So
my adventure’s begun. I’m on the five hour flight to Darwin writing on my new
macbook (thanks Dorky).
I’ve
said goodbye to Rob after a fantastic weekend with him. Last night he left work
early so that romantic dinner would be ready for me when I finished, what an
amazing boyfriend I have!
It’s
strange, I’ve never flown inland before. It’s funny that I could live in the
country all my life and feel such an affinity for it yet only really know such
a miniscule fragment of it. The beautifully violent coastline and maybe a tiny
bit inland, where the stark candle-barks are replaced by the ugly yet strangely
exquisite roughness of Malalukas, is as comfortably familiar to me as my right
hand . But beyond that, the red and ochre plains that are so representative of
Australia to outsiders are completely unfamiliar! It’s really awe-striking, how
vastly it stretches in quilted patterns of green and brown shades outside my
little plane window.
I
somehow scored a window seat, sweet! Even though I checked in late and didn’t
choose it. The old guy next to me looks a bit like my dad’s brothers – there’s
every possibility we could be related! I thought about asking if he was a Jones
then thought against. He looks a bit grumpy!
There
must be tomato chutney in his sandwhich. The smell reminds of breakfast at the
café on Mt Alexander rd that Rob and I frequent. Our ‘usual’ is eggs on
sour-dough with tomato chutney – they have the best chutney I have EVER
tasted!!
This
morning we had one last breakfast out together before he drove me to the
airport. The guy at the counter ummed and ahed saying that they only have
midday breakfast on weekends (it was 11)
Now
that I’ve said goodbye to the important people that make my life all that it is
in Melbourne I’m keen as to see my sister. It’s comforting in our relationship
that nothing changes. On the surface we develop in opposite directions because
of ur opposing experiences and I still think our characters are opposite in a
lot of ways. The deep rooted nature of our characters don’t change though. I
revert to ‘younger-sibling-Olivia’ when I’m with her and she becomes
‘sister-who-acts-as-the-second-mother-Mycaila’, the girl who held me like a
doll when we were little. Though, sometimes she reverts to what I like to refer
to as ‘giant-dag-Mycaila’ – well at least I’m refering to it as that from now
on because it makes me laugh. In that case I become the more mature one which
is highly satisfying for my ego! We somehow grew up adoring one another while
other siblings we grew up with seemed to develop varying degrees of mutual
loathing. We were isolated a little bit as kids, I think, so we came to rely
and depend on one another.
Now
I feel a little bit of trepidation, maybe, at seeing her after about six
months. I think the last time I saw her was Easter then Christmas before that.
It was weird when she moved to Darwin. Even though we hardly ever caught up in
Melbourne it was still comforting to know she was around. Organising this trip has
kind of forced us to call eachother and email more often and I like that. I
have this thing I like to call the ‘weirdo-Liv-notion’ – ok I’m totally making
these up now, but I think they’re adequately descriptive – where I think that
people will change so much over time that they’ll just be irrecognisable!!
(sigh) and yet I’ve seen Beaches so
many times…
I
think part of this is looking forward to just being with her again and living
out of each others’ pockets again. I’ll feel better going back to Melbourne
knowing that everything’s still the same. I’m all for change, but there’s a
comfort in knowing some things don’t change. Knowing that May hasn’t become a
commando fitness junkie (she’s in the army btw so that’s not entirely
unlikely!) and that ‘giant-dag-May’ still encompasses the large portion of her
personality will be comforting at the end of our adventure.
I
just realised that I forgot to hand my 2500 word 50 percenter that’s due while
I’m away, whoops! I’ll call Rob and get him to do it – he loves being the
prince charming! Hehe no seriously, he is
prince charming!!
So
far I’ve realised that apart from that assignment – which really is pretty
important!!! – I’ve only otherwise forgotten my Little Birdy cd, which would’ve
been sweet to have but at least I definitely have, you know, a few scarcely
more necessary things like my passport. Otherwise I’ve got some music but not
much. Also the new mac is proving to be slightly trying in its differences. Wow
I really should be doing my group assignment – I told them I’d do a bit of it
today on the plane, hmmm
Omg,
the guy next to me keeps elbowing me in the arm, what the hell! I take up like
a tiny portion of the seat, he almost has to go out of his way to elbow me!! I
guess when I get old I won’t give a crap about who I elbow or how much room I
take up! (by then I’ll probably be really fat from a lifetime of eating too
much chocolate and finishing off other people’s meals)
Mmm
Billie Holiday ‘Misty’ is making it all better! I think I’ll go and play some Plants
Vs Zombies and maybe get back to you later Bloggo. Oh, and first do some work
on my group assignment, haha! So easily distracted.
