Goldy '81

first beginings/last endings
place of restsometimes used to dry and hang clothes, very helpfulplace of birth

so where to begin...

left bambooland as of the beginning of february, been on the road travelling south , south and yet further south, all the way to melbourne now !

but first, we rolled into brisbane to see a couple of miki's friends , the state museum and some freezing cold art galleries (i know some of you are cursing if i claim australia as freezing, but when it's 35+ outside and yer wearing shorts and t-shirt and every place you walk into is blasting the air-con so it's +3 deg it SEEMS really cold) anyway.... next into new south wales for my second time and it was raining and piss misserable. riding in rain... camping in rain...eating in rain you get the drift. we did see some beautiful scenery and bits of nature though. woopee!

went to the national motorcycle museum in nabiac nsw, 700+ different bikes from around the world. bsa, triumph, norton, ariel, honda, indian, you name it and it was there.

another highlight was in north NSW at a "bushtucker" garden with all kinds of different indigenous edible or medicinal plants which has been really interesting learning about the whole time here in oz.
climbed a mountain in pomona.
but as of now a few changes :
1. have found a house to live in near downtown melbourne. i have seen just some of the devastation the victoria bush fires have caused. they are still burning and destroying land but it's very encouraging to see all people from all walks of life give such great support to the victims of said fires.
2. have gotten some sweet new bicycles to get around with,(best way to travel around any city, some of my favorite times in calgary were ripping around the city on bikes w/ jzero & marcus)
C. and the big one ... the goldwing is . . ... toast . dead. done. gone. finito. broken crankshaft the day it arrived in melbourne. and its too expensive and time consuming to repair; 2nd hand 28 year old crankshafts for unpopular bikes are hard to come by.

so like the times, things have changed. new ideas of getting around are brewing. realistically my goal was to get it to adelade south oz and get rid of it there before going to perth. close enough.

met a lovly ex school principle who has offered her beach house along the great ocean road to stay at. also looking at going to tazmania soon to before winter hits (im still getting used to the idea that it gets cold in june/july).

have found a little multitrack recorder, so i can start recording some of the new songs and ideas ive come up with.

pix of bambooland times

the wind-chimeophone mallotsversion 2 of the bamboo saxfly swattamikaelas cactus basketbambusa vulgarus vittatamikaela.s dress making sessionroel: be happy with what you got

i have had cake and i was able to eat it as well

happy new year everyone! and happy FL to my bros back home and rich jzero and marco the band tourers of beautiful british columbia and all the way out to brendo in halifax. i´ve had a great time the last few weeks... christmas was a blast spent at the ol´ dent street house on magnetic island w\manny along too, then new years eve we rolled into a bamboo nursery called bambooland in howard queensland and have since spent time here wwoofing (willing workers on organic farms) where we exchange a few hours of work for food and accommodation. the time working here is spent planting and gardening during the morning and then in the afternoon free range of using bamboo and being creative. ive mainly spent my focus on musical instruments although the more u think of it the more you can build anything out of bamboo. more versions of the xaphoon and a bamboo saxophone to come, and many hours building a giant hanging xylophone with mikaela and chief janne.
so i´ve also made it to the ripe age of 29. yesterday mikaela took me out on an all day boat ride to fraser island , the largest and oldest sand island in the world. it´s only a half hour drive from where we´re staying now so i´ll probably be going back at some point. a really great day out, saw dolphins all around the boat and a dingo running down the beach that reminded me of the end credits of ´the littlest hobo´. earlier in the morning a couple kangaroos jumped out right in front of the bike, not an everyday occurance. got back home and our host and his lady friend had made supper and and baked a cake. pretty nice, being away from home and having people who ive only known a short while care to make your birthday special. also thanks for the emails all. and, getting outside myself for a minute, id like to give my folks a big happy 30th anniversery too.

lets all make the best of the last year in this decade, the last year to say ´0#.

chill week

so, we've come back to magnetic island for the holiday's. it seems as though this is the best and closest thing we can call "going home for christmas". it's been great seeing all our old friends here and manny has come over from ayr as well to celibrate the season. i'll post some post-chirstmas party pics after christmas but this post is for all my friends and family back home who may or may not still be keeping in touch through the blog here.

Happy holidays to you all and much love your way for the season. remember not to fret too much and enjoy your company who ever your with this christmas. think about what christmas really means to you, & not what others, or tv , or flyers tell you to think. christmas is about the others in your life. and it doesn't matter one bit whether you got enough presents received or to give. give human traits as gifts... give love, be kind, patience, give respect towards others in your life that you love. this will bring far greater joy than any thing from walmart you pick up last minute will do. much love to you all. peter.

the falla

so any of you reading this from magnetic island, welcome to my slow world of updates. it's been a great trip since we left maggie, lots of travelling around the atherton tablelands, up to cairns (yes i did finally make it there) and as far north as cape tribulation. after that the road futher north gets a little rough so we decided to head back down south and find a farm job in the tablelands near atherton. it's been good here helping out on a cattle farm doing odd jobs and eating beef 3 times a day. the land is gorgeous like the land hobbits would live in in the lord of the rings. we're both doing this a: for second year visa requirements in which you must complete 3 months of agricultural work and b: for just new experiences. a wild king parrot who decided the bird feed was worth the risk.we ate some cow brain lunch meat that kind of tasted like tuna. i guess there's a first time for everything. been going around on the atvs/quads and checking out some good swimming holes and trails.

so about a week ago we took a small sailing boat w/ about 15 other passengers out to the great barrier reef. my first time out there. it was amazing, clear and calm got to go snorkling a few times. went out to a sandy white beach about 10 metres wide in the middle of the ocean. on the way out got to drive the boat most of the way trading off with mikaela, anyone else was welcome to steer but i guess we were the only volunteers. on the way back we had a "how many times can you catch the piece of watermellon in your mouth' contest. i seemed to have won after disputing the fact myself but the judge insisted i had won. i had a funny feeling about what happens to the "winner"...a giant mixing bowl of all the left over watermellon thrown over my whole body. (and a beer and a watermellon crown)