DIVING INTO THE SPIRIT AND SEPIA SOUL OF A TROPICAL ISLAND

Soaking up the sun at  Alma  Bay , Magnetic Island , are the late philosopher  John Clendinnen  and wife, Inga, a  noted Australian author, historian , anthropologist  and  academic.*** 

Different to  the usual  glossy, formula  written  books  about  choice locations on the  Great Barrier Reef  is Magnetic Island-A sense  of place by concerned photographer and  conservationist, Vandhana. 

In  the volume  she married  her  striking photographs  with  a range of  poems and  prose  from  islanders  and  former  residents  in  a bid to  capture and portray  the essence  of  the  place that she has known for some 35 years , first going  there on  holidays  with  her  parents.
 

 

There are contributions from a wide range of people, ranging in age from eight to a woman in her nineties . Olivia Illidge, 12, at  the International Day of Climate Change  Action  on the island   before the 2009 Copenhagen  conference, urged world leaders there to give  her some hope for  the future and  that of the  planet.  Eden Pi-Gram, 11, expressed his concern about the treatment of water in a poem  for World Oceans Day 2010. 

There  are  odes  to  the sea , the  pub ,  Maggie Magic , Dawn on Anzac Day , an   acrostic poem  spelling out Magnetic Island  by  another 11 year older, Marley Hannan.    

 

Wulgurukaba elders , the postman  on  his round, a  drumming workshop , interval at the Magnetic Island  Film  Festival  and  the old  jetty are  captured in sepia in  a  work  of  love  that  took  five  years  to  come  to  fruition .

The  book sells for  $35, postage $11, Contact: magneticvandhana@hotmail.com . Vandhana  was  selling the book from a stall at  Horseshoe Bay ,when an  American student , who had been  in a car accident which had impaired his  eyesight , peered  at the book.  Realising he had a sight problem , she asked him what  was  the matter and he explained , saying it was hoped that his vision would be restored  in six months . On hearing  this, she gave him a  copy . Later she received an email from him  saying  his eyesight was back to normal  and that the book she had kindly given  him  had brought back fond memories of the island .   

 Magnetic Island from the old jetty at Picnic Bay .

*** For years  the   Clendinnens   escaped the  cold of  Melbourne by coming to  Magnetic Island where they  had  a  house in  Henry Lawson Drive, Horseshoe  Bay,   and held   lively dinner parties .

In  2001, at a function organised by the Magnetic Island  History and Craft Association ,   Inga Clendinnen  officially launched  the book  The Island and Me by  Tom Wetherell, 90, whose 18 year-old- brother, Henry, had been fatally attacked by a shark  at Alma  Bay on Australia  Day  weekend   1929,  this  being where  the Clendinnens   were   photographed  for  Vandhana's  book.

In her speech, Inga said  historians and local historians usually did not  get on very well because the professionals  were  jealous of  the  local historian's guaranteed  happy readership.

She  referred to  part of Wetherell's book  in which he discussed the death of his wife in 1991 after 60 years of marriage . A day after her death, he noticed the Butch Birds  were silent , which left him feeling  lonelier. He hoped they might be nesting , she said . "They were , and a little later they  brought their two chicks to visit . He happened to  be listening  to a flute concerto at the time , and the chicks were mesmerised , listening intently  to what the famous Butcher Bird  James  Galway  could do , and  Mr Wetherell  was  comforted."

Wetherell , who described himself as an ordinary bloke , was 101 when he died . 

 Inga  received the  Order of Australia for services addressing issues of  fundamental concern  to Australian society and  for contributing  to the shaping  of public  debate on  conflicting  contemporary issues . Her books covered Aztec and Mayan cultures , the Holocaust (voted one of  best books of year in 1999 by New York Post )  and another, Dancing With Strangers, examined  the  relationship between the First Fleeters  and  Aborigines .

