At Lismore's Goanna cafe, having tried their vegan gluten free pancakes with blueberries and agave syrup, and met up with Alex and Natalie from Coffs Harbour, advertising a music festival end of October and let them know about the Sustainable Living Festival in 2 weeks time too -
Chris
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
30 September - Lismore
Preparing for our event tonight, mindful that the Dalai Lama has been to a symposium too. The Goanna bakery is giving us student discounts as we base ourselves to work through our slides and videos, and upload one of the recent interviews we had with an indigenous Australian representative last week in Bellingen.
The power of computers is incredible really. To film an interview on a video camera, then spending an hour or so editing it in imovie, and then exporting it in a format to be read by Keynote. Click the computer to a projector, and hey presto... (hopefully)!... :-)
Chris
PS. Thanks to Harris Cycles in Lismore for helping us to re-assemble our bikes and adapt/ adjust, after they had to be dismantled into a box to get onto Australian railways.
The power of computers is incredible really. To film an interview on a video camera, then spending an hour or so editing it in imovie, and then exporting it in a format to be read by Keynote. Click the computer to a projector, and hey presto... (hopefully)!... :-)
Chris
PS. Thanks to Harris Cycles in Lismore for helping us to re-assemble our bikes and adapt/ adjust, after they had to be dismantled into a box to get onto Australian railways.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
29 September - Lismore
Visited the dentist today for another root canal treatment, having had a tooth out and filling in Bellingen over the last 2 weeks. I joked that Bike the Earth was a journey around the world visiting dentists, and connecting them, inspiring them to new business!
Sitting in the Goanna cafe on Keen Street in Lismore which offers organic healthy food and drinks, as well as spelt and gluten-free alternatives for the coeliacs amongst us.
Noticed a small sign drawing attention to the palm oil shortening used in their baking, sourced from organic farmers in Colombia.
/
Chris
Sitting in the Goanna cafe on Keen Street in Lismore which offers organic healthy food and drinks, as well as spelt and gluten-free alternatives for the coeliacs amongst us.
Noticed a small sign drawing attention to the palm oil shortening used in their baking, sourced from organic farmers in Colombia.
/
Chris
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday 22nd October - Day off. Cycled up to Dorrigo. Another world!
Cycled 30km up the Gt Dividing Range, climbing up 9km thru the Gondwana rainforest (first preserved in 1901) to the top – 762m hith - to Dorrigo. If it weren’t for the red/brown soils, I would think I had arrived in England or lowland Scotland. It resembles a cross between Tenterden, England and Kitale Kenya.
Dorrigo has an as yet, unopened railway museum with more blacked steam engines stationed one behind each other than I have ever seen in my life – and ALL of them different in design. There must have been atleast 16 of them. Plus lots of old, rather dilapidated carriages and cargo trucks. Dorrigo railway which used to feed into Grafton, carrying livestock and timber, closed in 1972, but the tracks appear to still be there. An opportunity to convert to a cycle route and attract tourism to the area, and attract younger people to stay/come.
Standard town centre: Dorrigo hotel. statue to King and Empire in middle of crossroads in centre of town. Winner of most beautiful town New South Wales 2008. And it was stunning. Just nothing very Australian about it. Very few examples of indigenous Australia there, lots of English and European ornamental plants and trees, and lawns instead.
Cycled 3km to the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, and walked out over the Glade walk over the forest canopy. As I bent down, in my cycle shorts, to take my camera out of my bag, a party of 70 something OAPs walked across the wooden bridge towards the lookout. Their leader – a 79 year old woman called Valery, pointed to me, and said “ very interesting shorts, and bottom. Hmm… Untouched World” (the name of our clothing sponsor), emblazoned on the rear side of our cycling shorts, she said as everybody looked out over the rainforest vista and then at me. “ I must touch that” she said. I explained that I was cycling around the world. She went on” I am looking for a wealthy husband.” I wanted to reply: “ so am I” but decided to respond “ contact me later, darling”.
Cycled down the scarp, and back to Bellingen via a smaller rougher road which passed via Glennifer and Never Never land. So beautiful, reminding me of other stunning places in the world I have been to, in Kenya, and on the Georgian/Chechen border.
Chris
Dorrigo has an as yet, unopened railway museum with more blacked steam engines stationed one behind each other than I have ever seen in my life – and ALL of them different in design. There must have been atleast 16 of them. Plus lots of old, rather dilapidated carriages and cargo trucks. Dorrigo railway which used to feed into Grafton, carrying livestock and timber, closed in 1972, but the tracks appear to still be there. An opportunity to convert to a cycle route and attract tourism to the area, and attract younger people to stay/come.
