She deliberately went missing, in a gorgeous, remote Paradise Valley in the Australian Alps, to join, as attentive readers might remember, her first Rainbow Gathering.
The gathering has been over since three weeks, but the time after was so filled with new happenings, I couldn't finish this earlier.
Holy Guacamole, I got so much to tell.
So, there were Tweetybird, my punky funky Confest-to-Rainbow travelsister, and me, with Laurie in Omeo - a cold, empty little town in the mountains - trying to get to this Rainbow Gathering valley, armed with the directions copied from the Rainbow facebook site.
We went in the wrong direction first, went back, looking for a colourful rag (-> rainbow signposts) on the side of the sealed road to show us where to turn off on a dirt track. After driving past twice, Tweety spotted it, and we followed the dirt road some 6 kilometres across cow paddocks, passing through gates and closing them behind us... it felt like we'd already gone far away from civilisation when we reached a crossroads on top of a hill, where a couple of cars where parked. It was nearly dark and freezing cold, but we were sure we were almost there. I assumed that I could drive right on to the Gathering site and camp in my car - just like I'd done at Confest.
But a guy hiding in one of the parked vans informed us that we could drive about one km further and from there onwards is would be "an epic foot journey" into the valley and near the warming and much anticipated fires of the rainbow camp. No access for cars. He refused to come out of the van because he had no more dry clothes... hearing this, is really started to ask myself "What the hell ARE you doing here?!"
But there was no turning back - both Tweety and me were too excited and determined to give up just yet. We drove through the dark forest, parked Laurie with some other cars further down the road, and started walking. Surely it wouldn't be far. Can you hear voices already?
This and some other awesome photos: courtesy of Juliet Jae!
We walked for ages. The dirt track got ridiculously steep. Gnarly and slippery, with mud and rolling pebbles and deep rainwater trenches. I thought to myself: "It's pitch black dark. We only have a little torchlight. We're out in the forest, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It's fucking cold, I'm freezing my butt off, and this track is crazy steep - our shoes definitely aren't suitable for this. And there is no sign of humans anywhere close by. WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!?"
My excitement had disappeared, and eventually, when the hill was so steep that I felt like sliding down on my bum, I convinced Tweety to turn around and sleep in Laurie one more night. By then, I had already made up my mind that I was not going to do this Rainbow thing. First they make is so hard to find and in a really cold and remote place in the wilderness, and then I can't take my one and only Laurie there! Nah, I thought, tomorrow I'll drop Tweety off safely, and then I'm outta here!
So the next morning, we packed ourselves with all of Tweety's stuff, put on hiking shoes and descended the hill, crossed a creek, followed the rainbow rags across the valley, crossed another creek and finally - there was Esteve! With him were only 13 other people and a couple of tents scattered over the clearing. The gathering hadn't officially started yet - it starts with the ceremonial lighting of the Sacred Fire two weeks before full moon and ends with the fire being put out two weeks after the full moon. However, we were "welcomed home" as if we were longtime family members.
Although I was glad to see Esteve and Manny and other people I'd met at Confest, I explained to them that I was not going to stay because I wasn't prepared to leave my car behind. I didn't even have a camping mattress, a sleeping bag or a proper tent, and anyway, this was way to cold for me, I thought.... even tough the valley was drop-dead gorgeous and the air just so fresh and clean that breathing felt like eating something yummy.
But there were two guys called Johnno and Craig that were obviously keen to help me stay, even though they had only just seen me and my slightly grumpy face for the first time. Craig with his 4WD drove me up and down the hill to transport my big bulky foam mattress, my blankets and all my stuff into the valley. I did have a tent with me, one that was left behind at a festival, but it didn't have a fly. Johnno provided me with a spare fly and Craig put his second tarp over it and there I had my rather dodgy looking, but waterproof shelter with a warm bed inside.
I could warm myself by the fire in Johnno's camp where I was constantly offered hot tea or hot chocolate, and when it got dark and I admitted I didn't even have a torchlight, Johnno just gave me one to keep for as long as I'd need it.