Published by  Text, Melbourne , 2003, Dancing With Strangers, contains  unexpected Northern Territory  references.In the introduction , Clendinnen wrote that  during a boat trip across the top of Australia with her husband they made a  brief  visit  to  the early, ill fated  British garrison  settlement  at Port Essington on the Cobourg Peninsula, which, unknowingly, eventually led to the writing of  the  book after she read the descriptive journals of British Marine officer  Lieutenant-General   Watkin Tench  in  the First Fleet  that set up Port Jackson . 

Clendinnen's  bibliography  listed   The Day The Sky Fell Down : The Destruction of the Tribes of the Sydney Region 1788-1850s, by  one-time Darwin  journalist  and  three time  Walkley Award  winner, Keith  Willey. Clendinnen wrote that Willey had  constructed a near continuous narrative  from the major sources  to provide  the most coherent account of Aboriginal-European interaction  through the early decades of  settlement. (After Willey left the Territory he took an honours degree in Australian history at the Australian National University and lectured  in  journalism at the Darling Downs Institute of  Advanced  Education, Toowoomba ,Queensland).

Inga  presented a  copy of  her book  to  an island resident , the late  Peter Le Grand on his 60th birthday with an inscription, see below , which  acknowledged  his  concern for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islands and  passion  for  the  arts,  social  justice and  the  environment.

During  his involvement in Queensland politics he was on the personal staff of Townsville Labor  State  politician , Mike Reynolds ,who held several ministerial portfolios , his   last post in government  that  of  Speaker . Reference to the " tower"  in the inscription  is  thought  to  have related  to  Inga and her husband  looking  at  things from  the  academic  ivory heights , a  self deprecating  term , but one Peter raised in the lively evening  debates  with   the  Clendinnens  on  the  island . 

 

The  Clendinnens  sold  their island property (now occupied by artists Sharon and Steve Crowe )  when  John became  ill  and  settled  back  in  Melbourne , where he died in 2012. When Peter Le Grand's partner ,   Linda  Wootten ,  secretary of   the Magnetic Island branch of  the ALP and a  wildlife carer ,  went to  Melbourne for a wedding ,  she visited the Clendinnens  and  Inga said she  missed  the  cry  of   the  Curlews on  the island .

 

As a result of  that statement , Wootten  bought a special card  on the island  which emitted the cry of  a Curlew when  opened  and sent it to Inga who was  then  in a   retirement home. A  nurse opened the card  for  Inga  and  got a fright when  it  let loose with  the  distinctive Curlew  wail. 

TO  COME : More  interesting  photographs  and  tales  from Vandhana .

PACIFIC WAR MEMORIAL NEGLECTED



Much  publicity is being  given  in Townsville  to  the looming celebrations to mark the 70th  anniversary  of  the  end of  the war in the  Pacific. The Townsville Bulletin, for example , ran a  front  page  story  about  four women  who served in the Australian Women's  Army Service in World War ll , which  announced  the paper would run a special VP70 feature  on Saturday , August 15   to  mark  the  major event. Just up the road from  the  newspaper  at the Railway Oval  is the   Victory  Fountain VP5O , lettering  badly faded or  missing , making it hard to  read . Another   plaque (above)  says  the  oval  was reopened as part of the VP50 celebrations  in  1995.

 Little Darwin  recently  reported  the fountain was not working properly;it now is .  Excavations  about  the  fountain  area for Optus and  Telstra  have produced uneven  paths  at  the  busy intersection making it look as if  hostilities  have  resumed  in  the  Pacific. Adjacent to the  fountain  is  a  civic trail information  sign which is faded , hard  to read , plastic  cladding torn and   flapping in the breeze when  we  last  looked . 

