his wife hadnt writtn a lettr 4 ages &
his friend skd how long had sh bn away & th jw said th@s th troubl, shs here @ home all th time.
BLAT NA CHUI! …. Az I woz leavn I kalld → duty room, ppsit th bookn room whr their boss iz, & askd
if 1 of th ladies had a needl & thread so a tear in th sleev of me jackt kould b fixd & th lady hoo had
kried (O 4 years ldr than me – most pnsionrs hav 2 work @ sumthn 2 make nds meet. A singl womn
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(men die much yngr bkoz of alkohism) wth no kids 2 supprt (Taurius did a 24 hr stint @ a multstorey
kar park day b4 ystrdy; he & his wife get help from their dghtrs; they rglarly sell flowrs & seedlns @ th
markt) her in old age is in real strife bkoz no1 in th guvmt heatd units kan get out of payin O 300
Lt/munth in wintr evn if they dont want th heatn (& all th uthr charges r hgh 2) – 3 munthly dfaults puts
u out on th street) nsistd on fixn it on th spot from a sewn kit sh had wth her. Sh wouldnt kcept
paymnt then sh & th uthr old lady nsistd I sit down & share their breakfst of LAŠINIAI (pure smoked
f@ in this kase whch kkordn 2 th friend of th lady hoo sewd me sleev sh had made herslf) on bread &
radshs & then t wth sugr & I wouldnt kcept th cheez offrd koz I knew I woz goin → ritzy KAVINE
ftrwds 2 read th ppr ovr a l@te & salad & fresh orange juice. I s@ 4 a long time as th lady ?n me (hoo
woz quite smart) ŽAVĖJOSI @ th 1drful things I woz telln her O ozziel&. Meanwhile th womn hoo had
sewn my sleev woz kursn th thievs hoo had left her dstitute (u kan hav workd az a doktr 4 30 yrs &
300 Lt iz still all u will get 4 a pnsion so u nevr know hoo th old krow beggn in th street haz bn in her
4mr life (just konfirmd x PIKjTuUrRgNiAtIaTE hoo I met in Pilies g. near whr sh & Algis hav a fl@-)) &
woz O 2 burst → tears. Th VADOVAS of bookns from th room th uthr side of th ntry doors woz gettn
nkreasnly agit8d pacin in & out of his room. I sppose he woz rsponsibl 4 th good image of th
stablshmnt 2 2rsts. This went on & on & th 2 good womn grilln me O 1drl& (“ah! kaip norėčiau
pamatyti australia”) wer nglektn their duties till fnally th boss (8/9/04. fathr of ‘erte’ (c p3) & a 4mr
ngineer I dskovrd l8r) found an xkuse 2 kum in & send 1 of thm off on what woz no doubt an nvntd
err&. I left 2 get me mbrella koz its real kold & rainn az its bn 4 days & th ppr says will go on & on
(koldr than u r 2day in Melbourne, honey). Whn I woz in th ritzy KAVINE wth th uthr ritzy peopl hoo I
kould c wer mghtly 1drous @ my msm@chd sox (1 red, 1 purpl) I realized I woz no diffrnt 2 th grl I
had cn feedn th littl doggie on her lap from her own pl8. How rdkulous it woz 4 me (spoilt, rch, favourd
x chance, good kompanions & parentn, eaz @ meetn new peopl, health etc. ) 2 magine I woz writn 4
such womn az th doorwomn or on their b1/2 az I had klaimd ystrdy. I m writn out of slf ndulgnce az I
do verythn els. (Ystrdy evnn ftr I had nsnu8d myslf → knvrs8n mung 4 yng peopl (1 studyin flology) &
1 askd (ftr I had sed Im goin 2 take th gaps out from btween th words 1 day & givn thm my last 2
pieces) why do I do it & I askd him if u kan tell me why a paintr hoo iznt selln 4 a livn keeps on paintn
Ill answr your ?.) Ftr readn th ppr wth th help of a dlcious salad wth avokado, grapes, olivs & uthr
nxpektd itms I kame back 2 my room ← th ritzy KAVINE 2 write th ntry. On th way in I gave thm th
kopy of Lietuvos Rytas whch had kost 3.50 Lt koz I had finshd (lots of †s & metl frames off piktures &
kash takins @ srvices r bein stoln daily (nip)) readn it & they woz very gr8ful & sed r u sure u hav
fnishd readn it & I hope their boss hoo woz in hiz room on th uthr side iznt dark on me ….
25/6/04 (→ (no 1) (no 49)). Iv bn way a munth. Kan th FUTURE b known? 2 ask
th ? iz lready 2 make a gram@kl (in th Wittgenstinian sens) mstake & then u get trappd x
knots of meanns: bkoz w 4get th@ in its 4m8n th not-knowin iz part of th shapin of th word
FUTURE (9/10/04. xept when w predikt konsquences (ie rptitions) of preznt evnts eg. nght kums ftr
day (astrnmkl etc)). W 4get th BEGINNINGS (Plato?) & then get trappd in konfusions. If w knew th
future w wldnt need THE WORD – it would mean w wer travlln ← 2 th start. Ystrdy evnn me & Vaidas
→ SENKAPIS (barrow-mound – 4 xpln8n read ‘Lord of th Os’) @ th nd of th propty & ↑ thrgh lush wet
grass 2 th top 2 whr † (biggr than th rginl 1) iz rektd probbly x hiz gr&fathr. @ th bottom w wer sprized
2 find ½ duz plastk kontainrs mung th weeds 4 shieldn kandl flames from wind. 1 plastk bottl (like a
beer (2 ltr plastk) or koke bottl kut in ½) haz a bunch of flowrs in it whch r not fully dried out yet. Hoo
iz doin it? Brigita suggstd Miglė ask Tony & Milda Mushroom whn sh goes ovr thr 4 our fresh milk
(strght ← th kow) if its thm. (I kan hear a woodpckr so Im goin 2 get me bnoklrs & c if I kan spot it: thr
wer 2 of thm & I got a real good look. They r th Vidutinis Genys (Dendrocopos medius)). On th
mound thr iz lso a sgn on a small cemnt post: LIETUVOS TSR VALSTYBĖS SAUGOMAS
ARCHEOLOGINIS RIMEISIU SENKAPIS (litho SSR govt. prtektd rklogikl Rimeisiu ncient burial site).
L8r x th LAUŽAS (fire) whch w light very nght w drank SAMAGONA (or SAMANĖ az Vaidas kalls it
bkoz he reckns th taste may kum ← moss but what I drank @ Laimas (c ‘Vilnius (no.2)’ p8) had
green grass in it) a home brewd fire-watr. (I kan hear thundr). This mornn I got up much earlier
(Brigita & Miglė r still sleep, Vaidas haz made us a koffee) than th rest & made me way down th track
thrgh a field of tall white, blue & smallr yllow & purpl (long rolln peel of thundr) flowrs (voidn th fresh
dirt from the mole Os) 4 a full mmersion in th freezn watr of th Šešuola. (Its rainn). I had a good nghts
sleep & m pulln meslf (ddnt w all whn w wer kids) 2gethr from th nhealthy (I chanced 2 run me h& →
me neck a few days ago & it woz greezee az if I had put suntan lotion on (I woz showrn very day)
from all th cepelinai (aka DIDŽKUKULIAI – my ozzie readrs (Zorca) will b ntrstd 2 know) & uthr foods

53
in oily sauces I had bn eatn) livn I had bn leadn in Vilnius. (sun iz out, humid, long rolls of thundr,
Vaidas iz chizln) …. (th yng storks (2 of em) r out st&n on th edge of th nest (on the chmny) & testn
their wings) … (got a sweat up mowin grass wth a DALGIS (LITOVKA in russian 2 dstnguish th strght
h&ld litho scyth from th kurvd handl of th ropean 1)) … (thrgh th middl of th day (got a tremor in me
h& from th mowin) I woz tryin 2 rmmbr th words of a song O mowin I used 2 sing & it kame back 2
me: Pabėk bareli / Galan valako (x 2) // O kad nebėgsi / Mes pavarysim (x 2) // Mes
paprašysim / Kieman brolaliu (x 2)// Kad padėtu pavaryti / Mūsu bareli (x 2)) …. (went 4
nuthr look @ th senkapis & †† & sor a Kiauliukė (Saxicola rubetra)) …. (Geltonoji starta (Emberiza
citrinella))….
2/7/04. Ystrdy evnn I 8 & drank wth eJdOuNaUrŠdAaSs & JOvNiUtŠaIlEiNaĖ th sstr of
JOrNiAmIaTsIS. Th@ woz in th evnn in Nida then I cght a bus ← Preila, talkd 2 th Birds 4 a while,
took Temazepam (10mg) & Valium (5mg) & fnally got a bit of sleep. Its 9 am. Earlier in th day I sor
Raganu Kalna (Witches Hill) in Juodkrantė. Its a gr8 2rst @raction but 2day Im hurryin this ntry koz I
want 2 → O in th evn gr8r 4st th@ its in az its th nly old growth 4st on th Couronian penisula (@ least
on th litho side of it). Its xtrordnry beautful but it will b wet az th rain set in ystrdy rvo & kntinued thrgh
th nght. Its kloudy now & no doubt kold but @ least not rainn. 4 lunch ystrdy w 8 KARŠIS
(BRACHSEN in germn; LIEŠČ in russian spelt in litho fonetik) on ppr spread out on th c wall. W
washd it down wth Švyturys (0.5 ltr) beer whch haz a bottl top in litho trkolor wth th words “Mus
vienija alus ir pergalės!” (w r united x beer & viktories!) writ O th edge of it & th 5 O olympik symbl
in th middl (5/10/04. whch I kllektd 2 h& out 2 friends in Melbourn az mmntoes of th trip on me rturn).
Flags r verywhr in lithol&. They dvrtize whch group u blong 2 or they @mpt 2 rkruit or ntmid8.
They r not 4 me & I kant liv klose 2 blievrs bkoz my nkln8n iz 2 st& 2 th side of groups. Flag
peopl mstrust me & uthr fence sittrs. But in SIBERIA lithos srvived bettr than sum uthrs bkoz they
networkd. Ryczard Kapuchinski sez in afrika u dont srvive if u r not in a tribe (11/10/04. My krtcizm of
trblzm iz a r@ionlz8n of a persnl inkln8n. I hav no right 2 krtcize it in uthrs. It iz like tellin sheep 2 stop
bleetn 2gethr or 2 b&n their flokn nstnkt. & sppose u konvince 1 2 hang out x itslf in th skrub & th@ts
th 1 the wolf getz?) az th nly reazn uthrs dont @ack u & steal verythn youv got iz bkoz they know
your tribe will pay thm back in kind! L8r me & Vaidas bght sum smokd (I woz wrong O th 20
smokehauses. Thr must b a 100 or so in opr8n) STRIMĖLES (SALAKA in litho fonetik russian;
OSTSEE-HERING in germn) & mor Švyturys wth th trkolor bottl kaps az I m kollektn thm az souvnrs.
Th strim-ėles r th most dlcious of th 3 kinds of smoked fsh Iv eatn so far. Ystrdy I 8 smoked EŠERYS
(BARCH in germn; OKUN in litho fonetik russian; RED FIN in ozzie nglsh). I m off az Iv got 2 check if
th bus 4 Juodkrantė leavs @ 10. I m takin th bird book….Yes! its kold & wet. Th bus duznt leav til
10.15. I woz givn a book (5/10/04. don8d it → litho libery last sundy) x Vitalia th@ woz writtn x
Eduardas (5/10/04. th piktur of th boat on th frunt kuvr map of this piece iz of th 1 he built & still owns)
b4 he had th stroke. It iz titld ‘Likimo Spastuose / Sapnu ir tikrovės variacijos’. © Eduardas
Jonušas / © Pratarme, Aldona Žemaitytė / © Aidai, 2002 / ISBN 9955-445-52-2 / Knygos leidima
parėmė LR Kultūros ministerija ir Neringos miesto savivaldybė. Th book woz writtn b4 Eduardas
(5/10/04. c ‘Vilnius (no. 2)’ p1) had th stroke whch parlyzed him down 1 side & haz turnd him in2 a big
drinkr. Th titl ronikly transl8s az: ‘Trapped by Fate / Variations of reality and dreams’. Th book woznt
publshd till ftr th stroke so Ill hav 2 find out whn th titl woz chozen…. 4got 2 mntion th@ it emerged
last nght th@ JOvNiUtŠaIlEiNaĖ iz th drektor of th TOMO MANNO HAUS & had lready cn th writn I
had givn 2 her 2 sbordn8s th prvious day but sh kouldnt ndrst& it az her uthr lnguages r germn &
russian nly. Sum birds. Th kommnst duck I m cing iz Didžioji Antis (Anas Platyrhnchos). Sor an
Ausuotasis Kragas (Podiceps cristatus) a kind of grebe. In th 4st dntified a Kikilis (Fringilla
coelers) & viztd th huge kolny of th Didysis Kormorantas (Phalacrocorax carbo (11/10/04. th same
large black bird known az the Great Cormorant in oz)). I had cn knstnt 4m8ns of thm ystrdy flyng † th
c → 4st & mstakn thm 4 mgr8n geese. They nest in pine trees & much az th flyin foxs of Melbourn r
dstroyn valuabl trees xept mor so. Th kolny stretchs in a O ovr a klomtr & many trees (of th old 4st) r
dead. They wer ntrjuiced ← stonia & r h8d x fishrmn koz they kompet wth thm 4 fsh. Whn I woz →
thrgh th beautful (a word hoos meann iz very dffklt 2 learn from th kontxt it iz uzed in az ntirely
nrl8d thngs (eg womn, flowrs, 4sts, paintns) r dskribed x it so th ssue is not what it iz az thr iz
no such anmal but what str@egy I m tryin 2 ffekt wth u whn Im uzin it) 4st O th Hill of Witches (I
→ 2 th Baltik gain & found it trashd – a knsquence of th new knsumrzm) I sor a deer (thr r lso elk &
boar), a brown squirrl, th rmains of what I ntrprtd az a partzan hideout, & dpressions & holes in th gO
whch I think must hav bn kausd x bombs & large rtllry xplosions durin & ftr th 2 nd war. Th 4st woz

54
mazin & I woz prayn & kryin mor than I hav in any chrch. It bkame pparnt 2 me th@ th karvns on th
Hill of Witchs, howvr nspired (its az mprssiv a 2rst item az I hav cn), hav +d 0 2 its beauty & th 2rsts
spoil it x uzin th littl tracks off th main 1 2 SHIT in it. A kraktristik of th towns of th Kuršiu nerija (th
Curonian Spit; Kurische Nehrung) r th dome shaped stax of wood O 3 metrs in diamtr & ovr 10 ft
hgh.They r verywhr not nly bkoz a lot of wood iz needd 2 smoke th fsh but lso 2 heat th hauses bkoz
its bloody kold here – in wintr th marios (nl& c) freez ovr & th fshrmn drill holes in th ice 2 drop their
lines in. Sum konasewers konsdr it 2 b th finest 4m of fshn of all….
9/7/04 (→ (no 2) (no 50)). On th 1st piss it was dark, on th 2nd ther was th glow (I
ndrst& now why I was so konfused whn w wer ovr Riga in th Tupolev (c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p2) @
1am prior 2 l&n x what ppeard 2 b a glow both in th east & west: from th height w wer seein (bsides th
city lghts) th glow from th nrthrn summr wher th sun dosnt set) of dawn & on th 3 rd piss I got up bcoz I
could hear Vaidas woodpckn (ther r (4 th bnefit of SrMoIgTeHr hoo kan check them out in th bird
sektion of the Vik. St8 Libery) 5 species & 4 rl8d 1s of this aktiv & colorfl bird: Didysis Genys
(Dendrocopos major); Vidutinis Genys (Dendrocopos medius); Baltanugaris Genys
(Dendrocopus leucotos) Mažasis Genys (Dendrocopos minor); Tripirštis Genys (Picoides
Tridactylus); Gražiagalvė (Junx torquilla); Pilkoji Meleta (Picus canus); Žalioji Meleta (Picus
viridis); Juodoji Meleta (Dryocopus martius)) away @ th BOBA (babushka in nglsh – babuška (or
baba) in litho fonetik rus) hoo now has BOOBS, th last parts 2 b @achd, & will soon b ready 4 puttyin,
s&n, & paintn. Vaidas has told me wher he saw a BARAVYKAS (th most prized GRYBAS in lithol& &
th konsistncy of meat) so I m takin th baskt & a knife & m chekn out undr th LIEPAS (large dciduous
trees undr whch they grow) 4 mor 2 put → th thistl soup he will b makn 4 t …. I found nothr
BARAVYKAS & what magnifcnt GRYBAI they r ! Th 2 will giv us mor than nuff solids 4 our soup (bet
youd lov som Zorka) 2nght. They r boiln now (& they smell gr8) so they wont get wormy thrgh th day.
W r off 2 Ukmergė…. W r puttn BULVES (spuds), MORKAS (carrots (fried)), KRAPUS (dill leavs),
SVOGŪNUS (onions (fried)), LAŠINIAI (smoked bacon pieces (fried)) → th DILGELIU (nettl) SRIUBA
(soup). W shoppd up a lot 2day coz w wer piggn out (drinkn a beer now) but I only mntion th
MĖLYNES (from th taste they r dfntly blueberries but they r tiny & laboriously kollektd from low bushs
in swampy 4sts x old BOBOS from 1 of hoom w bght ½ kl 4 2 Lt) & th JUODI SERBENTAI whch w
bght from nothr BOBA 4 som rdikulsly low price. Talkn O rdklously low prices w pikt up a hitchhikr on
th way back & he told (also told us wher 2 lok8 various hiddn cmtries (esp of germn soldiers) of whch
th  is full) us th@ th DVARAS & sOs (c ‘Šiauliai’ p6) wer bght x th KOLŪKIO PIRMININKAS (th
drektor of th 4mr kolhoz (ie kollektiv)) 4 11000 Lt wthout being +vrtized. Ther isnt a singl buildn (& th
sOn mgnfcnt park wth ancient trees & xtnsiv gOs & lakes) worth less than 50000 Lt & th main
mansion (whch is rstord & probbly was th head1/4s of th kolhoz) is priceless. (Vaidas is soakn th nettl
leavs) This is how th wealth of th kuntry was STOLEN FROM TH PEOPL wth th konnivnce of th govt
hoo r made up of those hoo don th stealn. I m told th@ ther is hardly a 4mr drektr of a kollektiv hoo
isnt a rich man. Vaidases mum says th biggst mstake th govt made was 2 giv away th publik proprty
but they dont care coz they gave away th best bits 2 their friends & thmslvs ….W had 2 larg bowls full
2 th brim & heapd wth vegies each & a stubby (0.5 Lt) 4 me & 2 4 Vaidas & I was so STUFFED I
kouldnt mov xept as far as th bed 4 a SIESTA (litho 4 a littl nap). Should u want 2 make a bowl 4 Br-
ian (MACCA), Zorka, u could → a large spoonful of GRIETINE (sour cream) ↓ bowl whch lithos → ev-
rythn but w ddnt coz w 4got 2 x som & I prfr not 2 anyway. Also note th@ Brigita lways chops up th
nettl leavs but w ddnt & it was fine. Only prolbm is u will hav 2 com 2 lithol& 4 th BARAVYKAI coz
they dont grow in oz. Now allow me 2 make a kommnt on a mor serious konomik m@r. Drivin back
from Ukmergė I saw a guy bringn a buckt of wtr 4 a hors tethrd in th meadow & it dawnd on me th@
all thes ndvdually tethrd nimals (cows & horss) th@ r moved O daily hav 2 hav wtr carried 2 thm in
buckts @ least 2ce/day & rmindd me th peasnt konmy is DOOMED. (m eatn a RIDIKA (radish)) (a
vivid green bug is walkn long th edg of th journl – jumpd off!) Modrnity hurtls → dstroyn all hoo would
rsist (NB Bin Laden) → its own dstruktion wthout th need 4 any1 2 hurry it along. Evrythn → in Os
…. (evry now & then I lift th lid 2 SNIFF th SRIUBA. ½ of it is left 4 2morrow)…. (went → th
SENKAPIS (c ‘→ (no 1)’ p2) gain 2 pay rspkt 2 th dead som of hoom may hav bn my ncestrs & found
a coupl of LEPŠIAI (ssoci8d wth BERŽAI (birch trees (whch grow big here))) a GRYBAS whch may b
rl8d 2 what r known as slippry jacks in oz. W will boil thm & throw thm → th SRIUBA. Vaidas has
stoppd chisln & brght a beer. I hav fnshd th xrcise book but hav nothr 1)….

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 16/7/04. Th pills & lhokol workd 2 giv me a short sleep. Did not hear th disko. If I kould
stop a shavn bleed Id go out & x a new biro † th road & get meslf a cup of koffee & a kibinas (roll wth
meat in it 4 1.3 Lt) 4 breakfst b4 Alvinga shows up ….
23/7/04 (Vilnius → Melbourne (no 51)) . It may b my special kondtion I kanot sleep
in th cities (Kaunas, Šiaulia, Vilnius) of lithol&. My nghbr (dont like th sound of hiz koff) in 202 kould
hav th same prolbm az he uzed th toilt verytime ftr I uzed it. Ystrdy H woz worried O Bens sleepn
p@rns (24 x 24), th@ Dan woznt doin 0 & th@ I had bn so konfuzed in my ‘Vilnius (no 1)’ rtkl. Hope
sh duznt looz no sleep ovr it koz az soon az I get back I ntnd 2 talk her → rtiremnt & w kan go travln
in th van 4 long trips 2 th Flindrs Ranges, tropik queensl&, Eyre pninsla, etc etc whr w kan c@ch up
on az much sleep az w need & 4get verythn xpt me writn & her new found hobby of growin & mayb
dntfyin orkids. Sh lso sed sh rranged th bdroom, shs teachn Dan 2 paint th mpty rooms @ th back of
th Ivanhoe haus, & shs gettn her hearin tstd koz shs good az deaf in 1 ear & x th time I get back Ill b
married 2 a littl old lady wth a hearn aid. 8.00am & I m goin 4 a krap, brush me teeth, & a showr – my
nghbr in 202 wont like it….Went 2 hav nuthr look @ th PAMINKLAS (of hiz beardd head) of Gaonas
Elijahu whch iz nly a kupl of 00 yrds from th rstrnt Iv bn eatn @ 2 c if Id missd nythn. It turns out he
had livd on th site of th haus on th knr nxt 2 th PAMINKLAS. L8r I skd th grl in th frnch book shop whr
th jwsh mzeum iz & thr r 2, 1 @ 12 Pamėnkalnio g. & 1 @ 10 Naugarduko g. Ill go thr l8r in th day.
On th way I passd th wndow of th LIETUVOS GYVENTOJU GENOCIDO IR REZISTENCIJOS
TYRIMO CENTRAS & here iz a komplet list of th books on dsplay in th wndow (31/10. I hadnt noticed
thr woz nuthr dsplay wndow facin Stikliu g.): 1) ‘The Unknown War: Armed anti-Soviet Resistance in
Lithuania in 1944-1953’. 2) ‘Tuskulėnai: (egzekuciju aukos ir budeliai) 1944-1947’. 3) ‘Esame’ x
Stefanija Ladigienė. 4) ‘With a Needle in the Heart (Memoirs of Former Prisoners of Ghettos and
Concentration Camps)’. 5) ‘President Lithuania: Prisoner Gulag (A Biography of Alexandras
Stulginskis)’ x Alfonsas Eidintas (c ‘Vilnius (no 1)’ p4). 6) ‘Siberia Mass Deportations from Lithuania
to the USSR’. 7) ‘Karas Po Karo: War After War’. 8) ‘Whoever saves one life ….(The efforts to save
Jews in Lithuania between 1941 and 1944)’. 9) ‘A State within a State? Jewish autonomy in Lithuania
1918 – 1925’ x Šarūnas Liekis. 10) ‘The Anti-Soviet Resistance in the Baltic States’. 11) ‘Genocidas
(Lietuvos Gyventoju Genocido ir Rezistencijos Tyrimo Centras) Rezistencija 2004 1 (15)’. 12) 3 vols
of ‘Lietuvos Gyventoju Genocidas’: AŽ 1939 –1941 (I Tomas), AJ 1944-1947 (II Tomas), KS 1944-
1947 (II Tomas). Then I read th ‘Lietuvos Rytas’ ovr breakfst. Thr iz a majr rtkl O th hotel ‘Šiauliai’ I
had stayd in whn I woz vzitn jŽuIoŽzIaSs (c ‘Šiauliai’) whch I mght nklude (31/10. ddnt) in my
‘Šiauliai’ piece (whch H tells me sh haz typed). It sez th dansh NATO troops hav shftd out (2
Panėvežys 80ks away ← their ) bkoz it iz nsafe: th fire fghtn gear iz noprabl koz th metl fittns hav
bn stoln x metl thievs (c ‘Šiauliai’ p2); their kommndn ffcer, kaptn S M Madsen, sez in th kase of a
fire soliders in th uppr storeys would hav bn kondmnd 2 die bkoz th fire xits wer naild up; & since
leavn they hav found out th watr is nfektd wth LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA. Nuthr rtkl rports th@ a
poll shows th@ ovr th last 3 yrs lithos hav bkum mung th most ptmistk peopl in urop. (just met Mr
202. He iz germn & woz komplainn th@ th old man @ th frunt door duznt speak any nglsh xpt 2 say
“hullo hullo” mayb & he iz srprized such a man iz mployd 4 th job). I m goin 2 wash me ndrpants in th
h&basin & go look 4 th mzeum …. On th way I met KAaRlAgZiIsJA (c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p7 &
‘Vilnius (no 1)’ p2 & ‘Vilnius (no 2 )’ p12 &13) in Vilniaus g. talkn on his mobile 2 KEdSaMnIiNuAsS
in Melbourne rgnizin th Jumbo Jazz vent in sept. Whn they fnshd I took th mobile & skd Danius 2
pass on my rgards 2 Jane, hiz parnts, & S&AdNrIeGwA (31/10. goin 2 a bbq @ hiz place on nov 19 th
on th kkasion of him kompletn hiz PhD). I knew I woz in th vcinty of The Jwsh St8 Mzeum of Lithuania
whn I kame † a PAMINKLAS whch lookd japneezee (a man karryin a big stone on his head?) & iz
kalld MOON LIGHT x GOICHI KITAGAVA Dedicated to CHYJUNE SUGICHARA 1900-1986 & sez
“During world war two Japanese Diplomat Chyjune Sugichara saved the life of more than
6000 jews. * This sculpture was erected at the initiative of Emanuelis Zingeris assisted
by Vladas Vilžiunas and the Vilnius Jeružalem Art Centre in August 1992.” Nside a lady
gave me sum writtn m@rial put out x th mzeum in nglsh whr it sez “In the 18th c., the Great Gaon
of Vilnius, Elija ben Shlomo Zalman (1720 – 1797), was recognized as one of the
greatest thinkers and authorities on the Torah and the Talmud. Th Gaon also urged the
study of secular subjects, to enhance interpretation of the Talmud. This interaction of
secular and sacred wisdom represented a revolution in traditional Jewish thought, and of
the Enlightenment in general. The Gaon explained the Talmud and all rabbinical
literature in a simple, straightforward manner. He wrote commentaries to almost all

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parts of the Talmud, several books on Trigonometry, geometry, astronomy, and algebra,
and a short Hebrew grammar. He became a legend in his lifetime, and has been
described as the last great Theologian of classical Rabbinism.” Sevrl nrl8d bits of nfo from th
same skreed: Vilnius woz lready known as th ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’ in th 17th c.; sum 4000 jws (c
‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p5) wer murdrd x th partzns in th 2 days it took th nvadin germn 4ces (in 41)
2 reach Kaunas; vrtually all (1/11. not plauzbl) th jws in Ukmergė (c ‘→ (no 1)’ & ‘→ (no 2)’) wer
herdd → th syngog & burnt live; oh yes, th Gaon fought gainst th jwsh rlgious trend of Hassdzm. On
th way → I kopied th poem x Mark Dvorshetski from ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’ (Paris, 1948) whch
ntrjuices th xibt: “Do not forget the Catastrophe of the people of Israel – do not forget the
struggle and the death – and take up their teachings. And may this memory lead you in
your travels, in your sleep, and as you waken. Remember throughout eternity those
who are no longer with us. And may the memory of th Catastrophe be th salt of your
bread, may it become a part of your own being, your blood and your body. Grit your
teeth and remember! Eating – remember! Hearing a song – remember! In the sunlight –
remember! And when you build a house, tear down its walls – that you may always see
the demolished House of Israel. And when you plough your field – make a hill of
stones of it – to bear witness and to commemorate your killed brethren with no grave on
this earth. Listen carefully and hear how it calls to each one of us – the history of the
catastrophe of our people – There is no rest! There is no rest?” Ftr leavn th mzeum I woz
goin 4 a bite 2 eat (& drink) whn I passd th KRAŠTO APSAUGOS MINISTERIA (Ministry of Defence)
& out front was a PAMINKLAS of Generolas Jonas Žemaitis – Vytautas (c ‘Vilnius (no 1)’ p4) wth th
nskrption: “Prisiekiu Visagalio Dievo Akivaizdoje Kad Ištikimai ir Sažiningai / Vykdysiu Lietuvos
Laisvės Kovos Sajūdžio Nario Pareigas / Kovosiu del Lietuvos Laisvės ir Nepriklausomybės
Atkūrimo/ Negailėdamas Nei Savo Turto Nei Sveikatos Nei Gyvybės”. Ftr th@ I had th snack & th
beer & kame here….Rang Rasa & will meet her @ 2pm 2mrrow. Took a few piks so az 2 hav sumthn
2 show H. 8 cepelinai (aka didžkukuliai & whch th bielo rus klaim az theirs) @ th sual spot in Gaono
g. & notice th@ from thr it bkums Žydu (of jws) g. so th site Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman livd @ iz now
no 3 Žydu g. Rang JOrNiAmIaTsIS place & will meet up wth thm 2pm sundy. Rang tŽaIuŽrYiSus &
hell pik me up @ 9 on mundy. Hiz dghtr krashd her kar but iz OK. He sez thr r no mushrms & haz th
day mappd out & sez w may spend th nght (my xprssd dzires dont kount 4 much) @ hiz
SODYBA….1drd O.
30/7/04. 6.00. Vilniaus airprt, in th bar. Our flght (Aeroflot) whch woz due 2 dpart @
6.20 iz dlayd. Stim8d new time iz 7.30. I woz up wthout havn slept @ 3.40 & woz gettn nxious x 4.10
(rang Vaido home @ 4.30 & hiz dad sed he had left less than an hour earlier) & dcided wth th door
lady (1ce gain sh launchd → a huge gripe sayn how much bettr & safer it woz & how th guvt woz mor
karin in soviet times) I would O a taksi (litho spelln) @ 5 if he ddnt rrive x then (aksidnt? pulld ovr x
kops?) but he (Saulius woz drivn) (they just nnounced our flght iz l8 due 2 bad weathr kndtions in
Moscow) got thr @ 4.45. Ncdntlly a propos my nfo from th jwsh mzeum th@ most of Ukmergės jws
wer burnt live in th synagog, whch Vaidas had thght mpossbl, hiz dad rmmbrs @ least 2 synagogs @
sites w had walkd past but w had not cn any ndk8n of their 4mr przence. He sez thr wer O 10,000
peopl prwar & he duznt think 70% wer jwsh & th@ thr woz a sizeabl polsh ppl8n (whch I just sggstd 2
V may hav bn jwsh). In my skim readn of th Eidintas bk I sor no mntion of Ukmergė uthr than th map
whch showd it woz 1 of th majr xtrmn8n centrs & it shows 2 (3/11. but I woz lso in Siesikai &
Dubingiai) of th townshps I had spent time in (Želva, Šašuoliai) wer places from whch jws wer takn →
Ukmergė. Vaidas just rmmbrd th@ in soviet dayz th street whr th main synagog had stood woz
named VLADO ŽVIRBLIO (c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p8) gvė (5/11 but now (& b4 th 2nd war) it iz
Slabados gvė) ftr his nkl hooz PAMINKLAS (& a woodn †) still st&s near Miegučiai kaimas (vllage) O
3ks from whr I had bn stayn @ th VIENKIEMIS (c ‘→ (no 1)’ & ‘→ (no 2)’). Oh yes, on a kompletly
dffrnt m@r H sed whn I rang her ystrdy th@ th BOCADILLO whr w go very fridy nght & I drink
sangrias & dstrbute sevrl of my pieces haz bn sold (3/11. turnd → suvlaki shop) & Victoria & Theo r
goin 2 Paris 4 a year 2 learn 2 make chokl8s & 2nght they r havn a nght 4 their most reglr kustmrs &
H will b thr (3/11. but woznt)…. Left @ 8.00 on a litho airlines plane whch seats O 44 peopl & iz flyin
@ O 480 ks/hr & will take 1 hr 50 mins 2 reach Moscow. This iz th 1 st propllr drvn (x 2) plane Iv bn on.
W r low nuff 2 th gO 4 me 2 get a gr8 view on a fine day of th passn l&skape. In lithol& thr wer lots of
lakes & 4sts mung th kultv8d l&s. Th wine Im drinkn iz kalld Torres ‘Sangre de Toro’ Catalunya

57
13.5% vol Cosecha 2002. On the back it sez : “Sangre de Toro is a red wine made from the
ancient varieties Garnacha and Carinena. It is intensely coloured and oak aged, with the
aromatic body and fleshy (turblence) sensuality of ripe Mediterranean grapes. The spicy
and fruity palate is velvety, deep and round.” (kloud far blow iz bskurin view)….(fog)….
(l&n)…. (dvanced w@ch x 1 hr; 19º C)….Wev bn sepr8d from our passprts: theyr downstairs while
wev bn sent upstairs. Dont like it, thr r a lot of peopl here – how will they find us? (11.15 am) …. Sh
found us & sent us 2 nuthr  downstairs whr thr r 2 uthr guys both lithos: 1 iz goin 2 Tokyo & uthr jap
cities 4 an ntn@ionl knfrnce. A frnch grl just kame down th stairs pretty git8d O bein sepr8d from her
passprt. Sh kant speak rus. W r @ a tabl wth th guy → anti-nukulr knfrnce (th uthr guy works wth 7
lithos in rstrants in china) & wv just paid 4 euros each/stubby & hav workd out wv bn cheatd 1
euro/stubby but I wont xplain how its dun xpt th@ u kant void it. Its like a sauna in here & Iv swtchd
→ my short sleev shirt but m sweatn like a pig. Th guy wer wth, JgAeNdČiAmUiSnKaAsS, iz th drektr
of th litho Černobylis ssoci8n. W hav 2 wait 4 nnouncemnts @ 5 pm 2 know whr 2 go nxt. Gediminas
sez th guid hoo showd him O Chernobyl hooz name woz Rima woz nknamed x thm az Rima Stalker
ftr th TAaRnKdOrVeSiKI film ‘Stalker’ (c ‘ 3/14/04-12/4/04’ p4&6). V (5/11. hoo had dun hiz srvice in
a unit whch woz so so sekret it ddnt hav a name (c ‘→ (no 2)’ p12&13) & whn he woz dscharged he
had 2 sgn a ppr promisn he wldnt leav th cuntry 4 10 yrs but then th soviet union broke up & th O of
lithol& left) & G r talkn O their xpriences in th soviet rmy & how G got out of bein railroadd →
aphganistana x a fluke koz hiz unit dsprsd & went off 2 x grog just b4 th ffcers rrived hoo grabbd th
ssmbld units of new rkruits 4 th war. W r in Sheremetyevo 2 Terminal (c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’) whr
wv bn ferried → x a sprheatd bus † a rmarkbly long dstance ← uthr nd (mayb 6ks or mor) of th airprt
← Sheremetyevo Terminal 1. Th 4th litho haz teamd up wth us & he haz no muny @ all. He works az
a doorman in a town 100ks from Hong Kong & hiz name iz Vidmantas. Hes from Šiauliai (c ‘Šiauliai’).
He rekns he found chinese food awfl @ 1st & still kan barely tolr8 it. He looks like a Šiaulietis (from
Šiauliai) 2 ie. ruff. I paid 1 euro/kan @ th duty free shop 4 a beer kalled BALTIKA (litho fonetik rus) &
got 1 4 him 2. W just got a female airprt kop 2 take a dgital pik of us wth Gedimino kamra & hell send
it 2 Vs e-mail in a few weeks (8/11. ddnt)…. Went 2 th toilt & hav had a lessn I learnt in Ukmergė
rn4cd (c ‘→ (no 1)’ p1): bring your own ppr whn u go 2 th toilt in Moscow airprt – but no worries Iv
lwayz got th nd of a roll in me pockt. V haz kum back wth nuthr 4 kans of BALTIKA. He sez verythn in
th fridge kosts 1 euro. I notice a 2 euro koin looks & feels lmost th same az a 2 Lt koin….Me, Vaidas
(in bare feet), & Vidmantas fell ‘asleep’ gainst th wall on th 2nd floor. Whn V went 2 th toilt I w@chd th
gear & he w@chd it whn I went (m O 2 head off gain). Then G ‘woke’ us up 4 a futile trip 2 a valgykla
(eatry) whr he thght thr may b free food 4 tranzt travllrs but he woz rong (I knew he would b). Now wr
back gainst th wall. U kouldnt do this in Narita or Melbourne. Vidmantas works 9 hrs/day @ th hotl
(thr r nnouncemnts ovr th PA very 30 seks ntrjuiced x a 3 note chime) in kinia (china), 6 days/week 4
$700 US/munth. Livn kosts r lmost nil. Thr iz a guy near x in a † leggd pztion wth a guitr nxt 2 him – I
think he iz medt8n. ‘Sleepn’ on cemnt iznt so bad really…. On th way → lithol& I woz writn O th peopl
sleepn on th floor & on th way ← Im sleepn on th gO wth em. (7.10 pm) It means Iv bn changed a bit.
Thr r 3 of us left az Gediminas cght hiz flght 2 Tokyo 1½ hrs ago. If u dont hav a w@ch its not so
eazy 2 check th time here az I havnt cn any kloks. Vidmantas kums from a famly of 7 kids. He haz a
bruthr in ngl& & 2 sstrs r workn in denmark. Hez just spent a munth in Šiauliai but missd seein hiz
bruthr x 1 day az he had 2 rturn 2 ngl& th day b4 Vidmantas got home. Now he may not b bak in
lithol& 4 a year. He haz finshd middl levl skool & would like 2 liv in Vilnius & study komputrs. W havnt
eatn @ th airprt az its not worth lettn peopl rob u like this…. Wer on th plane & Im sittn nxt 2 a vry
beautful grl hoo iz of bulgrian rgin mrried 2 a chinese & teachs kndrgrtn nglsh 2 kids hoo learn th
lfabet @ 3 & start writn in nglsh @ 3½. Very yr sum kids in Hong Kong kmmit suicide bkoz they get
poor rzults. In Annies skool 3 yr old kids r 4mlly assssd 2ce/yr. Wer off @ 9.40 (fficial dpartur time
woz 8.05). I think sh iz vry dprssd…. Hong Kong . W r in a fancy bar lookn out ovr airprt, ocean, &
isl&s. Time: 12.10pm. Changed 20 euros → $173.4 HK. Vaidas haz xlld himslf gain: wv paid $42/bottl
(330ml) of Stella Artois koz V ddnt want 2 lug hiz bag O nymor. W partd wth Vidmantas wthout a
good-x. I noticed on th plane he woz knversn wth hiz chinese nghbr. V sez he sed he speaks bettr
chinese than nglsh. I think of him az a prvncial litho kid but really hez bn O far mor than me – yes! I
really m th naiv australian. (Vaidas haz just wrkd out this iz our rkord beer price). I think hell b OK.
Annie (her fathr iz dead; muthr & sstr liv in Sofia; sstr works az a bar grl but haz a konomiks dgree;
her muthr haz not cn her gr&chldrn snce theyv bn in china; sh livs wth her nlaws hoo speak
mandarin; her fathr in law iz a very fine & gentl man hoo (& her muthr in law) suffrd badly in th kltural
O; sh iz kumn home ftr a 2 week vzit 2 bulgria; sh haz few friends 2 talk 2 outside th mmedi8 famly;

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sh sends muny 2 her muthr & sstr; her husb& iz a minor xkutiv; theyd like 2 kum 2 oz but r fraid they
mghtnt find work; sh finds life hard but haz no time 4 nostalgia koz shez lwayz beezee) cheerd up &
turnd out 2 b an xllnt nghbr. Iv learnt th@ yoghurt kums from bulgria koz th bacillus rgin8s thr & 2
bulgar skolrs nvntd th cyrillik skript. I took 10mgs of temazepam & 5 of valium washd down wth sum
Čepkeliu (Vidmantas rekons they mght steal th 1½ bottls ← me luggage whn it → thrgh Maskva
(Moscow)) I had brought 4 th perpz but mstimed things az it givz me 7 hrs sleep but I ddnt realize
theyd wake us up 4 breakfst ftr nly 5 hrs a full 2 hrs b4 l&n time.
(14/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 5 (nos 42 – 51 of anthology))

3/12/04 (30/11/04 – 9/12/04 (no 52)). I m in a klassik SA Eyre pninsula, limestoney

in th skrub bhind th beach spot. Th place iz kalld Moonlight Bay & its O th same dstnce sth of Tumby
Bay az Lipson Cove woz north. Its sol8d, Im x meslf xpt 4 sum bunnies (thr wer sum @ Lipson Cove
2 (21/12. I heard on the radio recently that the calicivirus has failed and that the bunnies are now virtually
immune to it. The agriculture departments in various states are advising landowners to start shooting,
ferreting and digging up burrows before numbers once again reach plague proportions. Helh&z) . Last nght
I shftd th van 2 a hghr spot bkoz th wind bkame vry strong & I woz wurried th@ if a s& drift ovr th trak
got addd 2 I mghtnt b abl 2 get out in th mornn. Th@ woz @ 11.30 @ nght. Tday th wndow sills of th
van r kuvrd in fine salt. In Tumby Bay I read th ppr ovr koffee az I 8 a piece of whitin & then a piece of
garfsh. They ssured me th fsh woz frsh but they woz lyin. Then I dskvrd u kan x smokd (kold) snook
in nuthr shop so I bght it 2 wash down wth a kupl of stubbies in the style of eatn I had bkum kkustmd
2 on th Couronian spit (Neringa) in Nida & Preila in lithol& (c ‘→ (no 1)’ p10). I s@ @ a woodn tabl
@ th start of th pier in a stiff breez & thr woz no need 4 a rbbsh bin az th cgulls (nkludin 2 pcifk gulls
(Larus pacificus) 8 very bit of skin & sklton I dsgardd. Ncdntlly th 4shor kafé I read th ppr in woz th
same 1 I did sum writin in I woz very s@sfied wth last year (c ‘March 11’ p7-9). Oyez! Th reazon
why w kanot say life or th O haz a meanin iz bkoz meanin iznt sumthn out ther but iz ssigned x
us 2 things whch r sbsdiary 2 us whn w gree on th kontxt 4 thm. W kanot put sumthn 2 whch
w r sbsdiary → a kontxt. (c ‘12/4/03 – 24/4/03’ p10,16,18). 2 say th@ w kanot ssign a meanin 2 life
or th O iz not a dnial of th likelhood th@ w r (or r bkumn) part of sumthn els nalogous 2 th way a seed
→ tree. My thghts kept rturnn tday 2 Con & how simlr w r nspite of me bein a pcifst & him tryin 2 drum
up all out war. Bsidez drinkn in th same kafé w r both th kcentrik oddballs (21/12. thr r ppl ready 2
prvide a lnguage 4 ny pstion a guvt mght dopt. Whn it dopts it (sually wth th spport of a silent
knsttuency whch kcpts no rspnsblty (1/1. 4 th kmplcity)) they bkum th bnfciaries of havn got in rly)
hoo h& out our stuff x-passn th stablshd struktures. W r autodydakts! But buv all w prceiv th pssblty of
mpndn KATASTROF. Thgh I c Cons slutions 2 b part of th dzeaz I ffer no slutions @ all. Oyez, I did a
kupl of pleaznt →s tday & had a dip in wtr whch woz srpriznly mild. 2mrrow Ill put th goggls in th
pack. Mght spnd a few dayz here. 4got 2 mntion I sent a kard 2 Ben hooz gon 2 liv in Burnie (5/1 kant
get nmploymnt bnefts koz hez →← place of ↓ nmploymnt → place of ↑ nmploymnt so hez ← (7/1. ←
this mornn) in Tassie.
11/2/05 (10/2/05 – 18/2/05 (no 54)). Sercht 4 wood in th dark, got a fire goin &
kookt th fsh skwrd on twgz last nght. Since throwin out th 2 huge karp 2 die on th shor neer
Wanganella on our last fshn trip Iv dvlpt a reaktion 2 fshn. I feel gilty @ havn kild beautfl nimlz 1tnly &
m bein nfluenced x buddhst teechnz. Th@ Joe (28/2. haz quit workn az a bouncer ftr sum 1 urin8d ↓
hiz biO helmt) & DIaCnAdSrTeRaO r buddhsts iz lso a faktr (V sez hez redy →. Well look 4 a • 2 nfl8
& try out th dnghy) …. Wv found it. U koodnt b mor on th watrz edge. Im ssumin th mouth of th lake iz
shut & thr iz no tide thrwize w kood b in trubl 2nght. All 4 rodz r in use. Im barakn 4 th fsh. I dont mind
eetn thm if it woz a kase of reel need ~ @ leest Id b sho-win thm th kind of rspkt whch kumz from
dpndnce. But 2 k@ch thm needlssly (2 BITES ON DFFRNT RODZ SMULTANEOUSLY & HEZ
PULLD OUT 2 FL@HED) iz 2 dstnce yrslf from thm. Th bsessv way anglrz pull out huge kwanteez
uzin xpnsv boats & hgh tek geer iz pthetk (19/2/05 – so the sin is in the quantity and the means, not in
the act itself? If you torture and then eat only one, not torture and discard 200, does that make it OK?
Helh&z (21/2. its th dstnktion Im makin btween fsh & ppl (25/2. O ºz of dstncin))). The fl@hed r th 1st
V haz cght & ystrdeez blak brim wer hiz 1st brim. Sum scientsts rekn fsh dont feel pain. They kood
rgue th@ if fsh dont hav th • in th brain (V haz nrold th nfl8bl – THR R NO ORZ!) whch makes ppl
feel no pain whn they r neethstized it meenz fsh kant feel pain az w no it. But th neethstst noze w
dont feel pain nly koz w rnt rithin & skreemn (24/2. & he noze th@ whn w wake up wel say w felt no
pain) whraz th fsh wth a hook thrgh itz mouth iz flapn & jerkn. I dont want 2 b th korz of it. My plogeez
2 th karp of Wanganella – I had llowd myslf 2 b dsnstized x shalow tork O thm bein 4eignrz &
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nvirnmntl pests etc. Th nvirnmnt O Wanganella haz bn ruind x th pastrl ndustry. Th rivrz & kreeks hav
bn turnd in2 drainz. Th rvr red gumz r dyin. Th last pair of brolgaz th@ vzt will soon b gon. Th huge
karp in thr sekrt breedn shalows in th swamp r th most beautful thingz left. (TH NFL8BL IZ BAK IN
ITZ █). Ncidntly V haz bn fshn wth blueb8 hed bort but now hez netd sum shrmps. 2nght w will b eetn
fl@hed. My kntrbution iz th lrge mshrm I found near Burnt Bridge whn w wer chekn out th kcess →
Toorloo Arm (c Vic Roads Country Directory map 85 B4 x 6.5). Im not proud of th ptitude Iv had in th
past 4 fshn, huntn etc). V iz fraid th mshrm mght b poiznoos so Ill eet my ½ 2nght & he kan hav hiz
2mrrow (24/2. but w 8 our ½ z @ th same time wth 2 min noodlz). Wel lso hav th botl of wine he bort
@ th Nowa Nowa hotl. Nlike th 1 last nght it haz a kork but its a plastk 1. Fl@hed no 3 woz cght on a
shrmp & wth th smokd eel wed 4gotn O w hav nuff 4 t. Heard on th mday newz nrth krea dklared tslf
a NUKULAR powr (22/2. nrtkl in last sundeez ppr sez iran & china may hav bort old soviet nukulr tipt
kruze mssilez from UKRAINA). Itz 3.20. Oyez, w r on th eestrn side of th Nowa Nowa Arm of Lake
Tyers in th last • u kan kcess from th Tyers House Track b4 u get → Tyers House  tslf. … Wv krakt
th botl erly.
18/2/05. T@ong → Yea (red ppr) → Highl&s (Dennis iz dsplayn th 6 MISSA
PASSIONIS paintnz in th studio) → Whitlc (LIDiDaEnLL woznt home) → Melbourne.
25/3/05 (21/3/05 – 25/3/05 (no 55)). On this day th gr8 prfet jzuz of nzarth woz †d.
Kkordn 2 ‘GOOD NEWS Australia’ based on Matthew 28,16-20; Luke 24, 36-49; John 20, 19-23; Acts
1, 6-8 jzuz ppeerd 2 th 11 ftr he roze from th ded & told thm “Believers will be given the power
to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange
tongues; if they pick up snakes or drink any poison they will not be harmed; they will
place their hands on sick people and they will get well.” Only xprience (yor own ize & eerz)
kan tell u if this iz so. Whch rturnz (c ‘30/11/04 – 9/12/04’ p1) me 2 th klaim x Blaise Pascal in ¶ 563
of ‘Pensées’ th@: “It is not possible to have reasonable grounds for not
believing in miracles.” Hiz klaim iz not so much O mraklz as it iz O th limts of lnguage.
Lnguage knsists of greemnts O meennz & proofs r systmz of meennz. Any rgument whr th
part (sub set) makes a klaim O th O (set) iz NULL & VOID.
8/4/05 (2/4/05 – 8/4/05 (no 56)). Ystrdy H rkond I woz tryin 4 th theery of verythn. If
so it meenz Im getn vrnvolvd & hav lost me way. My aim iz 2 pas kmnt on how uthrz speek not 2
ofr pnions mslf. Sum say u kan c th O in a grain of s& (note Borgesz ‘Aleph’ (c ‘21/3/05 –
25/3/05’ p14)), uthrz th@ th part iz nkapbl of nowin th O. Wittgenstein sez wot kant b sed iz
best left nsed. Th trip haz a week 2 go but this iz a good • 2 fnsh off th ritin 4 th piece I m putin out. I
dont wont it 2 get 2 long az it haz bn mainly n xkuse 2 prvide a frame 4 th nxt dsgustn pisode from ‘IN
TRANSIT’.
1/7/05 (Melbourne → Sydney (no 60)). Nungurner (larst nite (2nite Il lisn 2 th pize vs
port game) @ 8 pm wen most ozeez setld ↓ 2 TV w went 2 bed 2 th muzik of chernn H2O @ ↓ of th c
worl whr w wer parkt, l8r az th wind ↓ it bkame a lapn & x mornn it woz silnt but woz rplaist x th p@rin
of rain & then sum mgpize worbld. W ddnt get wai til 9.45 am (ftr ‫ → ))ףצשئלצ‬Lakes Entrance (red ppr
(The Age (lrjst fresh H2O fsh (a kind of k@fsh) evr rkrdd woz kort in th Mekong rvr & eetn x vljrz);
Waleed Aly (29/9/05. Amir Butler haz sum good •s n 2daez Herald Sun (‘Our security overkill’ p19)
& n n rtkl (‘This is not the way to fight terror’ p15) n The Age DkAeVnInDeStOhN sez: “Surely the
best way to deal with terrorism is to drain the swamp of injustice that the West has
created in the Middle East in the interests of cheap oil and support for the continuing
Israeli occupation of Palestine territory beyond the green line – in defiance of the UN. ¶ If
Australia made it clear that it supported a staged withdrawal from Iraq behind a genuine
UN (preferably Muslim) peacekeeping force, the return of Iraqi oil to Iraqi control and a
decent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians based on the 1967 borders, this
would do far more to prevent a terrorist bombing of an Australian city than the divisive
legislation proposed by the Howard Government.”) rote a good rtkl O how muzlmz r bein
nfairli hrast (iz thr a linkj btween ASIO lorz (22/9/05. ← The Age (28/9/05. ← The Age (letrs) p16:
“Australians all let us recoil / for we have no idea ./ We go to war for wealth
and oil, / our home is girt by fear.” – Ben Pearson, Belgrave.) x Sushi Das: “Right now
ASIO and the Federal Police can raid anyone’s home at any time and drag them away
against their will, interrogate them, strip-search them and hold them for as long as they

