SPRING

It’s spring in Melbourne. It crept up softly, gradually; then in the last few days, suddenly, noisily, with the burst of flowers, the sprout of leaves, an explosion of birdlife and nest building. The sky has been blue, the sun warm – perfect for strolling along the creek, if you have the inclination and the time. And I do have the inclination, and I’ve been making as much time as I can in between packing, getting the house painted and, most of all, working feverishly on my dissertation, which is due just a week or two before we leave. Today, after two hours solid work at a local café, I walked back along the creek (slowly, slowly) and watched two glossy ravens hop from rock to rock around a large puddle before finally jumping in and splashing around (after I’d moved on a bit – they’re clearly modest!). They were later chased out of a nearby tree by two wattlebirds – perhaps protecting a nest, or perhaps just being pernickety and territorial, as wattlebirds are wont to be. A pair of magpie larks pottered quietly and calmly in the long grass. I said hello to some of my tree friends, and noticed again how much they’d grown since we moved here just over five years ago. They really are established trees, now, rather than saplings – big enough to cast shade for a picnic. I thought about how much more literate I am in terms of being able to ‘read’ this landscape, how I could sit there for hours listening to the stories it tells. I kind of wanted to lie face-down on the ground and soak everything up, or be absorbed.

I am so glad that we are here for this part of spring. I will miss my little bit of Melbourne when we’re living overseas.

JUNE. ALSO MONTHS AGO!

It was my birthday in June, so we had a mini-break. We really enjoyed our stay at Glenview Retreat in Emerald last July (for our anniversary walk), so we decided to repeat the experience. Once again, we walked there from Belgrave, though this time we took a slightly different route. We stayed two nights, giving us the chance to properly relax, read a book, and wander around Emerald Lake Park. We walked all the way back to Belgrave, this time (no trespassing and encountering bulls in paddocks, this time!). You can see a map of our walk here. You can see all photos here, but I'll post a selection below (you can click on the images to see a bigger size and more commentary).

Day One:








Day Two:




Day Three:

APRIL. IT WAS MONTHS AGO!

I've been so busy with uni that I haven't had time to edit and upload the photos from our last trip to East Gippsland in April. But now I have! You can find them on Flickr, but here are a few of my faves. Click through to see comments on Flickr.


On the way there: picnic lunch at Bairnsdale and bushfire regrowth on the Princes Hwy.


A dog we met when we went on a walk. She was super friendly!


Everything was so green and lush. Lovely, after years of drought.


The grape leaves were just turning.


We went for walks and saw cool things (check that fungus)!


It was E's 60th, and she had a cardigan-themed party!


I got to watch the sun rise. My favourite time.


J, E, E & J. (Photo by D.)

Soon we'll be off again, this time for J's 60th! It will most likely be our last visit before we head to the UK, so it'll be slightly bittersweet.

PACKING BOXES OF BOOKS

Oof. I'd forgotten how long it takes to pack up a house. I'm glad we've started early. We've boxed almost all the books (except my uni books). Last time we put things in storage it was for a bit over 6 months, and when we got back there was a lot of stuff we thought we should have got rid of in the garage sale we had before we left. This time we're trying to be more ruthless! But still . . .

I've packed 15 boxes of books so far - and there's probably another 2-3 to go! We've also got a shelf and a half (and counting) of books we want to take with us. However, we've sorted out about 6 shelves of books to sell at our garage sale this time. We just have a lot of books.

(I'm not even starting to think about the video tapes, DVDs and - worse! - the CDs!)

BRISTOL / SAVING MONEY

We're going to head to Bristol on our first weekend in the UK to see a couple of friends who are moving to Australia soon after we arrive. (That makes 3 friends vacating the UK just in time for our arrival. Is there something you're not telling us about? Other than your screwed up government?)

Anyway! I had been trying to wade through all the train/bus and hotel/hostel/b&b sites with little joy and much confusion, until I clicked a random link to Money Saving Expert. YES, I KNOW. But it's actually quite a good starting point to navigate this ocean of [insert nautical allusion here] information. I now know, for example, that booking intercity train tickets starting 12 weeks in advance in the UK is the thing to do to get cheap fares. And that they're searchable using The Train Line. And that Megabus offers super-cheap alternatives for some routes. Plus, I got a pretty good deal on a hotel for the weekend (not as nice as a B&B, but really, we'll only be sleeping there). I AM CLEARLY A CONVERT!