We were strangers and I wasn't even feeling very sociable and friendly, but still they made me feel welcome and appreciated and were ready to give and do what they could to convince me to stay.
My questionable camp.
Later on it bent and half collapsed in the stormy winds, but I was always lucky enough to be invited to live in someone else's tent :)
Craig's Landcruiser called "Milo tin" in action at the creek crossing.
This and some other photos I took from Manny's blog - cheers Manny!
Here is the point to explain something. When I arrived at Rainbow, I was not in a happy state at all. For months I'd been carrying some heavy stones around with me and they were stuck in my stomach, resistant to be digested, weighing me down and making me sad and listless. And very angry, too, because there wasn't even anyone I could blame.
Whenever I was around people, I would just wear a happy, bubbly mask and pretend to be okay - because I don't ever want to take out my bad mood on others. At Confest, as much as I enjoyed it, I was barely ever by myself and it took all the mental energy I had left. The five days of travelling with Tweety exhausted me even more; even though I love Tweety to pieces and think she's an absolutely perfect, polite, caring and tolerant travel buddy, she was in my car with me all the time, and I had nowhere to retreat and hide away.
I was over-socialized to the most. I was over people, over being happy, over the whole world.
It's good to know the metaphor of the porcupines:
Imagine we are all porcupines, and it is really cold, so naturally we want to huddle up together to feed off each others (emotional) warmth. But because we are porcupines, we have spikes and we poke and prickle each other if we come too close. So we get annoyed with each other, and move apart, until we start freezing again, and we move closer together to get warmed, and then we get pricked again and we move away, and so on and so on.
The people who are rather on the extrovert end of the spectrum are like porcupines who are willing to bear with being pricked if they can only be among others and share warmth. Introverts would rather freeze a little bit than have the others too close.
Everyone is moving up and down the extrovert-introvert spectrum all the time, and me at the time I got to Rainbow - I was a porcupine that can't get away from the other prickly porcupines fast enough.
Setting up camp with Craig, I told him about the porcupine metaphor straight away to make clear that I needed to be left alone. I basically tried to politely growl at him, as one could say in KC-dog language.
And he was absolutely cool with it. A bit of a loner himself, we found that we were just matching camp neighbours.
I spent the first week in the Rainbow valley pretty much hiding away from the world in my tent or going on long bushwalks by myself. Sometimes I didn't emerge until mid afternoon, and only the cold or hunger brought me near the fires, to the other people. And just in case, I always carried my ipod around with me, so I could plug in my headphones and block the world out if I needed to.
New Rainbow folk arrived, things were built and set up and there was much action going on, but I just deliberately missed out on it all. Maybe lots of people didn't even realize I was there. When I was with people, I hung out in Johnno's camp with Craig, Manny, Juliet etc. and of course Johnno.
Johnno's camp soon got dubbed "the Pirate camp" because it... developed sort of its own way of having a Rainbow Gathering.
About Rainbow traditions
Usually, there are a few things that makes a Rainbow Gathering different from "just a couple of people camping in the bush". A few essentials that make Rainbow to what it is - Rainbow traditions, Rainbow "rules" that everyone happily agrees with, that bring the community together and become a family.
Twice a day, a meal is cooked up in the communal, vegan kitchen - everyone can go and cook, or help, the Rainbow people are their own chefs. After loud "FOOD CIRCLE" calls being echoed across the gathering site, everyone assembles around the "Sacred Fire" (mentioned above). They circle around the fire and the big pots of food, hold hands, and sing Rainbow songs. Rainbow songs - simple sing-a-longs with lyrics talking of nature, gratitude, community, healthy food and happy people.... :D Wrap your ears around this example:
Afterwards, volunteer severs go around with the pots and serve everybody equal amounts of food, no-one is left hungry. And after all the food is gone, it's time the Magic Hat and its song. The Magic Hat gets passed around after every Food Circle and people can donate money for food - or not. It's entirely up to everyone if or how much they want to contribute.
Then come the practical announcements ("We need more firewood, I'm gonna go and gather some tomorrow, who's coming?") and Talking Circle.