60
can get repeated warrants. The detained person has no right to know why he or she is
being questioned. Under the Government’s new proposals, measures are more
draconian. ¶ Politicians have allowed these changes because too many people have
been complacent. It seems most Australians have accepted the erosion of their civil
liberties. When there is inertia of thought among people, freedom faces its greatest
menace. ¶ As long ago as 1852, orator and columnist Wendell Phillips said : “Eternal
vigilance is the price of liberty.’’ How vigilant are Australians? How much do they care
about their liberty?”) & FASCISM (29/9/05. ← jrnl of William L. Shirer, 21 September 1940
(Berlin): “X came up to my room in the Adlon today, and after we had disconnected my
telephone and made sure that no one was listening through the crack of the door to the
next room, he told me a weird story. He says the Gestapo is now systematically bumping
off the mentally deficient people of the Reich. The Nazis call them ‘mercy deaths’. He
relates that Pastor Bodelschwingh, who runs a large hospital for various kinds of feeble-
minded children at Bethel, was ordered arrested a few days ago because he refused to
deliver up some of his more serious mental cases to the secret police. Shortly after this,
his hospital is bombed. By the ‘British’. Must look into this story.”)? btween BAXTER &
CONCENTRATION CAMPS? btween GUANTANAMO & GULAG?)) sloli in th pub then bort a peese
of flake (Gummy Shark) eech @ th fsh shop; bort petrl) → Cann River (1 4 th rode (c ‘16/2/05 –
27/2/05’ pp13-14); chekt mesj bank (K8 sor a Shrike-thrush & sum King parots)) → E then N →
Eden in NSW (serv of fsh eech @ th ko-op (me – fl@hd (Tiger), H – flake (Pearl Shark aka Platypus
Shark); m ritin in th pub (The Great Southern Hotel) & feel knfdnt Il cheev a stile whch iz dens n nfo &
maib meenn but Oi uselss & nkmprhsbl (1/10/05. & iem skseedn – KsAuBzAeItLtAe sed sh nli red th
bit ← IN TRANSIT n ‘13/9/05’ az sh koodnt ndrst& th rest); l8r wl park @ th mouth of th Nullica rvr & Il
drink n stubi of SHEAF STOUT & maib (if itz not 2 kold) wl → beech.
15/7/05 (↑ North (no 61)). The camp was as quiet as the grave fairly soon after we retired
to our swags. The place is called TAKARAKKA & everyone (mostly pensioners it seems) is very civilized.
The Sydneysider with the enormous trailer home next to us last night (they left this morning heading for
Darwin & back by September 1) raved about the camp kitchen & the ablutions block, so it must be a cut
above the usual, but its not as good as being alone in the bush & we wouldn’t do it except that there is no
other option. Today we did a few minor walks (the Balloon Cave, a walk to a rock pool & a creek walk
called a Nature Trail) & a walk into two gorges, one of which required going barefoot through water & got
progressively narrow as it rose up through the escarpment (off Mickey Creek gorge). But the central
activity was the climb to Boolimba Bluff, the last 300 metre section of which was described as “steep and
rugged” and “suitable only for the physically fit”. I qualified (just) by actually getting to the top, but a
woman we met ½ way up the stretch was feeling stressed, and we exchanged a few optimistic words like
“take it easy”. On our way back down we met a couple who said she had had a heart attack! We caught
up with her at the Ranger’s office where an ambulance, two ambulance personnel and a Parks emergency
service officer were in attendance. She was OK, but was being taken to hospital for overnight observation
to be on the safe side. The ambulance had to come from Injune, 155ks away. Funny thing was, she had
said to John that though she had a slight heart problem, she was quite physically fit! Hows that for a case
of denial? Back at the camp at dinner we saw a couple of kookaburras having a fight, and the Apostle Birds
bickering as they honed in on any scraps falling near us. They are quite unafraid of people & will take food
from your hand. The Currawongs would have liked to get in on the act, but were timid and outnumbered
by the smaller, constantly chattering Apostles. The gorge has been interesting but rather too planned –
there doesn’t seem to be the unlimited unstructured walks that you can have in the Flinders. The main
pest problem is feral pigs (havent seen any yet) which they are trying to wipe out with 1080 poison baits.
Here’s the description of the place from the internet site (http:www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.-
cgi?parkid=49) “Carnavon Gorge is an oasis in the semi-arid heart of Queensland. Here, in the
Carnavon Gorge section of Carnavon National Park, towering white sandstone cliffs form a
spectacular steep-sided gorge, with narrow, vibrantly coloured and lush side gorges. Boulder-
strewn Carnavon Creek winds through the gorge … cabbage tree palms, ancient cycads (Zamias
(Macrozamia moorei)), ferns, flowering shrubs and gum trees line the meandering main gorge …”
H ddnt mnshn th@ ths mornn on both sidez of us our naiborz woke 2 larm kloks: the kupl in th huge
kravn 2 a radio1 & th kupl wth th 4 veri wel bhaved kidz 2 a beepr. Insdntli th kravn had 2 frijz & n xtra
b@ri so it woznt rliant on powrd sites. It lso had its own showr. I nevr ●d th ♀ outside. Oh yes, ystrdi
evnn th kidz on th uthr side wotchd DVDs on th laptop. 2 get O th prolbm of them goin 2 bed l8 w r @
th kamp ktchn whr ths ntri haz bn ritn. I m reedn ‘Selected Stories’ x Robert Walser (“Robert Walser
was born in Biel, cental Switzerland, in 1878. He left school when he was fourteen. From

61
1895 until 1929 he moved incessantly, living mainly in Zurich, Berlin, and Biel, had
fifteen books published, and worked as a bank clerk, an employee in a government
unemployment office, a butler, a secretary in an art gallery, a worker in a rubber factory,
and in a brewery. These and dozens of other jobs often lasted only long enough to
finance his long walks about Switzerland and Germany; his writing earned him little. ¶
Walser’s first poems and prose pieces appeared in 1898 and 1899. In all, Walser wrote
eight novels (four of which were either destroyed or lost, one by a publisher), many
poems, and over a thousand short prose pieces. In 1929, after a period of intense
isolation and poverty during which he sufferend from hallucinations and nightmares, and
made several suicide attempts, he voluntarily committed himself to Waldau Sanitorium
outside Berne. The diagnosis was schizophrenia. In 1933 he was transferred, against his
wishes, to a mental hospital in Herisau, eastern Switzerland – after which he never wrote
again. On Christmas day, 1956, four months before his seventy-ninth birthday, Walser
went on his usual solitary walk across the hills near the sanitorium. He was found that
afternoon by some children and their dog, lying on his back, hand on heart, on a snow-
covered field of the Rosenberg.”) (26/2/10. &  ♪♪ th@ rkordn2 Walter Benjamin ( n1934
nth 10th nversriov thv Kafka) Kafka “adored” Walserr The Apprentice (Der Gehülfe)) whch
woz h&d 2 mi x LfOrVaEnCkE (24/10. 2dae ♂ lent mi n faevrt book f hiz (29/10. ie red it wth plzuer &
H sed it woz “vri poetk” (8/11. ystrdi DRUaMlMeOcND (15/11 bumpt →2 him gain ths mornn owtsied
th liebri z ie woz wotchn owt 4 H mung th marchrz (O 200,000) proetstn th pndn IR ljslaeshn. Told
him how wen ie woz n kid n 4th r 5th 4m @ St Pats (1 f th 2 jzuit skoolz n Melb then) ie had ritn n letr
wch woz publsht n The Sun (now th Herald Sun) proetstn th@ 2 kidz n mie 4m wer b-in hrast x bin
maed 2 wair thr kaps jewrn klars koz thei had kruekuts. Th good farthrz wood do betr knsntr8n n
teechn kidz nsted f huemli8n thm ie roet. Ie had told Alec ie woznt punsht 4 mie proetst but ftr teln
him ie reeliezd th@t must hv bn 1 f th reeznz thei had shaftd mi n yeer r 2 l8r 4 n teechr trainn
skolrshp (wn ie rpplied @ Melb Uni Teachers College n mie 1 st yeer @ uni ie woz aebl 2 reed thr
rport n mi n mie rjnl pplkaeshn wn th kolj prinspl woz owt f th room 4 n wiel z hi had leftt n hiz desk.
Thei had markt mi ↓ n n 5 ● skael 2 vrj r les n vrithn nkluedn kdmk bliti – sneeki huh?!) ie had pplied 4
n mie larst yeer f skool. Iev maed th knkshn 4 th 1st tiem 2dae & wn ie ●d th banr f th ‘JESUIT
SOCIAL SERVICES’ (“Standing in solidarity with those in need / Expressing a faith that promotes
justice”) held ↑ x 2 ♀z ie toldm th stori lsoe.) sed ♂ redt 2)): ‘Shallow – Water DICTIONARY’ (“A
Grounding in Estuary English”) x John R. Stilgoe (26/10. it z posbl (29/10. now heer z n werd much
♥d x Heidegger & soe wthowt eni dsrspkt → LfOrVaEnCkE (c ‘Port Germein’ p10,11 (31/10. but n
fairns → Frank I dskuvrd @ lunch wth him 2dae (2/11. ftrwordz mi & H → 2 c ‘The Wild Parrots of
Telegraph Hill’ @ th NOVA & ie rkmndt (14/11. 2 dae w sor HwEeRrTnZeOrGZ ‘Grizzly Man’ O n
kstreem persn)) th@ ♂ haz red ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ x 2!!)) & OSOfW&SlKI (hoo tel mi thei r tranzl8n
sum Heidegger →2 frnch ← jrmn n n limtd dshn n kopi f wch ie hoep thei giv → mi (2/11. ie karnt
reed n eethr lngwj)) ie giv u n serv ← th ♂ hmslf z kwoetd x AgGiAoMrBgEiNo n ‘THE OPEN Man
and Animal’ (Stanford Uni Press 2004): “Dasein as such – i.e., whatever belongs to its
potentiality for being as such, whatever concerns the possibility of Dasein as such – is at
issue in beings that refuse themselves in their totality. What concerns a possibility as
such, however, is whatever makes it possible, that which lends it possibility as this very
thing which is possible. Whatever is utmost and primary in making possible all
possibilities of Dasein as possibilities, whatever it is that bears Dasein’s potentiality for
being, its possibilities, is at issue in beings that refuse themselves in their totality. This
means, howe-ver, that those beings refusing themselves in their totality do not make an
announcement concerning arbitrary possibilities of myself, they do not report on them,
rather insofar as this announcement in refusal is a calling [Anrufen], it is that which
makes authentically possible the Dasein in me. This calling of possibilities as such, which
goes together with the refusal, is not some indeterminate pointing to [Hinweisen]
arbitrary, changing possibilities of Dasein, but an utterly unequivocal pointing to
whatever it is that make possible, bears and guides all essential possibilities of Dasein,
for which we apparently have no content, so that we cannot say what it is in the same
way that we point out things present at hand and determine them as this or that …. This
announcing pointing toward that which makes Dasein authentically possible in its
possibilities is a necessary compulsion [Hinzwingen] toward the singular extremity of

62
this originary making possible …. To this coming to be left in the lurch by beings which
refuse themselves in their totality there simultaneously belongs our being-compelled
toward this utmost extremity of the possibilitization proper to Dasein as such.” (29/10. He
could get a job in the mental health system! (18/11. & u kan tel RUdMoSnFaElLdD woz n stuednt))
Mie oen @tued → Heideggerz lngwj (12/11. ie knot rzist +n mie oen kmnt ftrorl – eni sjschn th@
kontrtd & knvluetd lngwj z n prrkwzt 4 nlietnmnt z prpostrus (16/11 but heer z n poem ie roet bak n th
daez ie uezt 2 spel god wth n kaptl:

in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God

I imagine heaven to be the

of a multitude of words and languages
combining all bodies and souls

also I imagine the of

a  of infinite weight
spinning silently through space

the multitude of words

and the 
combine to form the of
the Word

we shall all be part of that Word

spinning like in Space

(18/11. ie seem 2 rmmbr ie dremt ths poem))) z wel ksprst x Wittgenstein: “The results of
philosophy are the uncovering of one or another piece of plain nonsense and of bumps
that the understanding has got by running its head up against the limits of language.
These bumps make us see the value of the discovery.” (PI ¶ 119) & “Where does our
investigation get its importance from, since it seems only to destroy everything
interesting, that is, all that is great and important? (As it were all the buildings, leaving
behind only bits of stone and rubble.) What we are destroying is nothing but houses of
cards and we are clearing up the ground of language on which they stand.” (PI ¶ 118)
(7/11. but c ‘30/11/04 – 9/12/04’ p14/15)) ♂ & th ssae r noen 2 Dr SA&NrIeGwA (Co-ordinator ¶
Graduate Programs – Landscape Architecture ¶ Faculty of Architecture Bui-lding and
Planning ¶ University of Melbourne ¶ Victoria 3010 Australia), hoo l8li haz kwierd n moebiel &
taekn 2 h&n out n kard & wth hoom I m havn lunch nxt wnzdae (2/11. Poestpoend x 1 week (9/11.
haz 1 th ‘ELLIS STONE AWARD 4 Rsrch & L&skaep Arktkchr’, th 1 st priez ♂ haz evr 1. Tz wrth
$2000 & ♂ gtst & n kopr plark ← ♀ elMiUzRaDbOeCtKh nxt week)), az “John R. Stilgoe is the Robert
and Lois Orchard Professor in the History of Landscape at Harvard University, and the author of
Common Landscape of America, 1580-1845; Metropolitan Corridor: Railroads and the
American Scene; and Borderland: Origins of the American Suburb, 1820-1939.”) © 1990
Exact Change. Cambridge (2/11. Dr SA&NrIeGwAZ oen book n th histri f l&skaep dsien n OZ z pl& 2
b publsht x Cambridge Uni Press n 2007). ISBN 1-878972-02-2) in a brown ppr bag (8/11. c
‘‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p3) just b4 w left 4 mi 2 hav sumthn 2 reed on th trip. Th ntro iz x
SsOuNsTaAnG (c ‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p3). Walser klaimz th@ “the sketches I produce now and then
are shortish or longish chapters of a novel. The novel I am constantly writing is always the same one, and it

63
might be described as a variously sliced-up or torn-apart book of myself.” I m drinkn ČEPKELIU trauktine
(24/10. c ‘Melbourne → Sydney’ p15).
(14/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 6 (nos 52 – 61 of Og))

22/7/05 (Tropika – 1 (no 62)). About 9.45 pm, after we had settled into our spot for the
night (a large, flat grassy area near the boat ramp at Dungeness, where another traveller in a large
campervan was also parked) a man with a torch roused us with “Hey mate, didja know your van’s under
water?” John jumped out of bed into his shoes, out the door and into water ankle-deep. There was a king-
tide and the area where we were was fringed on one side by a mangrove covered creek, which was
carrying water fast over the surrounding area. The bloke who warned us had discovered the situation
when he’d taken his dog out of his campervan for its final pee of the night. We migrated to a parking area
around a local park in Lucinda for the rest of the night, just opposite a caravan park, one of whose users
came to tell us in the morning that the shire was fining such as us $500 if apprehended by the ranger who
regularly does his rounds. By then we were up and dressed and ready to go and read the paper over
coffee in Ingham, so we escaped our fate. A little corner of the caravan park was patriots’ (14/12. ftr th
Cronulla riots (16/12. ntrstn 2 mi koz th 5000 wr n mjrti targtn n mnrti liek th anti-chieneez riotsv th
1800z r th pogrmzv rusia & soe far mor daenjrus thanth riotsv kooreezn Redfern rv th frnch dspozst.
Th NORM ssertn tslf oevr th xstrmteez z frietnn 2 ksntrks liek mi.) whr ozzi ozzi ozzi oi oi oiz draept
mslvzn flagz HOjWoAhRnD sed: “Look, I would never condemn people for being proud of
the Australian flag.”) corner – every van (about 6) was flying the flag (28/11. c ‘Melbourne →
Sydney’ p4). In Ingham we had coffee at the Olive Tree Trattoria, recommended previously by Alice. On
the wall was a large painting of the late, sainted Jo Bjelke-Petersen (28/11. c ‘30/4/05’ p4). Some
Queenslanders wear their hearts on their sleeves! Took in the Tyto Wetlands, and then moved on to
Cardwell along the coast as inland excursions to Wallaman Falls and Mt Fox seemed dubious because of
the continuing cloudy weather with intermittent rain. Cardwell is like Lorne – its mainstreet runs parallel
with the beach just across the bitumen. It has great trees (calophyllums) with contorted trunks and roots
growing over the beach, along with coconut palms and other lush vegetation which is unknown to me. We
collected more coconuts, having eaten our way through another one today. On the foreshore we met a
young couple heading south from Daintree in a “Wicked Van” – we’ve seen a few of these (in fact we
thought it was the same one from Carnavon Gorge and Balgal Beach (28/11. nletr → Melbourne (←
‘GULF TRIP’): “30.09.97 SELF-EVACUATE ¶ I am getting the hang of how to travel in Q.L.D.
otherwise I wouldn’t be here in Balgal Beach (out of Rollingstone, 40ks north of Townsville). I am
sitting in a kind of shop/pub called Fisherman’s Landing immediately over a boat ramp into an
estuary that empties into the ocean a couple of hundred yards away. This is the very opposite to the
Mission Beach area where I spent the last week. I did all the standard things: did the set walks and
saw the cassowaries, went out to the reef again for coral viewing ($65), walked the beaches after
dark, tested the hamburgers and spent a day on Dunk Island. Mission Beach is a pretty, comfy,
bourgeois resort and it is not crass. The tourists manage not to look ugly there because they are in
their natural environment. There are quiet cafes and candle-lit tables. The cafes use those bamboo
poles with a taper burning at the top to attract asian tourists. Its all real nice and I enjoyed it but
would not have wanted to spend one extra day there. This place however is not touristy – its just
supremely relaxed. I think Fisherman’s Landing should be placed high on the list of places we should
strive to get drunk at. Tell Danny Cash-Minus about it. There is a council camping spot right outside
where it says you can camp free for 48 hours and that they check but I am sure they don’t. There is a
mob of aboriginal women and kids camped in tents on the point between sea and estuary. I can tell
you friend, aborigines are very discerning about the good-feel places to stop at. You’ll never get them
at Mission Beach where I camped illegally for free right in the centre of, just for the record. I got up
before sunrise each morning to greet the sunrise with the other devotees before driving off so as not
to get nabbed by the council people. Isnt it a beaut reflection on the spirituality of the middle classes
that we should be doing that. Of course its easy in the tropics since its warm even in the morning. In
Lifuania they wouldn’t be doing it – they’d be lying in bed grumbling how it was 70 years of Rusky
rule that’s the real cause of their problems. I made a mistake today that could mean I am getting
althiesers (not knowing how to spell it says sumptin). This morning south of Cardwell I went for a
walk along a forestry track (10ks in one direction) which was not always clearly marked and became
quite indistinct in the jungly sections. Anyway after a while I started seeing the same things I had
seen earlier on the walk but wasn’t quite sure that they were. Sure enough I had managed to turn
myself around on the track without realizing it. Never done that before except in the outback once
when I was drunk in the middle of the night (30/11. c ‘30/11/04 – 9/12/04’ p11). I hadnt even
bothered to carry my glasses and could barely see the compass when I was trying to work out what

64
was happenin and the compass was giving readings which were indecisive anyway. Not a problem
as I knew that by sticking to the track I’d get out somewhere as it only went for 10ks in one direction.
But it was an eye opener and once again showed that there is always a new way of getting into strife.
Saw a very large feral pig on the walk that raised its hair along the spine in a show of aggression.
The other mistake I made today was to buy my vegies at Ingham not realising that the vegie
checking station was just 40ks further south down the road before Rollingstone. They take everything
off ya so you wouldn’t be bringing the papaya fly further south. Luckily I did read the sign (having
ignored all previous ones as is my custom) just in time to stop and hide all my tomatoes, paw paw
(etc) in the depths of the car. They did a bit of a search too but found nuffin. The fruit that I am most
keen on was called ‘cainito’ at Cape Trib but I managed to buy more of it at a Sunday market at
Mission Beach where it is called a ‘star apple’. My other discovery yesterday is that there is a second
kind of paw paw called a ‘red paw paw’ and its nicer than the regular one which is nice anyway. The
super-markets in big places like Ingham don’t stock it. In fact in the tropical north the fruit and vegie
section is exactly the same as down south and apples are real cheap. Look at it in a positive way as
a unifying thing in this large country. For all I know they may be the same all over the world (2/12. th
1z n lithoe sel kokonits, brnarnaz, mngoez etc etc) bringing us together in a brotherhood of
consumers. I am heading south with the general intention of being back in Melbourne in 2 weeks or
so after a short stop over in Sydney to say hullow to the relos. Here at Balgal Beach I feel that I have
driven out of the ‘super wet coastal tropics’. I’ve loved em, especially the jungle but in the final
analysis there is nothing I have done here that is better than taking Helen out to the Bocadillo Bar
and talking about our kids as I get drunk on sangrias. Its just that I don’t wont to be doing the same
thing all the time. What I really like about life on the road is that it allows me to keep a distance from
the people I look at. I enjoy being able to observe people without my perceptions being distorted
(7/12. notn good choisv werd – ‘chaenjd’ z betr) by too close proximity or involvement. Scrutinising
what is out there is what I enjoy most as to tell you the truth, my friend, none of the big truths or even
little ones, have ever been revealed to me by the almighty or anyone else for that matter. Sure,
heaps of folks keep tellin me what matters (Faustas, Eddy, and practically everyone else) but when I
investigates what it is they is sayin (especially priests etc) I always find that it is bulldust. By the way
a bit of investigation has revealed that there will be 250 berths at the marina at Port Douglas not
1500 as someone told me and I then told you. Its still a very large number. That new resort will cover
a larger area than Cardwell itself and its already been cleared. I saw it again today, acres and acres
of coconut palms with everything in between bulldozed away. ¶ Live well. ¶ a … z” ) which are
provided by a van hire company like Britz or Maui, but are painted in grafitti style to look hippy-ish.
Checked out Port Hinchinbrook, a new marina-cum-quays development just outside Cardwell which had
been the focus of protest some time ago because of fears it would destroy the local dugong habitat (sea
grass beds). Its typically quays-style: enormous houses, hundreds of Florida palms, tennis courts,
swimming pools and his ‘n hers boats tied up at the private jetties. The ranger at the Reef and Rainforest
Centre in Cardwell says there’s at least 4 crocodiles in the marina system, and that house prices in
Cardwell have been driven up by the development. Th ♂ hoo told us O th $500 fine woznt bein helpfl –
just a bizibodi. ♂ uzed th term ‘FREELODERZ’ & klaimd thr wozn sine kumn →2 town 4bdn kampn n
publk z whch znt tru z I chkt l8r. But I woz n n 4gvn mood z I rializd ♂ probli woznt skorn n hour of
6shl ndljnsz vri mornn & sumtimez @ nite 2. ♂ livd prmntli n n krvan wch ♂ towd wth n 4x4 2 whrvr th
fshn woz good ♂ sed. @ th Tyto Wetl&z Rzrv w nevr sor eni Eastern Grass Owlz (Tyto capensis)
but w sor plenti of Crimson Finchz (Neochinia phaetoni), Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus),
n Cotton Pygmy Goose (Nettapus coromandelianus), ♀&♂ Green Pygmy Geese (Nettapus
pulchellus), n Jacana (Irediparra gallinacea), Collared Kingfisherz (Todirhampus (Halcyon)
chloris) (Aust. race sordida), & ssortd mor komn berdz. Thrz a knstrukshn korld “grass owl viewing
platform” wch ovrlooksn xpans of 2-3 ft torl trpkl grasz whr th chanszv u evr cn 1v thez gO nestn &
roostn owlz z meni timez les than yor chansz of cn a wail from n wail viewn pl@4m. Larst nite @
Dungeness w sor th vri goestli lookn Beach Curlew (Esacus magnirostris) & th mornfl korl H herd
juerin th nite mai hav blongd 2 t. Z w wer leevn Tyto rzrv w ●d n mndrn tree n th park so w stokt ↑ wth
xlnt frute. In th trpks tz nrml 2 c treez laidn wth npkt frute – th@s how good thei get t here. Pikt ↑ 3
mor larj KOKONUTS n th 4shr @ Cardwell & got th husks off z H woz rietn her partv th ntri: Im dvelpn
a tekne (Heidegger (2/12. c ‘↑N’ p5 & ‘Port Germein’ pp10-13)). I hav lredi xplaind th@ tz not posbl
2 pik ↑ & kari >5 nutzn yor rmz @ n time. U shood lso no th@ 4 drinkn th joos u go 4 th big green 1z
wch r O x 2 or 3 hevier than th ripe brown 1z u take 4 th flesh. Theezr best taken wn thei stil hav sum
joosn thmz then thei havn kernl O th size of a golf O r a bit bigr wch z z lite z polistiereen butvn ntrstn
txchr & taist. I hav fownd from past xperiens th@ tz mposbl 2 eet >1 KOKONUT/dai 4 eni lnth of tiem.

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W hav drivn ↓S 5kz ← Cardwell 2 n ● n ½k off th hywai korld ‘Five Mile Swimming Hole’. Tz vri nise
here & thrzn toilt. Thrz no1 here z n larj sine sez NO CAMPING.
29/7/05. Had our last coffee/pa-per at the “Early Bird” and set off North for Kurrimine Beach
where we did a slow walk collecting seeds in the high tide debris. The beach is a spit between the sea and
an estuary. The council camping area looked good – nearly empty and only $10 a double/night, but we had
a free spot at the far end of a development area picked out for the night. After a drink at the pub we went
to Cowley Beach along a back road off which a number of tracks went into forest, opposite cane fields. We
went to explore one and found it to be an almost continuous rubbish dump (old fridges, mattresses,
wrecked cars, thousands of smashed bottles etc etc) on both sides. When we tried to turn around we got
the rear passenger wheel bogged in soft sand. Walked back to the road where, luckily, a young man of
islander descent driving a 4x4 stopped and came with us to help drag us out. Cruised round Cowley Beach
but decided to go back to Kurrimine for the night. On the way found a nice secluded spot in a “park”
where we had tea and did a short fruitless croc-spotting walk. It was sunny and warm all day. How u
rmmbr n dai z mainli n m@rv wot u chuez 2 put n or leev out. @ Kurrimine pub H drank n lemn
skwsh & I had x2 glarszv beer wile w gambld wai $1 eechn th 2 msheenzn th bar. Thoze 2 glarsz wer
posbli th korzv mi por jjmntn trien2 tern th van O n n knfind  mung treez whr eni mstaik woz guna
get mi →2 strife. 2 + 2 mi dsmai (I kan heer mstrius berd korlz kumn ← th KROKODILE nfstd rivr w r
nxt 2) z I got outv th van wch woz bogd @ n diagnl † th trak so I kood c mslf wjnt mung treezn suchn
wai twoodb mposbl2 xtrk8 shortv winchnt ↑ x hlkoptr I rialized I mite hav SH@ mslf or fartd or swetd
nwairz z I woz knsntr8n (TOTAL FOCUS) n wot th weel woz doin z I woz trien2 rok-n-roelt outv th s&
bog but nli getnt deepr ↓. I PUT mi FINGR ↑ mi KRAK not reeli xpktn th werst & pulldt out kuvrdn
SHIT & t smelt ORFUL & I wodld off wth n ♠ & n rolev toilt ppr & vku8d th gut (4 nuthr dvnchrv th
same gendre c ‘→ (no 1)’ p1,13 & ‘→ (no 2)’ p8 (14/12. & vrius dvnchrzv M.M. Mallacoota Man n ‘IN
TRANSIT’)) & rubd th soild partzv mi ndrpants & th ffektd partv mi shorts & I WOZ FEELN TERBL
just how I rmmbr I uezd2 wen I woz O 5 yeerz old wen I uezd 2 SHIT (17/12. Shit, shite, sb. Not
now in decent use. OE. [Teut. Root * skit-.] 1. Excrement from the bowels, dung 1585. b.
a contemptuous epithet applied to a man 1508. †2. Diarrhoea, esp. in cattle –late ME.
Also vb. trans. and intr.) mslf ftn or maib nli 1s or x2 but th mmri & gilt rmain → ths dai. I HAD
DUN VRITHN RONG & I pongd evn wen I got →2 th frunt seetv th 4x4v th vri nise persn (v KANAKA
dsnt I rekn) hoo ddnt terf mi out but drove ← & @@cht nchain 2 mi bak bumpr brakt & pulld us out (z
I ←d) no bothr. ♂ had had n dvnchrus dai lredi z rlier 1v hiz dogz (thr wer 2 n th 4x4) had got xited x
n KROK drag mark neer wer w r parkt 2nite & 4ln n th rivr & ♂ had jumpt ↓ ftr it →2 KROKODILE
NFSTD H2O & got hmslf tangldn fshn line. Wen w → Cowley Beach I chainjd →2 nuthr pairv undeez
& →2 mi swimn trunks & washt th DERTI ietmz n n h&baisn n th toilt. Then I washt mi BUM (17/12.
Bum sb. 1. ME. [?Cf. BUMP sb., etc. Perh. echoic. Not a contr. of ‘bottom’.] The
posteriors. Also transf. 2. colloq. Short for BUMBAILIFF; (like F. cul for pousse-cul) 1691.)
wth th faiswshr & thn th faiswshr wth sope z H had xplaind 2 mi 2 do (having had 5 children I knew
what was necessary!). Piti, z I had strtd out reel kleen z @ Kurrimine I had hadn orlovr woshn th c n th
NUDDI. Orlz wel th@ ndz wel but! X th wai th ● wer w r @ znot reeli n park butz korld so bkoz Mr
Joseph Francis McCutcheon don8dt “To the Residents of the Johnstone Shire for
Recreational Purposes in 1947”. I hav givn u ths kkount n ful grfk dtail bkozt haz bn mi prakts 2
rkord COINCIDENCE & u karnt do betr than BOG yrslf justz u BOG yer kar. 7.50pm @ McCutcheon
Park offn ded nd trak off th gravl bak rd ← Kurrimine → Cowley Beach. 2moro I startn nue jrnl.

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5/8/05 (Tropika – 2 (no 63)). ☼ CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL ¶ 119-145 Spence
Street ¶ Cairns Qld. 4870 ¶ P.O Box 359 ¶ Teleph-one: (07) 4044 3044 ¶
Facsimile: (07) 4044 3022 ¶ council@cairns.qld.-gov.au ¶
www.cairns.qld.gov.au ¶ ABN 21 543 571 965 ¶ ENQUIRIES: Environmental
Assessment ¶ PHONE: 40443044 ¶ YOUR REF: ---- ¶ OUR REF: (501061)
1/11/4 ¶ Date 5-8-2005 ¶ NOTICE TO REMEDY BREACH ¶ UNLAWFUL
CAMPING ¶ Local Law No.20 (Caravan Parks & Camping) ¶ The
Owner/Occupier ¶ Vehicle Registration RPN 244 State Victoria ¶ Vehicle Make
Toyota HiAce Colour White ¶ Dear Sir/Madam ¶ Under the provisions of
Council’s Local Law No. 20 (Caravan & Camping) “a person must not camp
(or set up a tent for the apparent purpose of camping) except in a caravan
park” ¶ It has come to Council’s attention that you are unlawfully using
land at Acacia St Holloways Beach Qld to camp. ¶ You are in breach of Local
Law No. 20, part 6, 15, (1). ¶ IN ACCORDANCE WITH LOCAL LAW NO. 20
PART 6, SECTION 16 YOU ARE REQUIRED TO CEASE CAMPING FORTHWITH,
AND UNDERTAKE NO FURTHER ILLEGAL CAMPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE
CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL AREA. ¶ Failure to comply with this Notice is an
offence, attracting a maximum penalty of 50 Penalty Units ($3,750.00). The
vehicle may also be liable to confiscation (tow away) without any further
notice. ¶ Yours faithfully  Issuing Officer  LAURIE PHIPPS
Manager, Environmental Assessment ☼ Th kownsl wrkr hoo servdus wth ths noetis
woz rjnli ← Bendigo nVic & duznt rgrt ♂z ↑N xpt ♂ misz th mowntn kuntri O Mansfield whr ♂
uezd2→ fshn & shootn deer. U kant → 4sts heer, ♂ sed, zthei r fulv ferl pigz & snaeks. Twozntn
gr8 start2th dae zied hadn bad niet koz w wr riet neer whr th plaenz wr l&n @th Cairns airprt.
Howvr ie woz ntreegd x vrius xotk & mstrius berd ♪♫♪s kumn ←th ♂groev w wr nxt2 thruethniet.
Itd bn owr plan 2getwae erli but ♂ kopt us b4 7am. ♂ woz drievnn ‘nmal ♂jmnt’ van. Eethr sum1
shoptusr orl kownsl mploieez kari theez noetisz. Our mstaek woz th@ w ddnt reeliez theez beech
●s r knsdrd 2b sberbzv Cairns. We investigated all the beaches to the right – Yorkey’s Knob, Trinity
Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach – until we got to Palm Cove, the ritzy resort town where we
enjoyed promenading and having a garlic bread at a restaurant underneath a magnificent swamp
paperbark. These trees are a feature of the beaches north of Cairns – they are tall and thick and in a
couple of spots in Palm Cove are incorporated into the buildings. There were heaps of tourists at P.C.
all enjoying their little bit of paradise. The day was sunny and still and quite warm, so many were
swimming. The crocodile menace doesn’t apply as there are no estuaries or creeks in the area.
Between P.C. and Port Douglas the road hugs the coast tightly so the beaches along it are less
frequented. Crossing a bridge just before we got into the Port Douglas environs I spotted a crocodile
on the bank of a large creek. He was pretty big, and took to the water after we watched him for some
minutes. The girl in the Rainforest Information Centre just south of Port Douglas said he’s there
regularly. Now we’ve seen 2. Port Douglas (17/1/06. c Tropika – 1 p8,9) is a resort town, like Palm
Cove but much bigger – lots of visitors, “buzzy” main street and marina and a long, fine sand beach
which we’ll walk tomorrow, weather permitting. The Douglas Shire is just as intolerant of campers as
Cairns City Council so we are jammed cheek-by-jowl into the single caravan park here at $22/night,
but it beats the $50 fine and the fear of being “sprung”. There are lots of “experiences” you can have
here – the reef experience, the hang-gliding experience, the dive experience, the animal sanctuary
experience, the crocodile-farm experience. You have to pay heaps for them all of course, and have
them with stacks of other people and with a guide/instructor and a running commentary. I don’t want
any of them, which shows how old I’m getting. John rang Kate – she’s back to full health. N nworm
frdi eevnn vri1 heer goez →2 wien&dien: ths ntri wz ritn @th Salsa Bar&Grill wththaedv x2
RUM&KOKES ($6 eech). Lso ritn nkard → DRUaMlMeOcND & SrMoIgTeHr @th ST8
LIBERIOVVICTORIA.