ANOTHER HISTORIC HOTEL SHUTS

 

Without  warning and little follow up by the media , the Criterion Hotel, on the Townsville waterfront heritage walk , recently closed  its  doors . The original hotel on the site , Townsville's first,   was a log hut constructed  in 1865  for William Ross after whom nearby Ross River and Ross Creek are named . He introduced the first barmaids, marrying one. In 1869 the popular  hotel was replaced  with a  two storey timber building ; badly damaged by  Cyclone Leonta in 1903  , the new owner , S. Murdoch , engaged  local architects  to design a new brick  hotel in the Federation style, which opened  in  1904.

 Still closed is the 1900 built  Great Northern Hotel, damaged by  an arsonist ,with a banner  saying it hopes to reopen in the near future . There has been an unclear , small  report  suggesting several  other  Townsville  hotels  have changed  hands .

RED SKY IN MORNING WARNING

Early morning  photograph by  Abra  from  Castle Hill , Townsville, towards Magnetic Island comes as the city  is  warned  that  strict water restrictions are likely due  to  the low level of the  Ross River Dam  after  a poor Wet.  Flying  from Cairns  to Townsville  the countryside  changes from green  to   brown  as you approach Townsville. 

STORK AND POSSUMS BUSY

Babies are arriving  all over the  place  on  Magnetic Island . In  pyjamas , about  5am , this  odd blogger was chasing  with  a  strawbroom   one  of   many  possums which had romped about the  property all  night ,chewing the mango shoots and galloping across the roof . At the time of the chase , a nextdoor  neighbour was   giving  birth with the help of her Kiwi sister on the  premises to a  baby   girl who was obviously  in a hurry to join the never ending  possum  fun run.  The baby was transported to Townsville  in a special  pod  on  the  ferry, her birth announced to passengers over the public address system , a schoolboy obviously aware of the facts of life  commenting she  must have just popped out. The  mother was flown like Bronwyn  in a helicopter to Townsville  Hospital. The  next day, Little Darwin's Curlew family produced a chick (above) ,  peeping out at the cool world  from its  mother in protective attack mode. The  father has been taking a  turn sitting  on  the  other egg . Now the Barking Owl  alert  has begun to prevent the chicks from being eaten . In Darwin,  a 22-year-old Barking Owl , Gizmo , has died at the Territory Wildlife Park.

Now there are two chicks in family snapshot; with mother below.

 

BARRED FROM BOOZE PALACE , BURLEIGH FROTHS AT MOUTH

BUNG BLOWN  OUT  OF  ENTENTE  CORDIALE  

Innocent Aussie Abroad : With a degree in Strine, a stolen  Department of Defence  swag on his back and waving an early Team Australia  flag , Peter Burleigh about to leave  Australia  in  1969 on a  mission  to the  Mother Country  to teach the Poms that we are cultured colonials who can quickly master  foreign lingo, including English. Burleigh's latest dispatch , translated from  Swahili , clearly shows  he  has  a  way  with  languages ...

Travelling through France on its 7500 km of canals takes you into a myriad of small towns. None of them are prospering and only a few are without economic stress. For example, the town we are in has a Pizza van parked in the town square on Tuesday nights – for the rest of the week there’s nothing…but a few years ago there were two restaurants, a hotel and a Trattoria. 

 

 Better see these towns now because they are fast disappearing The local shops have been bled white by the huge Hypermarkets (Gerry Harvey calls them ‘category killers’ and he should know). Increasing centralization is bleeding towns of young people, so they are searching for things which will attract visitors.

Some say it’s the homogenising influence of the EU which has forced French governments to withdraw tax and  grant support for village industries. Yes, we lament the death of small towns in Australia but in France these places produced unique local produce; cheese, recipes, breads, chickens with black legs, red currant jelly with pips removed by goose quills, preserves that were not found anywhere else in the country – a whole bunch of appealing idiosyncrasies that simply can’t be reproduced by an industrial process.

 

FLAT BEER MUSEUM

How delightful therefore is a visit the town of Stenay, not far north of Verdun in northern France,  where I discover its primary point of difference is its “Beer Museum” or ‘European Musee de Biere’. Being a fan of eccentricity, I’m the sort of person who will keenly visit such a museum but unfortunately today is Monday so it’s closed - like the rest of France.

