Bike the Earth visits Bob Randall

En route from Townsville to Bali, Chris Le Breton was invited to visit Uluru to see for himself some of the injustice that continues to be perpetrated by the Australian Government towards Aboriginal peoples:
http://awakeningthedreamer.org/biking-to-uncle-bob-randall/

Magnetic Island, northern Queensland, Australia - 15 March - 11 May

Starting again to get some news on here, now that I have reached Ubud, Bali, waiting for my bicycle trailer wheels to be repaired.  

Aiming to go to Darwin via Townsville, I googled "Transition town Townsville" and up came the name of a guy named Leon, a permaculture practitioner who lived on the island with his family, and invited me to come stay, and lead a symposium, or seven! 

So I did just that, and loved the island, two thirds of which is protected national park. Townsville is largely a port servicing the mining and sugar companies whose produce (not the right word for mining?) is shipped largely to China. And it boasts the largest United States military base outside the USA, altho I didnt see a single US military person whilst I was there. 

Townsville had a bit of a red neck feeling to it, and so I based myself on the island at Picnic Bay, below.

and led two symposiums on the island, the last of which I entitled:  "Creating a Bold New Future for Maggie."  Below - welome Paul, Kaylene, Jo and Alison - "Island Dreaming" tribe - 4 new Facilitators of the Awakening the Dreamer symposium that I trained in a 1 day 'long training' Magnetic Island. A huge privilege to impart the symposium to them, at Kaylene's beautiful Bali-esque oasis home on the island!  Thank you Kaylene! 

The downside of the stunning scenery and ferry crossings from Townsville to Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island over a 6 week period during 2 months -(the rest of the time I went to NZ to renew my Australian visa)- was that the salt spray corroded parts of the bicycle and the trailer to some degree.

 Magnetic Island was extremely wet when I arrived in mid March, seeing the end of a prolonged rainy season, continuing after the devastation wrought by Cyclone Yasi that had decimated much of the verdant tree cover and foliage that hid houses from each other.   After 3 weeks of almost non stop raining, the torrential rains stopped and the slightly cooler, dry season hit the island.  

None of this phased me much as I would commute around the island, making preparations for the 2 symposiums I organised on the island, the three in Townsville, and one at James Cook University too.

*****

Through Kaylene, who I met thanks to friends we had made in Currumbin (thank you Trudy) and Eumundi (thank you Treena), I met Bob Randall a few times.  Here he is leading a Welcome Mother Sun ritual on Magnetic Island.




Bob Randall, singer, teacher and Yakunytjatjara elder (indigenous custodian of Uluru/ Ayers Rock) invited me to come visit his home in Northern Territory to see for myself the conditions in which Aboriginal people lived. I took him up on his offer.

More on this later!
Chris

Cairns, Millaa Millaa, Ravenshoe, Cairns - 1

Bike the Earth arrived in Cairns mid December 2010 and left early March 2011, delayed by the flooded road and railway, but with gratitude for the fantastic welcome we received in Cairns and the Atherton tablelands  as we organised seven symposiums and organised the first leadership/change agents course in northern Queensland.  It was an honour to be able to contribute to supporting initiatives such as Permaculture Cairns and Transition Cairns. Thank you to Sjoerd at ParaPachamama, and to Sarah and Anna at CAFNEC, and Janet at  Permaculture Cairns. 

Bike the Earth is now en route to Townsville, Mt Isa and Darwin, to leave Australia northwards.