67
 12/8/05. 8.20am. H rmiendz mi thrzn sien outsied Mareeba saeint haz 300 daezv ☼ /yeer.
(w r sOd x floksv Scaly-breasted Lorikeets (Tricholglossus chlorolepidotus)). Ie 4got 2 mnshn
ystrdi th@th moest komn duk ie sor @th Wetl&z wozth Green Pygmy-goose (Nettapus
pulchellus). Lso tznot fair ie ddnt • out thei havn Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae) breedn &
reeintroedkshn proegrm. Thei wr 1s vri nuemrus nth  & wr trapt4 th kaejberd traed. Thr nmbrz
hav ▼ vriwhr & thr kmpleetli 0 heer. Th eestrn ejv thr  haz → far ←W. Mareeba Wetl&z rleesd
100 berdz 6 munths goe & havnt cn n sienv thm sins. Noe dowt thr wil bmor rleesz z ie sor
plentiv juevnielz nth breedn kaej … → Mareeba (H rang K8 2wish ♀ n hapi brthdae (thrzn wili
wagtael (Rhipidura leucophrys) hopn O nth taebl 1ft from mi h& pikn ↑ bitsv 2-min noodl from our
t (5.35pm @th boet ramp @Tinaburra Waters outv Yungaburra (c @@cht map))) & K8 sez thei
wr snoedn x 45cmv snoe & ♀ koodnt → werk 4 2 daez; th Mareeba dstrkt groez 90%v OZ kofi
beenz soe w → The Coffee Works 4 n orthntk OZ kupv ‘Black Mountain’ kofi (wth ppr) & twoz
zgoodz iem uest2 ← Melb.) → Tolga (thrzn gr8 tree nth maen st oevr th toilt ■; b4 getn →
townshp w stopt @ THE GIANT PEANUT (19/1. c 30/4/05 p2&4) & fotoed th sien & th peenut
& ie bortn porpor 4 2niet) → Lake Tinaroo → Danbulla Forest Drive (vrius 2rst ●s but th1 wch
maed us OOH&AAH woz th Cathedral Fig Tree (19/1. c ↑→v Lakes District Map) wchzth moest
mgnfsnt tree iev cn) → Lake Barrine (2 uthr gr8 treez: x2v KAURI knfrs sed 2b 1000+ yeerz old;
nth gift shop ie fienli found th poestkard feechrn nKAEN TOED iev bn lookn 4 (4 kraenz wchr
eethr Brolgaz (Grus rubicundus) r Sarus Cranez (Grus antigne) r flien oevr) 2 → SwTaRlUtVeEr &
BAdKoEnR) → Yungaburra (whr ie gaevn kmpleet setvth peesz iev ritn soefar ths yeer 2 th 2nd
h& bkshp bkoz th oenr sed ♂ wozn ksntrk; drank 2 RUM&KOEKS) → heer (gr8 ● 2 c th eevnnn
oevrlookn th laek 15 yardz wae & 2 mor kraenz flue x). Rathr than goe →2 dtael H sjstd ie paest
nth pkchrmap w got @ th nkwieri • (5 mor kraenz →). Mor & mor kraenzr →n x.
Friedae (25/2. Friday [OE. frígedaeg ‘day of (the goddess) Fríg’ ; a Com. WGer.
transl. of the late L. dies Veneris, day of (the planet) Venus. The OE. name Fríg
corresponds to ON. Frigg, name of the wife of Odin (not to Freyja), and is the fem. of the
Oteut. Adj. * frijo- ‘beloved, loving’; see FREE.] 1. The sixth day of the week. 2. A
reception or entertainment given on that day 1836. 3. attrib. as F. morning. 1592. ¶ 1.
Black F.: applied to various historic dates of disastrous events which took place on Friday, as May 11,
1866, when a panic ensued on the failure of Overend, Gurney & Co.; etc. Good F. : the Friday before Easter
Day, observed in commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion.) 19/8/05 (Savannah (no 64) …. & ….
Outback (no 65)). (14/10/09. A biography of Frigg from various sites found by Googling): “a major goddess
in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and
the queen of Asgard. She is the patron of marriage and motherhood, and the goddess of love and fertility. In that aspect she shows
many similarities with Freya, of whom she possibly is a different form. She is also described as having the power of prophecy yet she
does not reveal what she knows. As the mother of Balder, she tried to prevent his death by extracting oaths from every object in
nature, but forgot the mistletoe. And by a fig made from mistletoe Balder died. Her hall in Asgard is Fensalir ("water halls"). Frigg is
described as the only one other than Odin who is permitted to sit on his high seat Hlidskjalf and look out over the universe. The
English term Friday derives from the Anglo-Saxon name for Frigg, Frigga. Frigg's messenger is Gna, who rides through the sky on
the horse Hofvarpnir. In some myths she was rumored to have had love affairs with Odin's brothers Ve and Vili.”) Ie (24/2. blud
prshrz ↑ oevr thlarst yeer ((14/10/09.  Wednesday 28/5/08. hz now n stad 
dDaOvIiGd @ 140/80 wth PERINDOPRIL/INDAPAMIDE 4/1.25) 27/2. KAaBlAgIiLsA 1s sed →mi:
noe tork z z n10s z nold ♂ torknO ♂z hlth)) (TOE (ngroen nael (17/2. lsoe hav2 uezn toe-sepraetr 2
stop big toe from †n oevr 2nd toe nleft foot (25/2. &zv 2dae n riet foot 2))) → FOOT (forln rch n riet 1)
→ NEE (diki) → KOK (soft (17/2 ue kan fiendth ☼ueshn n The Complete Essays (18/2. ♂z rspnsbl
4 both thterm & thgenre) of Montaigne) (25/2. 4got 2 mnshn th need 4 nskruetop kntaenr soe ie
doent hav2 get ↑ → toilt ½ nduzn tiemz/niet. Orlsoe hav2 wair bzorbnt ndrpants (28/2. “No matter
how much ye shake yer peg / The last wee drap runs doon yer leg” – rBoUbRbNiSe) & sins ielb
goen2 lithol& this yeer noenli th kloethz iem wairn iel hav2 washm @ niet & pootmn nth mornn b4
theiv dried owt prprli)) → RS (ichi) →  Z (worti (2 mor 4 dDaOvIiGd 2 freezoff wen w get bak (12/2.
nchuezdae 7/2 (18/2. ie gaev ♂m n: “3/Dec/05 ¶ Dr David Doig, ¶ I write this note to put it on
record with you (& Ivanhoe Medical Clinic) that I forbid any medical intervention or procedure to be
performed on me (by you, a hospital, or anyone else) 2 prevent me from dieing (27/2. thwerst kaesz
ie noev rn ♀ wth dvanst ltzhiemrz hoo woz treetd4 nuemoenia x10; n nknshz ♀ @th nersnhoem Vi
( Oct 27 p9) woz @ hoo woz fed x ntueb ↓ stumk; Guantanamo hungr striekrz hoo r tied↓ &havn
tueb shuvd → nostrl ↓ gult; SCHIAVO ( 2/4/05 – 8/4/05 p2 (2/3. “The doctors (“They need not

68
worry about doing their job badly, since the damage turns to their profit.” (3/3. saem4 loiyrz (4/3. &thr
kmpeetn 4n shairvth $$$ spoilz))) are not content with having control over the sickness; they make
health itself sick, in order to prevent people from being able at any time to escape their authority” –
Montaigne Essays II: 37))) without specific prior permission being given by me or my wife Helen (to
whom Ive written a will giving power of medical attorney). I request you retain this instruction on my
medical file. ¶ Yours Faithfully ¶ (signature) (signature of witness (me))” (25/2.  13/9/05 p1)) ♂
froezoff 10 nkluedn 1 huej 1 & mi z rn mes))) → GUT (runi (17/2. npoem ← Death & Fame x
GIaNlSlBeEnRG (d.1997) givn 2mi x DRUaMlMeOcND: “Here We Go ’Round the Mulberry Bush ¶ I
got old & shit in my pants / shit in my pants / shit in my pants / I got old & shit in my pants / shit in my
pants again // We got old and shit in our pants / shit in our pants / shit in our pants / We got old and
shit in our pants / shit in our pants again // You’ll be lucky if you get old / & shit in your pants / & shit in
your pants / You’ll be lucky if you get old / & shit in your pants again (January 1, 1994” ))) →
STUMK/EESOFAGUS (valv not werkn (12/2. 80mgzv Somac/dae; hadn ndskpi & nhstoepthlji @th
Royal Melb Hosptl n 31/1/06 & tz OK)) → HED (THROET (pnia – karnt zzzz (18/2. tz mie bigst prlbm
– m ksprmntn wth valium, temazepam, stilnox & kombnaeshnz n kaes ie karnt zzzz wen ie goe →
EUROPA) nbak & getn wers) → MOWTH (1 krown, 1 brj, 1 gap (12/2. wen mie (4mr) Ivanhoe dntst
bkaem poplktk & rued ftr ie rkst ♀ f thr wr prolbmz getnn brj dun oevrcs ie dsiedd 2 gtt dun nxt tiem
iemn lithol& (20/2.  August 18 p-2))) → NOEZ (left nostrl (27/2. ← GULF TRIP: “ 25.08.97.
Windorah Q.L.D. ¶ WHAT IS HAPPENIN? There is hair growin out of my NOSTRILS and out of my
EAR (4got2 mnshnth tinitus, thxostosis (left O bordowt), & th@ iem goen def) HOLES and I am in the
middle of Queensland and I don’t know wh-ere I am going? You must HELP! me Android. You’re a
shrink aren’t ya? DO SUMTHIN. LONG LIVE the Prof.!! ¶ a … z ) kloezn↑) → Z (need x3
mgnfkaeshn glarsz) → BRAEN (knfuezd (20/2. & bmuezd (25/2. & pporld (27/2. snsv doom @th
pproechn k@strof maeb nfunkshnv mie oen dsntgraeshn ( 16/2/04 – 27/2/04 p5, 16, 19) – iem
@th ●v mie O ( Sept 20 p19))))))) woek nth ndvth old korzwae (thrzn rotn karksvn smorl (2½ ft)
KROKODILUS JOHNSTONII @ thuthr nd) 2 thsowndv xotk berd ♪♫♫ 0v wch ie rkniezd. L8r (b4 ☼↑)
H sang “Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Joorn, Happy Birthday to
You.” Z ♀ s@↑ ♀ fartd. 6 (12/2. ← The Age p3: “Sexercise: how a grapple a day keeps the
doctor away. ¶ It can help reduce stress, soothe pain, cure insomnia (24/2. doesn’t seem to
be working for you A..Z (25/2. duzsoe! Helpsheeps)), lower the risk of a heart attack and, as if
that wasn’t enough, make your hair shine and your wrinkles vanish (25/2. r ue, H (26/2. but
it’s helping my hair to vanish and my wrinkles to shine)). ¶ “Forget about jogging round the block
or struggling with sit-ups,” says the British Government’s patients’ helpline, National
Health Service Direct. The key for healthy living is “a bout of ‘sexercise’”. ¶ “Regular
romps”, according to an official posting on the home page of the NHS Direct website, will
bring health rewards, from staying fit and burning calories to combating cancer. ¶
“Orgasms even release pain-killers into the bloodstream, helping keep mild illnesses like
colds and aches and pains at bay and produce extra oestrogen and testosterone
hormones,” the site says. “These hormones will keep your bones and muscles healthy,
leaving you feeling fabulous inside and out. The increased production of the hormones
will make your hair shine and your skin smooth. And if you’re worrying about wrinkles,
orgasms even help prevent frown lines from deepening.” ¶ The aftermath helps too:
“The toptastic, ‘post-coital’ period after sex may be one of the few times you’ll
completely let go, surrender and relax … and awake the next morning ready for
seconds.” …. ¶ GUARDIAN”). Th ↑n ☼ lluemn8d th topsvth branchzz ‫( ﺲﺚבּשבל عىמפ‬l8r H sed (nz
w wer soe chumi larst niet 2) “You’re not doin too badly for a sixty-four year old” (18/2. but notn p@chn
talianstalian Berlusconi (23/2. hazhadn fais↑ kkrdn 2 Wally (27/2. hoo werks@th knsuel8 (vive la
france) lsoe sez: thkween znold bag; prins Charles zugli; HoWARd znstaetsmn; Bush zstuepd; De
Gaulle woz ntljnt; Magda Zubanski zn toetldiot; Thorpie zgae; thpoep znjrmn) @th Errol Patisserie)
(20/2. “Let us learn to be no more avid for glory than we deserve. Boasting of every
useful or blameless action is for men in whom such things are rare and unusual: they
want them to be valued at what it cost them! The more glittering the deed the more I
subtract from its moral worth, because of the suspicion aroused in me that it was
exposed more for glitter than for goodness: goods displayed are already half way to
being sold.” Montaigne. Essays III:10)) but ie giv orl kredt → ♀). Tz 8.30am & wr → Cloncurry O
310kz ↓S …. …. → (●d nhuej Blak Hedd Pthn †n throed; foetoed van mung trmt mowndz) →

69
Burke & Wills Roadhouse (nli ptrl btween Nor♂ton (32°C 2dae) & Cloncurry; † throed thrzn ‘camp
draft’ (ntstv ho-rsz&rdrz kpblteez) taekin plaes wch wr →2 ) ….  doo nkndv  O langwj
(ndrln strukchrz (“grammar”) wch r nkorpr8d & join us) &  (prjkshnv langwj & owrslvz wch
naebl sns & tknolji).… thank m+4 rn mi (wthowt 2i mtzmz), m kidz 4 tolr8n
mi, H 4 keepn mi kumpni (n@ roedsd 92kz ← Burke & Wills Road → SE → Julia Creek (wr x-
pasn Cloncurry)) …. While we were watching the horsemanship trials only one other couple came over
for a look. We were there for about an hour. During that time dozens of vans and caravans pulled up at the
Roadhouse but no-one else came over. A pity, as it was a great ‘outback’ spectacle and a chance to see
another kind of life entirely. The Flying Doctor Auxiliary was there to feed and water the cont-estants (lots
and lots) and the spectators (far fewer) with expensive and awful hot dogs and hamburgers. But these
people weren’t ‘foodies’ – horses and cattle are their life (12/3. thhorsz rnhobi havn moestli bn rplaest x
traelbks). (th grae noemadz r FOEKUST → dstn8shnz) (@th Jack & Lil Cunningham Park
roedsd sheltr  z → WbOiOlDlL&OjCaKn, & Ross & Farzaneh, & LfOrVaEnCkE, &
DIC&ArSeTaRO, & Brian & Z, & BAdKoEnR, & SrMoIgTeHr, & DRUaMlMeOkND, & Alina (12/3. &
Os (hzn st))) .… Ppl kraev 2b told (2 maentaen nfilial poschr & sosti dpndzn oebeedians)
yet v rstrktd mslf 2 xn w  doent noe & kwschnn thkwolfk8shnzv thoez hoo klaem
thei doo wth thxspshn th@ v gvn 2 KOM&Z (25/3.  Tropika – 2 p13) wthowt klaemn nolj or
thorti (12/3.   owt m rkaen z &m  brdd ntrn x xprts, gooruez, pltshnz, lobi grueps, pop & mdia
z, rprznt@vz, +vrtzrz skplts, etcetc) .… 7.45pm @ Julia Creek. W → town ← free ▲ x
thkreek. H  Ben hoo sez Joze  lsnzr goen OK (12/3. Hazhz lsns now).  had x2 skoonrz nth
pub. Tz stil & hot. Thr wr 0 2rst vanz nth 240kz ← Burke & Wills Roadhouse → Julia Creek but thr
wozn lotv ROAD KILL.
26/8/05 (Outback (no 65)). St@stkli tz 1vth wlthiest  zn QLD but noe1 v n looks
. Th $$z must stae wthth graezierz nth sOn . W gotofth gravl @ 280 klks ← Bedourie & nbit l8r wr
joind x throed ← sville whr thbigst evntv thy ntheez parts, Th sville Races, rn nxt weeknd & w
wr †n parthz wth 4x4z pulln karvnz goenth uthr wae 4 thevnt. Long th wae w left th
Diamantina/Georgina cht  & †d →2 th Coopers Creek (ztz korld ↓streem ← whrth Thomson
&th Barcoo join↑) Lake Eyre cht ‫ٱ‬. Thue @th pub haz: Rump - $26; T-boen - $22.50;
Krumd sosjz - $16; Rsoelz - $16; Krumd lamchopz - $16; Pawkchopz - $20; Chkn Kiev - $18 etc. 
woent dskrb thhmbrgr  had4 $8. Thr hvn th Windorah International Yabbie Races (13/3. 
30/4/05 p5) hnxt wnzdae (31/8). Thevntzr aemd @ 2rsts hedd →- sville Raesz. Pparntli t↑z
nlotv $$z. “Hear the sounds of the claws drumming the bitumen” tseznth noetis. Larst ythr
wr 4 raesz (1. Barcoo Bolt 2. Thomson Trot 3. Kyabra Kanter 4. The Coopers Creek Cup) & thO
prz n$$z woz $4,800. H haz →2th srvsstaeshn 4n showr @ $2.  n → Ross&Farzaneh. 
rgathrn4th raesz nweek erli (thrr 4 nue 4x4 & traelr grueps owtfrunt) but  kan thinkv 0 wers (22/3.
xpt th kmnwlth gaemz moestv wch w voidd x doon ntrip 2th Bombala  nth mowntnzv NSW. Got ←
thsarvoe.). Wr hedn thuthr wae. Poplaeshnz soefar: Winton – 900; Middleton – 5; Boulia – 300;
Bedourie – 120; Windorah – 60 …. → Some local colour we forgot to mention: at Middleton the owner
was our age and had been a drover on the Barkley Tablelands. He got to Middleton in the 1960s. He owns
a Cobb and Co. coach and used a team of 60 camels to do a heritage trip from Winton to Middleton in
2001. Cobb and Co. ran their coaches till 1924 when they adopted the motor vehicle. Once a mate of his
rounded up 131 wild camels on the edge of the Simpson Desert. He reckons they are intelligent and learn
fast. The coach is very attractive but is not being looked after – the upholstery is torn and flapping and bits
and pieces at the back where the luggage and stores would be put are coming unstuck – a shame. John’s
hamburger there may have been a camel burger as the owner mentioned that he butchers some. The
hamburger today at Windorah was served up by the chef himself, resplendent in black and white checked
trousers with a “chef” tag on his shirt. At the Bedourie pub I noticed in the photos on the noticeboard of
local occasions that the aborigines and whites mingled freely and seemed happy in each others company.
The water in Cooper (not Coopers as commonly said) Creek & its channels is flowing . The wildflowers are
out in the area we’ve been travelling through from Winton on – yellow and purple pea, a variety of yellow
daisies, white daisies, and a large showy daisy called “poached egg” because it has a deep yellow centre
surrounded by a thick white petal fringe. All are aromatic in varying degrees – the purple pea (Swainsonia)
most of all. Cassia bushes are also blooming and they have a beautiful perfume. Wr t 4 thnt nn
chanlv Cooper Creek voidn thmaen chanl whr th2rsts ← rloevrOZ hav flokt nntspaeshnvth SVILLE
MEETN &th WINDORAH YABBIE RACES. Thrz noe nstnkt strongr thanth flokn nstnkt &th
kriaeshnv meenn zts labraeshn (dvlpt, volueshnv). Thei wilb aebl2 sae wev bn 2th sville
raesz & thei kan shoe foetoez & thr frndz wil noe wot thei meen bkoz thei hav nt nTV & red Ot nth
pprz. (4.23). Because the country is pretty lush the flies and mozzies are out in quantity and the van fills

70
up because we eat with the tailgate open. John has perfected his fly-destroying technique once we have
retired for the night by whapping them with his shirt until they are beaten into submission. If he doesn’t
quell them they wake up before we do and harrass us in the morning. Sturt sed ♂ korld Cooper Creek n
kreek notn rvr bkozt woznt floen buttz floen now.
2/9/05 (Wingdings (no 66)). Wr @ Wooli Bowling ♣ (4.25pm) 46kz ↓→v Grafton. Tz
n stdli owtsd & wr nbt sogi ftr nmeel ndr th taelgaetvth van @ npknk taebl x th shor. Nth mornn
 woek↑ ←nlong&dtaeld dreem O b-n gnoesd wth kansr nth rm. Thdreem nkluedd ndskushnvth
proeznkonzv opraetn &v posbl owtkumz. Thsrjn woz wairn wot Bronwyn Bishop woodv dskrbd zn
konk & dlbr8li prvoktv MUZLM owtft nstdvn srjkl gown. Wn  woek↑ ← thpraeshn ♂ gaev mi  2
ndk8t hdgon wl & ♂ ddnt hv2 mpuet8 m rm. Twnt n&n.  kndoo wthowt dreemz (13/4. re Freud 
16/2/04 – 27/2/04 p11,12,13) lk th-@. W wr ↑ vri rli & → 2 th n  rtrnn ftr thntv n
& thn bn nloedd. W  2n 4mr mungr & lsoe 2th oenrv 1vth s wch ♂ woz wrkn 2gthr wth ♂z
gr&☼ & thfrthr. ♂ paed thgr&☼ $600/wk & ♂  @ thoenrvth neiborn  hoo livd nt, nvr wosht, &
paed ♂z ☼ $300/wk. Thmoest przd  hz b-or but ue woent gettnth shops zth r keep
thfue thei k@ch. L8r → Maclean 4 ppr/kofi & → Yamba 4 npeesv  eech (H – floundr, mi – snapr)
→ Grafton whr  gotn nueli publsht stv NRMA ma-psv NSW (rkdd prsv $6.95 but ue getm 4 0
fue rn thRACV) & w → pub nSouth Grafton (thrjnl ) 2 studi em. Thn → Minnie Water → Wooli. Not
shor wr wr ▲n 2nt zth Ø▲ snz hv prlfr8d h2. Nsdntli, njuen thei hvn GOANNA PULLING (1/4.
 Outback p8) kmptshn @ Wooli. Oyair   mum ← Grafton 2  ♀r weedb nSydney ← thrzdae
nxt 4 nfue daez n owr wae →. B4  4gt  must shn th@ thw spnt nYowah & Rj n @
oepl &  2 deelrz ddnt ↑ th sltst nstalja n mi thoe wn  woz ↓&owt nWhite Cliffs & ofn sins d flt
 had bn nm nchrl sOnz & mung th  wr  blongd (1/4.  29/4/04 – 1/5/04 p3-10 (2/4. ntrd
4n ltrchr prz ndr thttl The Mail Run ( Savannah p2)); 30/11-/04 – 9/12/04 p5-12 (2/4.
pp4 & 5 ntrd 4 prz ndr ttl The Yabbying Expedition; pp8 -10 publsht nn buetfl  maedttld
Sideways (a Stalingrad intercalarium) ISBN 1920811141 x OSfO&WlSKI. Thanx.);
Melbourne – Sydney p8-15). v bkum justz muchn nchrl mmbrvth l@é sipn ch@rn klrs & m
bsshn wth lngwj (az ndvjualz wr subsjri 2t zth meennz hv2b ngoesi8d wth thO → wch wr joind
but lngwj (thoe w doent noe whr →) tslfz subsjri 2 thO) hz morthndwktli rplaest thOEPLBUG.  2
nvst n $ nth poekeez b4 n 4 n● 4 2nt. Tzn oepnr 2 spnd nbtv  nn ♣ lk ths nth koestv OZ –
ue getn diov how us prvljd, kumfi & rlaxt OZZEEZ hoor hlpn saev thO ← EEVL MUZLMZ liv
thrstvth . KANGRUEZNMUEZ 1dr O nth stsv theez ltl koestl z. LUKI CUNTRI.
9/9/05. 8.35am. Wn BOODR  thO zn lluezion (8/4.  30/11/04 – 9/12/04 p14) rJZZ
 O thnxt lf, rMUHUMUD  thrz nli 1 GOD  lae theez zv spshl nolj 2 thsd.  doent hv2
sspnd m dsbleef z doent → ● whr  ndrst& wottz thr klae 2 noe. m nklnd 2greewthth
BAHAI ( Tropika – 2 p9-11) th@ knsrnn how w shood liv thr moestli ngreet &  thinktz rt
th@ thr @ tmz nknfkt, @ tmz nknsstnt, sumtmz kntrdkt rlier meennz, & sumtmz rknfuezd. F
thr z giv km4t 2th dvowt – lettb. Tz w hoo chuez 2 ↑ em soeth@ vri WERD thei  bkumz
GOSPL. Th gr8 rz rn xprshn (nths sns w lredi noe vrthn (z LfOrVaEnCkE hz ) & wot w k zth
lv pproovl zwoz thkaes wn w wr told WOT2DOO wn w wr chldrn) vowr joint hueti & thr need
2b kntr-dkshnz. Wr nwrknproegrs & th knfuezionz 2wch thei giv lngwj rowr oen. Z4mi m
nPRZNRV MEENNZ. TZ M VOEKAESHN.  R@L THBRZVTH KAEJ …. → Balmain (uezdth
Garricks vztr n prmt; pootn x6 roelzv flm 4 dvlpt) →  ( ppr @th Sydney Dance Company
kafé; →d long th4shor x2 owrz) → Balmain (klktd foetoez; ↓tnn thGarricks) → Epping (bak @ 6.30
zpr greet 4 nuthr xsv ; m hoepn  mt getn chans2  nbtvth Sydney/Geelong AFL gaem;
m stil n Gift & Mystery (fnshtt, 9pm)).
(14/10/09. Completion of Fridays from folder 7 (nos 62 – 66 of Og))

26/5/06 (Litho Trip 2 (on CD ttld: ALL THAT WAS ALL THAT WILL BE)). Mslaenia:
x2 daez goe  bort n1:130,000 mapv th Ukmergė  & n1:50,000 1v th Labanoras ; 2dae l get
ndtaeld 1v Druskininkai  (nth veri southv lithol& nxt2 th polsh bordr); Laima & Ale wr teln mi how
♀♀ had bn wotchn n+rss 2th US kongrs x thzraeli prm mnstr whr thkongrssmn wood rz 2thr feet
& cheer z1 @ rguelr ntrvalz. ♀♀ foundt vri muezn zt woz just lkt uezd 2b heer n Breznevz dae;
tlooks bleek owtsd & tz getn kold nsd zth hot pps whr  woz aebl 2 drie mie soks & ndrpants

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hav gon kold wch meenz NO SHOWR &  woz rathr hangn owt4 1 this AM (7.30); Rasz ldr ☼ hadn
skair wl waetn 4 tst rzults rftr hi hadn ft wthn AIDS+ drugi; Meilutė zbetr & kan →O nbit, tsowndz
zf ♀l b ort; dae b4 ystrdi  fownd xtremli nstrstn kofitaebl siez book korld Lithuanian Jewish
Culture x David Katz © 2004 pub: Baltos Lankos (Ausros Vartu g. 29/1 Vilnius LT – 01129 Lithuania)
soe l tr 2get thlithoe lbri (@ lithohaus Errol st, Nth Melb) & thState Library of Victoria 2 gett owt
h (15/10/09. tha wood t). DRUaMlMeOcND maeb ntrested zt givz nkomprhnsv (thbest thei
klaem) ovrviewvth ydish O; m not knfdnt O Rasa bn aebl2 get mi 2 Labanoras - ♀r g & kluch
maek noizz lk  havnt herd b4 nn  th@z stil nth roed; wotch th wthr 4 WARSAW fue wont2
getndiov how tz h…. (7.53pm) thr wr oevr 100 sinagogaz 1s now thrz nli th Naujoji Sinagoga n
Pylimo g. – nth frunt thrzn sn: “KINERET RESTORANAS (Kosher & Fish & Pizza Restaurant)
KUSHRUS Certificate By Chaim Burshtwin Chief Rabbi of VILNIUS and Lithuania” (15/10/09. 
Thursday 9/7/09 & Monday 3/8/09) ystrdae Rasz yungr ☼ Rokas kaemn 2  hi had just •d
nRAT nth ktchn; Rasa noez nswedsh ♀ hoo had bn ortstk but groo owtvt, ♀ has n nbook Ot wch
Rasa has redn jrmn, th ♀ karnt sleep 4 morthn 4 hrz r ♀ 4gets hoo ♀ z, soe 2 maek shor ♀ staezn
kontkt ♀ s↓ ♀r prtkuelrz eech eevnn b4 ♀ → bed; 4 lunch  hadn dlishuz meet pankaek &
ndideli(500mls)v b nKauno g. 4 5.5Lt butn Pilies g.  paed 7.5Lt @n plais korld Double Coffee
(4mli THE TIFANNY CLUB ( Monday 14/6/04)) 4n bad kupv l@é; ue woodnt bleev how freeznt
woz wnn kold frunt wnt thrue thsarvoe; met MhAeLnArKiUkNaAsS nPilies g. wth hz dortr (b4  left
 hd givn m mobl no → Raimonda soe ♀ kood giv mi ♂z mobl no but ♀ had 4gotn 2); bortn
1:130,000 mapv th Druskininkai ; tŽaIuŽrYiSus wonts mi 2 uez ♂z SODYBA (owtv VILNIUS) but
♂z ♀ Zita zthr orlth ; tz nholdae weeknd so SaTlRbUiNnGaA zgoen 2bookn room 4 mi 2nt; fienli
got thrue 2 thJonaitisz hoor → Paris 4n knfrns 4th week soe w wil k@ch↑ nxt ☼di; m off 4n eevnn
strol n Gedimino Prospektas thn → bed; v paed↑ 4 m stae h - thei doent giv rseets …. (11.30)
 nt rmmbr, huni, fv mnshnd th MACDONALDS nVILNIUSz prmier st Gedimino Prospektas.
Therz nuthr1 n th staeshn. 2 yz rgoe Vaidaz had nsstd th@ theid nevr kum h koz lithoez
woodnt eet taestls KRAP. Ue wilb sadnd 2 no thei r both dooin good bizns. Alsoe nGeimino
Prospektas thrzn AUSTRALIAN BARAS klaimn “We Serve An Australian Menu”. Tzn warrenov koezi
slarz in tipkl VILNIUS stl wth sum LEOPARD skin kushinz & uphostri &n mowntd STUFT
LEOPARD nth floor vth maen br. Wn ie got bak th rspshionst sed tŽaIuŽrYiSus had bn h lookn 4
mi wontn 2taek mi owt 2 nkanklės (litho nstrumnt) konsrt 2moro but  had told him  →
Druskininkai! Got2 pak b4  hitthsak.
2/6/06. (2/7/06. Here I am typing this exactly a month after the event – sad how extremely far
away you are in time and place, with people I don’t know, and in the case of the jews, deeply emotionally
enmeshed in something I cannot understand. I feel totally alone and despondent despite the details. That
other language, the intimate shared one of touch, of glance, of breathing together is silenced. Why are
you there and not here with me? Why am I so lonely for you when you are not lonely for me?
Three months is a long time (but not such an age as the 12 months you originally so casually suggested
before your last trip to Litho as being a reasonable time to be away (and oh what volumes that says about
this marriage and about your priorities)) on my body clock as well as on the calendar – ¼ of a year, at an
age when years go by like ice melting or flowers withering. Who knows how many quarters of years I have
left? Here’s something from Ian McEwan’s latest novel “Saturday” – a man is watching his wife sleep:
“this commonplace cycle of falling asleep and waking, in darkness, under private cover,
with another creature, a pale soft tender mammal, putting faces together in a ritual of
affection, briefly settled in the eternal necessities of warmth, comfort, safety, crossing
limbs to draw nearer – a simple daily consolation, almost too obvious, easy to forget by
daylight. Has a poet ever written it up? Not the single occasion, but the repetition
through the years.” That is what I miss and badly want. Do I want too much? And when you get back I
will look old to you, who spend most of your time with people far younger than me, doing exciting things. I
will only have trivia to tell you – stuff you know already and are bored with and eager to shrug off. Are
you as morose and pre-occupied with death and destruction when you are with them as you are when you
are with me? From what you write it seems not. You say I can share your experiences through the typing
up of them, but I can honestly say the vicarious experience is wholly hollow, to the extent that I have to
force myself to the keyboard and actually groan aloud as I type, screwing up my eyes to decipher the
sentences. You and I both know that these letters are for your reading public so for me they lack any
genuine intimacy. You will not understand any of this, just as I cannot understand most of your
preoccupations, and therein lies the fault line of our relationship. (16/10/09.  Wednesday 29/7/09).

history and words

72
 ephemeral as smoke
siftable as ashes
malleable as copper
and as easily tarnished
as full of meaning as a shout
on the wind

so of our little history

and our hard wrought words
we may have to accept
nothing is left
but a shrug
and a sigh.

) Nth wae2 Dainava ystrdi eevnn w past nbildn korld th Bielarus wch haz thnaem bkoztz wr chlrn
from thr ffktd x raediaeshn sikns from th CHERNOBYL xploezion r brort. Tzn santorium & haztz own
swimn pool. Juern nhlth & ftns kampaen nloekl hipi hoo duznt bleev n woshn 2 much koz ♂ sez
thsoep dstroiz thgood baktria nth skn sed orl ♂ duz wth ♂zown kidz z2 snd thm 4n swim nthpool vth
Bielarus vri kuplar weeks. Wot ♂ ddnt noe woz th@ th raediaeshn kids swim nthpool wth thr
napeezon wchr oftn ful.  4got 2 mnshn th@th 2 bloeks  woz torkn2 nŠvendubrė wr nthrwae2
kolkt thr kowz koz not orlv thm kum orl thwae bak2 thr shedz but sum stop ½ wae. Thei wr carrying
roeps 2put ovr thneksv thr kow 2 leedt hoem. Wn 1v thm got2 ♂z kow tternd tz hed 2wordz ♂m soe
♂ kood putth roep oevrt. Thuthr bloek sed ♂z kow woent let ♂m doo th@, ♂ hz2 sneek↑ n♀ from
bhnd.  kan  good p@chzv blue nth sk & thswlowz (Langinė kregzdė (Delichon urbica)) rOn.
Maeb ie doent hv2 puton orl m kloethz @ thsaem . 9.50am …. Its a beautiful day and its
snowing. In fact its been snowing every day since I came. A kind of fluff, or seed, almost lighter than
air floats down, sometimes parallel to the ground, on the slightest breeze. Together with the
fragrance of lilac and the bloom of the chestnut trees it provides the special flavour of a sunny day (at
last!) by the lakeside and in the parks of Druskininkai. The cemetry must be especially beautiful
today full of flowers and in dappled light. This morning I took 500Lt from the bank. A teachers pay
here is on average 770Lt/munth which they hav to supplement if they are to make ends meet with
private students, translating (etc.) (15/10/09. ree li thav hdr 20% pa  2 thfn krs
(18%  nGNP n1 y)). A recent government regulation requires all teachers to have three
languages. Then I had a final meal at Bebenčiukas, the same as yesterday except I had the silke
(pickled herring) with onion instead of chopped beetroot. Said goodbye & thanked the women for the
food. Had a look in a couple of clothing shops but encouraged by the better weather decided not to
buy a jumper. Bought dark grapes and strawberries at the Maxima. Now Im off to the Nemunas
where you can get a three hour boat trip to the next town and back for 26Lt … The trip woz 2
Liškiava O 8 kz↓rvr whr thrz nvri mprsv chrch &n zv ‘piliakalniai’ (kastl mowndz). Nth wae  torkt
2n ukrainian (from KARKOV) hoo kood speek rus, frnch, no nglsh. Th chrch woz blt 4 th dominkan ordr
hoo dd owt nLT 200 yzgo bkoz thei wr notllowd 2rekruet nue mmbrz x th zr.  koodnt ndrs& wot
th gd woz sain z♀ woz torkn lithoe farst &  woz @ thbak. Tmaedmi think m goen def farst & m
probli bgnn2 rl nlip reedn. Thrzn x10sv ntwerkv volts undr thflor & 4 3Lt ue goe↓ 2  nmuezeum &
kofnz wthth drdowt kadvrz vdminkan munks. Pprntli thrz nuthr setv volts blow.  rspkt rljus
dvoeshn ( had praed nth blue cerkve nfruntv th Nemunas th@  b gdd) thoe m dnied orm nt
aebl2 prtspaet ngruep prakts but lookn @th vstmnts, chalsz & uthr prafrnaelia nth mzium  koodnt
hlp thinkn “nbagv tricks” & nalzn how thei wrk. N♀  torkt2 terndowt 2b nlthoe baptist & trd 2
knvrt mi ( think) til ♀ fowndt wozn hoepls trsk. ♀ gaevmi nlitl h&owt ttld “Ar nori i rojų?” (“Do you
want to go to heaven?”).  had nvr herdv baptsts nlithol& & woz ntrstd. l giv th pamflt → thbaptst
mnstr @ th ndv Miller st West Melb (15/10/09. dd ). Shood ♂ wont2 kontaktm thr web sietz (vri1 hz
1 (15/10/09. mn z www.scribd.com ( ‘community’  ‘search people’. Insert: arunaszizys  ‘view
documents’)): www.jesus.lt. Wn w got bak ♀ woz srprzd 2 fndowt  ddnt noe Oth hausv heeln
whr ue kan getn kupv heeln H2O 4 0.30Lt rorl sortzv mud bathz etc 4 mor Ltz. Pparntli thei r bildn
1vth bigst hlth sparz nth O & rldi tz vztd x meni poelz, krauts, rus, zraeliz (orl speek rus) etc.  had
noetst ppl speekn O blud & djschn wthowt rialzn Druskininkai zn hlth spa. Nth hausz vmedsn
thrz n @mosf vn chrch rv Lourdz. ♀ got mi nkupv H2O wth ♀ own 4 0.30Lt & w drank nn peesfl
wae lookn owt thrue plaet glars →2 thprk. Th kraenian kaemn & sed bonjour &  sed komsta & ♂

73
sed bene & l8tr wn ♂ woz leevn ♂ sed chow &  sed dasvidanya.  sed goodb 2th knd ♀ but
 thort ♀ bleevs soe eezly nso mni thingz. Thn  →d long thNemunas & bak 2th Nemunas. Thn 
wnt 2th buetful rstrnt wch  had thort zkorld Dainava from th r t but now  sor tz korld Širdelė (♥)
fromth sn buvth dor.  had ngood meelv snagz & nb4 10Lt & ch@d 2th waetr. ♂ kan speek
nbitv nglsh & hz sstr zn skotl&. The plaes woz bilt n1926 Oth saem  zour haus nIvanhoe. Thn 
had nuthr bv Utenos ‘dark’ wchz nxlnt drop @ nuthr plaes & wotcht nkwiz show wch woz orful. 
→d longth Nemunas gaen koztz nbarmi eevnn &  woz nn kntmplv mood. Twoz good wae 2fnshoff
nbeaut week. 2moro m → VILNIUS soe  betr shaev.
9/6/06. →d from 9.15am  5pm wth onli n1/2hr stop 4 nb& silke @th hoetl
nLabanoras. M feeln nbit nakrd. Took 3 hrz goen sowtheest longth laekej trak thrue marvlus 4st
(sorn Didysis genys (Sendrocepos major) wchz x far thmoest komn vth 9 woodpkrlk )
chknowt th axsz 2th H2Oz ej. Vaidas wlb pleezd 2noe thrr heepsv plaesz whr ue kan bak yor 
kloes nuff 2 sit nth taelgaet drnkn nb(m drnkn nKVIETINIS (weet b) & hav jst fnsht thPIGZ
) zue wotch thn rodz 4ni snvn nibl. Sevrl •s hd neetli stakt wood lft x privys z. 1 plaes
haz npropr smoekn kiln whr thsmoek travlz nyard horzontli ndrgO b4 ntrn thdrum soe ue kan kold
smoek yor k@ch. Thrzn litl jeti @ ths • &  striptoff & stpt →2 H2O ↑2 mi waest 4n prshl wosh. Z
woz putn on m ndrpnts ftr st&n O nth jeti 2 droff  flt nprik ON THE VERY TIP OF MY &
fliktoff wot maev bnn . v hd n ON THE VERY END OF MY nOZ 2. Orl theez •s r sOd x
buetfl 4st & nn straenj wae rmnd mi nbit vth plaesz w goe n O Lake Tyers nGippsl&.  had pl& 2
hav nbnŠnieriškės (whr  woz @kt x nfroeshz SAUSAGE DOG 4 th2nd (1st wozn Švendubrė)
 nth trip (15/10/09. 3rd  woz ths y nth p -  Wednesday 29/7/09). SAUSAGE DOGZ
rjst th rt ht & shaep 4 kkn &  woz aebl 2get 1n b4 thownrz sor mi) but thr woz noe shop. Thn 
strtd →n ←2 Labanoras long th5kzv gravld roed but dtoord 2 hvn look@ thmmorial nth • whr thloekl
prtzn kom& hd prsht (“Vytauto apygardos štabo partizanu žuties vieta”). Nxt 2 thkmmrtv stoen
wth noe nskrpshn thrz nroomszd pit wchz probli whr thr ndrgO bunkr hadbn. Wn prtznz wr trakt↓2
thr bunkr x thNKVD wth trakr dogz oftn rftr nbtrael nth vilj whr thei sort splz fthei koodnt skaep thei
kmitd suesd rthr thn b kort & torchrd. Nth eest sdv Labanoras thrz nuthr mmorial but 2 prtznz hoo
hdbn shot (“Partizanu sušaudymo vieta”). Then  lft thgrvl roed 4n mnr trak thrue roeln paschr
&th kkaezionl frm. Sorn Geltonoji kiele (Motacilla flava) onn frmshed. NLabanoras hd nlook @
nroedsd shop sln mmorabilia @ huejli nflaetd prsz, frmor xpnsv thn simlr stuf nOZ tho vri shed
nroorl lthoel& zfulvt. Tsujsts 2mi thrr ppl nth siteez spshli nVILNIUS, hoo noe 0 O roorl lf. Ftr thpub
 wnt thrue lush kuntris & †kuntri thrue 4st (sor 3 d & 1 buni) bak2 Seriediškis (4 z sprd oevr
¾ vnklomtr nli 1v wchz prmmntli kkuepd x nldrli kupl hoo wr frndzv Vytenis & hoo Rasa sez wood
let mi uez thr  shood need ↑) whr m roomz stil 1drfli warm. v worktowt th@ 3r4 hourzv heetn
thstoev znuf2 keep throom warm orldae. Larst nt  litt 2rli & twoz 2hot ndrthblankt jwrn thnt.
Twoz nprfkt daez → & eevn m rthrtk toe wch strtd aekn nth midlvthdae kwtnd ↓ b4  gotbak.
“You want to travel? To travel you simply need to exist … ¶ If I imagine something, I see
it. What more would I do if I travelled? Only extreme feebleness of imagination can
justify anyone needing to travel (WrAoLbZeErRt ( 15/7/05 ) hd thsaem @tued) in order to
feel. ¶ (‘Any road, this simple road to Entepfuhl, will take you to the end of the world.’ * (*
Thomas Carlyle, ‘Sartor Resartus’ (1833-1834), Book II, chapter 2. Carlyle was in turn paraphrasing
Schiller: “Denn jede Strasse fuhrt ans End der Welt’ (‘Wilhelm Tell’, IV, iii)))… so why travel?
In Madrid, in Berlin, in Persia, in China, at the North and South Poles, where would I be
other than inside myself, feeling my particular kind of feeling? ¶ Life is whatever we
make it. The traveller is the journey. What we see is not what we see but who we are.”
(74 [387]). Ue kan tl Pessoa hz n@itued prblm thkorzv wchz ♂z ntrapmntn TZIAN JWLZMZ.
Thsmornn  wosht mi ndrpnts: not2bad@orl, thoez PANTI LINERZ reeli werk!
16/6/06. Giedrėsz ♣ hz mni old ppl ♀ sez but m shor 0 rmor frvnt paetriots than ♀r.
From thsetv ♀r faes whn ♀ told mi how m nsstorz wood tern oevr nthr graevz fthei ♀rd wot  woz
saen  sspktd ♀ woz kaepblv bn rowzd 2 strong angr nth ishue. (v just spnt thbst partvn hour
rpairn thnee p@ch  tor nth ejvth dsk.  hd 2doot wth wt thred ztwoz orl  kood fnd nth soen
 Rasa hd shoenmi. Nth proses  soed th2 sdzv thleg 2gthr. Thfnsht prdkt zn st. Ystrdae wn 
rfuezd 2taek 1v Giedrėsz pikchrz zn prznt bkoz twoodb waestd nmi z woz nwerd persn notn vzuel
1 ♀ sed ♀ kood tel from thwae  drst. Tairn kloethz on shrp ejz zn hazrd nlithol&. Lrst   ruend

74
m faevrt jakt wn  kort nsleev nn nael nVILNIUS) ♀ hz nruel th@ noe1 zllowd →2 th♣ nls thei
proms 2  floe rtsts (Danius taek ♪) & swair2 lwaez bpostv & chfl. Tgoez wthowt saen  woodnt
bllowd →2 th Plekšnės ♣ uthr thn →2 th♣ vthoez hoo eet thSMOEKT PLEKSNĖS wth B. M loilti
z2 thoez hoo morn.  hd givn Giedrė nkopiov Savannah &v Outback thoe ♀ nt reed nglish soe
 woz pleezd ystrdae 2 lso baebl2 giv ♀r nkopiov M.M. Malacoota Man ztrnzlaetd x
SaTlRbUiNnGaA (vMELBOURNE & Druskininkai (15/10/09. now pr li n LT wth lokl prtnr, 
)) from hoom d rkwstd n2nd kopi z 1td 2givth 1st 2 Vaidas 4 ♂z ssmnt zn suetbl stori 4
lluestraeshn 2b jointli pblsht zn chlrnz book ttld The Prophet and the Possum wch  nt giv
nlitho z nt thinkv thlitho 4 ‘prophet’.  hoep SaTlRbUiNnGaAz trnzlaeshn givz
BUgLiOeTdArIeTE ndia vwhr m smptheez l. “May I at least carry toward the possible
vastness of the abyss of all things the glory of my disillusion, as if it were that of a great
dream, the splendour of unbelief as if it were a flag of defeat … a flag carried by feeble
hands, a flag dragged through the mud and the blood of the weak … but raised on high
as we plunge ourselves into the quicksands, whether as a protest, a challenge or a
gesture of despair, no one knows … No one knows, because no one knows anything and
the quicksands swallow up those with flags as those without …” Pessoa. 119 [337]. “The
great anguishes of the soul always come upon us like cosmic cataclysms. When they do,
the sun errs from its course and the stars are troubled. A day will come to every feeling
soul when Fate stages an apocalypse of anguish, an upturning of all known heavens and
universes over the soul’s desolation. ¶ To feel oneself superior and yet find oneself
treated by Fate as an inferior to the least significant of beings (16/10/09. th “…” vthda nr
sn owtsd th otl shop nErrol st Nth Melb: “People who think they know everything really
annoy those of us who do”) – who can feel proud to be a man in such circumstances? ¶ If
one day I were to achieve a power of expression so great as to concentrate all art in me,
I would write an apotheosis of sleep. The wholesale blotting out of life and soul, the
complete removal of all other beings, all other people, a night without memory or
illusion, possessed of neither past nor future …” 121 [340]. … wnt →2 Labanoras nr stil
longr (O trip O 11.5kz) & mor buetfl wae but woz rluktnt 2goe † kuntri thrue th4st z doent wont
noemor . Thr wozn rsepshnv sumsort @th Viežbutis (rstrnt/pub): nold ♂ woz bn foetoed wthn TV
kamra & ntrvued; thr wozn lrj ♂ wth nshambln work nnblue suet hoo woz +drstz drktor; nuthr ♂ woz
blotoe but  sor ♂m ↓ nuthr ½ botlv degtine (frH2O) z drank ½ nglrsv b(wth ptaetoe
pankaeks). ♂ woz trn 2sing lthoe trad songz but nvr got prst 1 tuenls ln. Twoz probli nkumpni
ndv ydoo. Nth ppr  woz reedn tsed lthoez wr kl leedrz nsuisdz & raetsv lkohl njuest poisnn,
braen dmj etc. L@s & stoeninz wr doon OK2. Lthoez hv trubl bleevn thei mtb drinkn mor thn th rus
& beelorus. Rlier nth mornn  wosht m sox & ndrpnts (uezn pantilnrz  onli need2 woshm
1/week) & chkt nthŠUDVABALIAI & ys, thr shni & green & postivli thrvn (gloen) nm SHIT.
ŠUDVABALIAI rnoetsbli bsnt from Giedresz naechr pomez mniov wch rsnd zhvn bn  @
Labanoras wch ♀ klaemz zn pards nerth & soe wn ♀r frndz hoov mgr8d → zrael nvt ♀r oevr
4n holdae ♀ duznt taekm ↑nt z♀z nhvn lredi ♀ sez (15/10/09. N n  us thsam thng O Hallstatt
 Saturday 27/6/09 (no 72)). ♀ mtb rt fue livn npropti lk ♀rz. Ftr thmeel & drink  bort
nbitv food (bred, kuekumbr, tmrtoe, kofi, & sum dlshz smoekt pork) &n botlv ČEPKELIU (wthowt wch
lthol& woodb much thporr). Twoz nuthr mgnfsnt ☼i dae. “The unbearable tedium of all these
faces, foolish with intelligence or the lack of it, grotesque to the point of nausea in their
happiness or unhappiness, horrific in the mere fact of their existence, a separate tide of
living things quite alien to me…” – 123 [332] . Kultupys (Oenanthe oenanthe), Volungė
(Oriolus oriolus).
23/6/06.  hdtold Audrius th@th prvius dae wn  woz  from Antakalnis III →
Megučiai  hd n huej logz stakt xth roedsd waetn 2b pikt↑ wch mustv kum from much lrjr treez
thni  hd n n lthl&. ♂ sed thei wr oeks oevr 250 (♂ hd kowntd th OO) yzold & thr wr stil sum lft
nx. @ th● nth Megučiai roed whr thr r 6 metl  2mrk thplaes whr n1945 (tv thprtzn wor; 
koodnt ↓ thnskrpshn koz  hd 4gotn (rlier nUkmergė  woz wthowt m z soe  hd2 ← bkoz
 koodnt reed thmap) thnoet) 6 ♂♂ from thsaem nx vlj hoo wr bn skortd xth STRIBAI prbli →
Ukmergė wr nsted trchrd nth ●, shot, & thr bodeez lft xth roedsd w †d thrue skrub lft x prvius logn
→ th4st & O 300 yrdz frthrlong w kaem2 thplaes whr thrmaenn oeks rstil st&n torl. N4st roed hz lrdi