While
I’ve been writing the view outside my little window has turned to this
incredible deep red that stretches out in what seems from this distance to be
tiny ripples as if once upon a time these endless plains lay at the depths of
an ancient inland ocean. Every now and then the expanse is interrupted by a
ribbon of river or road signalled by a line of shrub or a vast damn or even a
body of lighter earth that could be a hill or mountain. The patterns formed by
the topography of the landscape and the scrub that covers it remind me of the
patterns in Aboriginal art reminding me of their ancient affinity with it. The
fact that they recognise those patterns within the landscape that are repeated
almost mathematically even to the immense scale that I might recognise them at
this distance causes me to feel an overwhelming respect for their knowledge
built over tens of thousands of years.
Or
maybe it’s just coincidence. No, I’m a romantic. So I like to think it’s not.
I
like the idea that I’m somehow part of that as an Australian at the start of my
life with my comparatively miniscule understanding of the world.
Now
Bob Dillon is crooning in my headphones about the story of the Hurricane. Can
anyone explain why on Jetstar flights the little dong sound comes on at random
intervals? Everytime it happens the guy next to me and I look up to see if the
seatbelt sign has come on. It never does. Weird.
Oh
God, I bought a bottle of water and desperately need the loo. Window seat
doesn’t look so good now. I’m remembering a certain Seinfeld episode where
Elaine gets stuck on the flight from hell while Jerry gets upgraded to first
class and gets to sit next to a gorgeous model.
The
landscape out my window has changed again and I let it distract me from my bodily
needs. Whispy scraps of cotton wool clouds are making vast shadows on a
landscape that is yet another shade of brown. I get a sense that this a truly
earthy kind of light brown, like the earthy beauty of a voice like Ruby
Hunter’s. I recognise the similarities between a voice like hers and the
character of the landscape here as we venture further towards the centre of the
continent. The sandiness of the earth makes the clouds looked dusty and dirty
as if they have been blown around on a windy day at the beach when the sand
hits you roughly against your face and nothing is unaffected by the sand from
your hair to you bather bottoms to your towel to your thongs. Rugged and jagged
rocks of earth jut out of the smooth, light brown of the outback as thin dark
lines of river criss cross at their feet like long lines in an Aboriginal
painting. I can recognise the dots and lines and colours of that ancient
art-form in the scene below. The vastness is frighteningly intense and despite
the beauty of it all tugging at my core I’m glad I’m safe up here and not lost
down there. It’s truly such an incredibly beautiful country.
Gimme
Shelter strikes me through my headphones with the undeniable awesomeness of the
opening guitar riff. Oh the Stones! I can’t help but pout a little bit and rock
my shoulders to its beat. Hehe, well really I’m never going to see these people
and life’s for living. What’s the point of being alive if you’re too afraid to
rock out whenever you hear your fave tunes?!
Ok
the lady two seats to my right (aisle seat) got up so I was able to nip to the
loo – on second thoughts maybe you didn’t
necessarily need that information!
Looking
out the window again and listening to Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, the quintessential staple of the English pastorale
repertoire, I’m struck by the stark opposition in the characters of each
landscape. I brought the piece to listen to while we’re driving through the
Lake Country (Oh God I’m so excited!!). The landscape out my window is vast,
dry and ancient. It is not only untouched by man it is untouchable in its
absalute harshness and void of capacity to sustain life. Well, of course I know
that’s wrong. But surely complete inability to sustain life that has been
reared in the eternal wet and endless green of, say, an Irish county derry. The
picture of landscape communicated to my ears through Vaughan-Williams’ lilting phrases is a quilted map of
rolling green pasture and skies dark and heavy with rain.
Damn,
listening to it makes me want to write but I didn’t have time to load Finale onto my new mac. Ah well, I assume I’ll probably have a few
more things to do besides using my new mac, hehe, but it’s so pretty and in
such a cute little case!
Ok,
it’s Plants and Zombies time xo