Standard town centre: Dorrigo hotel. statue to King and Empire in middle of crossroads in centre of town. Winner of most beautiful town New South Wales 2008. And it was stunning. Just nothing very Australian about it. Very few examples of indigenous Australia there, lots of English and European ornamental plants and trees, and lawns instead.
Cycled 3km to the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, and walked out over the Glade walk over the forest canopy. As I bent down, in my cycle shorts, to take my camera out of my bag, a party of 70 something OAPs walked across the wooden bridge towards the lookout. Their leader – a 79 year old woman called Valery, pointed to me, and said “ very interesting shorts, and bottom. Hmm… Untouched World” (the name of our clothing sponsor), emblazoned on the rear side of our cycling shorts, she said as everybody looked out over the rainforest vista and then at me. “ I must touch that” she said. I explained that I was cycling around the world. She went on” I am looking for a wealthy husband.” I wanted to reply: “ so am I” but decided to respond “ contact me later, darling”.
Cycled down the scarp, and back to Bellingen via a smaller rougher road which passed via Glennifer and Never Never land. So beautiful, reminding me of other stunning places in the world I have been to, in Kenya, and on the Georgian/Chechen border.
Chris
Monday, September 20, 2010
Day 65 - Broadwater/Lismore
Day 65 - Broadwater/Lismore
Had lunch and worked through the afternoon at Sweet Pea Café, 13 Woodlark Street, Lismore. Great vegetable/fruit juices, gluten-free pies, and a cosy, friendly atmosphere. Both Roland and I were stunned by the wifi being the fastest speed we have ever come across in a shop. Anywhere in the world. And very, very friendly service. Wow -a world first for Lismore!
- Chance meeting with Christopher Ryan at the Sweet Pea café. A local guy from Lismore, he is about to do a One Planet MBA in Exeter, UK: -
- Also learned about an Australian invention for Solar paint – to replace tradional solar panels: see—m
- Interviewed by local ABC news, ZZZ and 2LM radio stations today about Bike the Earth. Am trying to get a podcast to post on the blog/website later.
Disappointing to hear Dr Cameron Hepburn from Oxford University on ABC TV here in Australia parrotting out the argument in favour of CCS - carbon capture and storage. Too late, and not proven. Should be ignored completely, and instead action should focus on 100% reductions as the Lismore Climate ACtion Group and the Ballarat Renewable Energy Action Group are working towards.
9000 dollars here to install a 1.5kw installation on their house. And the Govt gives a subsidy of 6000 dollars. YES. This is not a typo/mistake!
On 1.5kw installation, you will get 1500 dollars of power via the feed-in tariff, and get your money back in 2 years. meaning you get a
48% return. 32% after including investmen. And you can set costs against tax too.
North facing aspect needed in Oz. Up to 10kw poss.
Most generous system in Australiaia
Back to Bellingen tomorrow by train/bus, and then leaving by bicycle to continue our epic. Due back in Lismore on Wednesday 29th – Friday 1st October to give a symposium at Southern Cross University (tbc - please contact us), and to visit Thursday Plantation which produces organic tea tree oil so appreciated by consumers in the UK/EU and in the US.
Rod Quantock’s new play: “Bugger the Polar Bears” now showing in Melbourne. Also.
How many is a brazilian? said George Bush, having heard that there were zillions of dollars available for something, and then hearing that there was a brazilian next door.
Raining cats and dogs here today, all day. And grey overcast day. A bit like England really!
Had lunch and worked through the afternoon at Sweet Pea Café, 13 Woodlark Street, Lismore. Great vegetable/fruit juices, gluten-free pies, and a cosy, friendly atmosphere. Both Roland and I were stunned by the wifi being the fastest speed we have ever come across in a shop. Anywhere in the world. And very, very friendly service. Wow -a world first for Lismore!
- Chance meeting with Christopher Ryan at the Sweet Pea café. A local guy from Lismore, he is about to do a One Planet MBA in Exeter, UK: -
- Also learned about an Australian invention for Solar paint – to replace tradional solar panels: see—m
- Interviewed by local ABC news, ZZZ and 2LM radio stations today about Bike the Earth. Am trying to get a podcast to post on the blog/website later.
Disappointing to hear Dr Cameron Hepburn from Oxford University on ABC TV here in Australia parrotting out the argument in favour of CCS - carbon capture and storage. Too late, and not proven. Should be ignored completely, and instead action should focus on 100% reductions as the Lismore Climate ACtion Group and the Ballarat Renewable Energy Action Group are working towards.