There is a richly decorated Talking Stick that is getting passed around the circle of people around the fire. Whoever holds it can speak, and the others listen. One can say whatever the hell one wants to say - express gratitude, bring up a problem, ask for opinions, share a story, bare your heart - and all the others listen quietly and respect what the person has to say. It's very democratic. It's very polite and liberating, especially for those rather timid ones that are usually not speaking up or heard. It's encouraging people to put their feelings into words, to open up, to communicate, and of course to overcome insecurities about speaking in front of people.
Also, if there is a problem in the community, or an issue about which the opinions greatly differ, they will call out an extra Talking Circle about it, and they will try to solve the problem fairly, with a compromise or a common consent decision.
Alltogether, this is really good stuff. It's fair, it's community, it makes people feel loved and part of something and solves problems peacefully. There's no such thing as violence at a Rainbow, just imagining it seems absurd. It's all rainbows and butterflies!
But.... What goes up will come down, and from down there it only goes up, everyone knows how the game goes - but what if someone's there who is heading straight into one of those troughs of life and does not feel at all like holding hands in a circle and be sociable and sing happy hippy songs up to the sky? What if there's someone who does not feel at all like rainbows and butterflies and bees and bunnies?
I couldn't stand their cheerfulness. I loved to watch them sing and be happy, but doing it myself felt terribly wrong. Friendly people approaching me soon came too close, and I wasn't even interested in making new friends. The Talking Circles bored and annoyed me - lately, I'd heard too many people talking too much shit that honestly doesn't even interest me. I didn't want to smile and talk and open my heart. I felt guilty, I felt like I was being rude and a bludger because I never helped. I felt out of place and considered asking Craig to drive my stuff back up the hill almost every day. I just wanted to run away, but then again, there wasn't really anywhere better to go, and I didn't want to be alone either.
So I went to the Pirate camp. There were the meat eaters, the non-vegans. There were the cynicals and the free spirits, the ferals and the outlaws and there were the ones that just principally reject any sort of rule, religion, politics or conformity. They fry bacon over the fire, they don't sing Rainbow songs, they don't have a Talking Stick, they just do what they please. They were more than happy for the Rainbows to be Rainbows - but they just didn't (always) want to join. Tolerance is the word.
There I had the perfect place I could go.
I've heard people saying that they find it sad that this Gathering was so divided, and that this is not the way Rainbow Gatherings usually are. Usually, there is one camp, one kitchen, one food circle, and one tribe.
But I found it awesome to have the option to choose. I needed this option.
I stayed at the Rainbow Gathering for 5 weeks and I think I hit the low-point somewhere in the first 2 weeks, and got better from then on. Rainbow didn't heal me, but it provided me with everything I needed to work through things myself.
It was raining, they gave me shelter,
it was cold, they gave me clothes and fire,
I was hungry, they fed me,
They just let me be and didn't pressure me with expectations,
I wanted to talk, they were listening
I wanted to be alone, they left me alone,
I wanted emotional support, they became my friends.
Even though it might not have been obvious to see, I absolutely loved my first Rainbow Gathering, everything about it. It's clearly that sort of thing that I could spend months and months of my life on without even noticing the time pass. I never want to leave that tribe again. It surely won't be my last Rainbow and when I show up at the next one, I will be a lot less grumpy, I promise!
What I will do here is talk about the people of the Rainbow family, because they made all those stories happen - they made everything happen, really! There were:
Tweety, Tallan, Jorell, Ollie, Esteve, Ketsev, Maddie, Dash, Juliet, Johnno, Grace and Sue, Leon, Craig and KC, Manny, Luca, Zeph, Sam, Jaya, Pia, Sirli and Iti, Tess, Max, French Max, Lee with the scottish accent, Carline, Sarah, Tom, Maria, Lauren, Phillip, Bobby, Elliot, Shorty, Mystery, Jelmer, Guillaume, Pierce and Sparrow, Jake, Nathan, Pria, Ram, Jemma, Dan, Tony, Josef, Sally, Terena, Ram, Happy, Cale, Lee the master, Cecilia, Belle, Laurie, Destiny, Maude, Jes, Jean-Eric, Loic, Dale "Muddy Feather Foot", Grace, Luke, Miky, Tamlyn, Kyle and Delphi, Nigel, Ananda, Isaac, ...
and so many more.