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bn graedd →2 thmidlvthm 2 rlow mashnri 2getn 2kutm↓. Audrius sez th O Ukmergė hd 1s bn
maenli oek4st & thr hd til rsntli bn nkopsv old treez nth bordr v♂z l&. Thlrj treez hdbn protktd ndr th
tsrz, juern thpeeriodv lthoe ndpndns & juern thsoviet z. Thr uezt2b nmprtnt koech bldn ndustri n
Ukmergė juern thsoviet a wch uezd nlotv oekwood but rathrthn kut↓ thbuetfl old oeks thsoviet lthoe
p8riots prfrd 2mport thoekwood from hungri. Now orl th@ kowntd woz $$$z & th lrstvth oldoeks wood
soon bgon 2b sold 2uthr kuntreez ♂ sed. Nl@via ↑N thrr noe big oeks lft bkoz n1905 th tsr vorl rus
stopt protktn thm 2 spl th bldn ndustriov St Petersburg. Audrius showd mi ♂zown p@chv 4st wch ♂
wood nvr llow 2b logd but n4chuen8li ♂ hz noe lrj oeks nt. On th@ sadnoet w →d ← thrue Megučiai
→ ♂z plaes whr ♂ brort↑ from thslr njugv ♂z hoemaed wn maed from strorbrz & blakkurnts & zn
ksprt  kn swair twoz sumvth moest morish wn v taestd: dr, drk red, dns & frueti. But b4 w
drank thwn w hd nkuplv z eechv BERŽO SULA (berch tree jues) sumtn  hdnt hrdv b4 but twoz
dlshs & rfrshn. Nerli spring wn th berchz t budn ue bor nO →2 th trunk vn vrj sz tree & eezli klkt
sevrl leetrzv jues/dae, morthn 50leetrz/tree. Thn ue + weet graenz (aGnRtYaBnAaSs sez ♂ duznt)
ntop (wch jrmn8) 4 xtra taest & nfue munths l8r ue hv nkslnt BERŽO SULA. Thn wth th☼ low nth
sk   →thMushroomz 2pik↑ thmlk. Therli t & th hot☼ hd noktmiO &  s@ @th taebl nthyrd
drnkn nBALTIJOS (Švyturys) til 11.30pm. Got sum sleep lrst nt 2 koz  woznt getn bitn. Tz O 30º
gaen wchz 2worm 4long rdz nn r@shit  but m → Lyduokiai 2 thz → H hoo wlb ←
nMELBOURNE ← ☼i CAIRNS nQLD (27/8 . from notes I wrote in Cairns 27/6: I feel lonely and anxious
– why does John have to go away for so long? I know he’d say its “value for money” but I feel it must be
something else. I feel so isolated sometimes …. I have no confidence in my desirability as a person. Why is
that? What has made me like that? More importantly, how do I change it? How do I change my life so I am
no longer so dependent on John, so invisible to myself? I guess its all been sparked off by the fact that now
I’m old & John prefers the company of the young.) but twoent hvbn z ☼i ztzbn hn lthl& oevr thlrst
week. …. (23/6/06. eevn JONINES (‘Johnz Dae’ – longst daevthy)). (22/6/10. 2moro zth nivrsri
vmi n . & v ddkovrd hd lft ths k ndn owtv th n 2 Friday (1st en)  Litho
Trip 2 so  nsrtt now 2 th 2nd en : “…. v bn hit x . Tthrue mi bakwordz nnsumr☼t throen
thbotlv BALTIJOS (Švyturys) outv m .  jumt↑ str8 rwae wth n dfnn On nmi  wch  stil hv
now O ½nhour l8r.  hoep th On zoenli tmpri. @ 1 st  ddnt noe wotd hapnd & m mmedi@ riakshn
woz th@ thr hdbn sum kndv ksploezion korzd xth lktrkl pliensz nth sh  woz st&n nkst2. Thr
woz smoek orl O mi &  kood  smoek kumn owtth bakdorvth . Nth   foloed thkstnshn kord 2
th bakroom thrue thsmoek thinkn th mtv kort fr.  koodnt  proprli soe  got mi torch from mi
room wch woz freev smoek koz thdor woz shut & kaem bak 4n betr look & kood  th@ thpowr● hd
dsntgr8d & sumvth kopr wrn woz vzbl koz thplastk nthks10shn kord hd berntoff & nnskshnv O 1x2
ft. vth worl O thpowr● woz chard.  woz nbit daezd wth thOn nmi  & thsmoek & orl  woz
thinkn woz 2chek fth  woz onfr. Twoznt….”)
30/6/06. Odz&ndz: 4got 2 mnshn @th  th@ nŠv Gertrudos chrch wchz spoezd 2b
tholdst nKAUNAS thrwoz nlrj midl aejd ♀ 1drnO n♀r neez nfruntvth oltr & thn ♀ hugd thbaesvth  &
laed ♀r cheek gaenst th sdvt with ♀r ii shut tite nn parokszm v.  flt mbrast 4♀ & nlitl dsgstd;
whn KUTNIvAaUnSdKaIENĖ maed lunch 4mi ystrdi ♀ lit nsmorl kandl nth taebl lk thei doo nsum
rstrnts. ♀  woz vri neet & w tookoff owr shuez nsd thfrunt dor; wn  gotn th thsmornn 2
Seredžius  gotn wthn @rktv jp (drvd ← Egyptian bkoz sum nglsh jps klaemd tz whr thei hd
rjnaetd) & ♀r ☼v O10. Th☼ woz wairn ☼z wth os10taeshz silvr fraemz. Thei gotoff wthmi @
Seredžius (12kz →) & l8r nthshop whr  got prmshn 2 leev m pak wl  nsukssfli lookt 4
kkmdaeshn  d 1v th shopsistnts rmrk nhow thjp ♀ hd stunk, but  hd s@ bhnd ♀r nth &
not smlt ♀; @ Seredžius wch zn buetfl vlj wth KARSL hilz (thlnv karslz on rtfshl hilz long
thNEMUNAS (Niemen) wr thmaen lnv dfns x th lithoez vs th tuetons 4 snchreez) wch rn feechrv
mni vljz → th rvr  1sgaen noetd th@ thchrch woz nth moest promnt • nth vlj & 1sgaen  thort how
os10taeshz & how kontri 2th spirtvth teechnzv krst (nsdntli thchrch @ Vilkija hz nlthoe xth oltr
wchz ftn thkaes nvlj chrchz); Seredžius → Ramuniene Turizmo Sodyba (8/447/42886) @ Klangiu
kaimas (vlj) whr m booktn 4 thnt @ 25Lt. Thownr dropt mi off @ Veliuona 4kz → Jurbarkas whr
 spnt thrvoe →n O. Veliuona zrt @ th•v lithl&z hstri &  vztd orl thgraevsts (eg Juška) &
semtreez (eg ) but m sikv hstri & nskrpshnz & nt bbothrd givn nkkount vt. N1vth hilz oevrlookn
thNEMUNAS thrzn wt aenjl lookn owt @ th rvr wch  rmmbr lookt spktklr from n ( Monday
5/7/04) & rmndd mi vn st@chue nRio. Thwt aenjl zn thv wot uezt 2b th smtri.  woz @

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thstop (ue kn k@ch n 2lmoest nwhr n lthol&) 40 mns erli soe  wnt for n nthNEMUNAS rvr
nmi ndrpants: th rvr ej woz s&i, thH2O woz worm, thkurnt woz strong, th moeshnz ran h.
7/7/06. Mslaenia:  4got 2 mnshn th@ aVnAzNeČlYmSas sed thrz njp ♂ n
Seredžius hoo livz wth n lthoe ♀. Thinkn Ot rmndz miov th♂ hoo rsktmi z woz →n th streetsv
Seredžius wthr  hd ni metl 2sel.  doent  lk njp but m lwaez t& & m 4rmz nprtklr rvri
drk: nsum knfuezd wae th♂ mustv thort  wozn jp. Jpz r sed 2steel vrthn thei kn lift & 1vth
tmz wch hv dspd orloevr th kuntri rth metl gr8s kuvrn draenz. Thoetz sed thei nvr steel ← thr oen
bakyrd twoodb ntrstn 2fnd owt fthrz n –tv korlaeshn btween metl gr8ts ndraenz & th noe vjpz nn
; th♀ hoo hd 5 hubeez hd thm krtli, ppl wrnt spoezd 2noe. Thei nue but prtndd nt2 & prtndd
nt2torkOt. Th ♀ livdn zmti & vri sol8d. T hznt gotn wl (th1 owtbakv ths zrunn dr) but hz ngr8
sprngfed poolv good H2O. Twoz bort 2yzgoe 4 2000 Lt & th rskn prs nowz 20,000+ Lt; Nijole, x
leevn th moebiel nkaesv n4n evnts, & th♂ hoo woz n 4 th naebr, got th wind↑ mi x nsstn ue
shoodnt → loen O th4st ntheez prts fue rnt nloekl. ♀z lsoe vri strikt nn dorz & wndoez wn ue leev
th.  dtkt mor fr vkrmnl ktvti ntheez prts thn uthr prtsv lthol& v bn2 & tz kontaejus. Knsidr ths:
thyung ♀ nkst dor sold Nijole n5leetr jarv bluebreez pikt nth 4st 4 20Lt. Bluebreez rso smorl ths y
ttaeks nlong  2 pik nlitl pl →2 th prmvyr  2 throe → yr z fownd owt.  woz 1drn howlong
tmusttaek 2fil n5leetr jr. Maeb orl dae! Now ths ♀ & ♀r ♂ noe thrzn 4nr nth uthrbitv thsaem  hoo
probli haz 00zv Lt on ♂m. Soe larst nt  woz n thsmorl noizs nth  lk thfrj swtchn n&of etc &
wthr th woz brkn. Bthewae eevn moest old ♀♀ & kidz noelongr knb bothrd 2goe →2 th4st 2 fl↑
jrz wth bluebreez & wld strorbreez wch rlsoe rp now & taesti but smorl; m plastk PISSBOTL
hzbn bsluetli nvaluabl. F hdhd2 goe owtsd 4 nleek th woodv ●d mi vri & maeb brkt nlot (♂
brks & ♂ howlz & ♂ waelz heeps) thei mt evn kumowt 2  wots↑. Ue woodnt wont2 goe owt
4NSHIT @ nt koz th mt goe brzrk but lukli m guts rOK now. Ue nt goe owt 2 wosh yr 
erli nth mornn koz thwl maeks nlowd muezkl (werth rkordn) skweeln wn ue wnd thdl soe yr trapt
nsd & tz mugi & hot koz thrr noe flwr skreenz h eethr & fue oepn thwndoez @nt thmozeez
getn. Soetgoez z VONkNuErGtUT ; hdn brkfstv ŠALTIBARŠČIAI, ns&wch & sum bluebrz wosh↓
wth kofeez x2 wth goetmlk. Trmnd mi th@ wn  hd TB njrmni ftr thwor  woz kuerd x thpuer
mowtnair vOberstdorf (15/10/09.  5/6/09 ) &n dt v mlk; th6+ AVILAI (lrj bhvz (15/10/09. Kate
has just taken delivery of her 2nd swarm of bees to replace the original lot which nicked off) ) on Nijolės l&
blong2 VkArNiČsItEiNnĖa hoo brort mi h &  hd ntaestv sumvth huni nm mornn t wn  woz@
Jurodis; m ndrpnts, sox & shortsleevshert rsoekn wth dtrjnt nthplastk baesn & v wosht, brusht mi
teeth (hv nbr&nue kavti n1vth frunt teeth & O 6 nue worts nmi rt fngrz), & noets nth mirer mi hairz
rgoen more snoeiwt thnb4 thtrip -  rekn twoz korzd x th strk (15/10/09.  Saturday
24/6/06). Mgetn nuthr vkofi mit milch …. Rlimornn th woz runn O&O n♂chaen, now ♂z kwiet
nth shaed ndrth brn but ♂ wotchz mi orlth; hvhungowt thkloethz 2dr; tz hot &  rekn tl get 2 33º;
l8r m goen2 retraes sumv ystrdaez → nfoot & goe4 z nth blue/green kleen H2Oz vth gravl
kworeez; Nijolėz jue@ t wth thtaebl. ♀ sez  knstae zlong hz wont thoe ♀z goen2 Šilutė
wch vri1 sez zn good plaes &  mt goen2 Rusnė r Vente wch vri1 sez rmprtnt 4 rz ←
orloevrthO. Thr nth KURŠIU MARIOS (Curonian Lagoon) & vri mni  mgr8 thrue nnaroe spitv l&
nthrwae ↑N & ↓S. jŽuIoŽzYaSs rknz Rusnė znmust 4mi evnf  doent  0 ls & m  zrunnnowt
fm 2 k@ch↑ wth Vaidas gaen &  thnue  ♂z bort & doo smor O Rimeisiai … Th treez ue 
nthdstns rnot @th sh deth st,  d thdstns 2b n8min stroel →W; wn  kaem ← mutch l8r 
woz goen2 thnst gravl kwori pool but gotlost rlitl wae ←th & kaem† wot ← ndstns nth 4st lookt
lk 1vth  smtri stoenz but wn  kaem2t twoz modrn, maedowtv smnt. Twoz stiknowtv thtopvn
smorl mownd lk nchielz graev.  rmmbrd Nijole hdsed ♀ wood showmi whr 1v ♀r kuznz woz
bloen↑ but ♀ hd 4gotn. Maeb this stoen mrks th● wrt hapnd rmaeb tz th graevst tslf buttz straenj ftz
soe 4 lthoez ♥ ;  hvbn thinkn thrr z hoo chuez thr sbjkt m@r & thrr z hoo rchoezn x thr
sbjkt m@r. mvth 2nd knd.  hv no chois: th ls  doo thmor m sbjkt m@r chuezz mi. 4mi
2maek choisz woodb 2 chuez2 kslued, bild barierz, chuez nt2. ♥, rue rksn mi 2chuez 2maek thees
kntrolz? (12/8/06. I ask nothing from you).  dd fnli fnd thgravl kwori pool & thH2O woz just rt &
 koodv staed 4 howrz but  kaem ←. Nth wae ←  noetst 1sgaen  doent hv2 4 ŽEMOGES
nth 4st flor z smelm b4  m. … “Little by little I discover in myself the pain of finding
nothing. I found neither reason nor logic only a scepticism that makes not the slightest
attempt to create a logic with which to defend itself. I never thought of trying to rid

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myself of this illness: why should I? What does being healthy mean? How could I be so
sure my state of mind was an unhealthy one? Who can say that just because it is an
illness, that illness is not more desirable, more logical, more [….] than health? If health
were preferable, why did I fall ill in the first place unless it was natural to do so, and if it
was natural, why go against Nature which for some reason, assuming Nature has
reasons, apparently wanted me to be ill?” 186 [327] ….Thz naemz Riki …. 4got2 mnshn
th@ th vth buetfl ♀ wth ♂♂♂♂♂ hoo maed thgr8 SAMAGONA ←th kleer spring H2O zrt nkst 2n
deep drk 4st – orlth ngreednts vn Grimz fairitael. … Nijolė kaem & wnt. ♀ woz n36º heet!! ♀ took
thmoebl & lft 3 botlzv b( hd rkstd ♀r 2) but nhowr ftr ♀ woz gon  oepnd thfrj & TWOZNT
WERKN (hv  evrbn niwer n lthl& morthn 1 nt wr sumthn hznt t werkn?).  thankt ♀r 4 taeknn
ntoetl straenjr & gaev ♀r 1vth LAUKTUVES ← rj (15/10/09.  2/9/05 ) & ♀ sed m lwaez wlkum
← x mslf, wth wf, rwth frndz butt woz VkArNiČsItEiNnĖa ( hd shoed ♀r Danz ntrnet fl)
vJurodis hood nvtd mi ♀ sed. Thrzn  @ 8 & 1 @ 9 → Šilutė & m goen @ 9 & ♀ mt2 f♀ kn.
♀z vztn nnvld rnt 4 thdae. Fw koensd ♀r kuzn wlbaebl 2giv mi nlift → Rusnė. l leev th ndr th
hdn log z♀z kumn ←2 h on ☼dae. ½ thfood nthfrj wilbof x thn soe l taek thoez tmz owt. Tzn
shaem. ♀ showd mi thtree nkst2wch ♀r kuzn hdbn bloen↑ x th mn &t woznt th mrkr d fownd.
Maeb tz nserveiyrz ●. m of 4n l8 n .
14/7/06. Ystrdae mornn  nue Emilija hd got↑ b4 mi wn  dtktd kookn smlz.  sspktd
nomlt wth nynz lk thprvius mornn. @ 6.50 ♀ korld↑ thstairz 2 kum↓ 4n kofi b4  lft. Thr wozn ful
brkfst laedowt 4 1: omlt, slszv sosj, rbred, slad, kofi.  8 n nhuri koz  1td 2leev x 7.15 @th l8st
2 k@ch th7.30 wch givz ue n50/50 chans vk@chn thKlaipeda → Mariampole (uekn goe niwr x 
nlthl&) va KAUNAS zt prsz thrue Šilutė @ 7.50. Wl  8 ♀ told mi th@ thprvius dae hdbn th21st
nivrsriov thv ♀ husb& ( ddnt rks ♀r hoo th♂ ♀ woz livn wth woz) & eech y thei goe → thgraev
st znfamli 2rmmbr ♂m. ♀ ksplaend th@ nlthl& thrz nkult (♀r werd) v onrn th. Npoel& thsmtreez
rneglkted nt lk thbuetfli kept smtri n Rusnė. ♀ dplord thdstrkshn vth  &th jrmn 1z. Nsdntli ♀z born
n1939. Nm waeowt ♀ maed mi taek ½ nkilov strorbrz ♀ hd pikt&wosht. @thstop  met
MEŠrEūItKaYTE & told ♀r thr woz nfrnch r (gPeEoRrEgCe) hoodbn nrkvst.  gaev ♀r Danz
wbst & sed d snd ♀r thrtklz ← thlrst trip 2lthl&.  gaev ♀r thstrorbrz z woz fraed d hav2uez
thtoilt f 8m (♀ woz lredi taekn strorbrz → werk). @th  wwisht chuthr th bst 4th fuetchr &  noe
twoz snr. Wwr @ th  5mins hedv & thKAUNAS  woz 5mins l8 soe  maedt eezli. Nth 
torkt 2nkid hooz traenn 2b n pntr (leevn hoem 2liv nVILNIUS 4th lrst yzv ♂z kors). Th t
nJurbarkas 4 10mins wr  bortn KIBINA. Rrvd nKAUNAS @11.40 nn bruetli hot & sultri dae. Tz
orlwaez nkum4tbl 2 rrv nnsiti wthowt noen wr uer goen2 sleep &  h8d ththortv sleepn nswet
kondshnz @th METROPOLIS. Z woz →n long Laisves Aleja  woz thinkn 1st  hv2 leev m pak
thr @ jŽuIoŽzYaSs r@ ReUgDiIdNiSjKuAsS (boethnoldtown) & thn O O 4 kkmdaeshn (chk wth
JOmNaArIiTuIsS f♂ loek8d cheepdigz); O thz…. butz  woz parsn thMETROPOLIS  t @th
publk & O Brigitaz moebl & Vaidas nswrd straetwae & sed ♂ woz nRimeisiai &  sed  woz
nKAUNAS & ♂ sed kum2 Rimeisiai soe  O ←2 th.  hdsed 2 Juozas b4  lft nth
PANEMUNE trip  wood korln nthwae← but v hd  2rflkt nhow thkuznz hd dvdd thTĖVISKE
(gr&frthrz prprti) →2 4 prts keepnt nkrt from mi & m sstrz & soe dnnus thrtv ernn brownie •s
x dklnn owrshair. Tmz 2mi th@ nthr pplkaeshn 2rklaem thprprti thei wood hvhd 2 filn dokuemnts
nwch thei wood hvhd 2sae mi & m sstrz wr misn, r ded nordr 2klaem owr shairv thl& zthrz. Th
suspshnv theez dsepshnz hz ndrmnd m bleef nth sinsrtiov th ŽIŽYS kuznz &  doont feel gilti @
fndn nkskues not2  nKAUNAS…. (hednoff → Panevežys 2 pik↑ th Vaidas zhrn 4 2 munths)
… ( ddnt wont m 1st kspinsv drvn nth rt sd vth roed 2b nn 130k/h hwae but  needd2
prakts b4 drvn x mslf soe  droev th75kz → Panevežys wth Vaidas nth pasnjr t & droev ← x
mislf folwn ♂m n♂z YAMAHA 740CC, 1979 modl (prfktli maentaend 3 slndr (1v nli 2 nth kuntri) x
nfrnd hooz nnthuezist). Vaidas zz hapi zn boi but  rekn tz puer madns. ♂ klaemz fue bhaev snsbli
ue doent njoi things &  gree wth anti ntuetv pozshnz (uthrwz  koodntb npasfst) but m n10shn
znot 2gt nth  eevn 1s. Rtrnn 2th m@r vth l& @ Žeimiu Kaimas. Juozas hd sed zf 2♂mslf “soe thr
rppl nth vlj hoo stil rmmbr th rijnl ŽIŽYS” wn  told ♂ O ŽmIoŽnIiEkNaE & nspt vth klaem x
URjBaOrNoAnViImČaIENĖ th@ ♀r bruthr KArSoEmLaIsS hoo werks nskueriti nKAUNAS ♂ sed ♂
ddnt noev♂m. Orl theez srmzz rn waestv  &t maeb m mum hd waevd owr klaem z♀ hd wth th
proprti nPanemunė (ie thKAUNAS ).  woz ←@ thKAUNAS  @ 12.55 & th → Ukmergė lft

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@ 1. NUkmergė  koodv gotn knktn  →Rimeisiai but  rang Vaidas & ♂ piktmi↑. Brigita woz
hoem & Miglė woz wthth naebrz kidz. L8r Laila brort Migle & th5 kidz & w orl staed↑ til mdnt. 
4got 2 mnshn b4 th@ Emilija hd sed ystrdi th@ ue lern nkulchr x n @ th smtreez, th mrkts & th
cherchz.  sed ue hd2 + brz 2thlist…. Th z r →2 thIgnalina  2 Sauliusz plaes. Theilb rwae 4
rdae r2. Twl gvmi nchans 2 kntnue m ksplraeshnv thsOn  x  wthr permtn. Vaidasz sujstn 
goe wthm. Brigita greez wth m klaem  getn vrwl wth m own (& ♀ wth ♀rz ♀ sez) kumpni. 
sspkt B thinks m nbad nfluens nV spshli wth drink. (22/8/06. Perhaps she’s not fond of gooseberries.)
Soe  w8d til thei wr gon b4 getn nbotlv Švyturys (litrli: ‘ ’).
21/7/06. Slept ftfuli. Hd nbreef ntmair. Herd thnaebr n & n dorz. Kowntd th1st
chmn vth  z th@  hrd – twoz 9. Tz 9.45 now. M →n 4 m mornn konstchueshnl  SOBORAS &
2 thppr. Wl x sum BANDELES (buns) wth baekn nsdm 4 brkfst … (2.22) Th@s howlong ttook.
Met th shit rtsts. Boeth drugeez & jaelz 4shor. 1 hzn t@oo n♂z nek.  sed w wr kkuepen
thsaem trtri & hd thsaem beet (ie Vilniaus g  Laisvės Alėja). Wr nth saem gaem. Wr mprvzrz, w tl
ppl wot thei wont2 h. Ppl givuz stuf. Wr kon rtsts. Thn  wnt2 thuthr ndv thsiti 2 fnd owt fth 
plaes woz oepn n☼daez & tz. ←n Laisvės Alėja  met th kon♂♂ gaen & th g wthth t@s sed
nnglsh thei wr getn ngri & put ♂z  nmi sholdr. Twoz ndsgzd thret &  wnt onm wae.  bort
nb& snakv SILKE nnbr & wotcht th streetskaep ← th windoe & sor th kon♂♂ 4 th3 rd  2dae.
Wotcht nwedn prti nRotušės  & kaem ←2 h wr v paed 4th nkst 3 nts & sed fn plaes bkumz
vaelbl 4 mundi nt rf thei rentowt th big room 4 50Lt d taekt. …. SIESTA …
28/7/06. Slpt wl nwot, kkordn 2V, woz nkold nt. Ddnt h thlowd & persstnt noizzv gnorn
& vtairn ppr wch kpt ♂m waek & eevn woek Brigita (10am & ♀ hznt srfst). Juern thnt m rt
bkaem blokt & rmaenz soe rftr evri f4t 2 nblokt, korzd noedowt xth 3 mmerzionz nth Šašuola juern
th sornr sshn (thoe  worn •) & praps thxtrr swtn & grees nsd th← thheet. Fw → 2gthr wth ue
nm rtsd, ♥, w woent hchuthr @orl (9/9/06. Presuming we have anything to say to each other
anyway). Ftr th sshnz nth PIRTI mi & V fnshtof thSTUMBRINE Degtine (nglsh: BISON (polsh:
ZUBRE) Firewater) @ 40%: “Originali degtinė ‘Stumbrinė’ pagminta iš maistinio etilo
alkoholio ir specialiai paruošto minkštinto vandens. Pikantiška skoni šiai degtiniai
suteikia natūrali Lietuvos miškuose užaugusi stumbražolė”. ie th taest & rroemr kumz ←
n@chrl bsn grs wch groez nlthoe 4sts. Ths H2O hz m hst rkmndaeshn 4 th sofstk8d
loekoholk (10.30 B hz srfst) …. Brunch woz oets wth butta & rrzbri knsrv suplmntd x mi wth 3
vrteezv kurnts (blak, red, wt). vbn wotchn th3 Ciconia ciconia (thrr O 13,000 nstn ♂/♀ ♂/♀
nlthl& kmpaird2 O 700 nstn ♂/♀ ♂/♀ vBlack stork (Ciconia nigra) & 1000 nstn ♂/♀ ♂/♀ v Pilkoji
gervė (nglsh: Common crane) (Grus grus)) st&n O nth ejv thr nst trn 2maek↑ thr mndz wthr
2taekof rnot. Vaidas zdrorn. Brigitaz makn rraenjmnts vredkurnts n nbaknv wt ppr. M zblokt
goodnpropr…. Thzv lft 4 Palanga 4 2moroez (7-9am) ambr mrkt. Thei kspkt 2b ← ☼dae. Vrius ppl
wlb kumn hths evnn 2uez thfrj & thPIRTI – doent look4wd 2 meetnm, nkwt ☼↓ woodvbn mor
2m taest.
4/8/06. … (kont). Taurius took mi 2♂z SODYBA O 15kz owtv VILNIUS wr ♂z wf (♂
rsuemd  rmmbrd ♀r naem ← 2yzgoe) & 2 gr&chlrn wr staen. Oyair, 4got 2 mnshn th@ rlier  hd
O Rasa n♀r  2sae w shood meet on chwzdi nkst week shood ♀ b ←←Labanoras. Twoz th1st  
hd skssfli O ♀r  bkoz  now hv ♀r krkt numbr. 4 2 munthz  hdbn On throng numbr! Thsz bkoz
Egle hdgvn mi thnkrkt noe nn emael ♀ hd sntmi b4  lft nth trip. T hdnt †t mi rmoetst mnd th@
Egle, such nstklr 4 dtael, koodv maed nmstaek. ← 2 Taurius & famli @ th SODYBA.  hdn good 
bkoz ♂ woznt trn 2mprs rtl mi O lthl& rshow mi thsts. W just s@ O torkn O 0 & eetn & drnkn & ♂
brort mi ← 2VILNIUS b4 6pm z hd rkst. ♂z ♀ nsstd ngivn mi nbotlv pkld DIL KUEKUMBRZ bkoz 
hd sed  lktm. ♀ hdmaed 150 jrz vthm 2larst 4 th y. ← nVILNIUS  @10dd 2 chrch srvsz nth
mmed8 vsnitiov DOMUS MARIA: 1 npolsh @ St Terezz & 1 nrus @th CERKVE (provoslav chrch). 
woz kstrmli moovd x boeth srvsz. Thpoelsh 1 hd soeloe singn @ thmoest krtkl moemnts zdd th
orthdoks 1. Twoz thbst muezk v herd nVILNIUS wr th st&rdv buskn hz bkum vri loe.  hd jst lft th
cerkve wn JOrNiAmIaTsIS ●d mi & mi 2♂z plaes wr w torkt & 8 &  4tof th tl O 10 wn w ←2
VILNIUS 2 klkt ♂z ♀ hood bn shoen O sum rl@vz ← brzil. Oyair, wl @ ♂z plaes Rimas chkt th
ntrnt 4 z → OROUOSTAS (prt) ← th maen staeshn wchz thneerst plaes 4mi 2 k@ch1. 
rlsoe shoodv mnshnd th@ wn  got ←← thSODYBA ( nth kuntri wth ngrdn & vji ) thrwozn
emael msj 4mi @ rspshn ← SaTlRbUiNnGaA sjstn w meet @ GEDIMINO BOKŠTAS (nth kthdrl )

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@ 6 nmundae 4 t wch  knfermd …. Ftr reedn thppr took th → Trakai: “The ancient town of
Trakai is situated 28 km away from the capital Vilnius. The town and its surroundings are
famous in Lithuania and also abroad for its unique nature and history monuments. There
has been established the only in Lithuania historical-national park aimed to protect this
historical centre of Lithuania as well as cultural heritage treasures and landscape values
of Trakai ¶ 1. Russian Orthodox Church of God’s Mother’s Birth (19th c.) … In the Middle
Ages, while the Russian merchants were settling down in Trakai town several orthodox
churches were built there. The first of them was built in the 14th century. 2. The Church
of the Visitation of St. Virgin Maria (15th c.) … In 1409 Vytautas, the Great Duke of
Lithuania, was funding the parish church of Trakai. The church is famous for the Trakai
picture of the Mother of God. The picture is reputed to have been painted in
Constantinople in 1123. Then in 1390, the Emperor Emmanuel II Palaeolog gave it to
Vytautas as a present. 3. Chapel of St. John Nepomuk (17th c.) ( 22/6/07 & 3/7/09 )… A
chapel is thought to have been built in the 17th century… 4. The Old Post (19th c.) …
Dominican monks built this house in 1810. …. 5. Dominican Monastery (18 th c.) … 6. The
Peninsula Castle (14th c.) … The building of the castle is reported to have been started by
Duke Kestutis in 1377 ans was finished in the reign of Vytautas Grand Duke, in 1414-
1430…. In the year 1655 the castle was destroyed and not rebuilt. Karaimu Street. … In
this part of town the Karaites have been living since the times of the Grand Duke
Vytautas (14th century). It is believed that the Grand Duke Vytautas brought the Karaites
to Trakai after his marches to Crimea. They served as guards of the castle and also
bodyguards of Vytautas…. 7. Karaites Ethnographical Exhibition … 8. Kenessa, Karaimu
street. A building of Karaites cult (temple)… 9. The Salos (Island) Castle (14th – 15th c.) …
It is the only Eastern European castle built on an island. … In 1430 Vytautas … died in
the Island Castle…10. The Užutrakis Estate … On the shore of Galvės Lake stands a 16th –
20th century estate [with] a manor house of neo-renaissance style …. French landscape
architect and biologist E. F. Andre designed the park.” & sins m rsponsbl 4 pasnn sum
Kipchak jenz 2 fuechr jnraeshnz: “Lithuanian KARAIMS ¶ History ¶ [For] six hundred years two
Turkish nations – Tatars and Karaims have been living in Lithuania. From linguistic and ethnogenetic point
of view they belong to the oldest Turkish tribes – Kipchaks. This ethnonym (Kipchak) for the first time was
mentioned in historical chronicles of Central Asia in the 1st millennium BC. Anthropologically ancient
Kipchaks were very close to Siberia inhabitants Dinlins, who lived on both sides of the Sajan Mountains – in
Tuva and northern part of Gob. ¶ In 5th cent. BC Kipchaks lived in the West of Mongolia, in 3rd cent. BC they
were conquered by Huns. Since 6-8 cent., when the first nomadic Turkish empires were founded, Kipchak’s
fate is closely connected with the history and migration of the Middle Asia tribes. ¶ In Middle Ages
Kipchaks started to play an important role in Eastern Europe. European historians and linguists call them
Kumans; Russian scientists call them Polovtsy. In Turkish literature they are known as Kipchaks. ¶
Following after the Turkish oguzes, who were the biggest Turkish tribe, in 10th cent. Kipchaks crossed the
Volga and settled in the steppes near the Black Sea and Northern Caucasus. Huge territories occupied by
Kipchaks from the West of Tian-Shan to the Danube, in 11th -15th cent. were called Dest-e-Kipcahk
(Kipchak’s steppes). They did not have an integral state; khans guided the union of different tribes. ¶
Khasar’s kaganate, spread over the southern territories of contemporary Russia in 9th cent. being at its
blossom, was famous for its religious tolerance. Karaim missionaries reached the kaganate in 8-10 th cent.
Passed their faith to some Turkish tribes (Khasars, Kipchaks-Kumans, and others) living in the southern
steppes of Russia and Crimea. Common language and religion united these tribes as a nation for a long
time; the name of religion became ethnonym. Contemporary Lithuanian Karaims are the descendants of
these tribes. ¶ The Karaims of Crimea, Galich-Luck area, Lithuania and Poland who have common origin,
past, religion, language (with dialects), spiritual and factual culture, make the same nation. ¶ The history
of Karaims is connected with Lithuania since 1397-1398. According to the tradition, The Great Duke of
Lithuania Vytautas, after one of the marches to the Golden Horde steppes, had to bring from Crimea
several hundreds of Karaims and settle them in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vytautas could bring
Karaims after he had beaten one of the hordes not far from Azov. Transference of several hundred Karaim
families and several thousand Tatars was not done once. It was connected with the state policy of the
Great Duchy – to inhabit the empty areas, to build towns and castles, to develop trade and economic life.
¶ Initially, Karaims were settled in Trakai between 2 castles of the Great Duke, present Karaim Street.
Later they were found living in Biržai, Naujamiestis, Pasvalys, Panevėžys. However, Trakai has always
been the community’s administrative and spiritual centre in Lithuania. Karaims themselves began to hold
it not only as a homeland, but as fatherland too. Throughout the centuries their ethnic and cultural
relations with the Karaims from Crimea and Galich-Luck areas were not interrupted either. ¶ In order to
get thorough information about Karaim’s social, cultural, ethnic and religious situation, in 1997 the
Statistics Department of Lithuania carried out ethno-statistic research “Karaims in Lithuania”. It was
decided to question all adult Karaims and mixed families, where one of the members is a Karaim. During

80
the survey, i.e. beginning 1997 there were 257 Karaim nationality people, 32 among them were children
under 16. ¶ Religion. The Karaim religion is actually a pure faith of the Old Testament which dogmas are
built on truth written in the Bible that does not accept any authorities commenting on these holy texts
orally or in writing. None of the other Scriptures – neither the New Testament , nor the Talmud, nor the
Koran are holy or codified in the system of Karaism, they do not provide arguments, do not reflect the
tradition (oral or written) in understanding of religious matters. All authentic truth is hidden only in the Old
Testament and every Karaim believer has a right to look for it in the text himself. The name of the religion
itself (Karaism) reflects its meaning. It derives from the word ‘kara’ which in Arabic and Hebrew languages
means ‘to read’, ‘to recite the Holy Writ’. The Koran is of the same root. The most famous and widely
spread theory about the formation of Karaism doctrine says that it started in Mesopotamia in VIII century,
in the dynasty of Caliph Abu-Jafar-Abdullah al-Mansur, who governed in 754-775. The idea to oppose the
existing rabbinical tradition of commenting upon the Old Testament and its observance came to Anan, the
son of David. His famous dictum said: “Thoroughly search Scriptures and do not rely on my opinion”. ¶
Favourable background of Islam increased the number of his followers; the new theory was codified and
conceptualized. Gradually it gained the form of ordinary religion, attracting to the new faith people of
different nationalities. Religious doctrine of Karaism was strongly influenced by Islam – from it were taken
the principle of analogy (kyjas), of trusting human free will, the principles of religious terms (avoiding
anthropomorphic descriptions and replacing them by symbolic concepts), some religious dogmas (kybla),
separate concepts (kurban). It is agreed that initially, Anan the son of David got the knowledge of Islam
from Abu-Hanifa, the man who established one of the canonical schools of Islam. ¶ Khazar’s kaganate,
spread over southern territories of contemporary Russia, in the 9th cent. being at its blossom was famous
for its religious tolerance. Karaim missionaries reached the kaganate in 8-10 cent. passed their faith to
some Turkish tribes (Khasars, Kipchaks-Kumans, and others), living in the southern steppes of Russia and
Crimea. Common language and religion united these scattered tribes as a nation for a long time; the name
of religion became ethnonym. Comtemporary Lithuanian Karaims are the descendants of those tribes. ¶
© Lithuanian Karaims Culture Community.”
11/8/06. €8 (bort ‘In Search of Vienna (Walking Tours in the City)’ ←  shop n
Wollzeile) + €3.10 (korfe in Franziskaner platz juern th ntr  v wch nluenr woz raevn on nth
) + €8 (nmeel & nb(500) nRotenturms strasse notfr← St Stevenz) + €3.80 (500v
bnKurrentgasse) + €9.90 (t & korfe nJudenplatz (& n500v bkoz sed  just hd 1 & ♂ thort 
sed th@  1td 1) rt nkst2 no2 th oldst  nth  noen zth Zum grossen Jordan (Great Jordan)
) = €33 + €47 = €80 (ieOA$136) … + €6.80 (4 2sangryrz @ nbr prst th Shaekspear shop
(15/10/09. wr n2009  lost mi wolt wth €600 & mi dd thda 4 w wr 2  owtv VIEN ( Monday
6/7/09) nFleishmarkt) = €86.80 (ie OA$147.50).
13/4/07 (Journal ♪♫ Italy). Forgot to mention yesterday that we wandered about in the
museum/art gallery inside the enormous monument to Vittorio Emanuele II with the gigantic statues on
top (in the Museum of the Risorgimento there are 2 pairs of Garibaldi’s pants, one striped, one plain) -
triumphalism to rival Imperial Rome. Trajan’s column and markets are nearby, a reminder again that SIC
TRANSIT GLORIA. The Circo Massimo is now a park with new charioteers on motorscooters. Saw the Tavere
(16/10/09. The Tiber: “According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 km
from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the center of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an
important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Rome's founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned
on its waters, where they were rescued by a she-wolf.” – it has rapids below an artificial embankment north of Isola
Tiberina & its proper river coloured (milky greeny blue) though its only about as wide as the Yarra. Water
is available for drinking from pipes set into decorative plinths with basins underneath or from hydrant-
type installations. You can wash your hands as the stream falls from the downward pipe, & drink from the
small hole on the top-side of the pipe which sends out an upward arc of water when you block the end of
the pipe with your finger – simple plumbing & quite effective. ‘Passeggiate Romane’ says : “Undoubtedly
there is no city in the world that has more waters and fountains than Rome. It has been thus since ancient times, when 11
aqueducts supplied thousands of litres of water each day, feeding the countless fountains and magnificent baths. The
sacking of the Goths, resulting in the cutting of the aqueducts, ended this richness, and only at the end of the 16 th century
did the popes tackle the water supply problem adequately. Since then Rome was adorned with dozens of monumental
fountains celebrating the pontiffs’ munificence, often flanked by drinking troughs and public basins for practical uses. And
today still, while we admire these masterpieces, we refresh ourselves by drinking the excellent water running from the
typical drinking-water fountains affectionately called “nasoni” – big noses – because of the curious shape of the curved
spout.” The water is cold and tastes good, though in the shower & handbasin it doesn’t lather – must be
mineralized though you can’t taste it. The ceiling in the breakfast room at the convent is wood,
handpainted with squares of different, recognizable flowers. The view from the 4th floor terrace/roof is 360°
- Rome with its towers, spires, columns, campanile all laid out, with substantial hills visible through
morning haze. (9am) 2dae wr → VATICAN in owr lunchv bunz&slami. Ystrdae @th BASILICA DI S.
NICOLA IN CARCERE (nsr8d?)  told thgd hoo maedus pae th@ ♀ woz givnus 2mutch info –
“we are too old”  sed “and each night when we go to sleep we forget it all”. m prpaird 2pae 2
thcapella sistina 2dae but oenle fm notn rkrowd – thst@k vkrowdz taekswae frmor ← nstorkl
kspins 4 me than  gaen ← th n4maeshn.  gaend mor 1drn O nthkript & thkskavaeshnz x

81
owrslvz ndr thCHIESA DI S. MARTINO AI MONTI 100yrdz ← h than paen €5 2th gd. Wot  doo wont
2noe zhow ue fnd uthr knvnts lk this1 2 kkomdaeshn. Thsz nperfkt lokaeshn & kwt & ●ls. 
lk eetn  nn room wth h lnz lk n rchiesa butwth ruerl frskoez @ ntaebl dkr8td wth rsngl tuelp
nrvarz. Prolbmz thrz noe ndkaeshn ← thstreet (Via d’Olmata) th@tz rgst . Ue doent wont 2rv n
rnue  & spnd ½ dae nth . W must rks Anna (♀  nglsh) @ rspshn how ue goeOt. ( 4 9.30)
… €0,80 (chuengum 2bond thstrap 2th shue 2t rubngaenst thrchv m foot & rksd wchz VIA
Panisperna) + €0,50 (nuthr cartolini butv  nConstantines h& ← rhuej suevnshop (il mosaico) wr
w wr  thrwoz rWC) + €0,50(gluestk (x3) pakt) nth∟v viale giulio cesare & via lione IV (N↑ capella
sistina (kosts €13 2getn & thrz rhlvrlongkue)) + €6,00 (birra (500) & mnrl H2O & sum bkeez @
sdwork taebl @ ∟ v v. giulio cesare & via barletta) + €1,00 ( ← stret storl ngiulio cesare ( 4
8pm)) + €13 (birra (500), kafe latte & x2 panini wth cheez&proshueto n rsmorl br bakn Via panisperna)
+ €10,12 (supermercato: pane 2,29; Vino da Tavolo Rosso (mezzolitro) 0,50; shoppr 36x60 0,5;
salciccette di Siena 2,81; prosciuttella 0,71; pere william rosse 0,76; mix more lamponi (x2) 1,50;
fragole 1,50) = €32 + €80 (kkmdaeshn) = €112 [A$190]. Yesterday we started at 11am & came back for
tea at 7pm. Today we started at 10am & ate tea at 7pm. During both days we were walking most of the
time. The distances here are not so great and walking lets you experience the hustle & bustle rather than
looking at it from a bus or taxi. Big events today: 1. Stumbling across the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina,
an excavation of 4 temples which serves as a refuge for cats : “All the cats are sterilized, vaccinated, tested.
They live only on charity”. What a life-style – snoozing in the sun in the temples, strolling through the grass
& being admired by all the tourists (16/10/09. Yair, no 6 t!). 2. Seeing another excavated area of an
ancient cobbled street about 2 storeys below current street level, with doors opening onto a footpath in
front of a row of terrace houses – so familiar a scene you expected someone to pop out their front door to
nick down to the shop. The more things change… 3. St Peter’s Square where we sat on the steps in the
flanking columned colonnade to eat our bread & sausage, watching thousands of people strolling, queuing,
photographing. Then 4. into St Peter’s Basilica (via a security screening more rigorous than those at the
airport) which is so huge it needs a weeks investigation all of its own. A single viewing cannot do it justice
because the first impression is simply of HUGENESS – overpowering. The first chapel on the left as you
enter houses Michelangelo’s Pieta – much smaller than I expected, but absolutely magnificent.
Astonishingly he was only 23 when he received the commission to create it in 1498 from the French legate
in Rome, Cardinal Bilheres de Lagraulas. It was completed in 1499 & installed in St Peter’s in time for the
Holy Year of 1500. “Marking Michelangelo, at the age of twenty-five, as one of the greatest sculptors in Italy, it was the
only work he signed. The story is that he was standing near the statue when he overheard the remarks of a group of visitors
from Lombardy as they were discussing who the sculptor was. One of the Lombards told another that it was by ‘our Gobbo
from Milan’ – the nickname of the artist Cristofero Solari (gobbo means hunchbacked). Soon afterwards Michelangelo
returned to the statue at night and by candlelight carved uncompromisingly on to the sash which runs across the Virgin’s
breast: MICHAEL-ANGELUS-BONAROTUS-FLORENTIN-FACIEBAT (Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence made this).” (Anton
Gill. ‘Il Gigante: Michelangelo, Florence and the David 1492-1504’. Review 2002 ). A statue of seated Saint Peter is a
favourite with visitors who queue to touch his feet. The queue for the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel
stretched along the Vatican wall for hundreds of yards and prompted us to decide not to get into it then or
anytime. We have limited time here & have decided to walk the streets, particularly vincole (lanes/alleys)
to experience the present. There is enough street art (statues, facades, doors, windows, rooflines,
doorknobs) to fill up on without going into museums. There are many embellishments, usually religious, on
the upper levels of buildings – framed mosaics of madonnas (madonelle), bas-relief of saints, carved heads
of lions, zodiac signs. The streetscapes are marvellous: buildings are coloured in tones of pale fawn/brown
(Roman) through creams and yellows to ochre and rusty brown, so that there is a unity in all the diversity
of styles (Roman, medieval, quattrocento, cinquecento, baroque, risorgimento, triumphal). Most windows
have shutters in brown wood. The exterior paint is often faded & patchy. It looks fabulous. 5. At Ponte Sant
Angelo there were many Africans who specialize in selling handbags or sun-glasses laid out on
groundsheets. A stampede started among them when a policeman appeared on the bridge. They were
frantically gathering up their stuff, often dropping it in their haste, obviously afraid of being nabbed for not
having a vendor licence. Strangely they seem to all be selling the same things within 2-3 feet of each
other. They didn’t have many customers, though the area around Castel San’Angelo is packed with
tourists. We’ve seen a lot of churches & havent even touched the surface of the hundreds which
proliferate. Besides St. Peter’s we saw these today: La Chiesa de Gesu & the Basilica di Sant’Andrea della
Valle (where in the Capella Barbarini, Giacomo Puccini (1855-1924) “ambiento il primo atto dell’opera ‘La
Tosca’”. 6. Piazza Navona was rockin’ with tourists and an art market. The vibe was happy. Bernini’s
Fountain of the Four Rivers is being worked on, covered with canvas. The area round the Piazza is full of
narrow, beautiful streets. Just read this in ‘Passeggiate Romane’: “… the Trevi Fountain, certainly the most
famous and spectacular fountain in Rome … is the terminal part of the Vergine aqueduct built by Agrippa, a general of
Augustus, in 19BC to bring the water coming from the Salone springs, 19 km away, to Rome. … the aqueduct, running
underground for a long stretch is the only one in Rome that has remained in use almost uninterruptedly from the time of its
construction to the present day. … The name ‘Trevi’ … allegedly derives from the word Trivium, a meeting point of three
streets that form this little widened area. ¶ It is truly surprising to see such a large fountain in such a small square, but the
artist Nicola Salvi who created it between 1732 and 1762 carefully studied the way to increase the sensation of marvel. …
The artist was however disturbed during his work by the continuous criticism expressed by a barber who had his shop in the

82
square. To shut him up, during one night Salvi created the large basin, familiarly known as the “Ace of Cups”, situated on
the right hand balustrade, which completely blocked the view of the fountain from the shop. Everyone knows that, if they
want to return to Rome, they have to throw a coin into the basin, but be careful: for the dream to come true, you have to
toss it over your shoulder with your back to the fountain!”