I've updated our 'Handy Links' section on the sidebar of this blog to include some of these sites.

I'd update more, but I'm too busy trying to finish this PhD!

WWOOFING: IT BEGINS!

Yesterday we bought our WWOOF membership! Now it's time to start seriously thinking about where we'd like to go and what we'd like to do. Have you done any WWOOFing, friends? What did you like/dislike? Any tips for finding, booking, and getting on with hosts? Any suggestions about dealing with your personal requirements (e.g. diet) or avoiding people who don't like your kind (e.g. queers)? I'M EXCITED! :D

VISA: I HAS ONE!

Today I went and picked up a package from the Post Office. Inside was pretty much all the paperwork I sent for my visa application (they kept copies of only a few key documents) and my passport with a brand new visa inside! It's valid from the end of September 2011 to December 2013, multiple entries allowed, no recourse to public funds. It unfortunately lists me as "Sex: F", but then, that's what matches my passport. I'm just pleased to have it in my possession!

VISA APPLICATION: HARD COPY

A couple of people have privately asked about what you need to submit for a UK settlement visa application. I thought I'd record what we've sent off to give others an idea. Here is the (slightly abridged) list of the forms and docs we sent.

*

1. Application forms: VAF4A and passport-sized photograph; VAF4A Annex (ELT).

2. Identification: My current and previous passports; my current birth certificate; copies of DB's passports.

3. Personal statements and letters of support: Personal statements from me and DB, outlining the history and meaningfulness of our relationship and some of our plans for the future; Supporting letters from two friends and my parents vouching for the sincerity and longevity of our relationship.

4. Details of joint commitments: Title and homeloan details for our flat; joint and bank statements going back to 2004 (one per year); copies of our wills made out to each other (& our families).

5. Evidence of cohabitation: Copies of both our drivers licences showing the same current address; Bills, invoices and receipts linking us to the same address going back to 2005 (one per year).

6. Details of our financial situation, accommodation and potential for employment in the UK: Financial plan drawn up by our financial adviser; Statements for our joint and individual bank accounts for each of the past 6 months; Both our payslips for the last 3 months; Evidence of enrollment letter from my uni; Both our CVs; Letter of invitation from DB's parents for us to stay with them (including photos of the room); Proof that DB's parents own the house in which we will stay.

7. Further supporting evidence that we have been in a relationship akin to marriage and have been cohabiting since 2002: Copies of photographs of us together with explanations of where we were and what we were doing; Photocopies of postcards, wedding invitation and thank-you cards addressed to us both.

*

You are meant to send in the original and a photocopy of every piece of evidence you submit. I sent my parcel off yesterday - it weighed over 1.3kg! I used Australia Post's Platinum Express (the visa people don't accept registered post), which cost me about $30 (including self-addressed return bag). I used the tracker this morning to see it safely delivered to the Sydney GPO Box Centre. Now it all gets shipped off to Manila to be processed.

And we wait . . . eep!

ONLINE VISA APPLICATION

Well, I've submitted the online component of the visa application for settlement in the UK. It's been a very long time in the planning - finding out how much it would cost, when to apply, what documents we'd need as supporting evidence, and then getting everything together, making photocopies of the original docs we'd need to send off for our records (and having just done the application I realise we need ANOTHER photocopy of EVERYTHING we're sending so they can keep a copy, too).

I have an appointment in the city for them to collect my 'biometric data' on Monday, then I need to send everything off to get processed (it goes to a PO Box in Sydney, and they take it to the regional processing centre in Manila). Hopefully I will then have a visa!

(Processing times vary. this site says, "Settlement and Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode are currently being dealt within 6 weeks." On the link, however, it says that, in March, 100% of the 97 applications for settlement were processed within 90 working days (plus 3-4 working days each way for postage and shipping). That's . . . FIVE MONTHS! However, 95% were processed within 10 working days, so let's hope mine goes smoothly.)

They can post-date the visa for up to 3 months from date of processing (i.e. if they approve my application on 20th June, the visa can start any time up to 20th September). I know my travel might be outside that date, but it's better to get in early in case my application takes longer (which it might, since I'm trans and who knows what they'll think of that).

I'm a bit adrenaline-y at the moment!

If you want to know more about the process, let me know and I'll type out a bit more.