I can't write about everyone, but I'll attempt a few!
There's Ollie, down there on the left, who's from the Sunshine Coast just near where I had lived. Always cheery and ready for a jam - he's an amazing musician! Check his stuff out: http://olliejackson.bandcamp.com/releases Wish he would have stayed longer.
He also took some real great photos and some of them are used here, too - thanks Ollie.
There was Tallan who came into the valley in his 4WD and set up his real Native American style teepee. I was never in there, but I heard it's super cosy with a fire in the middle. This photo from Ollie looks just stunningly surreal...
One night I sat in the circle around the Sacred Fire, and it was goddamn cold. I wore my layers of jackets and jumpers and was alright as long as the warm glow of the fire reached me. But with all the people freezing and crouching closer to the fire I was shielded from the warmth for a while, shivering and shaking, and Tallan, who happened to sit next to me, noticed and urged me to swap spots with him, so he'd sit behind the other people and I could bathe in the fireglow again. We had never talked before this.
The next day I sat next to the big fire again, but it was not Food Circle time, so it was just a couple of people and me, listening to music. I had listened to a song that unexpectedly triggered some sad memories and just sat there doing a little bit of moping. Tallan came back from a trip to town, carrying a big plastic bag over to me. He placed it at my feet without a word, and walked away. A present? Just now?
It was a black long coat of thick, warm material, which Tallan had bought from the Omeo op shop, for me, because he noticed me being so cold last night.
There is Lawrence (aka. Pumpkin) with the most heart-warming Santa Clause smile in his bearded face, always out and about doing things, helping wherever help is needed - gathering firewood, digging shit pits, care for fresh water, hot water, doing dishes, cooking, and along the way playing with the kids, sharing out hugs and warm smiles, cheeky chuckles....
When it is jamming time, he is most likely on the drums, but he also plays his tin whistles in different keys and sizes, especially the Magic Hat song after every Food Circle is his tin whistle gig. And very occasionally, late at night around a campfire, he will get out his nylon string guitar and play some absolute magic in celtic tuning...
Pumpkin with his cheeky smile, the eternal blue beanie and the jet stove, built out of an old wombat hole and serving as the hot water supply.
There is Mystery, with his knife on his belt and his machete, his long dreadlocks and beard, like Pumpkin, always out there doing practical things, and always doing it very properly, because he just knows how stuff works. The physics of the water supply pipe sucking water from the creek a couple of hundred metres to the kitchen without a pump, how to sharpen a knife, how to repair a computer, how to find the warmest camp spot in the shrub, how to roll a perfect cigarette, how to build a jet stove out of an old wombat hole - Mystery knows how. On special occasions he plays the viola, and he is always barefoot, even in frosty nights. How he does it is - like so much about him - a mystery.
There is Manny, who is a hitch-hiker with all his heart, having a notorious problem with any sort of authority, conformity and rules induced on him, who is a most talented blogger never short of a good answer, and probably the funniest guy out there.
Always with him is his pack of harmonicas, ready to be pulled out and groove along if there's some jamming going on. He also makes the best pancakes in the world, everyone knows that.
His blog, and his post about the Rainbow Gathering, is more than worth reading, especially if you are not out to read a little novel like me here and just wanna watch some good photo shots. From the concise brief comments of Manny you will get a nice glimpse of his pirate humour and happiest-outlaw-in-the-world personality. Also, if you want to learn about hitch hiking and how it works to live such an adventurous-inspiring and free life like Manny - give that blog a read!
http://rawsafari.com
There is Craig, the blokie bloke, with his dog KC and his Toyota Landcruiser, with his tools and his rough working hands, with his Aussie accent and his Aussie humour, the billy and the swag, the dirty clothes and the shaggy hair, not to mention his hat and his thick curly beard matching his dog's coat colour - he'd make it straight on the cover photo of the "Aussie Bloke Magazine", if there was such a thing.
