| Wednesday, March 01, 2006 |
| In defense of Strathgordon |
I was bush for two days. Two very beautiful days of breathtaking scenery, huge craggy mountains and lots of pretty water. Every time I thought 'gosh this is boring' I'd just stop and look around at where I was working and think 'at least you're bored in a gorgeous place. You could be bored on a slope of mine tailings.' On my first day of field work I turned off the main highway (main highway as in there were about 6 cars on it in four hours. And no, this is not an exaggeration) down a dirt road to get to my first study site of the day, and what should be on the road before me but a very bold wallaby. So I decided to whip out the camera because such opportunities to photograph wallabies standing stock still in front of your ute don't happen every day. I took my photo, and then drove forward a few more metres, took another photo. I was seriously only about 15 metres away when this photo (look down below folks) was taken. I don't know why the wallaby is so small. So, here are some pictures.
This one is a pretty view from one of my sites
And here's a cool liverwort I found. I think it looks like worms.
I stopped at the Lake Pedder lookout (or as diehards like me like to call it 'Lake Pedder DAM lookout as that the eighth wonder of the world, the REAL Lake Pedder lives on beneath this fake one created by two dam walls and then flooding the valley, the real lake and quite a long way up the mountains) at 3 pm for a bit of lunch. Given that I'd seen hardly any cars driving past on the highway all day, I was anticipating a quiet bite to eat while looking at spectacular scenery (even if it is the fake Lake Pedder). This was not to be the case. I'd no sooner unwrapped my roll when a campervan pulls up, and an older man gets out, complete with socks pulled up to his knees and boat shoes. His wife stayed in the van. He has a bit of a look at the information boards telling of the fight to save the real Lake Pedder, and then the creation of the dam, then turns to me "Have you been here before?" he asks in a highly aggressive manner. "Yes, many times." I answer. "Really?" "Yes." I say, somewhat aggravated. I am driving a very new huge duel-cab ute with about four uni logos on it and wearing obviously hiking clothes. I have the look of a seasoned outdoor professional.
"Why would anyone stay at Strathgordon?" he bellows at me "There's NOT EVEN A SHOP!!!"
Now, Strathgordon is this little town just before the Lake Pedder Dam. It consists of a 'Lake Pedder Chalet' for tourists and hikers to stay in and that's about it. I was highly annoyed by this very rude tourist. I had not told him to visit Strathgordon, let alone try and do some shopping there.
"For hiking," I tell him. "And for those who want to come and look at the Lake Pedder." I didn't add anything about fake and real lake pedders. He was obviously irritated enough without listening to a 'damn Greenie' like me prattle on. I decide to carry on and defend poor little Strathgordon. After all, it was once a bustling town with hundreds of people. It deserves a little respect.
"Of course, Strathgordon was the base town for the hydro workers when they built the dam. There's no reason for anyone to live there now."
"WHAT DAM?" he yells, highly suspicious and belligerant.
"The dam we're looking at right now." I tell him, waving my arm at the huge expanse of water before us and feeling somewhat bewildered.
"Show me on the map," he orders me, moving over to the information boards where there's a map of the area and the dams. It's beyond my comprehension. There's a giant lake/dam before us, the result of the building of two concrete dam walls across valleys and he can't seem to see it. So I show him on the map, and also the location of the two actual dam walls, and move away.
Honestly, what did poor little Strathgordon ever do to him? It's not its fault that once the dams were built there was no reason for anyone to stay so they didn't, the town was pulled down and the bush grew over the sites of the houses. It's in the middle of nowhere, for heaven's sake!
Things have really hit the bottom of the barrel with Mia, my officemate. We now say 'morning' and leave it at that. I don't even try to make conversation anymore. I have no idea why it's so bad. Maybe she found this blog, worked out it's me (anyone in the department who stumbled over this could work out who I am in about three seconds) and read the bad things I've said about her. Like that she's unfriendly and doesn't shave her underarms. Not that not shaving is a bad thing - I respect that it's her choice and she's happy and accepting of her body the way it is. But today she smelled bad. Quite bad indeed. The office door was closed and when I walked it it was like 'PHOOOF!' with the smell hitting me. After ten minutes I'd gotten used to it and it wasn't so bad. Present, but bearable.
I was catching up on blogs today and I stumbled across this on Léonie's blog with a comment from Doug saying 'what would Bug and Cec say?"
From Léonie's blog: Other people who DO NOT UNDERSTAND (often Australians) always complain about 'tube faces': the sullen refusal to make eye contact or forge any interaction with strangers. Well, that is just how it works.
I simply HAD to respond to this. Léonie, don't you realise how ABSOLUTELY AMAZING it is to ride in the tube? It's SO MUCH FUN, and SIMPLY THRILLING. You Londoners have lost your wonder at the truly awesome thing you get to do each day (if that's how you get to work every day, that is). Perfectly understandable, given that you're now risking death every time you ride on the tube. But if you forget about the possibility of terrorists, and pretend that you've never ridden on the tube in your life before and have heard and read about it your entire life, I'm sure that you will get so excited that you can forget about tube faces and just want to grin like a loon at everyone. Like I may have, when I first rode on the tube. Well, may have, for the first WEEK I rode on the tube. Then it wears off, and it's tube faces all round. But then, I am the girl who was so happy she cried when she walked on Tower Bridge for the first time, so I may not be the best judge of how exciting the tube is. |
posted by Cecilia @ 1:24 pm  |
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| 3 Rantings: |
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i thought they were worms,,what is it?
great photos though
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I thought they were worms too.
Also, the Subway in NYC is much the same. No one makes eye contact. Of course, in NYC, you probably don't want to make eye contact with some of the people on the train.
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Truth to be told, woman, how often do you grin at people on the bus? I think it's just being bored with travelling every day
I do love the thought of you grinning like a mad woman in London, though :)
And no, it's not alright for Mia not to shave under her arms - it's GROSS. I'm UNfeminist on this one. Shave your damn underarms
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i thought they were worms,,what is it?
great photos though