9000 dollars here to install a 1.5kw installation on their house. And the Govt gives a subsidy of 6000 dollars. YES. This is not a typo/mistake!
On 1.5kw installation, you will get 1500 dollars of power via the feed-in tariff, and get your money back in 2 years. meaning you get a
48% return. 32% after including investmen. And you can set costs against tax too.
North facing aspect needed in Oz. Up to 10kw poss.
Most generous system in Australiaia
Back to Bellingen tomorrow by train/bus, and then leaving by bicycle to continue our epic. Due back in Lismore on Wednesday 29th – Friday 1st October to give a symposium at Southern Cross University (tbc - please contact us), and to visit Thursday Plantation which produces organic tea tree oil so appreciated by consumers in the UK/EU and in the US.
Rod Quantock’s new play: “Bugger the Polar Bears” now showing in Melbourne. Also.
How many is a brazilian? said George Bush, having heard that there were zillions of dollars available for something, and then hearing that there was a brazilian next door.
Raining cats and dogs here today, all day. And grey overcast day. A bit like England really!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Day 61 - BELLINGEN.....(Kombu/Biodynamic/Dentist/Aborigine Language/Dark Mountain.)
hmm. I am going to have to recalculate the days soon... to differentiate between "day" and "riding day".
In Bellingen, we get our provisions from Kombu run by Kevin and Lowanna Doye who cycled from the UK to Australia a decade ago. Besides organic food (local and foreign), bicycle bottles, and a myriad of green stuff from seeds to shampoos, I came across mini flyers for Bio-dynamic farming that has long fascinated me.
Anotherday, I hope either Roland or I can interview some of the youth engaged with EYE on the planet.
Meanwhile the fact that I have had to see a dentist, here in Bellingen, at short notice (left molar tooth out) and have to see the dentist next week to look at another tooth, means we have an enforced stay, and are taking the opportunity to evaluate how effective have we been, what works across the board on all issues relating to the ride and how we work together, and what doesn't. And can we resolve these issues to improve how we work together?
Three hours after leaving the dentist's chair, Roland, Olivia and I attended a class studying snd speaking the Gurrimburr language from this area, and now back home I am inspired by Edward Hill from Transition Westcombe, sending me the following:
the Dark Mountain: http://www.dark-mountain.net
"The end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world full stop.
Deeper than oil, steel or bullets, a civilisation is built on stories: on the myths that shape it and the tales told of its origins and destiny. We have herded ourselves to the edge of a precipice with the stories we have told ourselves about who we are: the stories of ‘progress’, of the conquest of ‘nature’, of the centrality and supremacy of the human species.
It is time for new stories. The Dark Mountain Project intends to conjure into being new ways of seeing and writing about the world. We call this Uncivilisation.
Our aim is to bring together writers and artists, thinkers and doers, to assault the established citadels of literature and thought, and to begin to redraw the maps by which we navigate the places and times in which we find ourselves.
We believe that the roots of these crises lie in the stories we have been telling ourselves. We intend to challenge the stories which underpin our civilisation: the myth of progress, the myth of human centrality, and the myth of our separation from ‘nature’. These myths are more dangerous for the fact that we have forgotten they are myths.
We will reassert the role of story-telling as more than mere entertainment. It is through stories that we weave reality. The Dark Mountain Manifesto."
Yarri yarrang --
(or See you, as they say in the Gurrimburr Aborigine language)
Chris
In Bellingen, we get our provisions from Kombu run by Kevin and Lowanna Doye who cycled from the UK to Australia a decade ago. Besides organic food (local and foreign), bicycle bottles, and a myriad of green stuff from seeds to shampoos, I came across mini flyers for Bio-dynamic farming that has long fascinated me.
Anotherday, I hope either Roland or I can interview some of the youth engaged with EYE on the planet.
Meanwhile the fact that I have had to see a dentist, here in Bellingen, at short notice (left molar tooth out) and have to see the dentist next week to look at another tooth, means we have an enforced stay, and are taking the opportunity to evaluate how effective have we been, what works across the board on all issues relating to the ride and how we work together, and what doesn't. And can we resolve these issues to improve how we work together?
Three hours after leaving the dentist's chair, Roland, Olivia and I attended a class studying snd speaking the Gurrimburr language from this area, and now back home I am inspired by Edward Hill from Transition Westcombe, sending me the following:
the Dark Mountain: http://www.dark-mountain.net
"The end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world full stop.