20/4/07. Lrst nt  drmtv rstairwae (scala) strtchn steepli ↑ zfrz ue kood  lk sumv
thstairwaez w juern thdae ystrdae. & stil nth dreem  woz 1drn w tshoodb th@th scala ↑ hevn
zsteep & wndn & tz  fue j 2gt↑ thr wl th sloep↓ 2hl zsoe ezi, slipre & popla. W shood wb
toiln 2gt↑ 2hevn nstdv taeknt ezi lk thvth aer & th lilez vth feeld? Hooz ntrsts rservd x such
tchnz? R thei thks10shn nlangwj vth volueshnre prinspl rov Shopenhauerz or Nietzschez wil,
rwil2powr? (H rknz fth stairwae↑ 2hevn zsteep ♀z nvr goen 2maekt ((unless there’s an autobus) - ♀r
hip zplaen↑ gaen 2dae & ♀ wl hv2 taek nuthr naprosin 1000 rftr brkfst) … 1s SUJSTD 2
diC&ArSeTaRO (rwozt LfOrVaEnCkE?) ♂ ntrpl8 nkot O prair n2 m .  lk thdv
ntrplaeshnz x uthrz. But ♂ ddnt getO2t r chkndowt. N1v ♂z storeez Borges haz nkraktr hoo bzolvz
♂mslf ←th rkwrt 2doo good deedz x th mountv praen ♂ duz.  goe 1step ferthr:  hoep m
kskuezd ← thneed 2prae x thnumbrv chiese v vztd … €5,20 (ts 4 MAIORI →← SALERNO (1,30
x4)) + €0,5 (4 H 2 lt nuthr smorl (lktrk) nrchiesa nth maen beechfrunt nth) + €7.20 ((4 x
1,80) ts SALERNO →← POMPEII SCAVI) + €2 ((4 x 0,50) toliniov aenshnt skrwn) + €3,00 ((1,50
x 2) 4 2 botlzv ordnri H2O) + €2,62 (pane, porchetta, l’aranciata) + €22,00 ((11 x 2 ts → SCAVI) =
€42 + €80 (B&B) = €122 [A$207]. The bus trip to Salerno was even more exhilarating than the one from
Sorrento to Maiori as the drops to the ocean are steeper & the mountains closer to the road. There is a
beautiful fishing port, Cetara, which looks enticing – small & nestled right into the mountainside. The trip
from Salerno to Pompeii didn’t happen till about 11.30 & we walked about 2ks from the station to the ruins
so arrived round noon. The place is breathtaking, covering 66 hectares of which ¾ is now exposed & its
immediately recognizable as a city with cart/wagon/chariot ruts in the paved roads, cemeteries, baths,
shops, offices, public buildings, theatres, an amphitheatre & sports complex & temples & basilicas. The
Villa of the Mysteries is astonishingly well preserved. The place is too big to describe but if you ever get
the chance don’t miss it. We walked & looked for 4 hours & didn’t see it all – it needs a full day to take in.
John continued the tradition of peeing in ruins by nicking into an alcove in the Teatro Grande – it smelled
like he wasn’t the first. The busiest site was the Lupinaria (brothel) where the explicit R-rated frescoes are
in excellent condition, judging from the postcard (20/4. fownd nnue pzshn nt. (1/4. hvbn lrjly x prst x
porn, 6 duekaeshn & rl8d ltrchrz – but thrzr betr waev lernn!) John bought. We couldn’t get in to see
them live due to the crush of school kids ! Hope they all had permission notes from their parents. On the
platform at Pompeii station on the way back we met another Australian (soldier on R&R from Iraq) & a
charming elderly Italian whose English was very good. That’s about the 4th Ozzie we’ve met so far and the
3rd Italian who’s been friendly & initiated a conversation. Most locals will try to help if they can, even if
they have no English. On the Salerno – Pompeii leg 2 young men helped us to interpret the train timetable
(not an easy task) even though neither spoke English. One was a Moroccan from Marrakesh who was
finding it difficult to get work (he spoke little Italian but both Arabic & French) & he was joined by a young
man from Colombo who works in tourism in Naples & whose English & Italian were both functional.
Everyone comes to Italy. I keep trying to use the few words/phrases I’ve got but muck it up a lot –
yesterday I confused the man in the supermarket by asking for panchetta while pointing at porchetta &
today I caused a bit of surprise when a man walking past us gestured for a light for his cigarette by saying
“non fiume” (not a river) instead of “non fumate” (not smoke). However its fun to try. Because of trains
being late & tight connections with buses we didn’t get to an internet point in Salerno but will try in Amalfi
or Ravello tomorrow. Forgot to mention that Melbourne gets a good rap from people who’ve been there –
some American women today on the bus going into Salerno (one loved the Vic Market) & a couple from
Boston who had lived in Mount Eliza for a while whom we met in the ruins of Pompeii.
27/4/07. €0,60 (H lit nuthr lktrk  2 thmadonna (nth centro storico w sor nshrn
2maradonna) nth chiesa santa maria delle grazie a toledo) + €1,25 (tolini x2 ← museo nazionale
archeologico) + €18,00 ((2 x 9) ntre →2 museo) + €2 (pzr nvia S.M. a Constantinopoli) + €2 (pzr nvia del
tribunali) +€1,00 (ltl pomodori nvia del tribunali) + €2,40 ((1,20 x2) korfe l@e) + €4,00 (chinotto,
limoncello) + €5,00 (limoncello 70cl @ 30% lkO bortn via vicaria vecchia) + €1,00 (● (H →Ore;
z↓z) nvia vicaria vecchia) + €3,40 (arancia, birra, yogurt x2 ← supermercato) + €0,30 (mele) =
€43 [A$73]. A semi-religious day today as we investigated some churches in the morning & then the
Museo Nazionale Archelogico. In Santa Maria dell Grazie a Toledo & in Chiesa del Gesu Nuove there were
chapels devoted to Padre Pio, being visited by devotees. I had noticed a shrine to him on one of the street
corners yesterday. The Chiesa del Gesu Nuove is immense – its façade is 15 th cntury grey stone which
makes it look rather forbidding but the inside is “an exultation of marble, stucco and frescoes” (Campania
tourism booklet) – Neapolitan Baroque. In here is the chapel of Naples’ first (only?) saint – Sant Guiseppi
Moscati canonized in 1987, where the faithful touch the hand of both his statue & of the bas-relief that
decorates his tomb & have filled walls with silver thank-yous for miracles rendered: legs, arms, heads,
torsos, lungs, hearts depending on the bit that was healed. Almost opposite is the Chiesa di Santa Chiara

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(1310), also huge but restored after the bombings of 1943 to its original provincial gothic style, austere &
graceful with a wooden ceiling & magnificent stained glass windows (the first I’ve seen in the churches
we’ve been in). In Piazza Bellini there are scavi exposing a 4th century BC Greek wall. The Museo was
worth every cent – magnificent mosaics from Pompeii, Herculaneum & Stabiae as well as coins, glass &
metal goods, jewellery, frescoes, marble statuary etc. John cast a connoisseur’s eye ove the collection of
erotica, which I admit was pretty interesting. The Pompeiians found lots of ways to incorporate the phallus
into everyday objects (16/10/09. lk Sigmund!)– lamps, door knockers, water faucets, wind chimes to
name a few. Until 2000 the collection was restricted in the Gabinetto Segredo but its now open to all us art
lovers. For me the mosaics were the highlight – incredibly detailed with tiny tesserae producing faces,
animals, domestic scenes with great realism & charm. Cats, ducks & roosters were particularly lovely &
the famous woman’s portrait is amazing because it looks like a painting, so fine are the tesserae
delineating her features & the earrings & pearl necklace she’s wearing. We had a hard time getting in
actually as the ticket office had no change to give from the €20,00 John offered so we had to buy 2
cartolini from the museum bookshop opposite (John picked a rude one) – it was a plot to get you to buy
stuff. After the museum we went into another Basilica – San Lorenzo Maggiore, also pleasantly austere, to
discover a section of glass floor near the main altar covering an excavation of a mosaic pavement of
Roman Neapolis. Walked along the Spaccanapoli (via San Biagio dei Librai) to Napoli Centrale (Garibaldi)
station to suss out how to get to Scanno in Abruzzi (we’ve decided not to go to Procida as the extra days in
Napoli will be well spent). After lots of mucking around (the Tourist Information man told us we’d have to
change trains 4 times & sent us to the Regional Train info window where the man there told us it would
cost €13,00 each but was distinctly unhelpful as to details of getting there, so we went to the platform we
noticed had Caserta mentioned (the first station on the way) where a helpful commuter pointed us to a
Trenitalia Client Service office where a girl spoke good English & told us there were 2 trains daily to
Sulmona (drop off point for Scanno) of which the 3.27pm will be OK, though it doesn’t get in till 8.15pm by
which time it will be dark & there’ll be no bus to Scanno so we’ll have to stay overnight in Sulmona. A visit
to a Travel Agent may be in order. Tourist information both in Rome & Naples has been pretty pathetic.
There seems to be no central point where info is integrated into a whole – there’s offices at the station but
only for trains; there’s one in the Centro Storico but only for that area; who knows where the bus info is, or
info for Naples as a whole. The 2 info centres we’ve been in here are staffed by 5 or 6 glamorous young
women who speak only Italian & who seem to know nothing. The fact that both premises are usually
empty of clients seems to suggest that no-one uses them anyway. The info centre in Maiori was the same
– quite a few employees but no info. It’s the disease of the South: jobs for the boys (in this case,
daughters/girlfriends of pollies no doubt). The area round the station was peopled by many more Africans
than we’ve seen here previously, flogging all sorts of electronic equipment as well as the usual sunnies &
handbags. We’ve been eating from the street shops selling Neapolitan specialties very cheaply – most
slices of pizza are €2-3, saltimbocca (flat bread rolls with prosciutto & provolone) are much the same. We
got our vitamins from a €1,00 portion of little tomatoes still on the vine, & coffee, limoncello & soft-drink
are all relatively cheap in the small bars that proliferate here. Once again the hours flew by & we got the
bus back to Via Posillipo 56 about 6. As the bus wound up the hill there were glorious views looking back
to Napoli spread over the foot & flanks of Vesuvio bathed in late afternoon light.
4/5/07. €11,70 (j vth bits&psz H hsbn klktn) + €5,15 (birra (Birra Moretti 66cl), vino da
tavola, prosciuttela, prosciutto allabrace) + €2,16 (pane + €1,30 (s & tolini) + €0,92 (pariser wth
olivs ← th minimercato) + €2,73 (mndrnz, pere, loekts, pomodori) + €0,36 (sale soe H kn soek ♀r feet
wch rkrakn↑ bort ← th minimarkt  kn ← owr wndoe) = €24,00 [A$41]. We woke to the tolling of the
very authoratative bell of the Chiesa Santa Maria delle Valle (13 th century campanile, baroque additions)
right outside our window striking 7. I can put the alarm clock away. It was raining steadily & dark clouds
loomed over the mountains. After a leisurely breakfast (bread & cheese on gluten bread, followed by pear
juice & caffe e latte & a piece of torta & a converstion with Alessandra about Scannese traditions &
costumes) we did the shopping – meat & grog at the minimarket, pane at the formaio, pears, mandarins,
tomatoes, loquats at the frutta & verdure, & a postcard of Scanno & envelopes at the carteleria – all within
100 metres of our front door! Dallied in our room because it was too wet to do any serious excursions &
met the other B&B guests – 2 Russians on a business venture with a Sulmonesi, one of whom had a
conversation in English with John. By noon the sun was out so we repeated our stroll of yesterday along
the road north to where it divides – the left fork going to the Passo Godi (1540m) & thence to join the
autostrada to Roma & Napoli, the right one (which we chose) an unmade gravelled road continuing up the
valley past aziendas & a farm producing cheese & fresh ricotta. The grass is a bright juicy green in the
Alpine meadows. My heels are cracking, the left one being very tender despite covering it with tape to pull
the splits together & my left knee complains every now & then so its back to the Naprosyn & salt baths for
the heel. Got back from the walk about 3pm as the weather became threatening again & spent the time
till dinner sitting about (him) & reading glossy Italian womens’ fashion mags (me) provided by the B&B.
Can’t hardly believe we are here in a medieval village looking out the window on high mountains &
crooked streets & tiled roofs in a house in which a famous Italian poet ate & slept – tutto romantica! This
morning Alessandra was telling us that the dialect spoken here (which she is teaching to her small
nephew) is completely different to that spoken in Frattura, a village we can see on a mountain slope to the
North, though all can now speak standard Italian. Her younger sister was the last baby born at home in
Scanno as now all are born in Sulmona hospital. The men of Scannoi used to spend the winter months

84
driving the sheep to warmer pastures in Apulia & Campania & the women were left to run the village.
Scannese are thought (local lore) to have settled here from over the Adriatic as the original costumes of
the women had a distinct oriental style (Albania? Balkans? Turkey?) into the 18 th century. Alessandra has a
print of a painting of a young woman of 18th century Scanno which looks very Eastern – headdress, pointed
slippers, jewellery etc. She also said it was the custom in the past for women in mourning for husbands or
sons to wear a face veil, leaving only the upper part of the face (eyes, forehead) exposed. Apparently
Scanno was very rich in the 18th & 19th centuries because of the sheep/wool trade. It now has a permanent
population of about 1800 with absentee owners from elsewhere (60% Rome, 20% Naples, 20% Apulia)
bunking it up to 2300.The 1800 know each other pretty well I would expect given the small area of the
town & the relative isolation . In winter there is a big skiing invasion – a chairlift starts on one (modern)
side of town & there are big hotels which can cater for upto 1000 guests scattered below & across from
the old town & around the lake (formed by an avalanche) Lago di Scanno, about 2ks away. Scanno is
1050m. above sea level & has snow in winter. The mountains here are about 2000m. high, the same
height as Oz’s highest. While I was soaking my heel in salty water in the bidet (what a terrific gadget that
is for foot business) John saw a few women in traditional bride’s getup going along the street. Alessandra
had mentioned this morning that it is the custom for couples celebrating their 25 th anniversary to
promenade to one of the churches, accompanied by other married & engaged couples.
11/5/07.  doent dsmis thposbltiov nthn  krnt dspruev soe  doent dsmis thposbltiov
spshl powrz rov mirklz.  think twoz Pascal hoo dowt th@ ue krnt dspruevm. Nordr 2b undrst&bl
werdz hv2b joend nprtiklr waez dpndn nthmeennz, limts & dfnshnz wv rgreedon 4 thr uesz. But th
noeov waez werdz knb joend nkoehntle zunlimtd. Ue nt dspruev rklaem wch ue nt ndrst&
bkoz thmisuesvth lngwj ( woodlk sum1 2tr 2showmi th@ thrz nthn nlngwj (kn lwaez b rjuest2
rsetv nstrukshnz 4 kshionz 2b per4md) wch znt analogus2 (justz ltrchr, poetre, rljn etc rn ks10shn
(labraeshn? sk@rn?) vrbaebz krn) rnks10shn vth saem fizkl, kmkl, lktrk, bljkl proessz x wch slz
snd msjz 2chuthr, rorgnz doo nth bode) hzmaedt nkoehnt. iov thklaemd mirklz 4l →2 ths
gori. Wn tz klaemd thgathrd 22 thsrmnzv S. Francesco d’Assisi zth werd “2” bn uezd wth
thsaem meenn zw uest wn w O  lissn 2chuthr? Zth “multpld” bn uezd wth meenn nth rkowntv
th mirklv the loevz&? Duz thwerd  nth storeez v bn d th  reele meen  rshood w “2orl
rpnsz ” r “rlmoest ”? Nuthr gore vklaemd mirklz rth 1z wr nrrvrsl vOccamz prinspl thmor
kmplk8d ksplnaeshn ztaekn nprfrns2 thsimplr1 (ie msrportn, ln, gzajraeshn, fertl mjnaeshn). Zt
eezir 2blev th@ rnun hzbn kuerdv prknsnz dzeez bkoz ♀ praed2 thl8 poep rth@ ♀ woz rongli
dgnoezd nth 1st plaes? Vri rair vnts, nvr kspinst b4 x thprtspnts, kn seem mraklus eg. 2  wth
noe kspinsv dmstk8d or d nimlz rdn mowntd nhorsz must rplk godz. Howvr thoe
p@rnz & goreez rrkognzbl vri klaemv rmrklus eevnt rkwrz nspr8 & ndvjwl rnlsz zth noeov waez
lngwj knb uezd nkoehntli zunlimtd … €2,00 (panini wth porchetta) + €4,60 (biglietti x2 SPOLETO →
SPELLO) + €5,50 (birra alla spina (media Heineken), fanta (bort nstazione)) + €6,00 () + €9,00
(ptzr slsz x4, birra (Heineken 33cl), T con limone nth piazza della libertÀ (wr 4st 2b staeshnri koz
owr feet r stuft – H hz rthorn n♀r bigtoe & m nkl zbloen↑)) + €1,00 (gelato npiazza garigaldi) + €7,41
(supermercato: chinotto 0,45; prosciutto amatriciano 1,51; pane 0,47; limoncino liquore (wch m O
2hv rshotov) 70cl @ 30% vol. 4,98) = €31 [A$53]. We are both hobbled today – me with a thorn I can’t
get out of the underside of my big toe which is painful & causes me to walk in such a way that my ankle
aches badly; John with inflammation in his right ankle which is causing swelling – the area was hot to touch
by the time we were coming back from buying our tickets to Spello at the station for tomorrow’s journey.
Had to take it easy so walked slowly & spent time in an internet point (where John got a funny email from
Andrea di Castro written in the Italianized version of the a … z style) & then in a pizza place as well as
sitting in a shady park for a while. Came across a couple from Adelaide who are staying in Spello & said it
was beautiful & quieter than Spoleto. Revisited the Basilica of S. Gregorio Maggiore which we couldn’t see
yesterday as Mass was in progress (a gypsy was begging at the entry) – the frescoes there are magnificent
too. Revisited S. Dominico as we happened to be passing by to re-admire the interior walls. When these
churches were first decorated (13th, early 14th century) they must have been glorious because the frescoes
seem to have covered every surface – walls, ceilings, insides of arches - & the colours must have been
brilliantly vivid – blues, oranges, greens, reds. The congregations must have been electrified by their
beauty as well as by the stories & lessons they told. In the Cattedrale the later frescoes (late 14 th & 15th
century) look more sophisticated & some of the detail in friezes, borders etc. reminded me of the mosaics
& frescoes of Pompeii in that domestic detail & decoration for its own sake were features. In the Eroli
chapel there is a marvellous rendering of 2 lobsters & 2 fish hanging from hooks & intricate patterning &
sprigs of flowers. The earlier frescoes also have lots of intricate patterns, like painted mosaic, framing the
main scenes & figures. What man-hours must have been involved in creating and making them. Breakfast
today was cake, biscotette, assorted jams & sweet bread, with caffe e latte. The typical Italian breakfast as
served to tourists is definitely heavy on the zucchero – at 2pm it would be great but I find 8am too early to
indulge my sweet teeth (I have more than one). I’m writing this next to a glass door overlooking a stretch
of hedged lawn & a red Australian bottle-brush growing in a corner. There are cypresses, pines & an olive

85
grove beyond the hedge & in the distance, over the rooves of houses I can see hazy hills. Umbria is softer
than Abruzzo. On an expanse of old wall today there were deep pink snapdragons growing & everywhere
in the old town there are flower boxes, usually with red or pink geraniums. It was hot today – about 30°- &
the 2-4 lull was even more pronounced than usual – only some tourists were on the move, including a
group in hiking boots carrying walking sticks who were returning to a mini-bus with the legend on the side:
“The best way to see the world is on foot.”
18/5/07. Sights seen today: the magnificent modern stained glass windows in the Basilica di
San Domenico especially the ones over the main altar – intense blues, reds & yellow in the depictions of
the saints, Jesus & Mary, all with quite fierce expressions; the stained glass & modern decoration of the
church of San Andrea, a small building with bare interior walls, with small, graceful sculptures scaled to fit
the space so that the feeling was harmonious & peaceful; the Piazza Salimbene which houses the Bank
Monte dei Paschi (where we used the Bancomat – the receipt is in John’s journal), one of the oldest banks
in the world (founded 1472) & after which the ANZ bank & headquarters in Collins St Melbourne has
obviously patterned itself, & a statue of Sallustio Bandini whose claim to fame seems to have been his
advocacy of a free economy; the Palazzo Chigi Saracini, the home of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana
founded in 1932 & where in 1939 the Settimana Musicale Senese reintroduced Vivaldi to the world, &
where the frescoes on the ceiling of the covered walk along one side of the courtyard feature pastoral
scenes of great beauty; the Fortezza di Medicia, built by Cosimo di Medici in the 1500s which now houses
(gasp!) LUNA PARK (Cosimo would be aghast) – the Sienese revenge for being annexed to Firenze in
1559?; the Complesso Museale di Santa Maria della Scala, a great museum occupyig the premises of a
hospital dating from the 11th century. It was established to accommodate pilgrims travelling along the Via
Francigena & to aid orphans (from birth to adulthood – the Statutes of the hospital required that the
orphans be received with kindness, educated & the girls to be given a dowry of 50 pounds upon marriage),
& the great hall called the Pelligrinaio is frescoed by 15 th century Sienese artists. Tunnelled into the tufa
stone underneath the building are ancient granaries & underground tunnels now fille dwith the
archeological museum’s findings from the surrounding area. It is a magnificent setting for an archeological
collection – atmospheric, spacious, quiet, softly lit. We were hesitant about going in as the entry fee was
€7,00 each but we decided it was likely to be worth it so offered up our €14 only to be told by the
attendant that as we were seniors the cost would be €3,50 each! (The downside is we must be looking our
age – it’s the feet causing us to look haggard.) I didn’t think being a senior Australian qualified us for
cheap tickets in Italy. People met today: a couple from Belgium touring by car who told us the Uffizi in
Firenze is marvellous but needs a whole day to do it justice & that San Gimignano is beautiful but also
crowded with tourists; a trio of Americans from Arizona who had been to Melbourne last year & loved it &
one of whom is a professional photographer who took our photo sitting in the balcony of the bar we were
all sharing. They were charmingly polite & behaved as though meeting us was a truly great experience –
the American way of social interaction? The equivalent of “Have a Nice Day”?; the efficient lady at the
Albergi & Ristorante Prenotazione point who spoke excellent English & organized a reasonably priced B&B
for Sunday night for us as the Alma Domus has no room then & the equally efficient & pleasant girl at the
bus information point who sold us tickets to San Gimignano & Firenze & provided a time-table before we
even asked. John’s ankle is playing up again so we must take Siena slowly, & Naprosyn 1000. Yesterday
incidentally we walked past the Walkabout Pub in the University area which claims to be an Australian Bar
& was displaying a Fosters logo prominantly. The most surprising find today WC-wise was the toilet at the
bar where we met the Americans – ultra modern, glowing like a jewel under blue lights, self-flushing & with
reflective surfaces all round – I got so confused I almost couldn’t find my way out. The bar itself was fairly
ordinary except for its balcony which overlooked the whole Piazza Il Campo & its relatively cheap prices –
a “grande” beer & a large coffee cost €7,00 compared with €7,00 for a “media” beer in the bars on the
edge of the Piazza. €9,00 (dpozt4 B&B 4 ☼dae t) + €4,80 (ksrsz 4 jrnl  + shrpnr) +
€22,10 (biglietti x2 SIENA → SAN GIMIGNANO + biglietti x2 SAN GIMIGNANO → FIRENZE) +
€2,00 () + €3,00 (2 slszv ptzr) + €3,00 (2mor slsz ← th saemshop) + €7,00 (birra (grande) +
fe l@e nrbr nil campo) + €7,00 (biglietti x2 → santa maria della scala galleria e museo) + €1,80
(birra 66cl) + €1,06 (vino 1ltr) + €10,84 (supermercato 4 t) = €65,00 [A$101].
25/5/07. On the bus to Poggibonsi we met an expat Australian who has lived in San
Gimignano for 16 years. He is an artist married to an Italian – Geoffrey Green, formerly of Sydney,
redfish2653@yahoo.it , www.gmgart.it , Tel (studio) 0039 0577 941634. He was extremely helpful with
directions about where to get off the bus & showing us where Firenze station was. He was on his way to
Rome where he has a painting in an exhibition. He misses the north coast of NSW & has brothers in
Armidale & Orange. The Prenatazione for hotels found us the Hotel Esperanza & its well located – close to
the Arno & to all the sights of the Centro Storico - & in the Vial Dell’Inferno, close to the Via Purgatorio &
the Via Limbo! The manager explained that it was a tribute to Dante whose house is not far away. To us it
seemed very appropriate – it was an extremely hot day (already 26° when we caught the 8.50am bus from
San Gimignano) & we’d just seen the frescoes of hell in the Duomo of S.G. & John had sent cartolini to the
library people (featuring Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth & Avarice). Florence came as a bit of a shock – heaps
of tourists, noisy, busy, & expensive – prices round the centre are outrageous (€4,00 for a caffe e latte at
the table, €5,00 for a small beer). The manager here is very informative & advised 3 museums/galleries as
a must: the Uffizi (we’ve pre-booked for Sunday), the Galleria d’Accademia (pre-booked for Saturday) &

86
the Palazzo Pitti (the residence of each ruling group since the Medicis). He also said there was a green
walk into the hills behind the city where the views are excellent. We splurged today at a delicatessen
serving pre-cooked meals & had baccala & bread salad – both very tasty but very expensive. Saw the
Medici Riccardi museum/gallery where a chapel was frescoed by Gozzoli (the Procession of the Magi) & the
altar piece was by Lippi. Other rooms had marble busts & bronzes & there was also a Lippi Madonna &
Child. Found one of the minimercatos recommended by the manager & got our dinner stuff. After eating
we strolled across the river & found a pizza place selling nice-looking pizzas by the slice at a normal price
– will return tomorrow for dinner. Breakfast is between 8 & 10 & we have to be at the Accademia
(Michelangelo’s David) at 10.15 – pre-buying allows you to avoid queues but seems to cost extra. From the
bridge this evening we saw a huge rat & another smaller one among debris built up next to one of the
pylons. €2,50 (gelato 4H ← ystrdae evnn) + €124,00 (dpozt (4 4 nts ← m krdtd nn hoetl (noe
airkndshnn & tz bludi hot) nvia dell’inferno) & kmshn 4 n aejnt (3,00) & map (1,00)) + €10,95 (vri
smorl snak & korfi & rkwr frznte nFIRENZE nthponte vecchio) + €1,80 (Birr Moretti 66cl) + €19,00
(biglietti → uffizi galri 4 ☼dae 9.30am) + €7,00 (biglietti → medici riccardi di benozzo gozzoli (palazzo
museo) + €1,30 (rkwr frznte – tz rstinknhot dae) + €19,00 (biglietti x2 → galleria dell’accademia) 4
thMichaelangelo) + €10,21 (minimercato 4 t tmz) = €196 [A$333].
1/6/07. Arrived in Venice on a cloudy day with intermittent downpours, finding our way to the
back-packers place we had booked on the internet way back in December last year: Venexia, Calle de
Paradiso 5747, top floor shared apartment comprising 2 double rooms (we have one), a small sitting room,
a kitchen (cooking utensils, cutlery, crockery, fridge)& a bathroom/toilet shared. We arrived in Florence on
a 35° day to find ourselves in Via dell’ Inferno, now we are in cool Calle di Paradiso – all that visiting
churches must have worked! Dropped our backpacks in about 1pm & explored a little bit until 2pm when
we officially checked in. Then strolled to St Marks Square to the tourist info to get a decent map through
thronging tourists all jostling for position in the narrow lanes surrounding the square. Set off to see if we
could find quieter environments & did – once you head away from that central iconic space the mass of
humanity thins out & the streets are almost empty. Found a supermercato on the way back where prices
are fine; bought 2 tea-towels at a manchester shop for €1,00 each to serve as towels (none supplied at
Venexia); found a bread shop; found our way back through intermittent heavy rain by trial & error &
asking for directions. We’ve decided that Venice is such a physically beautiful place, so different to the
land based towns we’ve been in, that we’ll spend the time walking & exploring & give the churches &
museums a rest – all the art is beginning to meld into one big fresco in our memories – time to pay
attention to the built environment again. €4,00 (2 ptzrslsz nponte dei frari) + €2,00 (grnetr n campo
s. maria formosa) just n wr wrstaen)) + €351,00 ((55,81 woz paed 2th n aejn lrsty) 4 bed (7
nts) @ Venexia (bakpkrz) nCalle del Paradiso. Noe rt!) + €2,50 (map @ campo san marco) + €4,00
(krfelrte x2 nvia garibaldi wrwr sheltrn ← ) + €2,00 (t-towlz x2) + €7,76 (supermerto 4 t stuf) +
€3,05 (pane) = €376 [A$639].
8/6/07 (Journal ♪♫ Austria). €1,40 (olv prnini 2taek nth  4 lnch) + €3,00 (krfelrte &
mrkirto nwae → staeshn) + €0,50 (toilt @ INNSBRUCK staeshn) + €9,00 (ts x2 INNSBRUCK
→ SEEFELD x) + €13,55 (sueprmrkt nSEEFELD 4 t stuf) + €4,20 (medium b& krpootcheno ← br
nmaen  td @ owtsd taebl (ie @ trvolr)) + €3,00 (rnjjues mit CAMPARI @ saem br) = €35,00
[A$60]. Got up at 7am & walked to the station – our final stroll through Venezia & our farewell to Italy. Felt
a little sad. The train was a bit tricky – the destination on the board said Munchen - & our tickets werent
reservations, so it was fortunate that John asked the rail guard about where to go in Verona station to
make the changeover, as she mentioned that we should sit in any seats numbered 71-86 as they were
always unreserved. After Brenner Pass & Brenner station we were in Austria. The mountains began soon
after leaving Verona & got progressively higher & more rugged as we climbed through South Tyrol. Had no
trouble with the Verona changeover as the Venice train arrived 10 minutes early. The trip to Innsbruck
went through spectacular scenery, which got even better on the train to Seefeld which we caught
comfortably after arriving in Innsbruck. We are in a “pension, appartment” called Haslwanter, 396
Haspinger Strasse, about 5 minutes walk from the town centre. We now have 10 days before we are due in
Spitz, time to explore some alpine meadows. Seefeld looks spotless & the info centre was helpful. The
town symbol is a unicorn (einhorn). There is snow on the surrounding peaks. ARRIVEDERCI ITALIA!
15/6/07. Did a great walk today (no. 15 & 14 on the map) after being stymied with our first
choice to go along the lake past Furberg towards St. Wolfgang when we found the way blocked with
barriers. Apparently there was some danger of rock falls. Changed our route & went to the Krottensee, a
small lovely lake with fish & waterlilies surrounded on 3 sides with dense forest, where we swam in the
warm water despite the verboten signs put up by the owner who build a castle (really) next to it, as he
owns it. A local woman taking the sun in the grassy area next to it said he’s only in residence 3 or 4 days a
year & the locals all swim in it anyway as the grassy area is still public land. Then we walked through
meadow & forest to Obenau & back to St Gilgen in great weather. There were 2 miniature goats, a billy &
a nanny, on the way in a farm enclosure who appreciated some petting & we saw deer prints in soft
ground on one of the tracks. The big surprise here is the quantity of fish in the lakes. There are really large

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ones & lots of redfin which we saw congregating in the mouth of one of the small streams which flow into
the Wolfgang See. John found out yesterday that the fishing licence is €15,00 per day so that accounts for
it. Its great to see so many fish – wish it could happen in Australia. Met a very charming woman from
Munchen & her husband staying here for holidays who had wanted to do the walk along the lake like us &
chatted to them for a while. Met her again on the steps of the hotel overlooking the Rathaus this evening
when the town band were playing (excellently) before the rain closed down proceedings. She has a cousin
in the Atherton Tablelands (frmd wth 400 bef ktl) & had also visited Orbost & Mt. Hotham. The walk
finished about 3.30pm so we had some relax time in our room while there was a big thunderstorm before
eating out (dumplings of 3 kinds with sauerkraut, Austrian sausage/potatoes/fried egg, apple strudel). Now
we are on the final leg of the trip & have kept within budget we are “splashing out” now & then. €1,09
(lastk b&aedz 4 Hz hel) + €0,80 (d) + €3,80 (skrem x2) + €1,25 ( stmp → rstraelir) + €6,10
(Konig Ludwig Weissbier (0.5lt) & pchenoe) + €26,60 (prlongd evnn  @ Hotel-Gastehaus-
Metzgerei-Kendler n Mozart Platz) = €40,00 [A$68].
22/6/07. Did a walk marked on the “Naturerlebnis Wachau: wandern & radfarhen” which
John paid €1,00 for at the info office when we arrived, but which had little resemblance to the ground.
Walked up the Mieslingbach Creek road & then branched off onto the Forstsrasse Hoch Zum Windeckberg
which did 7 switchbacks passing under pines & mixed forest to the Windeckberg (579m) where there was
cleared farm land. Headed down on Wanderweg 10 to Rotes Tor, a small section of an early fortification
consisting of an arched gate in a remnant of wall where there is a shrine to 4 different saints, one of whom
is the protector against floods, Saint John Nepomuk, well known in Lithuania. After a traubensaft g’spritzi
at the pub we headed back to 1000 Eimerberg for a rest around 3pm. Surfaced about 5 & headed back to
the pub for dinner which turned out to be less than relaxing. First John ordered a weissbier & the waiter
brought something else; then lightning forced us inside from the porch where we were sitting, with an
apricot tree nearby, as John had déjà vu about his lightning episode in Lithuania last year; then at the new
table the contraption holding the menus & coasters fell over & broke his almost full beer glass, spilling
beer onto his shorts & into his shoe; then we shared our first dish (3 thick slices of roast pork, gravy, 2
dumplings with a side dish of warm cabbage) while there was an impressive downpour & lots of very close
lightning & thunder; then we ordered our second dish (weiner schnitzel with boiled potatoes & salad)
which we told the waiter we wanted to share but it came out on 2 plates so I sent one back & then the
waiter explained that it was one schnitzel cut in half, so we got it back & it was too much & we both felt
like stuffed pigs afterwards, so we finished off the day with a walk into the “suburbs” admiring the neat
gardens & quiet streets. Vienna tomorrow. Here is a poem we saw written on a board on the side of the
track on the way down on Wanderweg 10: “ BITTE!//Bitte, lärm nicht kreuz und quer,/auf’ und ab im Wald
unher,/wozu givt ws sichre Wege?/Denk aus Wild und siene Hege!//Zugleich bitte ich ums eine:/Häng Dein
Hüdchen an die Leine!/Furchtbar ist des Feuers Macht,/darum gib aufs Zündhoz acht!//Speisereste, Glas,
Papier-/bitte, laß das doch nicht heir,/zu Natur – und Umweltshutz/paßt kein Abfall und kein
Schmutz!//Danke!/Dei/Jägerschaft.” & there was a drawing of a stag’s head at the bottom. € 6,20
(Traubensaft @th Spitzerl nthDonau) + €3,18 (b & skremz x2) + €24,60 ( @ Spitzerl jwrn
rbig ) = €34 [A$58].
21/9/07 (River ♪♫). 7 Mile Beach National Park → Berri (Sydney Morning
Herald, Australian; kofe) → Kangaroo Valley (4 “best pie in Australia” @ $5 – ntzgoodz
thWirrabara 1z) → SYDNEY (rv@ 2.15pm; mumz ngoodnk wth nu n adz ♀ got 4 $4000 but
$1000 ←← nshrns; hz rbr& nu  nwch l th z vs s nth prlmnre finl 2nt).
28/9/07. “The neck of raised ground that separates Hanging Rock Creek from
the Mann River for a kilometre or so before they join is never more than a couple of
hundred yards wide which means on one side we have as pretty a mountain stream as
anyone could wish for and right below us is the mighty Mann River. As I said (
Thursday 27/9/07), if you know of a more magnificent river bank to camp on tell me coz
I havent seen it. We spent the day exploring the inner banks down to where they join.
We saw every kind of rocky or sandy pool imaginable ranging from churning water
between rocks to still pools as large as footy ovals. I was able to see stones on the
bottom at a depth I couldn’t reach. The dominant vegetation along the banks is a
crimson bottlebrush that is fully tree size and is flowering sparsely. We took quite a few
fotos of a vine (2/11/07. Macfadyena unguiscati native to Brazil & Argentina, garden escapee “now
widespread and common in coastal summer rainfall areas, north from Sydney. Commonly used in gardens to
cover trellises and fences. Serious weed that will smother large trees and shrubs. Especially troublesome along
coastal and hinterland streams in Queensland and northern NSW.” (www.weeds.org.au)) that can cover a
small tree and flowers profusely with brilliant yellow golden trumpets. Yes, just before
the trip I bought a digital camera (Canon A550 @ $175 + $25 for 1 gigabyte memory
card which can hold about 500 shots). Today H took more shots of me in the nuddy than

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you’ll find naked models in Playboy. Before that at breakfast we were kept under
observation by a pair of Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus). Later H saw a curious
plump fish of dark colour that was over a foot long and reminded her of an eel. I
surprised a lizard which was about 1½ feet long and jumped into the water crossing
about 5 meters to a large rock whose vertical side it climbed with ease. It looked like an
Eastern Water Dragon which I am used to seeing in Gippsland (even seen one in
Melbourne on the Yarra where its supposed to be outside its range) where when
surprised it dives into a river to swim underwater but this one was moving its legs with a
sound like a waterbird thrashing the surface to gain height for take off, so fast that it
virtually ran on top of the water – maybe it was the Jesus of Water Dragons. On the walk
I found an intact tortoise skeleton which Im taking home to add to the other ones on
display in the Ivanhoe house. Nearby we saw 3 live ones sunning themselves on a rock.
It is easy to walk about in the scrub on the flood plain between the two streams because
the beef cattle (floppier ears than in the south) graze in the scrub which is leased by a
local cocky. On the way back H brushed a tick off her shoulder before it got the chance
to sink its beak in. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get close enough to a large red-bellied
black snake for her to take a foto of us before it saw me and moved off. I think the
temperature might have got to about 27°. On a day like this the Gödel Number (
Wednesday 26/9/07) seems hardly worth bothering about and perhaps even
meaningless.”
5/10/07. A driving day as we’d decided that the river walk we did last afternoon couldn’t
really be bettered, so we headed for South Grafton for papers, coffees, petrol, water & some top-ups in
supplies & then took to the Old Glen Innes Road. It’s a great drive, only one lane for much of it, on dirt
through the range following various rivers – the Clarence, Nymboida, Boyd, Guy Fawkes – till we found a
good spot for the night at a place called The Pines, named for the 8 or so native pines (Araucaria
cunninghamii – Hoop Pine) growing there. 6 of them are broad, high trees which must be very old. The
foliage is dark green tipped with bright, lettuce-green new growth & they create large islands of deep
shade which the cattle obviously enjoy on hot days. John spent some time chopping out a stand of
blackberries which spoilt the area we wanted to park in. On the way some stretches along the river banks
were badly infested with lantana & with a flowering vine like a wisteria with yellow flowers, not the “cats
claw” jasmine-type vine (2/11/07. see Friday 28/9/07) we saw on the Mann & Upper Clarence (a local
name provided by a farmer/local councillor who chatted to us yesterday morning before the walk). It would
be awful if the blackberries got established – at least the vines are in the tops of the trees. Brj † Upper
Clarence River (“the biggest river flowing from the ranges to the east coast”) @ Graham
Rd → (@ Newbold Lookout Picnic Area on the Clarence Way 2  over thClarence River;
short d2r 2  brj ovr Clarence @ Lilydale; vr Rogan Bridge; 115kz) → Grafton (“First City
on the North Coast”) → (@ brj ovr Nymboida River 2  lrj  wr onle 1  woz ) →
(nspktd r St8 Prk ($)  nth Guy Fawkes River just prst Dalmorton;  svrl sts nth rvr) → @
locality The Pines 97kz rlong thOld Glen Innes Rd ← Grafton 4 thnt.
12/10/07. 16ks along the road between Torryburn & Yarrowyck we spotted a track going off
onto unfenced land which ended a hundred yards or so from the Rocky River a.k.a the Gwydir. We spent
much of the day exploring its banks. Its very beautiful here with deep pools for excellent swimming
surrounded by boulders & stretches of gravel & sand with the surrounding banks manicured by cattle
(though there were none present) & fringed with casuarinas. There are very large properties on either side
carrying herefords in peak condition. John saw a complex of about 4 houses with a tennis court, extensive
treed gardens & cattle yards on one bank. There were ducks, kangaroos, a water dragon which plopped
into the water & swam underwater to a large boulder which it easily scaled, 2 red-bellied black snakes,
one swimming, the other hunting on a stretch of sand, a goanna & plenty of birds, including a pair of
Dollarbirds, a Scarlet Robin & quite a few Sacred Kingfishers. Its an idyllic spot & for us more valued than
any National Park.
19/10/07. BANDON GROVE (nth ↑v rhil 14kz ↑N vDUNGONG (nth Hunter Valley
(↑NW ← SYDNEY)) → (112kz vr Salsbury, Gresford) → SINGLETON (ptrl; pprz & kofe; basik
shopn) → (67kz vr Golden Hwa) → DENMAN (nfo ; lmnlm&btrz; rlong th Goulburn River but
ntth1 nVIC;e horstudz (2/11/07. The main thing we did in Denman was finding out the name of the
beautifully scented & very attractive flowering tree we kept seeing in the area – there were lots of
suggestions (including birch!) but the nurseryman in Denman finally identified it as White Cedar. Its
considered a weed: “Melia azedarach: Chinaberry, Cape lilac, Indian bead tree, Persian lilac. Native to south-east Asia and
northern Australia. White cedar is a spreading deciduous tree growing to 15m tall with leaves composed of many leaflets 20-50mm

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long. It produces abundant sprays of fragrant lilac flowers followed by many hard yellow berries 10-20mm long. These are poisonous
to children and stock but eaten and distributed by birds. (www.weeds.org.au) It also happens to be used as a street
tree in Melbourne. They line Locksley Road (where our family home is) between Heidelberg Road & the
→ (58kz vr Sandy Hollow, Baerami) → Honeysuckle Picnic Area nth Wollemi
Yarra)))
National Park (4 rbt & 2 ntr thez ♪♫) → (21kz vr Bylong; bsrvd 2 Turquoise Parrots
(Neophema pulchella) @ vre klosranj) →  xthrod (1k owtv Bylong nkst2 ln sOd x Salvation
Jane & wthrz rtrds  vth ☼↓; Double-barred Finches (Taeniopygia bichenovii) sitn nfns wrz).
Yesterday during our Gloucester Tops walks my inadequacies as a bushwalker were highlighted to me by
the sight of two heavily pregnant young women bursting out of the bush, glowing with health, both
blondes, and breathing easily. They were accompanied by their partners (one toting a toddler in a
backpack) and a rather agitated older man, muttering to himself (a guide, John suggested, but more likely
their obstetrician). They were all going at a spanking pace as they passed us on the river walk & were
soon out of sight & hearing, no doubt not wishing to be late at the delivery suite. It was quite depressing.
Today we’ve gone further west into country that looks parched (except where the irrigation machines are
working) with rivers/creeks practically empty. Salvation Jane casts a purple shadow along the roadsides &
the flies are plentiful & annyoying (31/10/07. Heard today on the ABC that the drought is responsible for
an explosion of flies, as the dung beetles who usually eat the larvae are declining in numbers due to the
big dry). We are right next to a railway line (the only flat, non-private spot we’ve seen that isnt infested
with burrs) where one coal train has passed already. How many more?
21/12/07 (X-mas 07). Nullica River mouth → Eden (kfe, The Age) → (feel tired
all the time, as if Im short of sleep. Only minutes down the road pulled up, parked in the shade a
couple of hundred yards off the highway next to a great swimming hole off Nethercote rd. and lay on
me bunk reading Letters and Drawings of Bruno Schulz lent by Albinas Šurna. But interest
lapses and me eyes keep closing though not in a way which allows me to doze off. There may be
something amiss (diabetes? (2/1/08. Googled the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes and they fit!: increased
thirst, increased urination, fatigue, blurred vision (u no wot korzz th@), erectile disfunction (wot bout
thsmornn & munda nt & juzda mornn!!), increased or slow-healing infections (your warts!?) – would
explain the high blood pressure) or is it just that this coast no longer holds anything excitingly new for
me? Lets  fr dip nth rvr maks rdfrns …. Sprung rbig dragntp lzrd wch kn runon tz hnd lgz)
→Tathra (kfe, brgr,  nth old worf 2 th ♪♫ vchrnn wavz undr thworf) → (nuthr nap wr throd †z
Wapengo Creek ( Thursday 15/2/01);  lrj mullet) → Narooma (bort frut @ sprmrkt ($10)
& ptrl ($66); H rspon 2r mobl msj  lft 4 ♀r ths mornn @ Eden) → Meringo ( Sunday
21/10/07, Monday 22/10/07, Tuesday 23/10/07).
28/12/07. ABRAHAMS BOSOM RESERVE (n Currarong) → Narooma (krfe,
Sydney Morning Herald, ptrl, H2O) → Bermagui (grlk prornz &  (fl@)) → (vr Bega: 
woz so ↑set x H  th@ thlnthv Michaelz sta nth Ivanhoe  dpn nBenz mood wn ♂ ← ← ♂z trip 
mst th 2 Tathra @ Tanja) → Nullica River mouth (7kz ↓S vEden) (4 rbt 2 et; & krap) →
Genoa (4 rkwk  2 kool↓) → Nicholson (4 rbt 2 et) → MELBOURNE (@ 10pm,  H: orlz wl; Ben
& Dan stl rwa; Michaelz OK - l  ♂m wn  k@ch↑ wthm n☼da (Michaelz ←2 ♂z sportd kmdashn
nmunda); Joe, K8e & Elliot r ← SYDNEY 2moro; H ← West Melb  (← Ivanhoe) nmunda rvo).
7/3/08 (YORKE PENINSULA). 5.30pm. Helen reckons I seek the topic out but the manner
in which the sequel to 20/6/00 has eventuated shows it seeks me out ( 7/7/06) . Th dm& 2
rd. The reason I was standing in front of the memorial in the foyer of the litho club in Errol st was
because sVaAuRlNiAuSs had asked me in an e whether I knew anything about the major – leader
of a special purposes TDA (TAUTINIO DARBO APSAUGOS) unit responsible for many of the
executions of jews during the german administration 1941 – 44 & an advo for the formation of a
litho SS legion which never eventuated – mentioned in the documentaries on the LIETUKIS
GARAGE ( Tuesday 18/12/07) massacre which he had previously sent me. The reason he was
asking me was because he had heard that the said major had died in Melbourne & I surmise also
because he knows my father had been an airforce officer (captain) which is also the branch the major
(achieved the rank in 41) had served in. And I emphasize again that I have not corresponded with
Saulius for years prior to him sending the DVD & had even wondered if he was still alive; though it is
true that the LIETUKIS GARAGE massacre had been @ the centre of our discussion way back then
in the previous millenium. Furthermore after my return from my 2 nd trip 2 LT I had put the topic of the
murder of the  of LT behind me feeling th@ I had achieved sufficient clarity on the matter to satisfy
myself, or at least as much as was available. Saulius suggested that if there was a candidate for the