Instead, you will find him around the fire, cooking up a feed (Aussie stuff like damper or Toad in the hole) having a smoke, playing guitar or bouzouki (!!!), or chatting with others. He doens't waffle around, hates fussing and fighting and is one ridiculously generous giver.
KC the Kelpie and Craigo - I don't think they have much of an idea how inspiring I found them. KC, to say that clearly, is the most awesome dog I have ever met! And she is soooo beautiful.
I always knew that I want to have a dog someday, and when I was fascinatedly reading Jack London's "White Fang" as a 13-year-old, I dreamed about a dog with a reddish hue that's called Kiche - partly wolf and partly dog, loyal and wild at the same time. And then I saw KC and couldn't think of anything else haha :D
It took me a bit longer to figure out what it was about Craig that made me stumble. It took me back to kid's years as well, when I wanted to be a boy so bad - when I wanted to be strong and independent and able to look after myself, go out into the forest on wild adventures and work with tools etc... and have no one telling me I "can't"... There's just not as much put past you if you're a girl, I found. Boys can be farty and filthy and it will be regarded as "cool", or at least "okay". Boys weren't as likely to get involved in "typical girls' cat fights" and were more likely to be allowed to climb that rock or walk off on their own for hours, and so on and so on, all these village ideas about character models, you know.
Anyway, I didn't have a choice but to grow up to be a woman and am quite happy with it now (I can still be farty and filthy) - and then I got to know Craig, who seemed to be everything that little 10-year-old me had ever wanted to be like. From the independence to the peacefulness over the silent manners right down to the wild beard! All surreal little girl's aspirations popped out of the depths of my memory, and the more I talked with him and learned about what he had done and what he might like to do and how he handled stuff, the more I felt like "I wanna be more like that!"
I had to hold my reins tighly so I wouldn't run after him like a little puppy wagging its tail "Teach me something! Tell me something!" all the time and get on his nerves.
I don't want to copy anyone (as if one ever could), but it's a good thing to get inspired by people.
Who knows, maybe I'll meet him in 20 years with a "Kiche" by my side.
KC's red cloud coat and the green green grass of the valley - the complementary contrast tripped me out!
There is Esteve! Esteve the tall french guy with the black hair and beard and the eternal cheeky smile who can chirp like a bird and is a natural entertainer with his never ending conglomeration of games and jokes and funny stories. He is THE game person! Responsible for so many werewolf evenings (it's a most popular role play).
He is a particularily important character because he is the person who first told me about "Rrainbo Gazerings", with all his enthusiasm and French accent, when I first met him in Woodford. He and his blue van were camped next to me and Laurie in the Fencing camp. He and the glorious light his stories cast on that abstract thing the Rainbow Gathering are the main reason why I came to Rainbow, and I will be forever grateful for that. He's my Rainbow hero!
There is Johnno, who, as mentioned above, was one of the first people I met and who helped me to stay and feel at home in the Rainbow valley. The thing about him that impressed me the most is his self-confidence - in the most diplomatic and friendly manner, he will make clear that he is not the kind of guy one would want to mess with. However, not taking any shit from anyone, he's a great friend, most generous and kind to his mates and around his fire all the pirates found a place to be and to play music. With Johnno and his passion for music and appreciation for other art and his good stories it never gets boring. I made him a clay dragon candle holder.... unfortunately it got stepped on but I took this shot when it was still whole:
There is Juliet. Tall, with silver hair, big hands quietly drumming her drum, somewhat melancholic eyes and her typically cynical, wonderful sense of humour. She was the engineer and architect that stuck out among all the handiman can-doers as the driving force constructing the kitchen shelter - that was sort of the hub where most rainbows hung out during the day- , a teepee that advanced to become the gaming centre for all the board game fanatics, and the start of another teepee (meditation space).
I think she is an endlessly fascinating character and I loved spending time with her. Talking to her came so easily as if we were somehow on the same level. She can be so funny, so creative, so wise and humble.