Deeper than oil, steel or bullets, a civilisation is built on stories: on the myths that shape it and the tales told of its origins and destiny. We have herded ourselves to the edge of a precipice with the stories we have told ourselves about who we are: the stories of ‘progress’, of the conquest of ‘nature’, of the centrality and supremacy of the human species.
It is time for new stories. The Dark Mountain Project intends to conjure into being new ways of seeing and writing about the world. We call this Uncivilisation.
Our aim is to bring together writers and artists, thinkers and doers, to assault the established citadels of literature and thought, and to begin to redraw the maps by which we navigate the places and times in which we find ourselves.
We believe that the roots of these crises lie in the stories we have been telling ourselves. We intend to challenge the stories which underpin our civilisation: the myth of progress, the myth of human centrality, and the myth of our separation from ‘nature’. These myths are more dangerous for the fact that we have forgotten they are myths.
We will reassert the role of story-telling as more than mere entertainment. It is through stories that we weave reality. The Dark Mountain Manifesto."
Yarri yarrang --
(or See you, as they say in the Gurrimburr Aborigine language)
Chris
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Day 53 - Port Macquarie
In Praise of Caravan Parks
Sundowner Holiday Park
Port Macquarie, Australia
Wow! Australian caravan parks. Luxury hot showers. Clean. Well designed BBQ areas. Pools. Space. Top locations by the beach. . Well maintained. Ever so friendly. And really open to supporting Bike the Earth, with some of them offerings stays for free. Chris' first stay was in a caravan park, cycle/touring and camping whilst on his Duke of Edinburgh expedition in 1981 in Lime Regis, Dorset. It put him off caravan parks for life – until now.
Sundowner have cabins (share toilets), individual chalets, backpacker rooms, and a whole variety of different spaces making it quite unusual: a medium sized swimming pool, a beach nearby, a guest lounge and games room, a kids play area, a conference/wedding centre, and free wifi. And, we have to say, really really friendly staff, not just at the front desk, but also coming to our room to offer us additional alternative locked storage for our bikes.
The Tuncurry Holiday park over the river from Forster had a playful, colourful, trippy pool side area with mushroom and caterpillar fountains. And yet the park was quiet, friendly, and with warm energy. The bathroom was very very clean. And they supported Bike the Earth by letting us camp for free.
We stayed at Hawks Nest caravan park where Roland used to stay 35 years ago. It had changed. You could see how the trees had grown, and there had been renovations, but the basic configuration was still the same. Although the land is owned the Council, the park has new operators who were really open to learning about sustainability in terms of solar panels, water consumption etc.
Other parks we have stayed at:
Uminor caravan park (just north of Sydney)
- more on this later
Bundeena caravan park (just south of Sydney)
- more on this later.
Grassy Heads caravan park
- perhaps the most scenic place to camp I have ever been to (apart from camping on our own in the late 1970s next to hot alkaline pools close to Lake Bogoria in Kenya)
Chris and Roland
Sundowner Holiday Park
Port Macquarie, Australia
Wow! Australian caravan parks. Luxury hot showers. Clean. Well designed BBQ areas. Pools. Space. Top locations by the beach. . Well maintained. Ever so friendly. And really open to supporting Bike the Earth, with some of them offerings stays for free. Chris' first stay was in a caravan park, cycle/touring and camping whilst on his Duke of Edinburgh expedition in 1981 in Lime Regis, Dorset. It put him off caravan parks for life – until now.
Sundowner have cabins (share toilets), individual chalets, backpacker rooms, and a whole variety of different spaces making it quite unusual: a medium sized swimming pool, a beach nearby, a guest lounge and games room, a kids play area, a conference/wedding centre, and free wifi. And, we have to say, really really friendly staff, not just at the front desk, but also coming to our room to offer us additional alternative locked storage for our bikes.
The Tuncurry Holiday park over the river from Forster had a playful, colourful, trippy pool side area with mushroom and caterpillar fountains. And yet the park was quiet, friendly, and with warm energy. The bathroom was very very clean. And they supported Bike the Earth by letting us camp for free.
We stayed at Hawks Nest caravan park where Roland used to stay 35 years ago. It had changed. You could see how the trees had grown, and there had been renovations, but the basic configuration was still the same. Although the land is owned the Council, the park has new operators who were really open to learning about sustainability in terms of solar panels, water consumption etc.
Other parks we have stayed at:
Uminor caravan park (just north of Sydney)
Bundeena caravan park (just south of Sydney)
Grassy Heads caravan park
- perhaps the most scenic place to camp I have ever been to (apart from camping on our own in the late 1970s next to hot alkaline pools close to Lake Bogoria in Kenya)
Chris and Roland
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)