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status of war criminal among the litho expats in OZ then the major was the no 1 contender (I
disagreed suggesting a man who disappeared in the early post war years from the Sydney litho
community). So I asked my mum if we had known such a major since it was my impression that the
former LT airmen had kept up contact or at least all knew each other or of each other. But my mum
had no memory of such a person. Then it occurred to me that I had once very long ago, seen my
fathers name preceded by his airforce rank on a small commemorative board in the passageway of
the LT ♣ in Errol st. His name was among other names of former officers who had died. I cant
remember how long ago it was but I never thought about it again till it occurred to me that if the major
had died in Melbourne his name might be on the same board of  officers if I could find it. It also
occurred to me I should check out the names on the brass plaques on the GEDIMINO STULPAI ( )
memorial in the ♣ foyer. I never found the original board because with the expansion of the number of
 LT officers the names evidently outgrew their space on the board (it is amazing how many officers
there were in such a small community) and had migrated to their new resting place on the - so
now, as I stood facing the I had the answer to the question I had posed in 20/6/00 (
Wednesday 5/3/08) 8 years ago: my fathers name was 3rd on the list ( 1963) & the majors wasn’t
far behind! The memorial is put up by the Melbourne chapter of the RAMOVĖ organization. The
word RAMOVĖ my mum tells me was the word used for the mess restricted exclusively for the use of
officers on service bases in LT before the war. Otherwise the only inscriptions on the are AMŽINA
 ATILSI (“eternal rest”) @ the top and ILSĖKITES RAMYBĖJE (“rest in peace”) @ the bottom. My
mum has no knowledge of the RAMOVĖ organization or if my father belonged to such a one. She has
no memory of him going off to meetings and my memory of him is of a man who had no time for the
world of organizations. For all I know RAMOVĖ may consist of one old guy (he’d have to be in his 90s
by now) putting up brass plaques to commemorate the  of former officers of LT (Kim Beasley
described OZ servicemen (& ♀♀ butvkors!) z “the beloved members of our armed services”).
As for the DVD of the docos about the LIETUKIS massacre (there is a ♀ @ the ♣ who was a witness)
I barely took them in as I was having trouble negotiating the menu never having played one before
and saw most of it at double speed missing the reference to the major entirely. The DVD is now @
the library in the ♣. I did however take the suggestion of a ♣ member and Googled the majors name.
Yes, it is the same man and he was in charge of the TDA unit. The information comes up in a short
history of the formation, disbanding, reformation, arming & disarming, naming & renaming of various
units under the NAZI occupation. But what amazed me most in the section of the  article about the
major was the brief statement – “died in Melbourne”.
14/3/08. A warm night at Tiddy Widdy Beach – we had the sliding side door wide open &
John’s window too. There havent been any mozzies yet, so only a few flies blundered in. I slept well but
John apparently spent a lot of the night worrying about bushfire & contemplating a move back to the
carpark overlooking the pier in Ardrossan. Everything is drier than dry bones here, so the coastal scrub
surrounding us would burn intensely in the fierce northerly wind we had yesterday, which didn’t die down
much during the night. Decided yesterday to move on today & were on the road by 10.30 after coffee &
papers in the bakery while we waited for a loaf of olive bread to be cooked for us at the IGA store – the
woman in the bakery there said they only do one a day usually but put 2 in the oven so we would be sure
to get one. Had a look at a couple of small shack communities south of Ardrossan (South Aussies love their
shacks which range from true shacks to quite luxurious houses) before heading to Minlaton, a major
comfortable town mentioned on my maternal grandmother’s birth certificate (Koolywurtie Minlaton was
the registered place of her birth) in 1888. Got some maps & info from the tourist info centre (Harvest
Corner) where I also asked about local history sources, particularly old photos of the area. The helpful
woman there got the name, address & phone number of a man in Yorketown who is a member of the local
history group who could be helpful (Bill May). There was also a card advertising the Stansbury Museum
which is housed in the old school, presumably where my grandmother started school. We’ll check out both
Stansbury & Koolywurtie when the weather is cooler. After Minlaton we travelled to Point Turton where we
had a cool drink in the new flash tavern (mainly retirees in attendance for lunch, our age & older) & an
icecream from the caravan park shop. The place seems to be expanding with new shacks (large, modern
homes) outclassing the old ones (often corrugated iron or hardboard). Explored the coast roads & tracks
between Point Turton & The Pines, looking for a spot to spend the night – have just had tea at Couch’s
Beach and will go back to the low cliffs above Leven Beach Conservation Park to sleep. Had 2 swims in
Spencer Gulf, heartland of the Great White Shark (not Greg Norman) in water as warm as you get in
Northern N.S.W., but still. Needless to say I keep looking for dorsal fins! “With the exception of yesterday
weve managed to temper the heatwave conditions with coastal sea breezes. We are in the middle of
the longest heatwave on record in this part of the country. Adelaide has had 8 heatwaves, defined as
consecutive days over 35C, of 8 days du ion in the past but never more. The record was broken on

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Tuesday. The record for all capital cities in OZ was 10 days in Perth set in february 1988 which was
equalled on wednesday and broken yesterday. Today is the 12 th day, the tempe ure having
reached 38C in Adelaide when we last heard it on the news on the radio. The heatwave is projected
to last into the 16th day before a change on wednesday March 19 when it is projected to drop to 31C.
Im attaching a summary of the daily tempe ures I cut out from the ‘Advertiser’: “THE SWELTER ¶
MONDAY March 3: 35.4C § TUESDAY March 4: 35.7C § WEDNESDAY March 5: 37.9C §
THURSDAY March 6: 38.5C § FRIDAY March 7: 39.0C § SATURDAY March 8: 39.8C §
SUNDAY March 9: 40.2C § MONDAY March 10: 40.0C § TUESDAY March 11: 38.4C
WEDNESDAY March 12: 39.2C § THURSDAY March 13: 39.7C ¶ 7-DAY FORECAST ¶ §
TODAY: 40C § TOMORROW: 38C § SUNDAY March 16: 38C § MONDAY March 17: 39C §
TUESDAY March 18: 39C § WEDNESDAY March 19: 31C § THURSDAY March 20 27C.”
Though we are very restricted in what we can do as you cant go on walks in the heat and its hard to
find trees big enough to shade the van on Yorke Peninsula which has very few of them we have
coped pretty well, at least the water here in Spencer Gulf is beautifully clear and warm. Only once,
yesterday evening, did we waver in our resolve when H suggested if the heat continued we might be
better off heading back to Melbourne. But tonight its balmy by the water and when we get ← to the 
weve sussed out for tonights  we’ll go for a .”
21/3/08. STANSBURY 4shor (GULF ST. VINCENT) 10.30am (EASTER/GOOD FRIDAY:
“Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends” John Chap.
15, verse 13.” zkwotd nth ugly war memorial nx. Ive n thsam nauseating comparison twn
Jzz vNzrth & ☼jrz mad nr nuthr war mmoril nr park nKAUNAS ( Tuesday 25/7/06). Tmz th@
 @  ndz vth  r untd nth //z twn th v & th v☼jrz.  thz wrdz  : “This memorial
was erected to honour those from the Stansbury district who gave their lives in the
service of their country. We commemorate the sacrifice and service of all Australian
servicemen and women in war, conflicts and peace keeping operations since
Federation.” Th mr l panlz nthr sd list: “BOER WAR / WORLD WAR I / WORLD WAR II /
KOREA / MALAYA / BORNEO / VIETNAM / NAMIBIA / CAMBODIA / KUWAIT / BALKANS /
SOMALIA / EAST TIMOR / AFGHANISTAN / IRAQ”.  owt sum dfrnsz twn th2:  prdktd ♂z 
ndvans & wnt 2t wlnle - ☼jrz doo thr utmost 2 sta rlv;  woznt rmd - ☼jrz rrmd 2 thteth;  woz
ksqutd - ☼jrz r uzule  x opozn ☼jrz th@ tha r trn 2 . In short th2 r gzkt  - ☼jrz r vwr, 
woz rv; ☼jrz rchev ☼ushnz x n  -  rchevd ♂z ams x chuzn ♂z own . Fr // z2 drorn
twn s lf & v☼jrz thn //z kn drorn twn nethn & lngwj loozz orl menn.  woz rflktn nths
perverzion vth technz vJzzvNzrth wn tkerd 2me th@ ma tz wot rljn zbowt: th perverzionnv
(dslokashnv? ndrmnnv?) lngwj x cliché & x ritual bothvwch shair thman lmntv rptshn 2 th wr menn
zlechtowt. Lngwj zorlwaz nth prossv loozn menn x rptshn evnn norml usj. Th technzv Jzz proft 
Nzrth HAVE LOST ALL MEANING long rgo. War z merdr legrlzd x thst8 wch rlwaz chusz
thdstrukshnv tz nnme 2 tzown dstrukshn. Thz mmorilz (t “Lest We Forget” nth †bm vth ) r
t2 justf war & vwar zr ☼ushn nprfrns 2 1z own  - twoznt s techn nor ♂z ☼ushn. So ndz
m EASTER REFLECTION ( Monday 14/4/03) ))  WOOL BAY (jte; lmkiln run; rlakst
l n th nthjte)  EDITHBURGH (bootk 2rst town; 2 lmnadz  thfrj & tne psv sitrs trt =
$12.50 nth L kfé; O; @ thjte  “There’s more people than fish.”; 2 kops suprvzn thrrvn
2rsts ( ADELAIDE))  SULTANA POINT (huj wnd farm; nth bech)  SUICIDE POINT (O 12kz 
PORT MOOROWIE; took nf4t 2fnd r  owtv thstrong wnd; 4got 2shn  bort mor smokt  @
STANSBURY (wch w 8 nth wa) wr th♂ sln  ♂z ♀ lft ♂m 6 yzgo rfta takn 34 yz 2dsd th@ ♂
woznt thrt ♂ 4 ♀r.)(29/3/08. and here’s my easter reflection (written 1997):
Those mumbling men who trawl the street
for cigarette ends and rustle in the bins for the leftover
chips of someone else's meal,
babies once
gasping in shock at the cold flow
of holy water on warm new skin
lulled by the priest's drone
of the promise of god's everlasting love
and the refuge of mother church

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 have now discovered
among the butts in the gutter
that there are more ways than one
to be crucified.

18/4/08 (  ). Red Bank Conservation Park (15kz E vBurra) (ystrda evnn  nldrle ♀/♂
wn tha kam  th dzgn8d . Tha hd bnokulrz slung O thr nks & wr kstd 2hv n r White-
backed Swallow (Cheramoeca leucosternum) wch r komn thruowt tharid nl&. 1vth z rmz woz
d4md & vstjl pro le korzd x thalidomd. Ths mornn n kam x z woz e10
rkfst. Tha wr  thkrek wr thr r prnt H2O OO 2fil thr kntanrz ztha hd owt. Thprk zvre
dgra. Wr  m nth da vztrz  thrz brokn glrs evriwr wch gltrz nth slan10 raz vth & ☼.  fownd
thksplrnashn nth dzgn8d : ths uzt2 rmajr trvln stok H2O  4 2 20,000 shep/munth trvln 
Broken Hill & Robertson (etc). 1/3 vth wa 2 th  dskuvrd  hd lost m . Ystrda  hd  
4 20kz rlong thwa wth thpoptop .  srpoz tz aj - ma u shood h 2kep n onme . But
rlso m a sntmn koz v n preokupd wth gzamnn wot tzt th@ w doo wn w mak
thdsknkshn twen thO & PART vthO. Tz 1v thmost ask toolz w hv nvntd 2 organz owr .
Wotvr u  @ zprtvr lrjr O utth dstnkshn jz  dskrbn  & nimlz wch moov O thr
nvrnt wth rl@v fredm, thkomponnts vr mashen wch doo r strktle dfnd reptrtv trsk, 2 stashnre
o jkts nr l&skap lk rvrz r & 2 kwantitz. Norl gzamplz w mak rdstnkshn (dror r ln) twen
thO & PART vthO wch nt t wthowt vrla10 th ‘grammar’ vth werdz & plunjn owr  2
CHAOS. Wr gilt vths kndv ‘grammatical’ vrlashn (n) wn w  O GOD & mak klamz O akss 2r
noljv ♂z wil. I would like 2 no 2wot ex we are like components in a giant machine 2 ds  wn w
malfunction x thgodz th@ control owr destinies or whether we are 2 some º autonomous ajnts
perhaps even partly responsible for the construction of the machine evn tho tz o vius 2 me th@ we
are joined 2 r SUPER ORGANISM (19/4/08. 4 wontv r etr trm ztz stil mor REDUCTIONIST thnth
word GOD so ma lk th oodsts  shood void uzn thr ksept th@t givz me thportunt 2pootn
sum po : (16/10/09. t nstd  Thursday 25/10/01)) hooz dzn z yond owr kmprhnshn
koz wr onle PART vth O. Thez wr sumv m thorts nth 2 thpoolz vH2O wr  wlhv r 2moro.
Freqnt  nth vsnti h rth Red throat (Sericornis brunneus) & th Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
(Acantagenys rufogularis), &th Mallee Ringneck (Barnardius barnardi).  woz  @ th da vztrz 
rfta 2 owrz & fownd m  wr  hd m wn   thmap nth n4mashn bord @th tv th . Thn 
2 thdzgn8d  &  2 thrzdnt lunr. Wn ♂  me coming ♂ slipt on ♂z shorts otherwize ♂ woz
nakid & air d. ♂z vre ☼t&, kuvrd rlovr n TATTOOZ, & hz thprfkt ild vr sprntr rr allet dansr.
♂  ♂ hz n trvln orl ♂z lf & ♂ voidz  lk . Tz vius 2me th@ ♂z r SKITSOFRENIK & 
woz nrgret wth e thingz ♂  ut ddnt 1t 2giv ♂m thoportunt 2 t lkchrn me (nz  
th). ♂ hd rhuj nf nr ♀th ln nth ont v♂z . v nevr n suchr big nf b4 & IT WAS VERY
SHARP. Thn  d E &  rlong Baldina Creek nwch m  4 O 3 owrz & fownd r net th@ u
poot ovr yor  2protkt  fl. Twoz lft ystrda x th hoo hd t nth krek (& hd lit r smorl
nvlashn vth an  ♪d). Now  2 Witold Gombroziczz Cosmos – th na or hz jst st
gled r & hungt  r hook x rstring. Or  mt 2 th e nth radio.
25/4/08. 2dazr vre spshl da, non zth TRAIONAL ZAC DAY  twen th
& th rz nth MCG. m hopn 2thgam zm rt nkl nedz rrst so  dont get 10dnts. m puln
staks rfta 3 nts llegle h @ Simpsons Gap &   2th nkst  W rlong th Macdonnell
Ranges – Ellery Creek Big Hole O 84kz frthr ….  Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata), Brown
Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) …. ut got dvrtd x no skur  wch tookme2 r prvt  x r
krek so wnt 4 r x 3owrz ( Ringneck (Port Lincoln) (Barnardius zonarius), Pied Butcherbird
(Cracticus nigrogularis), Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis), Yellow-throated
Miner (Manorina flavigula), Crested Pigeon (Geophaps lophotes) & vairiys litl 1z) & hv   
2th sam n  22 th e: VS rz (th ig thril woz th@ rn thlrst ¼  woz fedn 2min
noodlz 2r Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata) wch woz kumn wthn 2mtrz vme ….  

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(50kz)   fownd r gr8  prv@le O ½ k off th rlong r fant  (hd2 get me owt & chopowt
sum booshz nth mdlv th) wch ndz @ rkrek. Wow!
2/5/08.  @ Serpentine Gorge da vztrz    (O 13kz)    4thnt jst
prst Serpentine Chalet Ruins nwr th kums 4x4 onle. Sum Pink Cockatooz (Cacatua
leadbeateri) x. m nr gr8  O 2kz  ruff  off thNamatjira Drive wa. Tz vre prv@ - hvnt 
r r orlda. Thzmldr 2da - 28° n Alice & tz kooln nsle hnow (6.00pm). Lft 4r @ 9.30 &
woz  @ 4.30. Rfta nspek10 thorlmost mt Chalet Dam 2kz N 2 Inarlanga Pass wchzth n 2r
gorj thru thj 2th nkst vle N. Thgorj zr sak st 4th Arrente  vth . Th n rfta th ochr
mnn sts S vth j wrnt rlowd 2 thru thgorj wthowt thprmshn vth nth vle N vthj. Tz werth
n rfu kz N prst th Inarlanga Pass 4 thmgnfsnt klasik Macdonnell Ranges z nkludn r vMt
Giles wch @ 1389m mt th st (3/5/08. uttz Mt Zeil @ 1531m) nth jz. Nth wa  
Arrente Walk wch goz 2th Ochre Pits nthwa & wch rth onle 1z opn 2th pu lk. t hv e
pits tha kn hvr@ zth  zfulvm. Nth wa   Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata) drnkn
the ltl H2O lft nth vre vth dam. Wosht soks, sokt shert & tookr  mslf z hd2 kool tho thH2O
ddnt  nv10 nth dp, gloome O @th. Now th@tz koolr  fl r it ftr & twoz r gr8 , tz rpt ut tz
so dr & thpoolz rmt. Orl rO h  n DINGO  s.
9/5/08.  @ Parks  Ormiston Gorge (n2 okzions tha (thr mblm zth SPIRIT EAGLE
(Aquila audax) wch p olz th Macdonnell Ranges) d 2 ns me 2pa th$6.60/da  fe x stkn
1v thr fe   me wndskrn wpr wl  woz owt n rn thda)  (O 145kz; t 2chanj m
shert &   wth thtalgat 4 O 10kz)   Alice Springs (mo l  msrjz  H; t lv 2
Joe & K8 & txt msj  K8; @ sam kafe kost $4.00, lrst $3.50, & th b4 $3.00 &  ys daz
Herald Sun; The Age rrvd @ 1.00pm so d k nuthr nr dfr kafe 4 $3.90 uttwoz vre good
(10/5/08. srvd br ½ st ♀; thonle lak♂   wrkn n Alice woz thonle Afrkn (chkowt @ Coles) 
 n Alice); ort shuz (mad nMyanmar) 4 $70; thkomn parot nthv Alice zth Ringneck (Port
Lincoln (Barnardius zonarius)); supl @ sprmrkt 4 1wek $70; ptrl $50)   Emily Gap (v
sgnfk 4th Arrente (AKA Arunta) : tha  ev thar thdsnd v3 SPIRIT RPLR s ut th
 tchz tha dsn  Adam&Eve (mad  GOD). Wch doo u  zth mor aku verzion? Rzt
just r t vpo ? r tv bullsht?)   Jessie Gap   2  4 thnt nr  offth wa O 25kz E
v Alice (H hdme wored 2da: ♀r msj hd onle 1 v n4m@ion – th@ Elliot woz krorln fr!; ☼ &
 DINGO  howln r sernad 2n os nt.)
16/5/08. Trephina Gorge. thdfr twn spndn rda skramn & ramn off & n
jt  zgr8r thn twn n TV nMelbourne & n jt  nthMacdonnell Ranges. U
nt xplant 2th 2rst wth ♂z las n boots so  wont . Nsdntle, m ordnre $70 Made in
Myanmar shuz rholdn wl wthth hlpv thsmplst kotn gatrz (hld  las) 2kepowt s& & berz 
getn  thlo sdz.   nr bern v320° r pront j &   vr th tas ‘kanyn-shut’ ovr
thj @th vth  2 thgorj wr  hd rwosh/.  woz owt 9.00 – 4.00 nvnli 30°c. Kumn 
hd sum t10ns nth v th rgan.  ♀/♂ Mulga Parrot(Psephotus varius) wch zunuzul sns th
predo parot h zth Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius).  1dr wr orl thPainted tail (Emlema
pictum) wch kum 2th H2O O  th 100z r thrstv th?  onle shn th wch ntrst me nth
p ntth  u  evriwr suchz Magpies, Mudlarks, Greenies, Willy Wagtails, Crows (subspz Orru
h) etc. Nsdntle, thHooded Robin (Melanddryas cucullata) zprtkulrle komn nth O & z1 vth 
skavnjrz. Oyair, 4got 2shn  folod rlotv mul padz thru thstone . Mulz dont lk n nth soft
s& vth krek so thr  rorlwaz n kreks. DINGO  rth oporzit: evri s&e krek hz thr 
rlongt. v setld 2 r rootn v6 – 7 owrz ramn Oth cun sd ech da.   tz just O rt - 
trd nth evnnz. Evre nt   2th gorj & sit  thpool. Tz orlwaz vri stil & wrm. Thrz NEVA n1 thr
- stj/ s j/s anj/st j !?
23/5/08. Kings Canyon (t @th rzort). v fnrle got 2wr  uzd2 -  kn ram
 & dal 4 thO da & fel ngood shap @thndvt. M v rfr wr th 2 mgnfs poolz  fownd
ys da. Tha mak nxl  wch 2 opr , spshle 2da zd 4go10 2tak H2O rgan. Ttaks 2owrz 2get
thr wch levz me 4owrz nr 8owr da 2 xplor thsOnz. Wn  got2 th 2nd pool  woz surprzd 2 fnd 

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woz komp10 4t wth Painted Firetail (Emblema pictum) wch hd n such rfechrv evre pool nth
Macdonnell Ranges t tl now Oli a snt h. Nsdntli ths zkorld Central Ranges & thkrekz Kings
Creek. Thpoolz hv H2O koz thr woz r ig  nnovmbr ( t 0 sns). Nuthr  n wch srprzd me
woz thBrown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) wch  rso8 wthth opks t m ID  shoz
2 rvre wdsprd . Twoz fedn nr mslto gron nr Holly Grevillea bothv wch r nflowr. ThH2OH2O v
Kings Creek zr dstnktvle blek nvrnt &  kood spnd daz n thr, spshle wth th2 poolz n so
knvnintli plast nth ejv th. 1s rgan  woz a 2  thndls  thst  nth uthr sdv th j. l tr
2nklud th2 poolz norl m 4 thrmann daz vth sta n Kings Canyon. …. Nth daz v n ro
thj  hv n r1 prnt xpt m own. Fni1ls woz doon thsam dv n snz ftha hd. Th2rsts
dont s a evn 100 m z off th & th jrz getO nthr hlikop z. Tmaks me 1dr f r t st j ….
ort milk, mlo, $20  d …..  K8 lv; lft msj 4 H 2 lev ♀r on @ 7.00pm so  kn  2♀r lv
…. (Gymnorhina tibicen) r 51   @ ½  vs  ….  86 !!
5/9/08 (dr cunt ). Danyo Reserve   Pinaroo (p l)   Loxton (
, pprz, sprmrkt shoppn)   Moorook (krapp, fild wth H2O)   Burra (2 jr O thpost
vfndn S 8d Grasswren (Amytornis striatus) nth rzrv t m  hd n nkorrkt - thukn fnd
her zth Little Grass (Megalurus gramineus) wch m lraid rqantdwth; p l)   Red Bank
Conservation Park ( d 27/5/08) (2nt m 2 (Accipiter) vs  nth t ¼ fnlz).
12/9/08. Howd frn 6 u  yr r  “wot  zth@?” H nevr mi t koz  t 
mi reth! Rftr  wwnt 4 thluzv ltl   refli ys d t ddnt lom -   thar thr Thick-
billed Grasswren (Amytornis textilis) or Rufous Fieldwren (Calamanthus campestris): tha hvth
personltzv ms & yor ch vnm rO thsam zn ms @ pla. Rfta w   owr rkumul8d ru sh
nr O …. † thwa 2th E Erymophillaz rn flowr & lrj nosv Pied Honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus)
hv kongrg8d 2 fedonm. Thuthr  wchz nu2mi   thr zth White-fronted Honeyeater (Phylidonyris
albifrons). Kam † n☼8d p@chv Sturt’s Desert Pea nflowr (&m  ths ♪ rmung morvt) & surprzd
rflokv r12 . L8r w   frthr  th scur ak & fownd n☼8d gravston nth ☼t oosh  wth
thnskrpshn: “GEORGE WEST ¶ A Pioneer Teamster of Port August (West) ¶ DIED May 22nd
1907 ¶ Aged 61 years. ¶ Erected By Some of His Friends” …. Wr rnuthr 5r6 kz rlong
thpp man10 ak rfta n rshurd  vairiyus loklz th@ owr 1t get ogd &  1 th@
fwdid ♂d pullus owt niwa wn ♂    2moro -  xd th@ wr SLOW vlrz n std n10 
& @ spO flowrz & wood holdn affk fwwr nth wa.
19/9/08. Ovrnt / Glendambo & Kingoonya   Kingoonya (m map
zrong – thrz no p l rvalr t w toppt wth H2O; thrz r pu @ Kingoonya & thonli uthr  thr wr
r♀/♂v yung 2rsts drst zp - thrz rp knvnshn n sumwr)   (S 2 th Gawler jz:
st
1 50kz  Kakatha station woz OK t thnxt 40kz hv n SHIT kozv korrugaeshnz & 4 long s
chz m onli a 2doo 20kz/howr)   so wv  r lv 100yrdz off throd O 90kz Sv Kingoonya
4 thnt ( vs  nth  2nt, 2moro tz (Accipter) vs ; nxt pr Mt Ive
Station 141kz S)
26/9/08. Owr am6 woz serna  rGrey Butcher (Cracticus torquata); nrnuthr
okazhn tz n rPied Butcher(Cracticus nigrogularis) ….  kam m  p n O 70kloz &
dDaOvIiGd hz +vzd  mantan th@ lowr w8 (m uzhl 75-78) t sns  dont karri r♀/♂v wthmi
nr p v n e10 a stmiusli soz nt2 t. &  hr njoi thfelnv nt n owt& fel ls glt O
rd
thmpovrsht hungri  vth 3  (tho  no  onli  tast foodz wl tha hv2 pootwth orn mash
etc) &t felz good 2hv m klothz hang loose – 2loose, ma ,  rerlzd r lv weksgo. v n loozn
mor w8 vdntli so  arkst H 2 worn mi shood  t n gornt. ♀ nvr  0 t. Rlv dazgo @
Policeman’s Point ( Wednesday 24/9/08) ♀ mi nth NUDD havn rwosh nr rokpool &  go
shokk wn ♀ showdt 2mi:   ma8d, lk  jst gotowt vr konsnt ion !  dont wont  2 v
gott (& m r gtr 2nd opnyn re thlump nmi rt hip wch Doig rknz zf@ tshu) wnw gt 2
MELBOURNE. t 2da H rOlotmor vmi nth NUDD (good pozz! – wanna ?) &  rmm th@ thrz
r vmi nth NUDD erli nowr ♀/♂ wr   jstz thn (tho e n & les no li etc). Ma m OK

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z m.  hvnt ♪st th@ v lost s nth & ma thjnrli aksptd st&rd vhow nldrli ♂ shood  z rst
2wrdz thf@ sd koz wrso spoilt & ovr. Lrst fu daz v n  mor soz nt2 kum 2thn tn frthr
konsid ion  dont   ned2 …. Wv  4 thnt nth ak wch  Waukinna Hill nstedv thWaganny
gO wch  r it ek tho no1z thr – tz rerli ns h nth shadv rgrov vlrj casuarinaz wch protkt us
 the wind. …. WOW - wo dremi  thsz!
3/10/08. NMount Crawford Forest Reserve O 10kz Sv Angaston (lrst nt 
slpt wth mi  rslop: ths am  drmt  onli just prst 2 su jkts n5th 4m & hd2doo rspshl tst wth
thdummez nr rekashn 4 n knsidrd 4 n 2 6th 4m)   (vr Eden Valley, Mount
Pleasant, Birdwood)   Hahndorf (“1st German Town in Australia”; mor shops/mtr² thn nLygon
St; ovr The Age & Australian; ort ‘orthn’ mtwrst; 8 chunke met ech – good, but not Stone
Hut standard)   Yankalilla (“European History: Colonel William Light arrived at
Yattagolinga (now known as Rapid Bay) on September 8th 1836 aboard The Rapid,
accompanied by The Cygnet. Light had been sent by the South Australia Company to
search for a harbour and find a site for the capital of the colony. Light was enthralled
with Rapid Bay, deing the area as a ‘delightful place, covered with fine grass, a variety
of shrubs, flowers and trees.’ ¶ In the 1920s a large rock was found at Rapid Bay ined
with ‘WL 1836’ …. ¶ Robert Norman came to South Australia on the Taglioni in 1844 and
in 1849 was the first grantee of l& at the Bungala Fl@@ where he planned to build a
community that would become a fashiona side resort. By 1855 he had laid out the
plans for the town that bears his name and remains true to his vision – Normanville.” –
Visitor  guide let &  Fleurieu Peninsula lt: “YANKALILLA (Kaurna name: Yernaklyilla –
place of falling bits). Set amid rolling grazing cunt Yankalilla is very much a farmer’s
town, surroun by old stone farmhouses, tum sheds, stockyards and big gums.
Peacefully loed in the valley of Bungala River, overed by the woo of the
southern Mount Lofty Ranges, it’s just the spot if you are ing 4 a quiet, country haven.
So how odd is it that this is also the site of the  newest Marian Shrine – the Shrine of
Our Lady of Yankalilla th@ @tracts pilgrims from O the  2  an image of the Madonna
and Child th@ has aed on the rear wall of the Anglican Church. avellers unmoved by
this phenomena are likely to stop, nonetheless, for either the bakery or the neighbouring
Bavarian Wursthouse, both of which are reknowned for their produce, or for a s oll
along the main s t to admire the cottage architecture and lovingly maintained
gardens.”; in 1855 my great-great grandparents Timothy & Mary (nee Honner) Feehan left County Leix
(Queen’s County) & settled in the Yankalilla area (first child born at Myponga) where they were joined in
1858 by Mary’s parents, John & Mary (nee Maloney) Honner & most of her siblings. The Honners leased a
farm in Second Valley where at 66 John died of consumption in 1872. Mary senior died in 1894 aged 97 of
‘senile decay’ in Hackney, Adelaide. My great grandmother, Annie Elizabeth Feehan, whose photograph in
her old age I have, was born at Blackfellows Creek, Yankalilla in 1861, the 5 th child of Timothy & Mary; ….
Tzz ezi 2 th vth Madonna&Chl nth worl ztz 2 th vth ♂nth -  - & twoz sad 2
thplednz vth plgrmz nth vz z  koz thr vysli snr. W ort CARTOLINI 2 2 m mum; I
couldn’t see anything, but I lit 2 candles just in case; … we found St Peters Catholic Church at Normanville,
the only Catholic Church (with attached cemetery) in the area, built in 1858. The curator, Graeme
Kennedy, arrived just as we were looking in the church & was extremely helpful, giving us a copy fo the
sesqui-centenary booklet produced this year of the history of the church in the area which included this
information: “…. From 1845 to 1849, the great famine in Ireland saw more than a million people die and more than
that emigrate to almost every part of the new world. Whereas Australia became home to great numbers of these
Irish immigrants, South Australia received a relatively small proportion, and so the many who came to this region
signifies quite a remarkable event…. From the diocesan archives, the cemetery records, the existing histories and
other sources, the following individuals or families have been recorded as being resident in the district at the
beginnings of the church and arguably, can be regarded as our pioneers.” And there among the list of 25 names
were FEEHAN and HONNER. “In those early days, many parishioners would walk to mass from as far away as
Second Valley and the Myponga Jetty area, some carrying young children with them. Such was the dedication of
these pioneers for the expression of their faith.” (p.5-6) “Many of our original pioneer families left the district
within perhaps ten or twenty years of their arrival …. It is probable that those who had taken up farming for grain
crops had encountered some difficulties in the Yankalilla area and had been persuaded to try their luck in the
broader plains of Yorke Peninsula, the west coast and the mid north.” (p.10) The Feehans moved to Koolywurtie

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on the Yorke Peninsula some time after 1873 where Timothy purchased a property (Section 55, Hundred of
Koolywurtie). He died in 1878 aged 44 of “inflammation in the lungs” followed by Mary in 1898 who died
of “closing of the gullet pipe” at Mt. Rat. My grandmother, Rebecca Olive Mason, Annie’s second child, was
born in Koolywurtie in 1888. At the info office the obliging Yorkshireman, John, was on duty and showed us
the book produced by the Yankalilla and District Historical Society, written by R.F. Williams “To Find the
Way: history of the western Fleurieu Peninsula” where the Honners & Feehans were again mentioned:
“John and Mary Honner and their five children [daughter Mary preceded them with husband Timothy Feehan, &
son Richard came after] arrived on the 9th July 1858, and moved south where they leased land near Second Valley
from Richard Walsh …. Many of John and Mary Honner’s descendants (17/10/09. of whom one is The Honorable
Christopher Pyne MP, the member for Sturt & current manager of Opposition business in Malcolm
Turnbull’s Parliamentary Liberal Party. Malcolm better watch out as young Chris has a lean & hungry look,
& embodies the ambition (♂♂ CV poott Mother Teresaz 2 sham) of the go-getting Honner side of the
family) are still farming on Yorke Peninsula and the names of their properties, Roscrea, Glenanaar, Roscrea Hill
etc. spell out proudly from whence they came.”)   (vr Second Valley)   Rapid Bay
campground ($10 for the night – we usually avoid paid places but there wasn’t an option; had 2 phone
messages: one from Dan telling us 3 close neighbours in Locksley Road are selling their houses, and one
from Kate who was chuffed because her boss is recommending her for a community award).
10/10/08. Sitella st nBirds Australia Gluepot Reserve. Tflz zf wr kumn 2wrdz thnd
vth p. Twood thrt plas wch 2doot zts hv (wv?) rekapchrd thrlaxt rithmz vth fl@ cunt
Nv Port Augusta. Nfakt v  2ttl ths fl@ cunt xspt w spnt sum  nth Gawler jz,
thnorthrn Lofty jz & thFleurieu Peninsula wchz (wr  lost m rithm 4r lv daz & woz
ovrkum  th hkpas v affk rn thS.A. skool Oidaz). Nstd dspt Hz kmt th@  mt  twoz
r rfr 2 ♀r v chosn 2namt dr cunt n4m  thruowt thO th@ ni such nfr z
rli n u &  spit nmi , † m , & wish2  ft so ( t  proms 2tl m  wd  vrz
(17/10/09. hoo kn now  orl owtt @ www.scribd.com !?) O mi erkshn promz – nuthr  t!) ….
Nr da thstokmrkt  ovr 7% & thOZ $  66c.US (17/10/09. now  92c.US) mi & H wnt n.  spnt
muchvth am chuwnoff Hz  xn how thwa wdsd wotz/znt rspz zntrli noshnl. Thdskushn woz
gerd  thfakt threzrv woz perchst  thoz 2 prsrv thBlack-eared Miner (Manorina
melanotis) wchz kr li regr zr O spz t ma n zr sub spz rnomor thnth drkst vairiashn vth
Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula) wthwcht n breds. Thgrez w chuz 2mak
thdzignashnz r chozn 4 poltkl konsde ions & sns zmrshld onli l8r 2 mezhur thchozn rgrez.
Thsam knsde ions rrlv wn w d  wotz th spz: full spz, sub spz, ras, r not  @orl.
Thvairiys s vth dskushn, th ishuz n d, rh d nth utrfl n vowr ☼ Joe hoo  ♂ 12t  nithn wch
kn   @ ♂m (17/10/09. e10 met now ). L8r  woz vri thrld () 2 a2 sukssfli & fulli
dntf & 2ls10 2th ♪♫ vr ♂ Gilberts Whistler (Pachycephala inomata). Thn w   2th prk HQ
O 20kz rwa 2pa owr $50 4 th5nts – 2moro w  awa.  hv 2 now ztz ge10 drk.
17/4/09 ( lir09ri p♪♫). €3.15 (supermercato: pane 2.14; mela (x 2) 1.01) +
€4.07 (salsicce (x 4) t@ markt nCampo di Fiori -  gav ♂m €10 t ♂ gav chanj  €5;  ddnt
rgu 4long z♂ dndt …. On rflkshn  proi gav ♂m r€5 ♪ z rmmbrt 2hv n rg 1) + €5.28
(supermercato: pane 1.54; formaggio (percora nera) 2.24; yoghurt (x 2) 1.50) + €8.03
(supermercato (succo verde (x 2) 2.00; chino (x 3) 1.44; porchetta ariccia dentico 4.59) =
€20.53. Today we wandered westwards from the Inn towards the Tavere, past the Quirinale (20/7/09. “the
current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome. …”),
crossed the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II & along Borgo Santo Spirito to Piazza San Pietro & the Basilica,
which hadn’t lost its power to amaze. (Bill Bryson, “Neither Here nor There: travels in Europe” 1991: “St
Peter’s doesn’t look all that fabulous from the outside …. but step inside and it’s so sensational that your mouth falls open whether
you want it to or not. ….. because every bit of it is built to such a scale you have to remind yourself continually of its immensity. … It
was only when I looked back down the length of the church to where more visitors were coming in, and I saw that they were like
insects, that I had a sudden, crushing sense of just how big this place was. It occurred to me too, that although the building was nearly
silent and seemed almost empty – every clutch of visitors had an area of floor space about the size of a football field – there were
none the less hundreds and hundreds of us in there.”). Then we wandered southward in search of the extensive green
space indicated on the map which turned out to be the parklands of the Villa Doria Pamphili (20/7/08. “…on
the Gianicolo, the Roman Janiculum, is a palazzo (palace) and the largest public landscaped park of Rome. The park has an area of
1.8 km².” (Wikipedia)) where the locals were enjoying themselves – sprawling on the grass, playing with
their kids & just generally relaxing. We arrived late in the day, so couldn’t explore too far, but will return
tomorrow for a more thorough investigation. John seems to me to be pretty flat & pre-occupied. The first
day I thought it was just jet-lag, but we are now into day 4 and his mood hasn’t lifted. He is having
difficulty deciding whether he should stay on the wagon or resume drinking – the succo verde & chino are

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no substitute for tavola rossa. He claims it is pressure from me & Kate which keeps him “dry”. I admit I
worry when he drinks, as he can slide into excessive intake fairly fast – he is not a person to whom
moderation is easy. There is also the health issue – alcohol intake results in weight gain, which is not good
for his blood pressure. But, hell, you’ve got to die of something. Anyway, its his decision. On our travels we
found Herder’s Bookstore where “La Bella Figura” by Beppe Severgini (2007) recommended itself as a
funny read to buy back in Melbourne; John remembered where the Rinascente department store with its
3rd floor public toilets was, & took us straight there to take advantage of the plumbing; in a lane leading
into Piazza Navona (20/7/09. “It follows the plan of an ancient Roman circus, the 1st century Stadium of Domitian, where the
Romans came to watch the agones ("games"): it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the
name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'. Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the
city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona is now the pride of Baroque Roman art history. It features
sculptural and architectural creations by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four
Rivers, 1651) stands in the center.”(Wikipedia)) a trim, very healthy looking 40ish woman in bushwalking gear
was striding along with 2 of the sticks we saw people in Austria using on our last trip – she looked really
ridiculous: Must have been a German – no bella figura or sense of place; saw another one, a man, in the
park of the Villa Doria Pamphili, but at least he was walking (slightly) uphill on the grass; some teenagers
on a school excursion (these are a major activity in Italy – there seem to be more kids out of school than
in) gawped at my Crocs (first time this trip – we saw them being sold in the airport in Dubai & there are
Scholes look-alikes here); passed a few shops selling beautiful woollen jumpers much cheaper than in
Melbourne; learnt a new word to describe salami/ salsicce desired level of softness – “morbido”. Reminds
me that yesterday we wandered into the grounds of a hospedale, where a woman was feeding about a
dozen cats near a door marked “Camera Mortuaria”.  wnt ON THE WAGON ovr 1½ yrgo koz
  m lkOk ntak mt kumn xsiv (20/7/09. no ‘might’ about it – you were getting through
cartons of lambrusco starting at 10 in the morning! (17/10/09. )) & d tl 2 m hlth. Th@ woz
rftr owr lrst p 2 UROPA. @ no staj dd  n10d or   n10 2 sta ON THE WAGON prntli t
   ne r priodv stn if  woz 2 sta lsh r mor sustan habt.  nvr xpktd 2reman dr 4
mor thn rfu munths. Ovr th period v n ON THE WAGON m 6ual snstvt & per4m hv d or8d
dramali & m blud prshr hz kntnud 2 rz & givz evri ndkashn vovrkumn medkl f4ts 2 t 2thx
th@ m ch z vr majr vaskulr evnt ovr thnxt 5 y r st@sli O 1/3 (17/10/09. O 1/9 now). 
rman kmitd 2 mantann m prz w8v 73kg wchz thst w8  kn wthowt luzn s nth – ths
kmitmnt  tslf knst ni rezumd lkO ntak. Dear reader!? (m mum reknz ♀  m stuf) givn
thsam st z wood u gruj yorslf rfu vred wn 2 wosh r  vpane & vri ☼t talin 4maggio
wthwch tgoz so wl? Or nokazhnl vb onr full daz n? Orn vlimoncello nr piazza 
thsd?  rks yr!
24/4/09. €20 (5x2) biglietti ingressi  5 stt,t no: 1524420091024431754376312
per Opera Della Primaziale Pisana) + €6 ( etta: hujli ovrprst t @ mrktstorl – 2nd  v
n stung thswa) + €7.21 (supermercato: soprassata 0.53; formaggio 2.60; vino rosso (0.25l
x3) 1.28; succo 1.80; pane 1.00) = €33.21. In the Hotel Torre prima colazione is served on a tray in
the room. You dial 9 on the phone beside the bed & tell the person on the other end you are ready to eat.
About 5 minutes later it arrives – 2 small plastic cups of milky coffee, 2 small tubs of yoghurt, 2 pre-
packaged corneti, 2 packets of ‘toast’, 2 little tubs of jam & 2 little tubs of nutella. Not a gourmet breakfast
a la Robespierre of Spello (see Sunday 13/5/07) but enough to fill your stomach until lunchtime. Most of
the morning was spent at the Piazza del Duomo, where we paid €20 for 2 tickets giving us entry to the
Duomo, the Battistero, the Camposanto Monumentale & 2 musei – the Sinopei & the Opera del Duomo.
The Duomo, Battistero & Campanile (the famous Leaning Tower) are surrounded by luch green grass, a
19th century innovation aimed at emphasizing the magnificence of the buildings by isolating them from the
surrounding area – apparently there were lots of other buildings (refectories, offices, etc) connected with
the Duomo which were removed. The Piazza is also called Piazza dei Miracoli (24/7/09. the square of
miracles, a name created by the Italian writer Gabriele d’Annunzio (see Thursday 3/5/07) and it does look
miraculous – the white marble buildings seem to float on the emerald green grass against the blue sky).
The Leaning Tower with its 7 bells has been stabilized & it visually arresting – entry to it is €15, so we
were content to look at it from the outside, and watch the hundreds of tourists taking photos of it being
“held up” by their friends or family. As we were looking in the Battistero a woman gave a small vocal
performance to demonstrate its marvellous accoustics – 3 powerful notes which echoed/vibrated round the
circular structure. One side of the piazza is lined with stalls flogging souvenirs, jewellery, leather goods &
t-shirts, and there were many school & tour groups, so the scene was very festive. On the way to the
supermercato to get our stuff for tea we passed a market where a woman was selling all kinds of cured &
cooked pork. We sampled a bit & bought a slice of the cooked meat without realizing we would have to
fork out €6! So we went on to the supermarket suitably shocked to get the rest of the evening’s fodder
which only cost €7.21. We got duped like that in Firenze last trip, with porchetta. Nevertheless it was
delicious. We had a small siesta after returning to the hotel to drop off the food, & then took a leisurely
stroll here & there inside & outside the Wall, until it was time to eat. Outside our window across the street
there is a place called “Asian African Market” where gypsies hang out, and almost opposite our window is

