Travelling in the time of Coronavirus 7 – Quarantine in Australia

Back in Australia and in mandatory quarantine

14 days seems easy but not for a wanderer

Caught in a gilded cage

A room with a view

Five star

But maybe its just Welcome to Hotel Coronafornia

‘We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave’

Its all part of the war on Covid 19

The WAR

I have a song by War playing in my head.

‘Four Cornered Room’

The refrain

‘As I sit in my four corned room’

And though this cage is nicely gilded

For me

Luxury is no substitute for liberty

My home on my travels for the last half dozen years

In Australia and Europe

Has been my little tent

And the amazing places we have visited

Which have included:

dsc_0548-collage — Route Napoleon, France

The Coorong, Australia

So as I sit in my four cornered room

In a gilded cage of 5 star luxury

I know nothing can compensate for the loss of freedom of movement

Though confinement is hard I have passed 7 days of the 14 in quarantine

The light is bright at the end of the confinement tunnel

And life will slowly return to normal

As I write this cannot help but reflect on how cruelly Australia is treating refugees it holds in indefinite detention

In terrible and dangerous conditions.

Their only crime escaping tyranny in search of liberty

Australia has certainly become a world leader in confining people

Travelling in the time of Coronavirus 6- Tides and Time

As humanity sits in lockdown

Seemingly hibernating

Time standing still the world and tides rise and fall

And for many life goes on almost unabated

The fisherman returning of the flood tide after another night alone on the Celtic Sea

The flood tide filling the river and spreading out over the salt marsh

For the fisherman every night is social distance

Alone with on the end less waves, the sky and sea birds for companionship

The tides of time go on ebbing and flowing like the water round the old wreck

Ebbing and flowing in time less motion

Last night over the Celtic Sea the Easter Pink Supermoon rose

In a sort of bright isolated orb in the darkness

Casting it’s beam like a stream of rose gold

Like it has for millenea.

And the tides keep turning

Australia’s Summer of Discontent

When I arrived back home in Australia in October 2019 the bushfires had already started.

The amazing temperate rainforests of Northern NSW and Qld were already on fire

Rainforests don’t burn we thought but things have change

Beautiful ancient forests dating back to Gondwanaland were on fire

It was heart braking

The long summer of bushfires cast a pall over the country

Dead wildlife, rare forests burning, towns and cities choking on the the thick smoke

My long Bike trip in Europe had left me sore, depleted and nursing some nasty Shoulder Tendinitis

So my mood was low and the acrid smoke that clung to the skies of Eastern Australia only darkened my feelings

Dark like the smokey sky and the burning bush

Dark and disturbing

On a ride to Omeo in Victoria just after Christmas , I was spooked by closeness of the fires the smoke so thick

The town cut off from electricity

An eerie smokey foreboding of the horror fires that were to be unleashed on New Years eve in the east Gippsland forests.

Spooked a bit by the smoke ad proximity of the fires I left

Leaving I had a fall off the bike on some leaf litter while pulling off the road

Dislocated thumb ouch, nothing todo but pull it back in and ride the 400+ km home.

So the New Year was seen in with a cast on my hand and Australia Burning

Indeed a summer of discontent

This summer say the sale of Futura

I did the last slip, scrub and paint

And as I write, she with her new owner is approaching her new home in Whyalla South Australia

As the final blow there is now Coronavirus

Emerging and spreading

Quiet leaving Melbourne Airport

Planes only half full

A friend has told me that I’m stubborn and wont change my plans for anyone or anything

Maybe right

As here I sit in London

I’ve collected the Mighty Breva

And on Wednesday I head to Portsmouth to start the journey south to Morocco on the ferry to Bilboa

The summer of discontent, though, is a weight on my enthusiasm

And as I have been reminded though I’m 35 between the ears im actually in a 62 year old body.

But in the world of the traveller a summer of discontent doesn’t lead to winter.

Its spring here

The daffodils are in bloom in Perivale Park

And life’s adventure must go on

Praia de Augas Santas, Galicia, Spain

As I plan the next adventure

My head fills with images

Thoughts of last year

Special places

Unique in nature

That have left a lasting impression on me

One of nature’s sculptures

Carved by the wind and waves of the Bay of Biscay

The Praia de Augas Santas

The Bay of Cathedrals

Is certainly a natural masterpiece

A place of spiritual beauty and wonder.

Flag etiquette and Respect on Australia Day

Flags are the traditional way of ship comminication

The flags tell a message of respect.

The club burgee at top of the mast says the ship is from Hobsons Bay Yacht Club

The Australian flag from the back stay identifies an Australian ship

The courtesy flag is a sign of respect to the country you are in.

The flying of the aboriginal flag from the cross trees says we are in aboriginal country.

Three flags can give a simple but true message.