Monday closing can stretch into Tuesdays and other combinations of days and weird opening hours. Combine the French love of strikes with their unpredictable business hours and you have no idea whether scheduled trains or buses or planes will get you to where you want to go, and no idea whether you can buy a drink or a sandwich when you get there.

  

But no matter, this is France and you’re expected to be patient. Eventually you get to like the quirky idea of what passes for efficiency and you relax into it…but it does train you to lower your expectations and travel less, unless you’re walking.

The locked and shuttered Beer Museum itself is poignantly located in the musty and deserted spaces of a defunct military food depot and malt house*, where the enthusiastic caretaker Monsieur Unintelligible unofficially guides me into the cleaner’s cupboard and ultimately to the more philosophical aspects of the Histoire de Biere (the drinking aspects of which I have already mastered).

 

COMMUNICATING  IN  STRINE

My  connection with the Monsieur is informative. He and I do not wholly understand one another, but have a mutual understanding of the complex subject of beer. Monsieur U, being of the Gallic persuasion (that is, resistant to change), tends to ignore the logic of people who speak foreign languages, but we understand each other sufficiently well.

 

 He seems not to resent the fact that I speak English, the dominant and most elegant language on the planet, and does not deliberately distort my meaning. He takes his job seriously. He won’t allow me to enter but will do his best to pass the Museum Experience to me verbally. 

On the following topics, our conversation goes like this:

1: Dry beers of  the 1750s

Me (speaking in French): “Je comprenhend votre Bieres from the demi-1700s have sufferez le drought as bad as anything notre experienceons in Coober Pedy. Through the ajar fenetre, je espy le dust at the derierre.”

English translation:  “This beer from 1750 has evaporated in its bottles. I can see the residue. Not much good if you’re thirsty, mate. Was there a drought that year? It was hot in Coober Pedy too, especially in 1750.”

M. Unintelligible’s reply in English: “My cup of beer contains deceased geography. How you say? Nitty-gritty, ha ha.” 

2: How to Choose  the Right Cheese  with  the  Beer.

Me (speaking in French): “Le Frankinsenese love le fromage avec le Bier. Quelle cheese de fromage is le most favoured? Je desiree try the cheese blue avec les varicose veins.” 

English translation:   “I hear the French like to taste a good cheese with a good beer. Which do you recommend? I myself like Blue-vein cheeses.”

M. Unintelligible replies in English: "They live in my nose since my Father’s Christmas." 

3: Avoiding beer-based laundry challenges.

Me (in French): “Le propensitee to get le stains du biere on mon underdaks est un concern. Quelle action deux cleanez votre jocks?”

English translation : “When I drink beer I drool on my shirt and pants. What advice can you offer?”

M. Unintelligible replies in English: "I have one thousand and eighteen metres of tallness."

 4: What is the difference between dry beer?

Me (speaking in French): “Les biers sec avez un characteristic of a drought dans  la bouche. D’agree?”

Translation: "The tongue of my washing machine stays moist even in a desert* (In written form this may appear as ‘..in a dessert.’)".

M. Unintelligible replies in English: "Ice cubes are an anathema to beer especially if  they are liquidated." 

 5: Exploring the Concord between France and Australia.

Me (speaking in French): " Voulez-vous votre ‘beer wench’ se coucher avec moi ce soir?"

Translation: "Is  one of your vaginas available this evening?"

M. Unintelligible replies in English: "Fuck off !"

In my further attempts to understand beer as a pivotal element of European culture, I turn to The Oxford Companion to Beer, page 887. Its entries shed light on such topics as pub games, food pairings and the development of beer styles.
 

There are vivid accounts of how our drinking traditions have changed throughout history, and how these traditions vary in different parts of the world, from Japan to Mexico, New Zealand, and Brazil, among many other countries whose names elude me.  