98
the window of another hotel room where the TV set seems to be on 24/7. Pisa has a large area of Centro
Storico designated as Area Pedonale where cars are vietato & walkers & cyclists can go on their way
relaxed & safe. It’s a great idea – more Centro Storicos should follow the lead. We found the bus stop just
near by for the Lucca bus, & will go there on Sunday to suss out accomodation before deciding whether to
shift there or remain here. John just saw a drug deal go gown on the footpath opposite, with a gypsy seller.
Lrst nt  woz dr  woz rsmorl chld & nth drem  th thru m  zr 3-5 yold. Tmd
vri mprt 2mi 2 rvzt thWIEN wa stash zdd nm mummum  Elena’s Journey (  Elena
Jonaitis). Evn nth drem  nu  hd no mmriov thstashn & th@th stashn  woz vz10 woz rdfr 1.
Now th@ m rwak  no v rli n thstashn nth drem tt mustv n rdfr 1 z hd . Nm yuth
mmremmre vstashnstashn  m wor & wor chldhood uz2 figr pro li nm  t fnli
tha dsrpd kmpltli til lrst nts drem. Nth drem 2 uthr stashn epsodepsod emrjd & 1 zklnm
mndmnd  now t thuthr hz dsrpd rgan. Wn   lithol& norgust l +n thez p ♪♫ 2 th
Days & hop l a 2 putowt Friday ( Og no 71) 2 kmplet thwek. Hop  liv longrnuf 2 doot.
1/5/09. €3.68 (whd rprulrli  lin  @ 9am @ La Gelateria: capuccino &
corneto 4 H; capuccino scuro & brioche 4 me) + €1 ( tolini vCasa Cordati 2 past nth jrnl) =
€4.68. We walked up to Sommocolonia, the village we can see on the other side of the valley from our
bedroom window, a small cluster of brown stone dwellings around a campanile, 706m above sea-level. It
was bombed on the 26th December 1944 as part of a battle between the Germans (it was part of a
defensive line (the Gothic Line) & the Yanks. Its being restored & rebuilt as a joint effort by the Comune of
Lucca-Barga & the E.U. We had a map of the route from a book “Walking in the Appenines” by Luca &
Paolo Moriconi, publishing date unknown (but old) loaned to us by our host (Giordano Martinelli, Casa
Cordati, Via di Mezzo 17, 55051 Barga (Lu.), tel. 0583 723450) but it was difficult to follow as some of the
tracks had changed. There were no details of distances or landmarks either. However John followed his
geographically impeccable nose & we walked along dirt roads & up a paved mule-track till we arrived at
the summit. It was a pretty walk through chestnut trees (the fruit casings have prickles which got into our
feet through our Crocs), beech trees & many spring flowers (red clover, buttercups, daisies & even a lone
red tulip). The sun was shining, the air cool & fresh & Sommocolonia picturesque. Views were breath-
taking: snow-capped peaks across green slopes spotted with the ochre, red & yellow of houses. The river
was gushing along, its velocity slowed by a series of weirs. John took lots of photos, so should get 2 or 3 of
top quality. We took a small lunch (a piece of bread & some small slices of salami, an apple & banana
each) & found fontane to drink from along the way there & back. We turned round about 2pm & made our
way down to arrive around 4. For a first effort it was quite successful, though I know John could move
faster , higher & steeper than I could manage. We had an Italian breakfast at the gelateria/bar owned by
the Scotswoman who still retains her Scottish burr after 30 years here. It was reasonably priced & taken at
a small table in the tiny piazza opposite. We’ve decided to get the bus back to Lucca when we leave as we
will be seeing even more spectacular mountain scenery in Switzerland & Austria, so we’ll go to Cinque
Terre by the direct route to save time. John has just dumped a few more books belonging to the Casa on
the table – “Marx, Freud e la Rivoluzione Totale” by P. Fougeyrollas; “Miseria della Filosofia” by Karl Marx
(preface by Engles); “Storia del Partito Comunista Italiano” by Paolo Spriano; “Da Radio Milano Liberta” by
Palmiro Togliatti; & “Questioni del Leninismo” by G. Stalin (Mosca 1946). Someone leaned left in the Casa
Cordati in the 60s & 70s. La or8n ys dys d kotkot: supoo th@ @th Sanctuario di Santa
Gemma @ Lucca wr  d H nfruntv rj v Gemma rnun rf n vzhnvzhn rnownsz ♀z
prgn wth thnxt GZRZ & ovr thfolown munthmunth dvlopdvlop wot rprp r prgn ulj. Medkl
gzaashn showshow thrz 0 nsd th ulj. Fols prgn ee hv n non 4 – r klkasv
rskosm@ or ♂z kl evnt. t supoz ♀z prgn & no VIRGINE. Mostvus wood putths 2 thv
nachrl evntevnt & suspkt th grdner. Wotf ♀z r prgn VIRGINE tho? Y doo w korlt rMIRKL & notn
♂z kl prgn n zin oth kaskas th mekrnzm zunown? & wotf w dskuvrd th@th
ee  us zr
klon? Woodw klarst zn x mli unlkli sport (prapprap korzd  damjd slsl int mxn), r
skosm@ evnt, orr MIRKL? - pro i no MIRKL  rekn  n zw kn majn thposti vn xplan@ri
mknzm - t onli rfu yy rgo w wood hv n a 2majn ni post vn xplan@ri mknzm! Letlet  2 th
STIGMATA. ♂z kl, nachrl, sport r MIRKL? & duzt dpnd nth sz n dpth vth wundwund – eg. slt
ruzn vrsz gapn OO? Wotf onli sum  ra 2 m?  d thkrazd worl nth Anglkn chiesa @
Yankalilla & koodnt  ni pkchr vth VIRGINE t i  doo & lev path  ♪♫ v rqwstreqwst 4 hlp.
R thr vth STIGMATA vFra Pio rv Gemma? & wotf thSTIGMATA dsrp n ztha doo @
? Suss - t no mor suss thn niuthr skosm@or MIRKLUS evnt. Sowot rth basbas onwch w mak
ds10kshnds10kshn twn dfr aspktaspkt vth unown & @ wot  doo w dsd wv TRIUMPHT ovrt?
Wotz thPOL vt?
8/5/09. €5.00 (capuccino & rioche (x2) 4 am) + €17.20 (pro 4 1½ daa) + €3.60
( biglietti (x2) corniglia per monterosso al mare) + €4.00 (krem (x2) @ vernazza) + €2.60 (
99
biglietti (x2) vernazza per corniglia) = €32.40. It was a big walk today. We caught the train to
Monterosso al Mare & picked up sentiero 9 at the big Cassa Parcheggio behind the town, which is the 3-4
storey parking area the Cinque Terre towns have to cope with the influx of visitors who arrive in cars. The
map & the trail indicator on the ground (a thick red stripe over a thick white stripe painted on any
available masonry or tree) matched & we were off, up a steepish track which ended at the Santuario of
Santa Maria di Saviore, which John had written down in his notes as a possible place to get accomodation.
We were glad we hadnt booked it as it is quite isolated, and needed a car to reach it, a fact not mentioned
in the book. The track up wound through shady forest & was very peaceful. There was a little chapel with a
prayer for the road on the wall near the beginning (“PREGHIERA DEL PELLEGRINO. ¶ Cammina, / sei nato per il
cammino – / cammina hai un appuntamento – / Dove? Con chi? / Ancora non lo sai / Forse con te stesso // Cammoina / I tuoi passi
saranno le tue parole / La via la tua canzone / La fatica la tua preghiera / Alla fine il tuo silenzio ti parlera - // Cammina / Solo, con
altri / Ma esci da te stresso - / Ti creavi dei rivali / Troverai dei compagni / Immaginavi dei nemic / Ti farai dei fratelli - // Cammina /
La tua mente no sa / Dove I passi conducono al tuo cuore.// Cammina / Sei nato per percorrere la via / Duella del pellegrino / Un altro
cammina verso di te / E ti cerca / Perche tu possa trovalo /Al Santuario meta del tuo cammino / Al Santuaria nel profondo del tuo
cuore / Lui e la tua pace / Lui e la tua gioia // Va / Dio gia cammina con te.”). We saw only 2 other couples on the way up.
The fun started at the Santuario (the info board says: “NOSTRA SIGNORA DI MONTENERO ¶ La leggenda:
L’origine del Santuario si fa risalire ad un’epoca molto remota. Alcuni Greci, fuggiaschi per le persecuzioni dell’imperatore Leone III
l’Isaurico, contrario al culto dell immagini sacre, sarebbero arrivati a Riomaggiore portando con se un dipinto della Madonna. A
seguito delle minacce dei nemici della fede, l’immagine sarebbe stat sepolta e poi miracolosamente ritrovata da una giovane
richiamata da un intenso profumo di fiori. Sul luogo del ritrovamento, ben prima del Mille, sarebbe stato costruito il Santuario
dedicato alla Madonna. ¶ La Storia: L’esistenza della chiesa e documentata per la prima volta nel 1335, quindi prima della costruzione
dell Parrocchiale di S. Giovanni Battista a Riomaggiore, avvenuta nel 1340. La chiesa doveva rappresentare il punto di riferimento per
I casolari sparsi sulle falde dei monti (Lemmen, Cerrico, Casen, Caccinagora, Montenero), da cui poi discesero le famiglie per
ingradire l’abitato di Riomaggiore. Il Santuario e stato rimaneggiato piu volte e ampliato, da ultimo nell’Ottocento. ¶ La devozione: Il
culto della Madonna e radicato nei secoli. Il Santuario e stato meta di processioni che risalivano da Riomaggiore e di pellegrinaggi dai
paesi vicini. Nel 1893 si tenne una imponente erimonia per incoronare la Madonna. Numerosi ex-voto si trovano all’interno della
chiesa. Il depinto della Vergine, che la leggenda vuole altomedievale, in realta e un olio su tela probabilmente risalente al XVI
secolo.”) where we ate lunch & proceeded to find sentiero 1 to begin the eastward, downward part of the
journey to Vernazza. The map was unclear & the signs on the ground were confusing, being placed where
they could indicate completely opposite directions. The 2 other couples were as confused as us. One of
them (Norwegians) had sussed out the possibilities before us & couldn’t find the right path. John & I also
tested various options to no avail. It was time to ask for help from a group of Italians at the Sanctuario who
told us the turn-off was about 1k along the autostrada, & this was confirmed by another Italian group we
met arriving from Vernazza. The sign was small & was easily overlooked, set as it was at knee-height on a
very small piece of rusty tin. We were now on sentiero 8 leading down to Vernazza along a very narrow
path through typical ‘maquis’ vegetation, including broom & gorse. It was a spectacular walk, following
ruined terraces, with views of the sea & Monterosso al Mare looking like a leggo village far below. At the
next critical intersection the map wasn’t detailed enough to help & the ground indicators once more had a
Janus-like quality. We had to ask directions from a pair of Frenchwomen under whose house the track
seemed to go, but they assured us it was the other way & to follow the path to the church & turn right. So
we did. But there was no sign on the ground that we could see, so asked an Italian taking his afternoon
rest on a bench in the churchyard. He told us to go to the right & follow the path & we would surely get to
Vernazza. But we ended up in an olive grove, following a steep, rocky, barely-there track from which John
spotted the real sentiero (nicely broad & paved) below. We emerged from among the olives just as the
Norwegians were strolling along & there were laughs all round. I don’t know what happened to the other
couple – they had passed us on the track through the coastal vegetation & we’d spoken to them in the
churchyard, where the woman commented on the poor quality of the signage, but we didn’t see them
again. We had a quick look at Vernazza before catching the train back to Corniglia. The platform extends a
long way into the tunnel & its quite dark & a bit forbidding, but the locals know that the tourists pack the
sunlit section like sardines and the empty seats will be in the dark side. We followed the locals, as the
cram on the sunny section was very off-putting. Back at Corniglia we ate on the terrace again, in the
company of soaring seagulls & surrounded by blue sea & sky. Visitors from well-organized countries
(Germany, Austria, Switzerland) could get quite hot under the collar at the slap-dash way the sentieri are
indicated, both on paper & on the ground because of the time wasted in dashing backwards & forwards,
poring over maps, inspecting trees for signs, and probably missing the train/bus as a result. But as John
pointed out, if you are that kind of person, don’t come to Italia. We actually enjoyed it – the confusion adds
to the fun as you are finally forced to consult a local who will enthusiastically tell you at high speed in
melodious Italian exactly where to go – the trouble is, we only pick up a word here & there, so we are often
none the wiser. Tgoo wthowt  th@ d th z doo orl thlongr w doo n lir. M uthr
xttt 4thda wr: H fndn rkndv kombnashn vzr/skrf sutsut ♀r vriwl 4 wch ♀ pad €3
(♀r ) n monterosso al mare 2 replas ♀r h@ 2hot & 2 4ml;   thlunchv pane, rfu slsz
vsalami & frut (banane, mele) wch wtak nr 2  s10  th ak; &   4wrd orl da 2 wnw  2
owr affita camera 2 hv owr  vpane, mortadella & formaggio wosht wth chino & vino rosso
t nth mornn @th minimero. W  nth terrasso panoramico @ thlevl vth n gulgul wth
mgnfs vuvu vmonterossa al mare NW & manarola SE. Thvuvu rfit 4r king & th pane nths zth

100
most dlshuz v tastd …  4gt2 shn – th BIDET h zl flush  thfrunt & th ak so ukn wosh
yor BUM & DIK @th sam .
15/5/09. €6.20 (due capuccini, rioche, onyn focaccia 4 a.m.) + €4.05 (focaccia
cipolla) + €4.91 (supermero: succo, vino rosso, banane, fragole) + €1.10 (focaccia secca) +
€2.40 (biglietti (x2)) + €18.20 ( biglietti (x2) genova per milano (2° classe, regionale,
binario 17 @ 7.58am)) + €1.38 (focaccia ) + €1 (yoghurt) + €3.20 ( macchiato & capuccino)
+ €4.50 (sardina spuntino t @ Porto Antico ) = €47. A wandering around day which included:
a stop at the info centre to get info on buses & trains in preparation for our next move (to Milano on
Monday); a stop at the Genova Principe stazione to buy the train tickets & suss out the layout & binario we
leave from; an investigation (once more) of the Sestiere Maddelena where the working girls & trannies
hang out (John is mesmerized); the discovery of the Darsena Sestiere (the old port area) where a sizeable
African population (21/12/09. The Weekend Australian Magazine, December 12-13, 2009, in an article
titled “Fatal Shore” has this to say: “Out of a population of 11 million, a staggering 1.6m Senegalese live and work outside
the country, most of them concentrated in communities in France, Italy and Spain. The International Monetary Fund estimates the
money sent home by Senegalese migrants in 2008, through the formal banking system and licensed money-transfer agencies, was
around $720 million. On the wealthier back streets of Touba the BMWs and Mercedes of the “golden boys” who made it big abroad
are in evidence. ¶ According to their surviving eldest brother, Demba Bojang Sayang, a headmaster, the decision of Ousman, Ebrima,
Ensa and Alouma to strike out for Europe had been backed by all 74 members of his extended family. “In the Gambia, young men and
women no longer think of school”, he says. “If you take the traditional route through education, as I did, you go up the stairs slowly,
step by step. But if you leave for Europe through the desert or by the sea it is the equivalent of travelling on an elevator. I walk into
my classrooms and ask the children, boys and girls, 12-year-olds, how many have brothers or sisters in Europe. They will all put their
hands up. ¶ I then ask how many want to follow and I get the same reply. All the hands are in the air. I am a headmaster yet I earn a
monthly salary of 3000 dalasi [about $120]. My neighbour’s brother supports his entire family, 47 people, selling handbags and
watches in a London market. Here that can support everyone. It can build a brick home. My home is mud-block – when the rains
come there is nothing left of our floor.””) saw quite a few jammed into a small room where the sneakers perfumed
the air & realized it was Muslim prayer-time, though there are many non-Muslims too, often in ethnic
dress) & where we found delicious fried sardines & fiori di zucca in the shops of the Sottoripa (10/8/09. “A
once-controversial area, Via Sottoripa was constructed in 1135, when a verdict handed down by the Comune forced the proprietor of
the nearby houses on the port to build a colonnade strictly for commercial activities. … the porticos have maintained the atmosphere
of an old bazaar in the days when ships loaded with every kind of merchandise used to dock here: quaint shops selling spices, dried
fruits, and the famous fried fish shops.”) which we will certainly include in tomorrow’s dinner; a long stop at a café
to drink a macchiato & a capuccino & watch the passing parade; a visit to Piazza Vittoria, the largest in the
city & an example of fascist architecture; an inspection of the 13 th century chiesa San Stefano; a walk-
through of the Mercato Orientale which we’d discovered yesterday. We’ve seen no examples of public
aggression or bad behaviour since we’ve been here. People of all ages, races, sexes, occupations mingle
freely & sociably. Even the beggars look well-fed – 2 on Via XX Settembre use perfectly matched pairs of
cocker-spaniels to attract attention: a bloke with a black pair & a girl with a blonde pair – all involved look
healthy & well-groomed. A gypsy woman in her 40s who tugged at my sleeve yesterday was asking for
money from passers-by today, dressed smartly in a nicely matching skirt & jacket, stockings & good shoes
– she was much better dressed than I was. The Africans look neat & tidy in jeans, t-shirts & some of them
look positively glamorous in snazzy berets, classy jackets, silver sneakers & plenty of bling. John says that
of the 5 major cities we’ve been in during our trips - Roma, Napoli, Firenze, Venezia & Genova – this is the
one he’d want to live in, but Roma is still numero uno for me.  ndulj nthis rf xaashn vth
mekrnzmmekrnzm v RE TION: @ 1st w mak sakrfssakrfs 2 rknolj owr hlplsns nth v thunown
4ss wch govrn owr dstnee; 2 rpp th ms us dtt; 2 pled 4 snn 2 gdus; 2 ofr owr a jkt
respktrespkt; 2 xprs owr mm r vr ms us lrjr SKEMA - & thn t kumz r ha t, r ritchul vprdkt
praktsprakts wth evri dtal suprvzd  prestprest. & thunprdktr fatfat kum GOD hoo/ haz th
@ri ut@ri t vr NOUN (non ngr8r & mor persnl dtal ftt r PROPER NOUN) sot kn dzgn8d, lernt &
ownd. Th unowr, mis us & unprdkt z 2 xakt, prdkt richul – zMASTERd. Tsmtsm th
BUDDHA 4 th re shn vth unowr 2 richul znevt @ butv . Tz y  rspkt th πt vth fu  
 @10dn servsservs ( Thursday 14/5/09) nth chiesachiesa vgenova.
22/5/09 ( 09ri p♪♫). SF48 (€48x2/3 = €32) ( biglietti (x2) nth FART
TURISTICO  Santa Maria Maggiore nth Cento vallina t wwnt  domodossola zwd n10 2 wnw t th
tt  thortom@ mchn zth t ofs ddnt opn tl 7am & th lft @ 6.50am) + €5.06 ( biglietti
(x2) domodossola  santa maria maggiore) + €4.80 (capucci & rioche (x2) @ chioschetto
ndomodossola) + €3.91 (pane & 4maggio  COOP supermero @ domodossola) + €8.18
(minimero supl nS. Maria maggiore) + €3.70 (café l@e & limoncello @ S. Maria Maggiore) +
SF9.05 (ie 905x2/3 = €6.00) (supermero supl @ COOP nPiazza Grande nLOCARNO) +
SF100 (ie €67) (4 1 mor nt (s@rd) – got ret 4 SF300 (3ntnt)) = €130.65. A quiet night was

101
rudely disturbed at 5am when the alarm went off – I thought I had set it for 6.45 so we could be sure to get
the 8.15 Centovallina/Valee Vigezzina train to Domodossola. By the time we had worked out what had
gone wrong John was wide awake, so we got up & caught the 6.50, arriving at Domodossola at 8.37 in
time for breakfast at a kiosk near the station & some supermarket shopping before heading back to Santa
Maria Maggiore. We’d had to use the automatic ticket machine at Locarno station because the ticket office
wasn’t open & I managed to get the wrong tickets (2 returns to Valle Vigezzina instead of to Domodossola)
so we got a free trip from Santa Maria Maggiore to Domodossola from the sympathetic ticket inspector
who told us to buy an outgoing ticket at Domodossola to Santa Maria Maggiore to cover the journey back.
Santa Maria Maggiore is a beautiful little town (population 1272, altitude 816m, suburbs Buttogno &
Crana, Patron Saint Virgin Mary, Patron Saints Day August 15) in the Valle Vigezzo, as neat & clean as a
new pin, with nice walks into the shady pine/fir/birch/beech woods & into the suburbs. The owner of the
Bar Rudy, where we drank coffee & limoncello, spoke excellent English & told us about the miracle at the
village of Re (11/8/09. where in 1494 “young Giovanni Zucono was playing with others outside the church. The game they
were playing was called piodella; it was a game similar to baseball in that a short stick of wood was used to hit an object; in this case,
the object was a metal disc, such as a coin, and the goal was to hit it as close as possible to a target. The story goes that this particular
time Giovanni lost, and as so often happens with boys, he also lost his temper, and he flung his coin in the face of the Madonna on the
wall. From the moment of impact, at the point where it hit, an outpouring of blood came from the wall, and the outpouring didn't stop
or subside for the twenty days that followed.”) After this the villagers began to die off & those that didn’t left, so
that the town became a ghost town until about 20 years ago. He also gave us a booklet about the towns in
the valley, which contained the following information: “The harmonious mass of chimneys still flourishing, especially in
Craveggia, constitutes a unique element in the landscape of the valley and brings to mind an event that remains dangling on that fine
line that separates actual history from the legend of the Vigezzin chimneysweeps. In fact, it was the custom in those days, that many
young men emigrated to France where they performed their Chimneysweeps trade. The questions of why these special priveleges
were granted and why the King of France granted the Chimneysweeps protection have always been grounds for research by the
Ossolani historians who endeavour to clarify the real reasonfor the granting of these many priveleges or, to preserve whatever is
required to retain the charm of the legend. In fact it has been reported that in 1612, the chimneysweep Giovanni Pido’s appentice,
probably originally from Villette, inserted himself inside a chimney in the royal palace. There were two chimneys side by side and, by
chance, the boy descended into the wrong chimney. This particular chimney terminated in a fireplace that was in a room where a
group of conspirators were planning to murder the King. The young boy climbed out of the chimney and reported all he had overheard
to the chimneysweep journeyman. Giovanni Pido managed to contact a lady-in-waiting of the King’s court Eleonora Dora, originally
Italian and a favourite of the Queen, Maria di Medici, mother and Regent of the Kings of France. The plot was thus uncovered thereby
saving the life of the young King. In exchange for such a noble gesture the King signed an edict that proclaimed “the absolute
commercial liberty” in France for all the chimneysweeps from Valle Vigezzo and from Lombardy.” There is a chimneysweep
(spazzacamino) re-union every September in Santa Maria Maggiore where Vigezzinas sweeps from all over
the world (including from Australia & Lithuania he insists) return to celebrate the King of France’s edict.
The litho word for chimney is KAMINAS, so the Valle Vigezzo influence has spread far indeed. We left
Santa Maria Maggiore at 2.45pm to go to Intragna which had been recommended by the Locarno Tourist
Office as a good place to get accomodation – we want to spend some time in a smaller place where walks
are more rural. Intragna has plenty, so we have booked Sunday & Monday night at the Osteria Centrale,
right in the Old Town. We met 2 fellow travellers today – an Italian-American woman who was born in a
village near Domodossola & now lives in Oregon, & a woman from Geneva who recommended some good
walks in the Maggia Valley & a valley in Switzerland near the headwaters of the Rhine. The Centovallina
(Italian side of the border) and Valle Vigezzo (Swiss side) is a spectacular 40 km length of railway line
which crosses 79 bridges or viaducts over deep canyons where wild rivers run & passes through 24
tunnels.
29/5/09. SF4.20 (€2.80) ( ys d: mekanikl 4 K8) + SF8.60 (€5.73) ( ys d:
4H & smorl 4 me @ sd café nth evnn 2  th prsnparad) + SF12 (€8) (Olma Bratwurst mit
Büli) + SF130 (€86.60) (4 2ntnt B&B @th Hotel am Spisertor nSt. Gallen) + SF2.20 (€1.47)
(2 bunbun) = €104.60. Forgot to mention yesterday that breakfast here is pretty good – a buffet with a
range of goodies on offer: lovely breads, cheeses, ham & salami, muesli, yoghurt, cereals, jams, honey,
fruit & fruit juices & coffee to finish. It means we don’t need to eat during the day & can drink water from
the many drinking fountains (like Italia). We walked past the Three Pools through green rolling
countryside liberally laced with forest groves of oak, firs & pines, past large house & barn combinations &
belled dairy cows, straight outside the city on the upper slopes of the surrounding hills where the rich
aroma of cow manure (applied to the fields as a slurry of barn straw mixed with water) is quite acceptable
in the fresh air & sunshine. I first smelt it when we arrived in Chur & thought I must have stepped in
something, so asked John to check the soles of my Crocs, & then again when we arrived in St. Gallen. This
is richly & carefully cultivated country where natural values are happily & actively fostered. We walked on
a variety of well-marked tracks, some gravelled, some paved, some through pasture, some through forest,
& marvelled at their extent (some signposts pointed all the way to Lake Constance, & to very many small
villages we could see in all directions) & at the good fortune of the Swiss, who through hard work & good
government, have avoided the wars that have devastated the rest of Europe & developed an economy
based on value-added products that ensure them a high standard of living, as well as having maintained a
natural environment of great beauty. The walk gave us a panoramic view of the city & took us past
Notkersegg Monastery, founded in 1381 & still occupied & run by monks. We asked directions from 2
Swiss & received as warm & helpful responses as we have had in Italia. Before the Wanderweg (the name

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given to all the paths, indicated by a bright yellow sign) we saw the lovely church of St. Georgen which
had beautiful frescoed stations of the cross & stained glass windows, both done in a simple modern style
which enhanced their emotional impact. The attached cemetey was a lesson in unpretentious but artistic
grave decoration – each plot was planted as a garden (as we saw in Austria in 2007) at the foot of
headstones made mainly of rough cut stone. Though some were adorned with religious symbols most just
had names & dates, & some had references to beloved pets or love of nature in simple carvings of cats,
birds, mountains & flowers. If Italian cemeteries (Roma (see Tuesday 17/4/07), Genova (see Saturday
16/5/09)) are Grande Opera, this cemetery was a quiet, sweet lullaby. The churches we’ve seen so far are
exemplars of a refined, restrained, harmonious aesthetic & are equally as beautiful as any in Italia. M 3
most x10 li dskvree ovrsnt y hv n Robert Walser, Vitold Gombrowicz & Laszlo
Krasznahorkai. Just 4 levn nths p  re Robert Walserz The Robber. Twoz thlrst vli
chr v . LfOrVaEnCkE 11  2mi th@ onli O 10,000  nth non   thee kndv  . So wo
ko id twoz 2met Judith Weder r Robert Walser dvot! ♀♀ evn takn pr10 rmuzkl
ut 2 ♂m nwch ♂z  po ( ddnt no ♂  po - rpair li vri utfli) woz sung 2 orjnl ♪♫. ♀ woz
rmaad z woz 2met r flo dvot  alir wn ♀ hrdli evr metmet 1 hn . ut wot rerli qrlf ths
2 nklu nm rekordnv rmaan KO ID KO ID zth@ Walser spnt thlrst ⅓
v♂z lf nr rslm onli rfu kk  h @ Herisau wr ♂ woz fownd  on1v ♂z favrt n1956.  hd
no vth wrOO vth evnt wnw kam2 & tz zf wv n drktd  St. Gallen (vwch  hd hdov 4)
so  kood mak rplgrmj 2th stv ♂z .
5/6/09 (jeri09ri p♪♫). 2moro w2 Oberstdorf. M frthrr fotoo takn thr stood
owt wth rprulr pro  thdzml nn vDP lf nth predn & folown thm nth famli l m
& hdr dsproprshn8 nflu nmi thruowt m chldhood & uth. koz ♂ dd ♂zown dvlopn ♂ mad
i kopp vech1 4 ♂ woz s@sfd. Holdn  woz thgo: Rasa & me holdn ♂♂ ; Rasa & me
holdn  wth mum; Rasa & me holdn echuthrr , muthr & frthr holdn  smln 1li @ th -
uzhuli n medoo undr sprng flowrr 2r bakgO v d n. & thrr fotoo vus rown r
nr prstn l lak: v♂m, v♀r, vme holdn orr n. Thrr r foto vmum nr medo wavn 2r  (tma hv n r ha
t zw rlso hvr foto v♀r wavn 2r  ncapri  ♀r stud daa) – frthr lkt n  wth ♂♂ UV fl .
Thrr fotoo vus n WEGWEG rlong pi s mm wndn thru . Thorl mprshn zof r hap
famli vakashn ndlik l set1010. t fotoo kn  l - twoz 1v thdrkst  nth lf vth famli. Rasaz
hair woz wsp wth r 10dn 2forlowt 2 por nu shn,  hd kn ktd TB (th air & rdali dt v
mlk kurdmi), mum woz prgn wth nuthr ♂♂ chld (☼utis -  l8r nthynNapoli. ( Elena’s
Journey  Elena Jonaitis © TEXT publ 1997)) & thfotoo wr n1v th rair okazhnn m frthr
vztd Oberstdorf z ♀/♂ wr zgoodz sepr8d @th  (mum  tha stad ♀/♂ 4thsakv thchldrn – Rasa &
me - wo rsponst!) 2moro w2 Oberstdorf so kn tuch ♠♠ wth th oi nth fotoo & go nth
ka wch  stl rmm r 2th topv Nebelhorn (2224 mtmt)  th. We are having a rest day –
walking slowly through the town, snoozing on the grass in the park, having a nibble at one of the outdoor
cafes (the “Nordsee” chain specializes in fish & salads – John is renewing his herring habit), watching the
Germans at play. Many of them are very fat, a result of the large serves of meat-heavy dishes washed
down with extra-large glasses of beer combined with the sedentary lifestyle that is the bane of Western
civilization (office jobs, TV viewing, car travel). Also, food is cheap here compared with both Switzerland &
Italy where we saw far fewer overweight people. Last night after tea (from a shop selling roast pork belly &
potato salad for €3.95 a portion (enough, almost for the two of us)) we walked onto the mainland along
the foreshore past a Knieppanlage, where walkers can cool down their ankles (18/8/09. “Sebastian Kneipp
(May 17, 1821, Stephansried, Germany – June 17, 1897 in Bad Wörishofen) was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the
Naturopathic medicine movement. He is most commonly associated with the "Kneipp Cure" form of hydrotherapy, a system of
healing involving the application of water through various methods, temperatures and pressures.” (Wikipedia)), through parks
with large Linden trees, into the suburbs where I was sure we were lost (I had a temporary lapse of faith in
John’s ley-lines reading, occasioned by my aching knee & back which forced me to take Naprosyn 1000
this morning). We saw a pair of grebe on the Bodensee where the female had 4 babies on her back, which
fell off when she stretched her wings to preen, but quickly climbed back on board by grabbing onto a
feather with their beak & pulling themselves up onto her back where they nestled under her wings. One of
them did a dive prior to this exercise & was clearly visible streaking along underwater, like a peanut-sized
torpedo. There are white swans on the lake too. We’ve seen lots of bike-riders here – some carry dogs in
baskets on the back – but they are not into lycra like the Italians. In fact we could be in Australia watching
a holiday crowd in any city or suburb because the clothing is almost identical – not a carefully tailored suit
with immaculate leather shoes in sight. Our gasthof is about 500 years old we discovered at breakfast
(buffet-style & ample) which accounts for nothing in our room being on the square – the built-in wardrobe
has been made in-situ to fit the lack of right-angles. The door frame is the only squarely set piece of wood

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& its quite low, as is the ceiling, indicating the small stature of the original inhabitants. The window
comprises 2 glass doors which swing open inwards of their own accord when unlatched. There are 2
unplastered sections of the internal walls in the corridor showing the original stones (from a river or the
lake by their appearance) which make up the exterior walls. There is a practice in the town to have the
names & crests of the families which have lived in them painted on the front – some have dates in the
1300s going through to the 1800s. In the suburbs last night I noticed one copying the tradition by having
the initials of the owner entwined with the date 1997. The plane trees in the park by the river are huge –
bigger than most River Red Gums & the town has many, many climbing roses of all colours in the gardens
& on the buildings, which are frequented by bumble-bees as well as honey-bees: large furry black beasties
with a yellowy orange stripe which are very attractive. There is constant bird-song here too – sparrows are
prolific & the pigeons seem often to fly at shoulder height, zooming past like kamikaze pilots. As we
walked around today looking in the shops (the absence of goods made in China is very noticeable, as it
was in Switzerland), we noticed lighting being set up & extra temporary bars appearing in the laneways –
some event is obviously happening tonight. I’ve just noticed on the map of the town there is a big building
just past the bahnhof identified as “Cosmetic Surgery Bodenseeklinik, Prof. Dr. Mang” – if I’d known
beforehand I could have had a few things done …. A post-prandial (roast pork & salad) stroll revealed that
the big event is for petrol-heads: there is a procession of classic cars along the Maximilianstrasse, with
much rumbling of engines & car-buffs taking photos. €3.20 (krmm  ys da) + €30 ( fahr 10
Lindau  Oberstdorf (th€30 t rlowow 5 2 vl orlda  BAVARIA 2moro)) + €7.19 (weissbier &
silke (r favrt nLT 2) with onyn 4me & H hd salat & lmnad @ ta nMaximilianstrasse) + €7.50 (
& spudd 4 (evnn) – shaird) + €3.25 (The Times nuupapr – 2 rekonkt us wthth ) = €51.
12/6/09. €48.20 ( & 4 2nt) + €1.50 (t (4H) & Franzishkaner Hefe - Weiß
 (4me)  sprmrkt 4 2nt) + …  wthdru €300 & H wthdru €350  Hypervereinsbank  
@ Füssen … + €5.70 (schwartztee mit zitronensaft (H) & hefe  rud  Aktienbrauerei
– Kaufbeuren wch klamm 2hv n stasht n1308 (me) @ Hotel Alatsee) + €15 (pm @th pu ) =
$70.40. At last the weather is clearing & we were able to walk to the Alatsee along shady paths & then
back into Füssen. The water in the Alatsee & the 2 smaller lakes it feeds is crystal clear & invitingly blue.
There were many walkers & bicyclists taking advantage of the clear skies. It was not a strenuous walk as I
still have the symptoms of a cold – runny nose, a bit of a temperature & lack of energy (more than usual),
but very peaceful & calming. At the Alatsee we had a drink & a rest at the Hotel Restaurant: “Gasthof Alatsee,
der ideale Stop bei Ihrer Wanderung, ob zum Übernachten ofer auf eine deftige Brotzeit, Allgäuer Schmankerl, Kaffee und Kuchen
oder Apfelstrudel auf unserer schönen Sonnenterrasse mit direktem Seeblick”. In Germany, as in Austria & Switzerland,
you are rewarded for walking/cycling by coming to a picturesque eating place at regular intervals even in
remoter areas (see Monday 8/6/09). They are set up to take maximum advantage of the views & allow
even elderly people & small children to do the walks. We met a South Carolina ex-army man & his German
wife on the walk – he came over to do his army service in 1961-2 & never left – who recommended
Berchesgarten as “the most beautiful place in the Alps”. It was Hitler’s retreat during WWII & is now a
tourist spot. He mentioned that there were about 10,000 U.S.troops near Sonthoffen after the war & that
the large building we saw from the train when we were travelling to Oberstdorf which looked like a cross
between a factory, a prison & a fortress, was the Ordensberg, where crack S.S. troops were trained &
where he says he heard Ayran babies were bred. (21/8/09. Wikipedia says: “The estate was built in 1934 as NS-
Ordensburg Sonthofen by the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) for the NSDAP…It was planned by architect Hermann
Giesler. It served as Adolf-Hitler-School for the education of party cadres…. Commander of the Ordensburg was the Reichstag
deputy Robert Bauer (NSDAP) from 1936 to 1941.” & ““We want to know if these men have the will to lead, to be the master, in one
word: to rule. The NSDAP and its leaders must want to rule. Those who are willing to share leadership can never be a leader in the
NSDAP. We want to rule, we enjoy ruling, not to be despots or to be sadistic tyrants, but because we firmly believe that in all things
there can only be one leader and only one leader who can carry the responsibility. To him belongs the power. So these men (the
“Junkers”) will learn to ride horsback, not to gain in social status but to learn what it is like to have absolute control over a living
being. He must control the horse not with spurs, but with his willpower.” (Dr. Robert Ley, Nazi politician & head of the
German Labour Front)). At Lechfall (the waterfall on the Lech River) there was an archaelogical info board
showing the route of the Via Claudia Augusta, the Roman road connecting the Po & the Danube Rivers,
which passed through Verona, Füssen & Augsburg, allowing troops & materials to penetrate into the
Roman colonies in Germania. (21/8/09. “This 500 kilometre military supply route was for centuries the most important
connection between the Roman motherland and its rich provinces to the north. The road is an impressive example of how Roman road
building conquered nature. As with the aqueducts, the Roman water channels, they surmounted all obstacles; no hill was too high and
no river too wide for the Roman road builders. To enable rapid military operations and to be able to move their legions quickly, the
Romans needed well-paved roads on solid foundations that could withstand the impact of the soldiers' nailed boots, their pack animals
and the heavy iron-clad wheels of their carts. Paved roads and highly developed vehicles revolutionised transport. The Romans also
brought their own language and script, their form of government, religion and laws, calendar, coins and many other trappings of
civilisation with them across the Alps." – Google). The American also told us a story that when the shrines on the
Kalvarienberg were built (see Wednesday 10/6/09) a priest lit candles in each of them which shone in the
dark with the result that Ludwig II’s mothere could see them at Hohenschwangau & paid him a visit. It is
interesting to see how many Germans enjoy a good walk, whether its a leisurely stroll like todays or a
more strenuous trek up a mountain – we have no real equivalent walks in Australia, especially near cities
& small towns as the urban sprawl makes it impossible in the former & lack of council forethought stymies

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it in the latter. I suppose the closest equivalents we have are bike paths, foreshore walks & some tracks
around Thredbo in the Oz Alps, & in Tasmania. Elsewhere it is too hot, too remote or too hard to get to &
there are no gasthofs to rest weary legs in. We attended to basic tasks before we started walking –
supermarket, post office, internet (free for 15 minutes at the Info centre – compare Locarno) & bank.
Breakfast was in the bakery around the corner from our room – a plentiful supply of buns, meats & cheese
with coffee. We didnt have to eat again till this evening when we repeated our schweinhaxe meal at the
same pub in the Old Town where the waiting staff are beginning to recognize us, not least because we
share the meal. Most Germans have one each but they are so large that there is ample for two. Sharing a
meal here is not so attention-getting as it was in Austria in 2007 when we got a few stares from fellow
diners. Joe’s email said that Elliot is learning new words apace, & that the Weaning War is being slowly
won, the chooks are laying 2 eggs a day & that he is visiting Michael at Viewmont. From another source
came the great news that it is raining in Melbourne.
19/6/09 ( r09ri p♪♫). H &  took €300 ech  Innsbrucker Messen ank
 th nth  vKapuziner s aße …. €4.50 ( & International Herald Tribune @ hof
shop) + €63.60 ( tt Innsbruck  Salzburg) + €100 ( & 4 2ntt @ Pension Jahn, 5020
Salzburg, Elisabethstraße 31,  0662/871405, e: pension.jahn@aon.at ; info@pension-
jahn.at ; www.pension-jahn.at , r) + €6 (sprmrkt nkludn snak) + €3 ( @ hof (e 
Markus Westendorf ( Lucca Tuesday 28/4/09) n ♂d hd r d & zstl nosptl 5 wekk l8r
& th@th nvtashn 2 Würzburg zstl open)) + €24.70 (drnkk nth  & pm nold Salzburg rn
r) + €4 ( & chokl8) = €206. A travelling day – 2 hours to Salzburg where we are comfortably
settled in a very clean spacious & airy 2-star hotel near the station owned by the Chinese family Lai at a
cost of €25 each/night, breakfast included. It’s about 15 minutes walk to the Old Town, in an area favoured
by Middle Easterners (Turks? Lebanese? Bosnians?) John has a bug similar to the one I’ve had & is feeling
seedy but we ventured into the slight drizzle to find a supermarket & an internet point. Joe reports that
Michael is OK & he is seeing him fortnightly, & that the Hansord/Zizys clan has the sniffles & are hoping its
not the swine flu. We had a brief look at the Old Town but it was interrupted by a sudden drop in
temperature & a fierce downpour. Luckily we were having drinks undercover so escaped the worst. Bad
weather makes travelling more difficult – we are forced into museums, churches etc. Sometimes this is
great (as in Rome & Innsbruck) but it can add to the daily cost of living substantially if the ticket costs are
high. Sitting in cafes all day is fattening & alcohol heavy. We can’t hunker down in our hotel room as we
don’t carry reading material, being stingy with both money & the weight we lug about (5-6 kilos each) to
minimize the effort of shifting from A to B. Since we have been married over 44 years we really cant spend
lots of time in fascinating conversation or fahrkarting, so we are hoping the rain will go away fast. Sum
  ys d on wot  korl HH (rlso Ivann prom  The Brothers Karamazov x
Dostoievski) prom (♀ nt  nGOD zrrezult ♀ ) ie: GODD tolr vpan & mzri spshli
vchldrn (spshli vowr ☼☼) & v EVL nth. F w  vGOD zhavnr hu4m (William Blake hz reportd
(& so hv  ( Monday 4/12/00)) xpri 2 suportt) przumi w kredt ♂m wthr at 2
xpri or @ lst mprth wth th pan & mzri vth nos & n & shood ♂ thn doo sum10
rOt, prfri eradit, n zw orl no ♂♂ orlso omnipo !? – rf orl w wood fw wr n♂♂ pozshn. & 
must owt 2 thoo hoo hvnt hd such xpri th@ @ thvri lst THE WORD GOD hz th @ributt
& lmitashnn w mpoz n ni werdd nowr langwj ftha r 2 undrst&r (& nzl8r 2 uthr langwjz) &
usful 2us (eg. Kn w giv th dnl menn 2 thwerd IN z2 thwerd OUT f thoo werdd r2hv ni usfl menn
4us @orl?). So knsdr thpost th@ GOD hoo @th vri lst zr werd & @th merov thlangwj rull wv
mpozd n♂m zrna 2 rlevi8 thsufrn vth nos &th  n n zw hoov mad th rull r una 2 doot. &
wotzmor – 2 th@ rGOD hoo n rWORD zlmtd  thrull vlangwj zomnipt zno dfr 2 n th@
IN zthsamz OUT - t fu lk t no1 zgon 2 undrst& u (& two mak u fel ni e ethr). Wot m
doon z nowt 2u th@ HH & Ivann prom zr gram@l (nth Wittgenstein sns) 1 rn  th
knfuzhn korzd  th mpos mnnn thahv givn 2 werdd. 4 m prt  hvno nklnashn 2 r ut ni
ferthr falnn 2 yor GOD havn orlraid mprizond ♂m nth WORD -  uu thWORD onli koz  12
kot onyor uu vt.
26/6/09. €120 ( & 4 3nt @  Reisenauer nBad Ischl) + €8.20 (tt Bad
Ischl  Hallstatt) + €2.67 ( & mnrl H2O 4 2nt) + €13.10 (vri tni pot8o p nth 4shor
vHallstatter See & t mit lmn & ) + €13.40 ( , , 2snakk) = €157.35. At last night’s concert of
“Rising Stars” (where the young Hungarian oboist ran out of puff in the middle of one of the movements of
the piece he & the cellist were playing – perhaps he had a cold or chest infection or he hadnt practiced
enough) there were a few people got up in traditional Austrian Tyrolean costume (tracht). We’ve been
noticing them ever since Bavaria (Bayern) & also the large number of shops in each town which sell them.
Apparently Bad Ischl is a centre for tracht manufacturing. For men the full regalia consists of: lederhosen

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(held up by elaborate embroidered braces) either above the knee if the leg is young enough, or calf length
if its older or the calf muscle is nicely large & well-defined, in various shades of brown from tan to dark; a
cotton or linen shirt, sometimes embroidered or with laces across the chest; a smart jacket of loden (a
kind of felt), in shades of green from sage to dark, or sometimes light brown, usually with a pleat in the
back & a narrow collar & cuffs in contrasting colour; woollen long socks, brown or green; black or tan side-
fastening leather shoes; a small-brimmed conical crowned hat adorned with feathers ranging from discreet
to flamboyant or with a shaving brush shaped bouquet of the bristly hair from chamois, also ranging from
discreet to flamboyant or both feathers & chamois brush, fastened onto the hat with a silver clasp. Knitted
calf-walmers sometimes appear in extreme cases, & a leather rucksack worn like a back-pack can be
added. For ladies, an ankle-length gathered skirt & a blouse under a fitted vest, usually with silver buttons
or a range of sizes & shapes, is topped off with a knitted jacket & a protective ½ apron over the skirt.
Young women (mostly waitresses, shop assistants, bar attendants) have short-sleeved, low-necked
blouses, often with lace around the edges. Shoes are leather & slipper like. No doubt it worked well when
the men were tending the sheep/goats/cows & the women were in the kitchen cooking schweinhaxe &
wiping toddlers’ noses, but it looks very artificial & dated in the urban setting, or like a statement about
belonging to a tribe. Sometimes it can work, when for example, a man wears the jacket with jeans or
trousers, or a woman has a long winter skirt & jacket, but the calf-walmers & the apron & the lederhosen
really should be pensioned off, & often are – there are 2 nd hand shops in Füssen full of the stuff. I suppose
it may be a desire to keep tradition alive in an ever increasingly Americanized world (the kids here are all
dressed like gangsta-rappers, or Goths, or the adolescents you see on American sit-coms – in that respect
they have more in common with their Italian, German, Swiss & Australian counterparts than they have
with their elders) or it may be an attempt to identify “us” as opposed to “them” (though in Bavaria & in
Tirol we havent seen a big “them” population as there is in Italy). However I suppose its on a par with the
increasing practice in Oz of running up the damn flag, & not everyone takes part, so the brain-washing
hasn’t developed into anything to worry about yet. (27/8/09. here’s some info from
http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/tracht-tradition.htm about Tracht: “Once upon a time in the Alps, Emperor Charlemagne
was out with a hunting party consisting of some of the noblest knights in his empire. They were all dressed in valuable clothing made
of fine fabrics like silk, beautifully embroidered - only the Emperor himself wore the plain clothing of a peasant. Charlemagne was so
upset about his knight′s pretentiousness and their need to show off their wealth, that he made them ride up and down the Alps, through
forests and swamps, over cliffs and mountain tops, all day long. When they finally arrived at a chateau late at night, all the noblemen
were dirty, bleeding and their clothes had turned into rags. Only the Emperor was still fine and his warm coat was unharmed - made
of the local loden cloth. People in Austria tell this story when they want to convince you that Austrian "Tracht" or traditional clothing
is superior to other fashion. Historically, the rather coarse fabrics and materials that are used for tracht - wool, linen, leather and alike
- were indeed mostly worn by peasants. Nobility could afford more refined cloths, but the common people had to use materials that
were durable and easy to clean. Unsurprisingly, it was indeed hunting parties that were the first to copy the style of the common
people: Not only Charlemagne, but also Emperor Maximilian I was keen on "local wear". A "Sommerfrische" vacation in the
Salzkammergut, Salzburg or Tyrol became hugely fashionable in the late 19th century. The aristocracy from Vienna loved the hills
and lakes - and the traditional clothing. Fashion designers started to draw inspirations from traditional clothing and gave rise to
"Trachtenmode". At the same time, academics tried to learn more about genuinely traditional clothing by doing research in it. And
soon societies for the preservation of folk culture (many of them with dubious pan-Germanic ideas) popped up. Two tanners of
Salzburg, Josef and Johann Jahn, developed a new technique to dye lederhosen and make them look old and used. The company Jahn-
Markl is still big and among the most traditional in Austria′s lederhosen industry. Other designers created new styles of the Dirndl
dress. Within a few years, tracht became socially accepted as formal wear, at least in Western Austria. Following the collapse of the
Empire in 1918, both Tracht (traditional clothing) and Trachtenmode (fashion inspired by traditional clothing) were not forgotten. The
"Salzburger Trachtenbuch" and similar publications presented all the information about traditional styles. When the Salzburg Festival
was first organised in 1920, traditional costumes had found a new catwalk. Many of the artists performing at the festival loved to wear
Tracht ensembles. It was the 1920ies that saw the rise of formalised tracht and the establishment of "Tracht dynasties" - many of the
most important designers in the scene started in those days. Today, Salzburg and the Salzkammergut are the centres of Tracht
manufacturing and trade. Other regions that are big in the business are Bavaria, Tyrol, Styria and Carinthia. Authentic Tracht can cost
several thousand Euros - nevertheless, dirndl dresses or lederhosen are among the favourite souvenirs from Austria. Tracht specialist
boutiques occupy spots in some of the most exclusive shopping areas in Salzburg and Vienna.” We farewelled Haus
Reisenauer & are now comfortably settled into a zimmer in the home of Hilda & Leopold Winterberger
(who appear to be about our age but are the proud great-grandparents of a 13month old girl), Malerweg
108, 4830 Hallstatt, tel. 06134/8529, Osterreich, which has “2 Zweibettzzimmer, davon 1 Balkonzimmer, Garten –
Liegewiese – Zentraheizung – Parkplatz, TV im Zimmer”. They both speak a little English, so we are not completely
at a loss as to what’s going on as we were with Frau Hobel in Fussen & Frau Reisenauer in Bad Ischl. We
spent most of the day walking a theme trail in the Echerntal Valley, described like this on the brochure
advertising it: “The painters, men of letters and natural beauty of this area form the subject of this theme trail. First you will see
pure nature, wild mountain streams (the Waldbach), waterfalls (the Waldbachstrub), and then the natural wonders of kettle
holes and so-called glacial mills (the Gletschergarten). Then we will show you people who have come to the Echerntal.
Emperors (Franz Josef & Sissi who visited in 1865 – he wrote “The day before yesterday just Sissi & I had a lovely outing
in magnificent weather … After we had eaten we went to the Waldbackstrub. The valley was superbly illuminated and of the freshest
green; all that spoilt it were a number of halfwits, as always, and a new civilization which is highly inappropriate in this beautiful
region.”) and kings, explorers (most notably Friedrich Simony 1813-96 who recorded the previously unknown
world of the Dachstein mountain complex in drawings, paintings & photographs, which were circulated in
the Viennese Court & helped to popularize the area as a tourist venue), ramblers, cavers, hunters and poachers. The
most important painters of the Austrian Romantic period and the Biedermeier (Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller 1793-1865,
Jakob Alt 1789-1872, Rudolf von Alt 1812-1905, Anton Schrodl 1823-1908, Johan Christoph Erhard 1795-

