Fradam

Last Friday evening, I had my first real camping experience. Competition to that title could include ye olde camps that placed me in cabins, and warm nights spent out in my backyard as a child. In all honesty, I hardly think there’s any competition: this was by far and large the winner.

We headed out past Kurrajong, to a place far far away from civilization - no phone reception, no power, no lights. Or so we thought. A number of other camping groups also decided that it was a good place to camp out, and I counted no less than 12 4WDs out there. I really don’t mind sharing space - nature is free to enjoy for all.. but was surprised with how much light and noise some of the other campers generated. If they wanted a portable toilet with flood lights so much, did they really want to escape the city? At one point, I lay back and closed my eyes, contemplating that perhaps wherever I went, the world would follow, dragging the oft-onerous rigours of life and technology with it. Maybe there really was no escape. Maybe this was as far as I could get.

It was about that point that I opened my eyes, and gazed forth into one of the brightest night skies I’d ever witnessed. It’d even give the experience down in Bairnsdale a challenge.

Stars.

Stars everywhere.

More stars that I could conveniently count. Believe me; I tried. Once I ran out of fingers on one hand, I realised I had best stop otherwise my head would hurt. My standard night sky is an inky darkness; cloud cover mixed with pollution, glowing from the bright city lights. In drinking in the sight before my eyes, I realised just how sheltered some aspects of my life had been. A born city-slicker, I’ve never known anything different. I so wish I had though.

That night was my first actually under the stars. It was only a short hour or so till some vagrant clouds decided to churlishly interrupt my view of them - I know; the nerve! Part of me felt it was the cue for sleep and the end to a long and exhausting week. Part of me wondered how easily I’d actually get to sleep, without all the standard creature comforts. Part of me reminded the other part that I had slept in odd situations before. Another part of me told all the other parts to shutup and all this thinking would make it harder. So, I attempted to empty my thoughts, and found myself imbued by the soothing calmness of the nearby dying fire. Whilst the tendrils of smoke barely escaped arm reach (which admittedly, is no small margin), it’s unwavering aroma had by now richly infused my clothes and provided me with a comforting warmth. Sleep it seemed was but a short step away, its yearning voice called me quickly and drew me in. My dreams were peaceful; unsurprising considering I was surrounded by relatively serene environment and intoxicated with the fire’s tantalizing magic. Camp fires are definitely one of my favourite smells; if I could bottle it, I would. The jacket I wore with me still has a lingering scent that I am reluctant to do anything hygienic about… perhaps there’s a way to use it.

The morning was refreshingly chilled. We were up early and made a highly healthy breakfast over the fire; french toast, meat patties and bacon.. it actually all turned out really well, credit to all the guys involved really. Unfortunately, attempts at being Aussie in making billy tea failed dismally; after a patient half hour of tending the tin, gently nurturing the water till it finally began to bubble with excitement, the following exchange was witnessed between one who wanted tea, and one who watched one who wanted tea.
“I can’t wait to have a cuppa..”
“I just want to see what cup you’re going to put it in…”
Yes: we only had the foresight to bring plastic cups with us. Ooooops.

After lamenting the unused water, we cleaned up our gear and deassembled everything, attempting to return the site to the exact state it was in when we found it, ala leave no trace. The rest of the morning was spent following a mighty river - the  Little Wheeny River - okay, it is really about as mighty as it sounds. The trekking involved multiple crossings and many random spots which had unexpected depth. Although I didn’t wade through the water as most of the others did, I did enjoy getting wet as I attempted all river crossings in the form of a running jump. No actual successes, but I was close a few times! The water was pleasant and reasonably clean - very much unlike what I had seen in the past. Later on, I discovered my experiences in the water had encouraged a new friend of the leech variety to make a home in one of my socks - thankfully no blood was donated in this new relationship of ours. With a little bit of coaxing, the leech decided that the ground was a more preferable location to spend its time. Too quickly though, we were in our cars and on the way back home with a head full of thoughts to ponder. Hopefully Josh enjoyed his bucks’ night

So, camping - I very much enjoyed even though it was really only one night, and there are plenty of aspects of it I know I didn’t get to experience… so am now looking forward to the next time. Any takers?

Earlier this month, we witnessed a Jupiter-Venus conjunction in the sky - the two planets so tightly packed in together, that when the moon came along for a visit, it created an astronomically pretty smile. I think it is pretty amazing that all over the world, people could witness this (although, over the in the US, it was a bit of a frown..) Anyhow, photos of this have been flying around this week, so I thought I might put up a few of the ones I liked. Enjoy!

- Central Coast, Australia

- Hawaii

- Bahrain

- Pakistan

- Warners Bay, Australia

- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Yes, it appears Malaysia is still the best for the smile.. Warners Bay with a close second. How amazing!

For the past few days, I’ve had this song stuck in my head. I’ve been trying to work out why. Something about the beat, something about the chorus line… it just drew me in. Hypnotic.

now i’m looking for a reason why
you even set my world into motion

OK, so the proverbial ‘what is the meaning of life’ question is there, but even that.. I’m not sure is what really pulls me into this song. Everyone goes through stages of questioning their own existence/purpose; so it’d be a little too cheesy for it simply to be that.

It occurs to me that the song only really got stuck in my head on the drive home from Victoria. An awesome road trip it was, and I have many a fond memory of my time there writ in my mind. The weekend was in a somewhat quieter part of Vic; one not crowded by vast quantities of man-made light. Something that really struck me on the first night was that the night is actually.. quite dark.

Dark and beautiful.

I’ve not seen so many stars in my life, and was a sight I wish I was able to capture. I’m almost ashamed to acknowledge just how much of a city slicker I am, having always had my view of the night sky so dominated by unnatural hues. This was different however, the conception of the infinite did not stray far from my thoughts, as for the first time, I could feel the reaches of the universe going far beyond my comprehension. The sky was a lot bigger of a place than I had imagined, and not all the Isaac Asimov books in the world could reveal that truth any better than my eyes had just conveyed. There were just so many stars up there… I’m almost overwhelmed contemplating what could lie beyond them, how they got there, what systems orbit them… I suddenly have a newfound appreciation for star gazing, so surreal an experience this was.

So it was after this whole visual epiphany began to settle inside my psyche (and it gaining a few minutes of airplay on one of the 3 stations till Canberra), did Black and Gold end up in my head. I suspect the probing nature of the lyrics are actually what appeal the most. It’s hauntingly acute in its perception, touching on a pondersome thought:

’cause if you’re not really here
then the stars don’t even matter

All those stars, that vast endless reaching sky… What is the point of this whole world if God ain’t in it?

i looked up into the grey sky
and see a thousand eyes staring back
and all around these golden beacons
i see nothing but black

i feel a way of something beyond them
i don’t see what i can feel
if vision is the only validation
then most of my life isn’t real

The chorus line keeps repeating “black and gold”, constantly challenging that the stars can’t be just lights (gold) in the sky (black). Is there something beyond the stars? You betcha. It’s no wonder the song got stuck in my head..