TOOTHBRUSHES

A few weeks ago a post on Simple Green Frugal Co-Op mentioned replaceable head toothbrushes as a more environmentally sound option to always disposing of the whole brush. I've thought about getting one before, but it's always seemed like quite a commitment - what if I don't like the style of the brush? Anyway, I checked out the comments on the post and there were some other suggestions - notably The Environmental Toothbrush. The handle is made of plantation bamboo and is thus fully biodegradable. Also, it comes in a pack of 12 for $36 . . . with free shipping within Australia. I ordered some!

They arrived today, and I've brushed my teeth once. The soft bristles are fine, the size of the head is OK (not too big - I have such a small mouth that sometimes I prefer to use kids toothbrushes!), the handle feels nice to hold. If I remember, I'll let people know how the brush holds up over the coming months.

Here are some photos (low quality from my computer!) of the big un-wrap!

WITH ROBE AND BOWL

I stumbled on a great post the other day while doing some link-hopping. With Robes and Bowl on the Cotswold Way: My First English Tudong is a piece by Ajahn Manapo, an English Buddhist monk, recounting his tudong in the English countryside.

I could go tudong – that’s what I could do. But where would I go? Would I get fed? Where would I sleep? How would I be treated? These are precisely the questions that are meant to remain unanswered as a tudong monk hauls his alms-bowl and robes onto his shoulders, and – carrying neither food nor money – steps out of his monastery and into uncertainty.

I really like the very reflective but also very present account of the journey - how the obstacles and frustrations he encounters serve as seeds from which his reflections on his mind, body and spirituality grow and bloom. (I also like that he's the same age as me!)

The second reason [to go tudong] concerns a particular characteristic which pervades the tudong experience: uncertainty. I didn’t know if I would eat, where I would sleep, what dangers I might encounter on the journey. Living in this way not only sharpens your faculties, it brings you face to face with a reality that is ever-present but towards which we are usually blind when living a settled life. That reality is uncertainty. Although we presume things will continue as they always have: that we will eat tomorrow, that we will work tomorrow, and even that we will wake up tomorrow, there is no guarantee that these things will happen. Ensnared by the delusion of certainty we live at odds with the true nature of things, whereby we form attachments – creating a constant source of tension – and set ourselves up just to fall. To open up to uncertainty; to confront it; to live it, is another reason why I went tudong.

Anyway, I thought I would share the link in case anyone else was interested.

TWITTER

You can now follow us on Twitter - see the link in the column to the right!

WILD FOOD RECIPIES, AN ONGOING COLLECTION?

Over at terralectualism they made made dandelion wine! This is definitely something to keep in mind alongside the pickled wild onions I made last year.

MEMORY IS A FUNNY THING

A friend of mine is currently in Vancouver - on my strong recommendation as a place to visit in North America - and is loving it! Yay! Anyway, I was reminiscing about the city and noticed something curious (which I have noticed before, but maybe not commented upon here). When I think about being there, I can only remember the traffic driving on the left side of the road (as it does in Australia). No matter how I try, I can't remember the traffic being on the right side!

This has happened before. While I can remember the odd feeling of being on the 'wrong' side of the road while being driven around in the Netherlands, when I visualise the trips we took my brain puts the car on the left side of the road, driver sitting on the right.

I guess that shows just how plastic memory can be. Odd.

MIDSOMER MURDERS, RACISM AND THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

so, midsomer murders is not racist (and homophobic) by default or by accident. it's racist (and homophobic) by design. click for article.

Brian True-May, the producer and co-creator of ITV1 drama series Midsomer Murders, has been suspended by production company All3Media following controversial comments made about the show in the latest issue of Radio Times.

True-May told RT, "We don't have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn't be the English village with them. It just wouldn't work. Suddenly we might be in Slough… And if you went in to Slough you wouldn't see a white face there. We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way."

this is depressing, but also unsurprising to me as someone who has watched almost every episode of the show. most of the people i know who watch midsomer murders have commented on the overwhelming whiteness of it . i mean, i can remember maybe two people of colour (both women) in the whole thing? a writer in a competition who didn't have a speaking part, and a barrister/QC who did a great job but was "wrong" about the defendant. and as for queers - he compared it to incest and blackmail, but i note is not mentioned in the linked article - i am also unsurprised. i've often been amused by how many gays there are in the villages of midsomer - even though most of them end up dead/charged with murder.