106
1822, Friedrich Gauermann 1807-1862, Adalbert Stifter 1805-1868, Friedrich Simony 1813-1896, Franz
Steinfeld 1787-1868, Ferdinand Muhlbacher 1844-1921, Anton Schiffer 1811-1876, Franz Eybl 1806-1880,
Johann Fischbach 1797-1871) set up their easels here. This was the area for the Romantics of the 19 th century.” It certainly
lived up to the hype: the mountains are huge & jagged, the waterfalls spectacular & the forests mossy &
green. John took heaps of photos trying to capture what the 19th century Romantics tried to paint. He’ll get
some really good ones which will do the place justice, though its very hard to get the shifts of light & the
spray of water across the face of the mountains. This area – Hallstatt & the Dachstein Mountain – are a
UNESCO World Heritage Area (being celebrated Friday 26 – Sunday 28th June with a World Heritage
Festival) & has a history going back 7000 years connected with salt mining in the Salzberg (950m/asl)
above the town. There were stone age, bronze age, iron age & Roman settlements in the area &
archeological finds confirm Celtic settlement. “The Hallstatt Age” describes the period 8th – 6th century BC.
Mountains here are high eg. 1151m., 2108m., & the Dachstein is a little short of 3000m. H just  “r u
misn nithn?” t  kood v nithn th@  woz misn so ♀ gav mi m wedn O wch ♀d just fownd
nth wosh asn nth toilt wr  hd wosht m ndrp erlir nth evnn. Td sliptoff mi sop . Twoz m
n10shn 2 kot nBlakBlak (&t uu2 mn) noshn vGOD nhu 4m 2nt koz tz frd & d  Ot
lrst frd so 1 wood folo thuthr nth nxt ishu vth Days ( Friday) m hopn kn pusht 4
thndv 2009 - t  n othrd! (28/6/09. nsted  Sunday 28/6/09).
3/7/09. €4.80 (2 unn & rioche) + €4.90 ( x2) + €2 (½kg aprkott) + €4.56
(sprmrkt spl) + €6.70 (  & nonlKOO  @ Gasthaus Stadt Linz nth Hauptplatz nEnns) +
$2 ( 4 15mn @ Hotel Lauriacum -  rr) + €7.80 ( osna osna (x3)  s tstorl nxt2
thturm nth platz) + €30 ( 4 s@rd nt) + €5.20 (wn 4 mi & krm 4 H) = €65.96. We did a 10k
round walk into the countryside which was very pleasant – there were many extremely large farmhouses
each built as a square with a big central courtyard set among chequerboard fields sown with wheat,
potatoes, silverbeet, sunflowers & orchards. We saw a deer jumping through a wheat-field (like kangaroos
& emus in Oz) & flushed 2 big pheasants in another field as well as a very large bird that we didn’t get a
good look at. The weather was warm but humid with strong sun in the arvo before the sky darkened again
around 5pm, though the rain has held off. Enns used to be called Lauriacum & was a castrum (military
settlement) during the 2nd & 3rd century. There are Roman foundations under the Basilika St Laurenz,
which we visited yesterday, where archeological finds (wall paintings, artifacts) have been transferred to
the museum. (30/8/09. “The civilian town of Lauriacum was a bit outside of today′s Enns, but
you can still chase its traces in the St Laurenz Basilika. It might be a 15-minute-walk
to get there, but it is pretty amazing to learn how the current basilica was built on the
foundations of a Roman temple. Parts of the Roman walls are incorporated in the
church as the Romans turned Christian - it remained a church ever since and traces of
the centuries can be found in different parts of the building. Probably nothing
particularly fancy for an Italian, but considering that this is Austria, it′s bloody
fascinating!" – www.tourmycountry.com/austria/enns.) St. Laurence, St. Florian (a prayer to him
in Austria pleads: “O heiliger St. Florian verschon mein Haus, zünd andre an" , translating to "O
holy Saint Florian, spare my house, kindle others", appropriate as he is the patron saint of
firefighters, but not very Christian in sentiment; he’s also the patron saint of chimneysweeps (see
22/5/09)) (17/10/09. now yor plagrn m stl!) & St. Severin feature on the walls of the Basilika. St.
John Nepomuk features near the river (as he does on bridges in Bad Ischl & Gmunden) but we first met
him in Spitz in 2007(see 22/6/07). Used the internet corner (a telephone box-sized cubicle) at the Hotel
Lauriacum as we did yesterday, to check on the outcome of the Collingwood/Essendon game. It costs €2
for the first 15 minutes & 50c each 5 minutes thereafter. It’s the only internet point in the old town & at
€7/hour is chasing Salzburg as the Internet Rip-Off of the trip. It also shows that tourism is not yet a major
factor in the town’s economy as there is only one machine available. At least in Gmunden there were 5
machines in the self-service internet centre although it was expensive too. Compare Füssen where the info
centre allowed 15 minutes free usage on its terminal & there were others around town as well. Thmmriov
th 4 horntt Enns ntt cherchcherch, pu lik monutt, & 2rst roshurr. Ls so thmmri vth 
vMAUTHAUSEN knsn ashn onli r short dst rwa † th rj wr thrvr Enns joinn thDonau
(25/9/09. From http://remember.org: “On August 8, 1938, just a few weeks after the Nazi
occupation of Austria, prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, were
transferred to the Austrian town of Mauthausen, near Linz. ¶ They were brought to the
rock quarry there, known as the "Wiener Graben", where they began to build the granite
fortress-prison of the main camp, mostly with their blood, bodies, bare hands and backs.
It was known as the “mother camp” for all of Austria, comprising some 49 sub-camps.
Between Aug. 8, 1938 and May 5, 1945, about 195,000 persons, men and women, were
forced into these camps. Most of the people were imprisoned under the Nazi “protective

107
custody” laws, that is, they were considered dangerous to the Third Reich of Germany
and Austria, and therefore, these two nations, now joined, had to be “protected” from
these people because of their racial origin, nationality, political affiliation or religious
belief. It should be noted that Austria contributed more volunteers for the SS, per capita,
than did Germany. ¶ The Mauthausen camp was one of the most infamous in the entire
Nazi alternate universe of human destruction. Many people, most of whom were
innocent of any crimes, were tortured to death in its rock quarry, and in the tunnels of
Mauthausen-Gusen, the most infamous of the sub-camps. The policy of death through
work was instituted by Chief of SS, Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler. Prisoners were to be
given only the most primitive tools, and also, whenever possible, they were to work with
their bare hands. This policy was known as “Primitivbauweise”. In Mauthausen it resulted
in a harsh, stone world, deprived of any human kindness and compassion. It is there
today still... sitting on a small mountain-top in the astonishingly beautiful and bucolic
Austrian countryside, maintained by the Austrian government.” & from Wikipedia: “In
January 1945, the camps, directed from the central office in Mauthausen, contained
roughly 85,000 inmates. The death toll remains unknown, although most sources place
it between 122,766 and 320,000 for the entire complex. The camps formed one of the
first massive concentration camp complexes in Nazi Germany, and were the last ones to
be liberated by the Western Allies or the Soviet Union. The two main camps, Mauthausen
and Gusen I, were also the only two camps in the whole of Europe to be labelled as
"Grade III" camps, which meant that they were intended to be the toughest camps for
the "Incorrigible Political Enemies of the Reich". Unlike many other concentration camps,
intended for all categories of prisoners, Mauthausen was mostly used for extermination
through labour of the intelligentsia, who were educated people and members of the
higher social classes in countries subjugated by the Nazi regime during World War II. ” For
more of the the ghastly details see http://www.mauthausen-memorial.at/). nn rnomor ♪d 4 rmm rn
thr komplit (& slnn) nth  vth  thn litlaninn. 2thr kredt thrr 2 rochurr nth   njer, 1
+vrtn thMAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL & thuthr owt n th hs ov th lagerr. 1v th11 shown O
WIEN mt th t zit lager w (mum, Rasa, mi) wrn n1944.  must rks mum (8/12/09. “Arunai, I am
not sure that I remember rightly. I think it was STRASSHOF Durchganglager. Strasshof
was the township with the train station about 25 km from Wienna (possibly north). ¶
Thank you for the very impressive portrait of Kate. ¶ Looking forward to seeing you at
Christmas. m.”) fni vth namm O r : Wien-Floridsdorf, Wien-Saurerwerke, Wien-
Schewnchat, Wien-Hinterbüht, Wiener Neudorf, Hirtenberg. Tma ♀♀ shnd thnam n♀r
 & tma th t zitlagerr longd 2r dfr sstm.  hv th prsport wthth sm ishud nth .
Thnam ma nth prsport. l chek  nMELBOURNE (17/10/09. hav yet).  2 MAUTHAUSEN: tz
pos th ☼☼ vth  vMAUTHAUSEN flotd thDonau – w must hop Johanne Nepomuk, pa n
vm@ pertann 2 rvrr eed thair jerni 2 th.
10/7/09 ( p3). 4 4owrr wl Birutė pldus wth 1drfuli tast  & Rimas took evri
opr♪♫t 2top owr br&i  ♂ woz onthf t nth m@r vth  v . ♂ ns8d thto &  hd evn
shnd nor dd  rn thevnn th@ erlir nth da  hd vztd thSINAGOG & worn rYARMULKE. Birutė
got su li nkshus ♀ KOn td r pretxt 2takus owt 2 thgrdn 2 +mr thflowrr nkas thdskushn,
1s thotwoz, over♂td.  suspkt twoz r prmedt8d rsponrs 2m   orlwaa e  ♂m tho ♂
dd rfer 2t xept 11 z woz levn. m uu2 litlaninn fndn m  rchlnj & konf t10 t thvem
v♂♂ rspons tookmi  serpr. ♂ d rgutt & akuzashnn   hd n poot 2 longrgo.
 wo rpet thm h zv dlt wth orlvt 4. t wwr oth sivlzd nuff 2levthfld rnskathd.  got ♂m
2 x rfu vth termm uud nth rtkl onm frthr nth Lietuvos Kariuomenės Karininkai 1918-1953. R
yung ♀ na r us 2 m & wr  prtd kmpni wth Rimas promsn 2  onm  2VILNIUS onth
5th & 6th vorgust. Twoz 10.30pm z nth door @th & & th♀ @th dsk h&d mi r♪  Andrius K. 2
giv ♂m rO. ♂ & r♀ relo wr havn rdrnk nth pu † throd so  joindm 4 r .  woz nth & rftr
mdnt & rna 2go2 slep 4 mostv thnt 2 ovr  & ovr stmulashn. Th? hangg ovrmi zhow 2
reakt 2th konflk10 r gvn nth vol 8 vth Karininkai … & nm mumm  Elena’s Journey.
oth r kn rong - t tha nt oth . Fm frthr weld m prgn mum nr  

108
nKAUNAS 2gv  2mi (19/8/41) ♂ kood hv n si10 nr priznrvwor nHammelburg tl thndv ’41. &
nuthr thng: y duz thn on ♂♂ rothr Juozas fal 2shn th@ ♂ spnt y nSIBERIA & woz
rdklaird “enemy of the people”? How rlr r thee rezuméé nth mpozn vol 8 hvir thn r
rik?  4 am ….  suspkt sum ut li smpl xashn wl fownd: lk r10 & paa10 err nr . R
zw8i zths pushd  rnashnl muuem karee su orthort nth  vr naev pu lk 2mak or brak
reputashnn.  rsum m mum wl dm& rwthdrorl vni nkorkt m@eril & ma r re akshn (21/1/10.
t @ x-mas ♀  ♀ wood k1 KOz ♀ KOod r 4 orlv ♂♂ wer rn thlrst y vWW2
(“… I have just finished reading your “Friday”. I took a longish time to read because
there were pages that took much longer to decipher than others and I wanted to
understand. I found it not only interesting but also moving and rewarding …” e 
mum ys d)). Nlk me ♀ vluu ♀r pu lk pro - ♀♀ rrekgnd  wthr  woz nth 10 slrr
nMELBOURNE 4 rwk & nr rko n lst 4rwl vth Vic En Dprtt. Hmm …. Thn   wlfth
nu r hdni uth nt tz so d @ dv ♀rd @ lest sumv th werdd sum nr lf ma rn
nrgut or sumfn so m nk d 2favr thorjnl 1 …. Thn  krakt thridl  rekn.  vr nos & lojkl
xashn 2do wth wot mt hv n konvni 2  ndokutashn rn thwor orsoonrf & et
m rt t  othrd xn ztwood tak 2dtald nxashn 4 ni1 2 n td. l hv2
chktowt wth mum wn  get (18/10/09. wldoot @ xmas nSYDNEY) …. Tz 8pm & m @ th ls &
utfl  vth most f , sukssfl & wlthi mm r vth ŽIŽYS klan v evr met - & r r 2! Wv  th
 thservsn & t mudgrdd & sekurit (kost 120lt). Thz g& goo OK. Th trr rvri f@ grip
 trr makkt hrd2 pdl t safr 2 . Aistė, hoo takk rmost riys n st nth jnelg vth ŽIŽYSS hz
mad mi fl glt  n r perfkt hosts & givn mi r utfl LAUKTUVE ttld: Unseen Lithuania. Album
on Video  Marius Jovaiša.  do giv LAUKTUVEE. m  nr room wthr v dr.  kn h
♀r usln O makn . Mečys iz  orgnn 4 th p ovr thweknd ( 4 me & Andrius K lev
nth rdvnchr nmund) – wlev @ thkrakv☼. t  hv d u yt O thmost mport nuu yt: H e
2 whv rnuthr gr&chl onthwa. K8t zxpk10 njanuri.
17/7/09.  put  wrdd ths j feln vintmrsi ovrkam mi z thru thmud prst
thBOBA ( Tuesday 22/7/04) & Oth∟2 thyrd. Tz just th@ v spnt so much  h td 
Vaidas zf  woz 1v ♂♂ ruthrr & zf  woz  Brigita 2. How i owrr hv  spnt wth Vaidas
st&n O th 2 therli mornn ☼? woz  nths yrd, & swolod rwasp stung mi tw nth wa
mi throt & et.  hdr mmr dskushn hwth Gintas lrstd 2-3 daa. Tz n   1st xpri
t thPIRTI (lrst nt me, &drius, Audrius (& yung ☼ Rapolas, oth takn nakdns kmpletle 4 g td) &
Vaidas hdr mamoth sshn rn  hd 4 prolongd mershnn nth Šešuola folon thsuprhetd sshnn nth
PIRTI – r rekord 4 mi) & tt rso8d nn. Thonle wa  kn 2r 4t zth@ rn m 1st vztt O
6yrgo now  woz nnmoshnli 10d st8 koz twoz m 1st  2 (& UROPR) & m frthrr
TĖVIŠKE (vorijn). &  supoz tt opor♪♫ 4mi 2let m  (HA! HA! HA! HA! (18/10/09. t 
get ‘hitt’ on th  now)) 2 m thi 2 th  r v♂♂ wrOO nth 2nd ½ v1941 (ie mmumm
n Elena’s Journey & thverzhn nVol 8 v Lietuvos Kariuomenės Karininkai 1918-1953 (
Wednesday 8/7/09)):  et m lrst $ th npdr hz tt verzhn  thdokoo m frthr fldowt wn ♂ got
thjob nth USvA aa @ BAD KISSINGEN wnwr nth DP rf WW2. Twoodv n n+v aj 2
uwr si10 nr priznrvwor rn th@ krtkl priod nth ♂♂ v ….  2th prz : &drius z  
2fnd ♂♂ unkll g v 30kk rwa ( rf n  prtznn). ♂l  2nt. Vaidas & Antanas
Grybas ( - nd le  fownd 2 ut BARAVYKAI (PORCINI) ys d nx2 thBOBA) rwerkn nth fram
vth nu . @  (1pm) m wth Antanas 2  hullo 2Milda (♂♂/♀) & 2  sum frsh milk (tha milk 1
nth midlvthda). Myglė hz ♀r pod & on. m  wth Brigita. Sk kl; daa mld. Tt
12.15…. nd li Myglė znow much torlr thn Brigita & m prognoss 4♀r hz n proovd rong - ♀♀
machurd & znow qt svlzd, ezi 2getonwth; anas ( ) z rf n awa 2k@ch r hd
brokn loos tt tthr; tt rsoprfk rf noon…. Twoz O 30°c 2da & &drius z rf doon 70kk - ♂ fownd
thg v & t mi r 10lt rechrj d. ♂♂ drnkn n Švyturys drk (& now nuthr1 (1/2 l )) ….. l8r w
stood O th 2 thnt (&drius wnt  1st). & thsz th nsr 2th ? Vaidas pozd  th – tz
IMMORAL 2 rvoidi ♀rt/chet r♀/♂nr koz uthrw THE WORD wood looloo tt MEANING.

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 24/7/09. (27/7/09. 8 full vred (RAUDONU SERBENTU), blak
(JUODU SERBENTU), chree (VYŠNIU); Vaidas & rwerkn nth roof, Brigita zklk10 ♀r ; Gintas
 nth am - ♂l vzt 2moro so v got2 fnsh thee ♪♫ so wkn soshrl (me10 ♂m woz 1v thamm vth
p); v pord mslf rvŽalias 999;  kontnu wthth t shn vm ♪♫  th p): ys d wnw wr
drnkn thPELINO TRAUTKINE ( rort  sileika@gmail.com) Stasys  2da ♂d show mi thpl wch
gvv thflavr & ♂ dd. N tt orlso nonz METYLIS. T lk thwood nowr grdn nIvanhoe. Hn
ukn t nkmst shopp 4 mdnl perpozz. Yes,  , tt thsam absinthe d k  rtstt nth kaféé
v19th snchri La Belle France n Gay Paree.  “”  Brigitaa kopv Encyclopedia of Herbal
Medicine: “WORMWOOD. Artemesia absinthium (Asteraceae) ¶ One of the truly bitter
plants – absinthium means without sweetness – wormwood has a strong tonic effect on
the digestive system, especially on the stomache & gallbladder. It is taken in small
doses and sipped, the intensely bitter taste playing an important part in its therapeutic
effect. In the past, wormwood was one of the main flavourings of vermouth (whose
name derives from the German for wormwood). ¶ Stimulates secretion of bile. Anti-
inflammatory. Eliminates worms. Eases stomach pain. Mild antidepressant … ¶
Absinthe. Wormwood is the source of absinthe, an addictive and toxic drink favoured in
19th century France. Flavoured with wormwood essential oil, absinthe was toxic owing to
its high level of thujone. Thujone is a nerve stimulant that is safe at low dosages but
toxic in excess … useful medicine …. improves digestion and the absorption of nutrients,
making it helpful for many conditions including anemia … eases gas and bloating, as its
name suggests, wormwood is a traditional remedy for eliminating worms … a good
insecticide … anti-inflammatory action makes it useful for infections…” L8r w n.
Stasys ( lud prsshr rort  230/130  160/105 ( Wednesday 28/5/09)) fownd 12
BARAVYKAI (thmost prd n ) &  fownd 2. ♂ kon md th@ thd n hn nth mornn woz
r k n (GERVĖ) – thtorlst  n . Mor , orl sumhow rl8d rvd wth kidd. N fu  O  rv wthn
owrr  orlovr thcunt . Tt vri soshl & th@@ howtt hnRIMEISIAI (wr m stan & ) evri weknd.
Stasys mad rt l (n ) FREUDIAN SLIP: ♂  Anwar Sadat woz d  th.  dt owt & d
♂m Sadat woz d  muzlm x mstt.  promst 2 e rkopv Friday wnt kumm owt hopfle 4
xmas. Tha doo 1v thee tas pp evri y - ♂ gav mi nopn nvtashn & orlso 2vzt @ ♂♂ 
nKAUNAS.  hv mor nvtashnn thn  kn pok rs@. M  r CONMAN? t thmost x ordnri ev
vth O x ordnri p woz thmprovd PIRTIS kns td  Audrius & Tadas. Twoz majkl t 
wo @mt2 dt – werdd fal mi &f  gav naku t r u stl kood majnt or wood ev mi. So
lett levt @th@ 2 ndof thn .
31/7/09. Took oli  .  @th mrkt. wr trd rf ys daa . d O:
Rasa K wl  nxt wek. t rkomrdashn 4 ☼d 2 – thrzd 6 @ thplaa  wozn wn  1st kam2
nd th

VILNIUS. 1drd O. 8 rsmorl servv kaldūnai (18/10/09. @ ♣ nErrol st.Nth.Melb.2da thahd cepelinai
4 ) & t rsmorl flrsk vPelino Trauktine ( 24/7/09 ) r uli hor (47%) drnk now th@ m
nolongr nr p. Dd r long  sshn - d m lrst p rport (8/9/09. thswozt: “Final report from
LT (ozzie litho slang 4 lithuania) ¶ Back in Vilnius in the ritziest burb (Valakupiai) in LT
rfter riding through villages were many men spend their days out of work standing about
drinking by the general store. The HAVS critisize the HAVNOTS - depressing. Parted
company with Andrius a few days ago. Fell off me bike when a dog tackled me: minor
damage. The ride turned in2 r week long canoe expedishion when we accepted an
unnexpected invitation. 23 children & adults paddling 7 canoes weighed down with a
week of provisions through lakes & river (The 'Holy' river which joins m) wind, rain, &
wot usually turned out a perfect evening 4 the nightly bivouac - it woz beautifull. There
woz: a 1&rharf year old infant; several gr&parents (rmongm r professor & an rsosi8d
professor of lektrikl engineern); a man (Tadas: lectures architecture students in Kaunas)
who woz naked 4 the entire time day & night except 4 r pairov flimsy speedos (4/2/10.
nOZ orlso nonz budgie smugglers). He woz more suntanned than i m. Sometimes he'd tap
or rearrange the furniture - reminded me of southern italy. His wife & 6 kids were there
too; a woman (Zita: pulled out 2 tiks4 me) who was a master @ cooking 4 large groups

110
with delicious daily improvisations making use of any forest produce gathered on the
site; avery categorical individualist (Audrius: he invited us) who found an outlet 4 his
supressed rage with furious axemanship when in an 8kstretchov rvr which took 5 hours
(2 of continuous downpoor) 2 navig8 wehad to cut our way through logs up2 10inchs
thick on 4 occassions. Therewas the admiral (Stasys: penchant 4 cosmological
reflections) whos directline 2 higher powers allowed him 2 organise the weather just so
th@ wehad the right balance between adventure & rest&recreation. After periodsof high
drama quality spirits (bottled) materialized as if from nowhere with explanations th@ the
herbs used 2 flavour them had various specific medicinal attributes (ah those littlanians!
- youll never change m -theyll always believe wotever suits m eg: Arvydas (prof) assured
me th@the delicious pork fat we were always eating only contained the GOOD
cholesterol ; Stasys (assoc. prof) who has been in egypt told me th@Anwar Sadat had
been killed by the izraelies) & they did succeed in reviving mine though 1 night i got so
drunk (& tired i suppose) th@ I PISSED MYSELF (or tipped over the plastic bottle i use so i
wouldnt have 2go outside (enlarged prost8)) - the 'Pelino Trauktine' may have been
2blame: it is flavoured with the same wormwood th@ 19th cent. French artists usued 2
drink in Parisian cafes in a drink called 'Absinthe' & which Stasys found plants of growing
near by from which i have a sample 2 take back to good'ole ozzie ozzie ozzie where
magpies warble & kookaburras chuckle. How did you like th@ long sentence? The piece
de resistance however was the improvised PIRTI (sauna) devised by Tadas & Audrius
which necessitated burning a whole tree 2 heat large stones over an afternoon till they
changed colour & then placing a STANDARD ZIPUPTENT over the top 2 contain the
steam!!! Tadas said it wouldnt melt & it didnt. The project was sufficiently INSANE 2
make it the most majical experience of my stay in LT. ¶ Seeja back in Melbourne. ¶
a...z”. Told H no2 tp wl ♀ hzr k . ♀r  zmor mport 2mi thnm . Tgot kold &  onli hd
mi gren sherton so  hd2 . Set th berglr rlrm off wn  stept nth dor: thklnn ♀ mustv nn & resett
- d s tt off. Yes! Nevr tak rVILNIUS sumr 4 g td – Napoleon lost rlotv ♂r rn nunxpktd
kold snap nthwa  MASKVA (8/9/09. ♂rr nn s10 rl O th re t  MASKVA vr VILNIUS 
Spiegel Online International 28/7/2009: “Stephan Talty, American author, reconstructs
the medical history of Napoleon's doomed Russian campaign in his new book "The
Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army."
Talty carefully documents why 400,000 men never made it home. Like few historians
before him, he illuminates the critical role of a tiny enemy: the louse. ¶ In the end, the
army's back was broken by neither the Cossacks nor the merciless Russian winter but
rather by typhus exanthematicus, spread by crawling parasites. That's the conclusion of
an investigation that began in 2001 with a gruesome discovery: A mass grave containing
2,000 corpses in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. ¶ At first, excavators guessed the victims
were killed by the KGB, or were Jews killed during the German occupation. But by
examining belt buckles and uniform buttons with regimental numbers on them,
archaeologists unraveled the mystery. The dead, it turned out, were soldiers of
Napoleon's Grand Army. ¶ Researchers took DNA samples from the teeth of the dead
men. Further lab analysis revealed that many of the hastily-buried bodies carried
pathogens consistent with what was known in Napoleon's era as "war plague." ¶
Miserable hygiene paved the way for widespread outbreaks of lice. Within 10 to 14 days,
the first signs of infection -- high fever and crippling headaches -- began to emerge.
Soon chills and exhaustion set in. Victims developed severe rashes and swelling; by the
end they were so weak they could barely lift a glass of water. ¶ Today, doctors easily
treat the infection with antibiotics. But apart from bloodletting, herbs and a mixture of
wine, water and a bit of lemon juice, doctors in Napoleon's era had no effective remedy
for the disease. Napoleon's chief doctor, Dominique-Jean Larrey, struggled to explain the
mass deaths. The best he could come up with was constant rain, physical exhaustion
and spoiled schnapps. ¶ By the time Napoleon's army reached Moscow, his weakened
troops were in no shape to conquer the city. On October 19, 1812, Napoleon turned the
diseased army around and headed for home. ¶ On the way back, starving, feverish
soldiers descended on Vilnius like zombies. Desperate for food, some tried to eat

111
formaldehyde-soaked specimens from the city's university laboratories.”). m gon stairr
2 thna r wthth  2 how th wnt vs th …. t  got thda rong – tha pla 2moro. & v
justhd rful  & rvri hlthi1 @th@ wth plntov frsh vegg. Th ♀♀ namz Irena, do no ♀r sernam. ♀ noo
mi 2 Aistės unkl. AM  R CONMAN? (8/9/09. That’s the second time you’ve asked (see Friday
24/7/09). Let’s see – what are the characteristics of a conman? (tick the boxes if & where appropriate):
Charming Talented Plausible Articulate Secretive Risk taker Egocentric Controlling
Manipulative Compulsive Strategic Exploitative Lacking in empathy/sympathy for victim. More
than 4 ticks & you’ve got your answer! (17/10/09. onli 4! – wot ryr fu morl?) Other great synonyms for
Conman are : “barracuda, bilker, bunco, cheater, clip artist, con artist, crook, deceiver,
fleecer, flimflammer, fraud, grifter, hoser, hustler, mountebank, scam artist, scammer,
shark, sharpie, smoothie, spinner, swindler” – http://thesaurus.reference.com) Ma ths jnerot
znflunst  thglo th@  r. m gon 4r 2pervon th lvv vth privljd nVILNIUS …. WOW: lrj 
rmung machur    v utfl .   rHUMMER 4x4 prkt nr drv. Y doo such td
yung  wthowt chldrn, lk Aistė & Mečys ned rpr ku 11/wek – thrz 0 2doo h?!
7/5/09. VILNIUS (@ thport  woz tapt nth sholdr  thDunda ♀/♂ nthr wa 
Canada. Ben uu2 d8 thr dor )  VIENNA (- €200  ankom@). Kafé @ Café Griensteidl (
Sunday 5/7/09). “Helen ¶ 3 cafes recommended to me by Pieter Klopf, Vienna’s Chief
Planner, as being typical but very good, Viennese cafes. We only got to Café Eiles, it was
great. The strudel was decadent. You wont find other tourists here, and all within easy
walking distance of the Post. ¶ Café Sperl. Gumpendorf str 11 ¶ Café Tirol, Lerehenfelder
str 9c-98/1 ¶ Café Eiles, Jozefstadter str 2.” Took th+v vth e  Eglė & hd 2 sangrerr @
Café Eiles wl   The International Herald Tribune. D k r w  @ ☼ nth
Volksgarten ( Sunday 5/7/09). Dd njoi th alé & ♪♫ @th flm fstvl @th Rathaus so wnt 2
thHotel Post rlong thGraben (wr  8 r würstl mit senf). Tz rhot nt & WIEN zchokr wth  @
11pm. Goodnt.
23/4/10 (). 12.7kk Nv Glendambo (snn †n th nr 2 THE
GREEN ZONA thrr plnt vH2O ndprshnn  thwa & onth dert  ledn rwat t twoo stl r
serpr wn rf  @  lrst nt  wOZ setupon  swORmm vsmORl 10 mOZee. 
 ni H2O O h nth dzrt skru wr m  -  et tha do  th 2rstt Ot. Yes,
rr, m r mizra  kndv GD, onr jerni 2 m dkreptud/dsn g shn. m n
ds=i rim, owtv  wth m srOnn. Ma tt KOrr  hv 0 2 & th hz kum r BUROK
trrk vfnshnoff r long (5 ynow) projkt (2/7/10.  wrmd 2th trsk t.) Ma tt th lKOO - 
d k 3 stu onth  ys d rvo. Ma m just g10 OLD. 7.30am -  4 am & th !! R

n @mi r  .)   Coober Pedy ( & /toot; p l; msj  H &  lft1 
♀r;  lv nth   Joe: Reid n Presti owt 4 thANZAK da t klash vs rr; told
SAN&I GA O th  Nv Glendambo 4 ♂♂ p n t munth wthth stud )  
Marla (stu )  Kulgera (stu
 )   20kk Nv Kulgera (O 300 yrdd 
thwa @ 1v thm n4ml stt nth skru no longr get uud  thmodrn 2rst. Thrr + kndv
pumpn stashn h protd  8 d wr fnn wth r ♪: “KEEP OUT ¶ Private Property of
r
SABADIN PETROLEUM & N.T. POLICE DEPT. ¶ Unauthorized Persons Will Be Prosecuted.” & thr
no mOZee sofr.)
30/4/10. Woodlands  @ Redlands Gorge 6.30pm NT . Lft @ 8.30 @
4.30. 2dAZ wOZ thprfkt 
: ovr th onth E sd vth gORj 2 th onth uthr sd. Takk O
1¼ owrr 2 ovr &t yOR  yr lon+ n  1 mgnfs lt t & takn r dip nr
GOOd frakshn vm. Wnt O 200+ m 2 t vth gORj havn 2 (nth nuddy rgn vKOrs)
nfrezn H2O til  GO2 r wr  wOZ shur d a 2  throk owtv thH2O. sdd 

112
wOZ skairdv hpothrmia. n i ll & 2k v+ (uun th10sec 
) 2 p pozhr 4 th1st
v 2u, , how u fl thar. M legg r fn ept 4r twnj nth rt nkl som takn NAPROSIN
1000 4 rfu dAZ & havn neei da 2moro - @2 22 th t. Hd r vri GOOd  vwotwOZ ethr
r♀ Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis) ORr ♂ Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus).  fownd
m old t &aj nth so putt 2th da just nkk. Th@ nu +♂♂v tap v t zr
ts fnd. v tapt 4v mi too & tt gvn mi KOmplet proshn  i. Tt KOrld:
“MULTIFIT: Multifit Easy Fix-Adhesive Bandage:  Colour: white  Hypoallergenic
adhesive underwrap  Ideal for sensitive skin or when taping regularly  Ideal for use
prior to shoulder, knee and ankle strapping  Made from non-woven fabric  Allows for
the evaporation of perspiration  Stretchable.” Ths pro  wish d
t reli werkk - hdt
yrGO. & GUESS WOT : nth sd vth pak t tt mad rt nowr plAZ 
“MULTIFIT SPORTS of 143 Dryburgh ( Wednesday 3/9/08) St. North Melbourne, Vic.
3051” – HOW O TH@! Evn wa owt h nth  vOZ yOR stl n rf mi. THANKK .
7/6/10. Woodlands  @ Redlands Gorge. (@ pm wOZ vztd rgn x
Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens) v th♂ zrguri thmost mgnfs vORl th ). 2da
 2 th 4th lrst  2 bID GOOd  2th gr8 ll @th n 2 thgORj.  thg
Honeyeater rgn &  tmust nnreKOr sp v Lichenostomus unicolor z rvagr
t livv h nachrli. t  wOZ most td  rprol..o..n..gd  vr v Dusky Grasswren
(Amytornis purnelli) wr qt old. Rl mOR rmrkk n6ul dk & ajn: ajn LATINO 
(eg Gabriel Marquez) & rtstt njnrl mak thmslvv ri ulrr wth thr 6ul KO  thr pathe
ned 2 ig♪ thmslvv - proi r KULTURAL m @v. Most vrr r nkshz nth to sot 12t get r sns
ds shn. Z4 ajn, nth v OBLIVION, most pr 2 rman nr STATE OF DENIAL. Th me r
n ajj thDELUSION.  hvno nklnashn 2 suchr FOOl t. Oyair, z wOZ hvn  ( v
spr@@ & 2 OR gg) rf vBudgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) wr l&n @ rn 
l 4thr mida drnk - t 4 tha hdr ch 2 thad me & off rgn. & 2moro m n off 
Redlands Gorge, prapp 4evr.
14/5/10. This is how I spend my nights: my mattress consists of a swag with a 1” foam
rubber mattress in it laid on a base of wooden sl @@. Its pretty hard as the foam rubber is well & t
ly compacted by now, but I like a firm . On top I have an old my is only mode
ly warm as the filling in it has also compacted because in warm conditions I sleep with the bag
underneath me. The bag is very com4table on the n being cotton on the outside & flanno ing
inside. I h8 SINthe against me n as I sleep naked. The bag is ¾ unzipped on the
side facing the inside of the van – more on th@ in a mom . On the bag lies a very colourful t
deco ed with a of macaws (Ara macao) in a jungle setting with the words COSTA RICA †
the bottom. The purpose of the t is to absorb the PISS DRIBBLE. My enlarged PROSTATE
GL& is responsi 4 causing me 2 PISS about 5  /nt & no matter how careful I am (each
nt I put a new tissue within easy reach in the open end of a tubular section of the tubular aluminium
is part of the frame of Helens ) the last drop or two GOO  . Over the colourful t
is another even older is completely unzipped and used as a covering anket: it has a
SINthe filling has broken down to such a degree it hardly retains heat @ all. Its under this

113
anket I begin the nt as my metabolism after a day of is pumping out too much heat to allow
me to t in the main bag underneath. Next to the on the floor of the st&& the PISS
BOTTLE – a dduud dter bottle with a wide  & sc top. WOT A PONG when u unsc it
(2da @th Trephina GORGE ste  gavt rGOOd rinn)! The temperature here in the centre drops
steeply th out the nt. I have my 1 PISS while still under the light anket. To do it I roll
st

over to the right onto the edge of the & pick the PISS BOTTLE with me right  holding the
opening level with the edge of the under the anket (yes, & th@@ 1v th reenn y th
hAZ 2 ¾ unzipped) & I insert my (aka DIP MY WICK) 2 th vth PISS BOTTLE. What
follows is a PATHETIC LITTLE TRICKLE but I cant PULL ME OUT just yet coz another
PATHETIC LITTLE TRICKLE will follow in  course, in its own good  . But it still wont be the
END OF THE AFFAIR because I know theres more to come with waiting espe y with the help
&s ing of an obscure internal organ will squee owt, with a rest or two in between, another
1or2 PATHE LITTLE TRICKLL (16/6/10. & JESUS how l..o..n..gt takk!). So I go2 sleep – I
don’t know 4 how long but after a while I do know its cooling  more&more & Im hunching myself 

& hugging meself coz I don’t want to wake up (too lazy) but t I also fee another PISS coming on,
PISS no. 2, so I roll over to the edge again, unsc the lid, lift the PISS BOTTLE  being
careful not to lean it too much towards me so as not to tip the PISS in2 the & over meself (
becomes more & more an issue after each PISS as the container fills rn the nt) as I have done
on several occasions particularly when d k. As I lift the container under the flimsy anket my
thighs, y, & chest are bathed by an icy draught & I cant help but wake up properly now – its  to
crawl  2 the lower under the t th the unzipped side. This is a compli ed
procedure involving contortionist twisting and arching so as not to disa the t and anket layers
above and its cold, but Ive become a MASTER OF THE TECHNIQUE. & what a 1derful
snugness greets me when I tuck myself in2 the lower bag has been beautifully warmed by me
having lain on top of it earlier. SNUG AS A BUG IN A RUG. I make small adjustm over my
 & behind me neck to prevent chilly fingers insinuating thems th minor gaps. I  I
could lay like this FOR ALL ETERNITY – this is how Id like 2 - & Im drifting 2 some in
guing dream +venture when I feel ANOTHER PISS COMING ON. And now its really cold outside
and maybe I try to ignore the urge & 2keep on with the dream – but there is no denying PISS
no. 3. You know the procedure by now: a sheet of icy air invades the entire f t vmy body, the
of tissue is getting all soggy, the trickle is pathe. & there are still @ leet 2 more 2 come!!
  rr (mab 55+) I think its  2  this a - I do wo Day in the Life
2staj A
of Ivan Denisovich & the vth vs FREO gam zO2 t. 2da  dd thRidge
Top  Trephina GORGE  John Hayes Waterholes & 8kk rlong th 2th Trephina
GORGE st wr me wOZ .  wo repORt ont z ddt 2yrGO wn  ddt nth
KOmprni vr ept th@   r vO 2ft wOZ r rrust ddrt red nth tail½ & r u,
thKOlr vth stonn nth krek , nth ½. Nth wa 2 ths  (rfu 100yrdd th H2OOO    d)
 t 2 2givm rlift 2wr thad lft thr thuthr sdvth f  KORzwa.  1td m 2 + w8t nth
v th 2nkree th akshn KOz thH2O zvri dep & evn + 4x44 wr hezit8n 2†. & GUESS WOT

114
– 1vth wOZ r  m d t mi &   d m  & n ot mi 2thuthr
zr – POET! ( mustv gvn r 1v m erli  owtt eg. Og nos
8,15,16,20,21,22,25,31). Ha, v met 1v mi  rr n Trephina GORGE ! Now wot DOO u rkn,
  rr, zt OR z t r KOnd  gavm mi www.scribd.com d KOrr wot  relim zr -
O IAC….. “ GOOd ol WOOd 4evr, tha no HOw 2pla thgam…. ”.

21/5/10. Kings Canyon. Msrlanir: da 4 yd r & O3

long †n th n thsmORl nk  n thkanyn – twOZ r swft vn, lth & wOZ
n hr t xr v (Corvus bennetti) r vri cheki O h & ORlso  2stel  
rr; thRICH TOURISTS pa $80 4 8 mnutt (ie $10/mn) f  nth GOOD HELLi
 thkanyn & thdOMm  thsam td pOZishn ztha  TV @ HOM; 2da
so tha kn
 dd rplz  v7owrr 2 thnvr ndn .  wOZ wairn m u shff n
&  hd2 tak moff onli O 1000  2takowt err – GOOd thng thr so eei 2tak
on&off.  wOZ +n m onli 2 + mli frsh (ths mORnn 4 shOR) 2 t vth dnGOO
() & t wOZ ddr d n2 ni. Hd l n v White-winged -wren (Malurus
leucopterus) & Variegated -wren (Malurus lamberti) & ppsv Crimson Chat
(Epthianura tricolor) most v & ORlso kpt flushn Little Button-quail
wr mmrchur
(Turnix velox); wn  wOZ n   undrd 2 th f livn ¼¼ rmostli yrng 4 rr ( i
azhnn) & nnglsh   wOZ sr d 2 n nth zit wOZ r ijnl l&&.   r
twOZ rnashnl prk t nsstd twOZ VERBOTEN 2  thr. So thr u r: r yrng 4 r me wOZ
wottTWOT & noo utli 0 O thCUNT - such zth  vTOURIST REEORTT!; 2nt tt

(Gymnorhina tibicen) vs (Felix catus) t tha sHOnt nth reeORt

TV KOrr nfrd ntt tha ORlwAZ sHO NRL rug & s@rd zth da 4 VFL OZiOZiOZi rull so
m grnr x 2 stu vCarlton Black Ale 2takrwa &  th i nth .

 . .
28/5/10.
Stuart Highway (60kk Nv Glendambo): tha u @
Coober Pedy & thrr rsn nth wa th@ avrlrr mrs verj thwa KOrr tGOO th

thWoomera (@OMIK , krt dfnn falit, rfug d10shn , r

, joi OZ/USvA gne
thron stik) pro td  t thrr  th vth  n 2 thwa wr m t makt pos 2
  100dd vyrdd rwa th 2 th t ush . Tt r ut owtv & vth Stuart
Highway. Nth (thrwr + lrst nt) mORnn O 100kk Nv Coober Pedy  t 2
rsn lk 1v th snn   @ ID  t th nth sn : “IN MEMORY OF RON
MARKS WHO WAS MURDERED AT THIS SPOT 16.9.93. FROM HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS FROM
ALICE SPRINGS.” - @ thtop thrwr svrl o vplas flowrr (20/6/10. N n  dtall:
“Death on the Stuart Highway – the killing of Ron Marks ¶ September 4, 2009 –
9.58am, by Bob Gosford ¶ …. Most  are pretty straightforward to ve – 
members  their own, drug dealers  other drug dealers – and are ved within the

115
first 48 hours. And so it was with the unlawful  of Ron Marks. ¶ On the day that he was
, Ron Marks was driving a Commodore station wagon northwards to Alice Springs from
Clare in South Australia where he had been on holiday. Unknown to him, travelling on
the road ahead of him were Dale Francis Harris and his girlfriend, Alison Spendlove. ¶
About 96 km north of Coober Pedy Harris had fallen asleep and off the road – wrecking
his in the process. Harris had taken a number of ta  ets of the hyno
benzodiazepine Rohypnol that day and previously had smoked ganja after his ident.
Alison Spendlove caught a lift back to Coober Pedy soon after that ident. ¶ Later that
night Harris turned up in Coober Pedy. He was driving Ron Marks’ Commodore, wearing
his and and was covered in blood from a wound to the back of his neck. Staff at
the roadhouse where Harris stopped soon alerted and two general duties
attended. ¶ What happened between the time that Ronnie Marks pulled up on the side of
the road outside Coober Pedy and when Harris turned up back in Coober Pedy later that
night can only be cons ted from Harris’ confused tales to the and the evid
on the side of the road. Apparently Ronnie Marks and Harris had some kind of alter

ion that ended up with Ronnie Mark’s body dumped in a culvert on the side of the
Stuart Highway. ¶ Harris was found guilty of the  of Ron Marks on 25 November 1994
and appealed that decision two weeks later. That appeal was allowed in March 1995 and
a re-trial was ordered. Harris was re-a ed, pleading not-guilty early the next month,
and a second trial was held over ten days in late September 1995. At th @ trial Harris
was acquitted of , but was found guilty of the lesser charge of man by majority
verdict of the jury. ¶ Harris again appealed that verdict. At sent ing Harris was given
a non-parole sent of 8 years and 6 months, with a ‘head’ sent of 11 years and
2 months. His second appeal was dismissed in June 1996 and the sent stood. ¶
What follows is from the decision of Justice Millhouse in Harris’ first appeal to the 3
member Court of Criminal Appeal of the South Australian Supreme Court in February and
March 1995. ‘…. Just what happened when he [Marks] stopped to speak to the appell is not known
for sure. The appell gave evid at trial that when he offered Mr Marks cannabis, Mr Marks became
abusive, a row turned into a fight in which the appell stabbed Mr Marks eleven times, once with a of
 and the remainder with a . However the medical evid suggests that only a  was used. One
at least of the stabs was fatal: Mr Marks . ¶ The appell hims sustained injuries to the neck. Later

when he was back in Coober Pedy he was seen covered in blood. His a gave rise to the def

of s def : that he  Mr Marks in the course of defending hims from Mr Marks’ attacks. I should
say that the appell was at the time a man of twenty-three. Mr Marks was forty-two. Whatever caused

Mr Marks’ , appar ly the accused dragged his body some dist and hid it in a culvert. The appell

t drove in Mr Marks’ back to Coober Pedy wearing a of Mr Marks’ and his .’ ” Lotv
H2O O z rprocht Coober & pl t h2. Ft 2nt l hv2 wat rdaOR2 tilt
dr owt 2   owtv h. KOld & vri wind. @ Coober Pedy nth  2H (th l4
K88 KOnva n - $1,200 (20/6/10. rkchli $2,000)), 2Joe (Presti & Anthony n4 Brown &
Neon Leon (rKOrdn2 ReX Hunt: “Black ”) 4 2mORoo vs gam), 2SA&N

IGA (prv l810 re thr sKOol ip 10 2mORo. Thal n Woomera (@OMIK 
 , ,

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joi OZ/USvA  krt dfnn falit, rfug d10shn  , r gne thron stik) d 6-7pm stan @th
Travellers Village wr  mt m owt). Oyair - n Coober Pedy  d k rstu v
Coopers Sparkling wl  nvstd $7 nth PO &&th tli r ijne k tl @th pu
& 4  t m werst evr ergr ( Wednesday 20/7/05)(20/6/10. Have you
forgotten the one in Queensland ( Monday 15/8/05) where the girl misunderstood your direction for just
bacon and onions in the hamburger and prepared you one with bacon and onions and left out the meat

patty!?)@ JOHN’S PIZZA BAR.  yr.

4/6/10. Danyo Reserve ( Og no53 @ www.scribd.com). Lrst nt th chil
GOt 2 m nkll & thak prsstd th t t prev 10 mi  slepn tHO  puton ORl m
 anktt & mi . Ths mORnn  wOZ a 2 thmetHO – so no mORnn . M MUM
 90 2da naj  do 12 get niwr n2. HAPPY MUM – u hv n r v drr nerg,
g t wl powr, & m n KOnfd nyOR oinn, persepshnn, ntlij , & werth.   hv
nheritd +v thee @ri utt nm on fashn &m g fl 2u 4t. We hv n oion8d on ti t
hv fnrli ( ) rgred 2 ddrgre & prapp evn ept th@tt e 2 dfr. Wld KOod

hv dragd mi 2 tho l KOmunit ev ORgrnd X Rasa & Egle n ♣ (@ $35/ evn 4

famli mm rr) nth weknd: evr snn n zr uth th HUMBUGGERY wOZ @ frthrr funrl
such lrj KOmunit ev hv n ANATHEMA 2mi. M gr@ichud zfr 2 =vokl, KOmpl ,
aGOn d, & im8 2 st nth rt vr pu lk KOmmO shn.  HOp th ev givv
u much plezhr & hlpp u 4get 4 rwl th k l ddrtt rth nvi  prez rORt X
n chanj4 vnra aj (23/6/10. Wow! If that didn’t make everyone pop their balloons, choke on their
paper whistles & refuse a 2nd helping of birthday cake, nuthin would. Reminds me of the famous wish: May
the Bluebird of Happiness crap all over your birthday cake.) ….   (vr Walpeup, Speed)
 Sealake (H & Joe; & ;p l)  Inglewood ( ; & ;  MUM (23/6/10.
Just fowndowt 2da (4th nvrsri vmi n nm ) th@ MUMm bn eptd 2 old  ) 2wish
r HAPPY (23/6/10. Hope you kept it short & sweet)   MELBOURNE (2 th n rmmv
H).

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