The pioneers of beer-making are the subjects of mind-numbing biographical entries, and the legacies these pioneers have left behind in the form of the world's most popular beers, breweries and pretentious museums, are recurrent themes throughout the book. 

Relentlessly packed with information, this comprehensive resource also includes thorough appendices (covering beer festivals, beer magazines, and more), conversion tables, and an exciting index. However, if you’re looking for more detail on the Stenay Museum you’ll be pissed. Off, that is.
 

In the next in this series, I will write about alternatives to beer (unlikely as  that may sound), including  fermented Yak urine and Elderberry Wine.This week’s “International Beer  Shrine” is the Roy de la Biere Pub, 19 Place de Halle, 08200 Sedan, France. Phone 03 24 29 01 74.  Their speciality? Beer flambe!See you there. 

***As a footnote to the beer connection, the town of Stenay had also belonged to the husband of Mathilde of Tuscany who is indelibly connected to Orval Abbey. When her husband, Godefroy the Hunchback was murdered he left his possessions, including Stenay to his nephew Godefroy of Bouillon who would capture Jerusalem in 1099 during the 1st Crusade.

To finance his participation he was forced to sell the town to the Bishop of Verdun. From the Museum’s website; check it out! While Godefroy the Hunchback was apparently extremely fond of beer – hence his nickname ‘Godefroy the Red-eyed Hunchback’ - he found a better use for his time by soothing around in his Dining Hall sampling the product, rather than sitting in a smelly brewery staring at metal vats of fermenting hops.

Passport/mug shot  photo  of  Burleigh, wearing a stolen Army slouch  hat with a moulting emu feather , shows him proudly displaying a personal  reference and letter of introduction  from the  renowned  hanging premier of Victoria , Henry Bolte , declaring  Pete is  fair dinkum , a china plate , and  would like to be in on  the food bag  like youse.  Kind hearted  Burleigh has  a food parcel for  young Prince Charles under  his sweaty  armpit . He is also revealed  as  the  acclaimed mysterious  public convenience artist, Basil. There is also mention of a subversive publication , Broadside, quickly closed down by the Australian thought police  and  the  Melbourne Club .   

Hangover Note : For some annoying reason , the fonts  in  this post  have been tipsy, enough to drive one to drink .

NORTHERN SCULPTURE EXTRAVAGANZA SEES LAST CHOPPER FLIGHT OF SPEECHLESS BRONWYN BISHOP

One of the many eye catching  works of  art  in  the current  North Queensland  sculpture festival , which stretches  along  The  Strand , Townsville, is this mighty effort, Boat People , surrounded by shark fins,  made  by   Lance Seadon ,from bamboo, rope, wire, metal and  wood. The objects are made from a wide variety of  materials, are on display until August 9 and  includes spectacular   sandcastles  by  Peter Redmond, Jino Van  Bruinessen and Walter McDonald from  Texas.  

 

A swarm  of  giant , metal  praying mantises took over the  rails on a jetty ; imitation coral and sea  creatures made from  flotsam and  jetsam  wrapped  about  tree trunks added to  the impact of the  permanent  turtle information  post .

Chairs  were  arranged  in  a  large red  arch against  Magnetic Island  in  the  distance and  the caravans used by Grey Nomads were the subject of another  clever  display.

Shark  attacks very much  in the news  right  now,  many people  were snapped  posing  with  the  above  large metal whale shark. Over  the weekend  The  Strand  was  seething  with humanity, dogs,  bikes, automated  skate  boards , sky divers  landed on  the beach, the Red Baron thrilled  by flying  low  overhead  before touching down  with  a  splash .When  a helicopter made a low pass  it caused  a  young  boy who obviously watches  a  lot of  television to shout to  his  parents ,"Is  that  the politician ?!!!"A titter ran through the  crowd , an expression  not   much used  in  these politically  correct  times.