i'm posting this here because i think it's a great demonstration of how "the countryside" in england is actively constructed as a white (straight) space. i've noted this before with regard to walking, and it's something that continues to frustrate/intrigue me (i guess that the intrigue might be more a sign of privilege, though, since i'm not having to contend with racism on a personal level when i go out walking). the construction of the countryside in this fashion is not only material in terms of who has the time, energy, money, transport, family inheritance to get there and/or live there - it is also a product of popular culture and representation. if you don't see PoC/BME people in the english countryside in films, on TV, in books, in travel writing, then that is a space that's being constructed as white, unwelcoming, a space that such people are not meant to occupy, and this is so for white and PoC/BME viewers and readers.

often when such things are pointed out, people (often the privileged ones - white if we're talking about issues of race and ethnicity, straight if we're talking about issues of sexuality, male if we're discussing sexism, cis if we're discussing trans stuff) will claim that this is just "a reflection of reality" - that "those sort of people" simply aren't there, that's why they're not represented. and that's why this story is so interesting and important - it demonstrates absolutely that this is not just a reflection of reality, but rather a deliberate construction.

"I'm trying to make something that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed," said True-May. "And I don't want to change it."

it's a fantasy that has very real effects. consistently portraying "the countryside" as a white space (or as a straight space) means that non-white (non-straight) viewers/readers have fewer options for relating to that space, are less able to envisage themselves as being welcome in that space, and are maybe less likely to actually go out into that space. in this way, i think true-may's claim that midsomer is "the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way" is not just about a nostalgic (?) attempt to (re)write the countryside as white-on-screen (straight-on-screen), it's about actually trying to keep non-white (non-straight) people out of the countryside.

i also want to note that the producers of midsomer murders have obviously been pursuing this racist/homophobic agenda for the entire length of the series, but true-may wasn't suspended until he made it explicit. it's an interesting situation. him making that agenda public doesn't change the 'actual' content of the series up to now (though it does change people's readings of that content, which probably amounts to the same thing). so why didn't ITV do something about it before? the racism (and homophobia) of midsomer murders is so very, very clear without true-may's comments. that it takes an interview like this for anything to be done about it is indicative of how acceptable racism actually is - so long as it's passive (they're just not there, rather than being evil), unspoken (nobody mentions it onscreen), weasel-out-of-able (it's a reflection of reality). [ETA: i guess what i'm trying to say here is that, before true-may's comments, it was probably pretty easy for a lot of (white) people to think the whiteness of midsomer murders was accidental or incidental. but that kind of "accident" can only happen and/or go unremarked or unrebuked in a racist society.]

i've typed this all up before breakfast, and i'm quite hungry so i'll leave it there.
do you have any thoughts on the matter?

ETA: charlie brooker has something to say.

REALITY BLOGGING

Is it possible to be addicted to someone else's life? I have never been a soap opera watcher, I have never read serials in magazines or papers, I have never listened to long-running radio shows, I have (almost) never been a fan of reality TV like Big Brother . . . but I am seriously hooked on Wondering Wanderers!

WW is the blog of a white, middle-class family (Mum, Dad, two kids) who have just set off in a campervan for a year of WWOOFing around the UK. It has so much of the stuff I love: practical discussions about planning, clearing, getting things together, packing; discussions about the communication skills needed to keep things going; a dream and a vision; fun . . . it pushes all my buttons*! Every day I check (twice!) for updates, to see how they're going, what they've done, how their van is holding up, if their tenants have moved into their house, what their hosts will be like. It's so fun to feel like I'm on the adventure with them.

Maybe you'll be into it, too? (I suggest starting from the beginning to get the full story - and to make it all last longer!)


* Apart from some of those political and activist-y ones I discussed in an earlier post. But hey, you can't have everything.

18KM WALK: MARIBYRNONG RIVER – BRIMBANK PARK – WESTERN RING ROAD – STEELE CREEK: 20TH JAN 2011

(Wow, this is a bit late!)

Here is a map of the walk.

Here are all the photos we took.

We met E at Essendon station (unplanned) and took the 903 bus to the start of the walk. The plan was to walk up to Brimbank Park, do a loop back to (near) the start, then head downstream around the large curve in the river to catch the 903 bus back to Essendon at Steele Creek.