There is Trevor! Trevor, the owner of the Scrubby Creek property whose generosity and enthusiasm towards Rainbow made the gathering possible in the first place. Thank you Trevor for sharing your beautiful land with us! Although he could only come and join the party on the weekends, he was indispensible - with his chainsaw for getting firewood, with his 4WD helping to get cargo and people in and out of the remote valley, offering his home in Swifts Creek as a base for before, during and after the Rainbow and in general being the watcher, helpful guard and connection to the "outside world" from beginning till end. Not to mention his stories and sharing of knowledge of the country and his ever-present smile and positivity.
I only got this one photo of him, that is a photo of a photo of him and his dog when he was younger. Such a great shot! And it reminds me of Craig and KC haha
There is Chilli, a Rainbow lady at heart, a traveller, a mama for her own girl Iti and for every other child or grown-up child-at-heart, a great but humble story teller and probably the most beautiful Estonian woman around. I can't imagine Chilli (or by her Estonian name: Sirli) being impatient, selfish or even grumpy. Just the opposite of all that, she is always there to motivate people or cheer them up, encouraging new projects, helping wherever help is needed and spreading Rainbow love and good words.
With her were Iti, Luca and Jaya, the Rainbow kids! Rainbow kids are a special species. Imagine three 10-year-olds, running around the valley in gumboots, with tangled hair, rosy cheeks, bright eyes and ALWAYS a witty answer to everything. They don't need their phones and ipads to occupy themselves; they invent games in the bush, go on adventures and treasure hunts and keep the whole Rainbow family on their toes. They know all the Rainbow songs, they know everyone who's there and where their camp is, and they're certain to be around wherever there's chocolate or cheese coming out of the depths of someone's tent. Being home schooled by their parents, they don't have to go to school, yet they're smart, so smart, in their social development probaby far ahead of "normal" kids growing up in the suburbs, and they certainly seem to know more about "life skills" than others of their age.
I never really had the knack to connect with kids, don't ask me why, but I am definitely not a nanny kind of girl, however with these kids I made friends. Would there ever be a way one could NOT make friends with them?
At the Barbie-Unicorn camp (a more politically correct word for the Pirate camp), Craig undergoes his beauty treatment.
The ladies and Tess painting a sign for the "shit pit" (the toilet!)
Tess! Now I have to tell about Tess, the most adorable little British lady that can be found. I met her at Confest, chopping up vegies with her in the hub kitchen. and then there she was at Rainbow, gracing the gathering with her presence and helpfulness right to the end. She's a writer, reciting her poems in the best Bristish accent at the cabaret, and she's an amazing chef, always in the kitchen and whipping up the best food, and then doing dishes, and then doing that, and helping there, and being so humble about it all. She is funny, empathic, and I think has a special talent for listening to people, making them feel heard and undertsood. Everyone loves her and you can bet there are good reasons why!
And there is Max, who I also met in the Hub kitchen at Confest. His words then "If you like this (Confest), you will like Rainbow. It's like Confest in setup time." Just as humble as Tess, I think he silently is a major Rainbow guy! He initiated the very first Rainbow Gathering in his home country Indonesia, for example. Like Tess he is the most helpful person and the greatest chef. Love you, Max!
Max and Carline <3.
Ram! Picture a tall Italian guy with a banjo that seems to be grown together with his body - it's always with him and his fingers are more at home on its strings than in his own pockets. He IS the music! His knowledge and talent is outstanding; I have never met such a definition of a full-blood musician. He seems to know an endless repertoire of songs, lyrics, chords, artists and bands, and almost every night ends up being another awesome jam session where new songs are just made up as he goes. I met him and his fellow Italian muso Sam at Confest, and wherever they were, the spirits where high and the creativity all over the place with people singing and jamming and playing along. Imagine my (and everyone else's) delight when he showed up at Rainbow! Best. Jam nights. Ever.
With his help and encouragement, we even got together a campfire performance of Ed Sheeran's "Don't" - one of my big big favourite songs at the moment! He figured out the chords, transposed it so it would fit my voice, played his banjo and did some backing vocals. Jorell strummed on his guitar and Ketsev rocked the beat box! And I just tried to get all the lyrics right although I was nervous .... soooo much fun! Thanks Ram, Ketsev and Jorell!
