Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Monday January 10 1972
I looked right and saw the Indian Ocean.
I looked left and I was staring at the Southern Ocean.
Then I looked straight ahead - right in the middle - and tried to see if there was some kind of join, a seam or something.
Of course there wasn't. I just imagined that there should be a division between oceans.
We were at Augusta, way down on the south-west coast. I was standing right on the edge of Cape Leeuwin (named after the Dutch explorer, one of the many who declined to claim Terra Australis - otherwise I would have been writing this in Dutch and my name would be Johannes van Bloggs).
Here, a lighthouse beams out over the two oceans signalling to ships whatever it is lighthouses signal to ships - no left turn? watch the corner? no parking? you have a severe list to the left? someone just fell off your boat? I don't know.
Having reached the south-west corner, we now turned left and headed east. The road veered inland where we were soon in the midst of one of the world's biggest forests. Western Australia is mostly desert but way down here it is thickly forested with Karri and Jarrah trees, monster eucalypts of up to 90 metres, including the Gloucester Tree, the tallest fire-lookout tree in the world. If you are brave enough you can climb this tree; and when you reach the very top, here's what you will see .
I climbed up like a monkey and marvelled at the surrounding countryside. (Of course, climbing up a tree is one thing, but coming DOWN is something else again. If you have any fear of heights at all, don't try it. They may have to call out the Police Rescue Helicopter to pluck you from the top because have frozen stiff with fear.)
*
On my cousin's cassette player:
letters I've written
never meaning to send
beauty I'd always missed
with these eyes before
just what the truth is
I can't say any more
cos I love you
yes I love you
oh how I love you
is it time for a nap yet? i think so
I looked left and I was staring at the Southern Ocean.
Then I looked straight ahead - right in the middle - and tried to see if there was some kind of join, a seam or something.
Of course there wasn't. I just imagined that there should be a division between oceans.
We were at Augusta, way down on the south-west coast. I was standing right on the edge of Cape Leeuwin (named after the Dutch explorer, one of the many who declined to claim Terra Australis - otherwise I would have been writing this in Dutch and my name would be Johannes van Bloggs).
Here, a lighthouse beams out over the two oceans signalling to ships whatever it is lighthouses signal to ships - no left turn? watch the corner? no parking? you have a severe list to the left? someone just fell off your boat? I don't know.
Having reached the south-west corner, we now turned left and headed east. The road veered inland where we were soon in the midst of one of the world's biggest forests. Western Australia is mostly desert but way down here it is thickly forested with Karri and Jarrah trees, monster eucalypts of up to 90 metres, including the Gloucester Tree, the tallest fire-lookout tree in the world. If you are brave enough you can climb this tree; and when you reach the very top, here's what you will see .
I climbed up like a monkey and marvelled at the surrounding countryside. (Of course, climbing up a tree is one thing, but coming DOWN is something else again. If you have any fear of heights at all, don't try it. They may have to call out the Police Rescue Helicopter to pluck you from the top because have frozen stiff with fear.)
*
On my cousin's cassette player:
letters I've written
never meaning to send
beauty I'd always missed
with these eyes before
just what the truth is
I can't say any more
cos I love you
yes I love you
oh how I love you
is it time for a nap yet? i think so
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