We headed down the side of the valley to the river on one of the unofficial tracks, through shoulder-high grasses, past huge purple thistle flowers and the occasional wild/feral fennel bush.





Once down at the river, it was easy to see how high the recent floodwaters had come, and also to imagine how fast it must have been flowing. Large branches had been swept onto the path, and bushes had been tipped on their sides. The path was also damaged (though no longer wet), with water channels creating small ditches along its length. We walked under the Maribyrnong River Viaduct/Quarter Mile Bridge and had to take a picture of the kissing gate below – so plastered with leaves and twigs that it looked deliberately thatched!




Check out that concrete, Dad!



It was kind of unsurprising, then, when we met a ranger underneath the ring road, who told us that the path was actually closed (we hadn’t seen any signs) due to flood damage. “We can’t guarantee the safety of any of the trees or the path,” she told us, and strongly advised us against coming back that way . . . which was exactly what we’d planned to do! Luckily, there is a higher path to Brimbank Park from Western Ring Road (which we’d intended to use on our return trip), so we took that over the top of the valley walls and were treated to excellent views out towards Mt Macedon.





It was pretty cool to see up close some of the geological features that are so obvious when you take a plane out of or into Melbourne (and we saw A LOT of planes!). Around those north-western areas it’s clear that the high parts are not hills – it’s a plain, and the watercourses have cut huge valleys out of it.

Once down in Brimbank Park, we had a wander around and decided to treat ourselves to an iced coffee (or iced chocolate in D’s case) at the café. It was perfect weather to sit under the high verandah and consult Google Maps on E’s phone. We couldn’t cross the river to Horseshoe Bend because both the fords were underwater, so we decided we’d walk back to the Western Ring Road, follow the path around to Steele Creek, and have lunch there. From there, we’d decide on our next move.


Flood damage and picnic tables





For a little way the Western Ring Road Trail was surprisingly pleasant, but after we crossed Keilor Park Drive it was pretty grim walking to the Calder Freeway, sandwiched between the ring road and various industrial estates and warehouses.



It was a relief to get into suburban streets and then finally descend into the greenery of Steele Creek. We walked a little way from the freeway noise, then downed our bags to sit in the shade, reapply sunscreen and eat lunch.



Consulting the map again, we decided to head down to what Google calls Niddrie Lake, but which seems to be known as Valley Lake on the ground. After trying to follow Google’s map (incorrect), we decided to simply scramble down the side of the hill through an undeveloped plot of land in order to get to the lake. We hypothesised that this used to be an enormous quarry (internet searches tell me we were right). It is quite a bizarre place: a newly landscaped lake with a great big sculpture of a person sitting on a ladder gazing east through a pair of binoculars; huge quarry walls; recently planted trees and unestablished ‘wetland’; patchy development of new McMansion-style estate homes, some perching almost too close to quarry walls for comfort! It will be interesting to go back in ten years to see how the trees have matured and the lake and wetland have become more established.







Although the map said otherwise, we were able to follow Steele Creek right down to Rosehill Road and then to Buckley Street (though we had to do a bit of rockhopping to get to the path on the east side of the creek). Although it was hot, a cool breeze kept it from being stifling, and there were lots of small birds, moths and butterflies flitting about to keep us distracted.

We climbed the path near Buckley Street to get the view over the explosives factory and down to the city, and we sat on a shady bench to enjoy the scenery and drink a cup of tea. From there, it was back to Buckley St and the (wonderfully airconditioned!) 903 bus. Despite not being allowed to do the walk we’d planned, we had a good time exploring totally new places – plus we ended up exactly where our original walk would have taken us!

In conclusion: I wouldn’t be keen to walk the Western Ring Road Trail again, but it worked for us as a link between Brimbank Park and Steele Creek (would probably be less obnoxious to ride it on a bike). We probably all got a touch sunburnt - we were pretty careful, but there really wasn’t much shade on the path. We hadn’t walked with E before, but we all seemed to strike the same pace, and be comfortable with the distance. All in all, a good day!

DREAMING IS PART OF PREPARATION

We have plans for the rest of the year. Clearly defined plans for now, next week, much fuzzier plans for November, December. This change of focus (to continue with the imagery) is punctuated by a few signposts and events, some more flexible than others. Things to do, in vague order: "mum's birthday in April", "apply for a visa", "my birthday in June", "save some money", "finish painting the house" (we finally started painting the hallway yesterday!), "dad's birthday in August", "finish and submit this dissertation", "prepare to leave the country" . . . then: "arrive in the UK", "D's mum's birthday in October", "go for a walking holiday", "go WWOOFing", "find work and somewhere to live".