Dash!
Jelmer didn't show up until the last week of the Rainbow, but I'm very happy he made it. A Dutch guy in his early thirties who spent his life so far travelling and working around the globe and having the most amazing adventures, and studying in between (partly abroad of course) and since 1,5 years, he's touring around Australia on a motorbike. How cool is that? His life would already make a damn good book, so full of stories he is. No dream seems to be too big or too crazy or too unrealistic for him to make it come true. He is living the dream... very inspiring to hear about this. Of course, one knows about people like that out there, but still they seem far away, they're the others, the "crazy" ones with the million dollar lifestyle, and it's easy to forget that you are just the same, if you want to. It's easy to forget how much more is out there and that the limits of possible are far away from being reached yet....
Once I walked over to the Sacred Fire quite late at night, and there was a guy who I didn't know, jamming Harvest Moon on his guitar without singing. The night sky was crystal clear with the milky way spanning across and the moon almost full above our heads. It was the perfect song for the perfect moment. I sat down next to the guy and started singing to his guitar, and it was magic! After the song I learned that he was Nathan. What a great way to meet you!
There is Lee from somewhere in the UK near Scotland - his accent is the funniest thing! It's really hard for me to understand, but I love it :D And he's such a cool dude anyway. We made friends at Confest already and when I suddenly heard this accent one night around the fire - I knew who had arrived and I was stoked. I made him three dreadlocks and hope they'll never let him forget me xx
Haha, and this is Leon, haha I already start giggling when I think about him. One thing you can be sure of is that there will always be the greatest, funniest, absolute bullshit be coming out of Leon's mouth - he entertains everyone! And because of him I learned the word sleezebag and its meaning.... haha. All in a good way, of course. I love Leon!
There is a big problem in Australia with the wild dogs, especially around Omeo it seems to be pretty bad. Normal domestic dogs run off or get abandoned and start living like wolves in the wilderness, breeding with the native dingoes and preying sheep and cattle. These packs of feral dogs become bigger and bigger and actually start to be a danger to humans as well - not to mention all the trouble they cause to the farmers. Apparently, there were heaps of them in the mountain region where the Rainbow was taking place. At night we could hear them howling.
And on the road to Omeo, a farmer had strung up all the wild dogs he had killed on his land on a tree - to show how many, and how big they are.
Seeing this was disgusting, morbid and fascinating at the same time, and although the reek of some 50 rotting dog bodies was revolting, it was the first time I could ever examine bodies in different stages of decay. And aren't they huge? I wouldn't wanna meet them out there on a bushwalk.
And they don't belong there in the bush where they have no predators, make pure bred dingoes become rare and only cause trouble in the ecosystem. The government puts out poisoned baits to get the problem under control, and I hope they do.
A day to day scene in the kitchen shelter.
They built a pizza oven out of clay and stones! I got out my block of clay and started decorating the outside of it, and soon many others joined and added their own art. And the pizzas were soooooooo yum.
The firebath, here thoroughly enjoyed by Esteve. An old cast iron bath tub that had somehow made its way into the valley a long time ago, dragged over to a beautiful secluded little ledge next to our scrubby creek. Filled with creek water and with a fire blazing underneath, one could sit in the clear air and among the green riverbanks and forget about freezing for a while.
What else but fires, thick layers of clothes and hot food and drink to keep you warm? Cuddle puddles of course.
There's heaps more to tell but I reckon if I write more - no one would ever even read it. Thank you whoever even read this far! ;)
Keep your eyes peeled for more scribbles and photos of the Rainbow Decompression, my trip to Wilsons Promontory, my time in Melbourne and on the Great Ocean Road!
This video makes me homesick. Queensland, I'm on my own sweet way!
Follow the sun, direction of the birds, direction of love
Breathe in the air, cherish this moment, cherish this breath
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone
brand new moon, brand new sun
So which way is the wind blowing and
what does your heart say?