*

Possibly in preparation, possibly as a way of escaping the world of dissertation in my head, I have become a little addicted to reading the blogs of individuals and families who are travelling or changing their lives or merely trying to live in sustainable, green, eco-friendly ways. There are things about these blogs that I really appreciate - discussions of the practicalities of living this way, the ups and downs of a changing/travelling lifestyle, the feelings of freedom and of connecting with people and environment, the philosophies that drive people (some more fully thought-out than others).

One thing I've noticed, however, is that few of these bloggers spend time considering their own privileges: how they feel financially secure enough to take off for a year of WWOOFing and wandering; how their whiteness and heterosexuality means they encounter little harassment on the streets of the towns they pass through; how the exchange rate and their dollars or euros or pounds means they are incredibly rich in comparison to the people they are living with; how they don't have to negotiate being trans or being physically disabled or chronically ill when thinking about accommodation or work or travel. Sure, these things are sometimes mentioned in passing (and some financial aspects in more detail), but it seems that most political, ethical and philosophical thought is reserved for discussions of sustainability, environmental impact, green living.

In some respects this is completely understandable, but at the same time it makes it difficult for me to feel like I can be part of this imagined community - in some respects I am invisible, things that are of everyday practical importance to me are irrelevant, my kind of activism and ethics seems out of place. It reminds me a bit of discussions I've read about racism and classism in vegan/sustainable living communities. I start thinking, is it important for me to ask people to interrogate their own beliefs when they argue that we shouldn't need social networking sites, we should talk to our neighbours, to real people? Apart from enjoying the irony of blogging such thoughts, I feel like saying this devalues the immense importance of online connections to those of us who are marginalised by heteronormative, cisnormative, white privileging, ableist, capitalist, nationalist society. At the most basic, it is hard to talk to your neighbours when you are not sure if they will physically assault you because of who you are. Online networking allows us to find other people like us with less physical danger (if, of course, our domestic spaces are not ones of violence, and if we have access to a computer and the internet).

And I think, do the people who say living off grid is their ultimate goal understand how privileged they are to not need specialist foods, medicines, equipment to live their lives? I will probably never be able to live a life that is free from entanglement with international pharmaceutical industry (see Michelle O'Brien's essay "tracing this body: transsexuality, pharmaceuticals & capitalism" for more on that).

Do the people who want to live with mum and dad and two young kids on a totally isolated farm spare a thought for how they are going to provide freedom for their kids when they get older? I'm sure that these thoughts are there - the bloggers I read are not as irresponsible as all that. And of course, there are pros and cons to all lifestyle choices. But as a person who lived in an isolated house for the first 18 years of my life, relying on my parents to drive me if I wanted to go anywhere or see anyone . . . it can be alienating, suffocating. As a queer teenager, the country offered me very little in the way of support - and this is despite my parents being accepting, despite having queer family friends, despite knowing a couple of other queer kids, despite knowing that it was fundamentally OK to be queer. In some ways I am glad I didn't know/feel/identify as trans when I was a teenager, because I don't know how I would have dealt with that. [N.B. I would ask a different set of questions of parents who plan to live in towns and cities - there is no decision that's 'right' for everyone.]

But! I have gone off track. What I wanted to say is that this style of thinking is very seductive. The images of self-sufficiency and good honest work carry immense nostalgia - for me, some of this is bound up with my parents' own project of self-sufficiency, their (hippie) ethics, my dad's nostalgia for his grandfather's farm in New Zealand . . . it stretches way back. The possibility of living a low-impact life in the countryside gives off powerful feel-good vibes. The idea of being part of this back-to-basics, respect-the-environment community has its appeal. Perhaps my dreaming is in preparation for doing something similar one day.

But it's not as simple as following your dreams. In as much as we are following our dreams in moving to the UK (etc.), I want to be a bit more reflective regarding the political meanings, circumstances and implications of our decisions.

OH! AND I FORGOT TO SAY ABOUT THE FIRES

I'm very glad that my folks' place is still standing after the fires in East Gippsland. Here are a few photos taken by them on the road between Orbost and Lakes.