Six from Six Since Bali

Today is the sixth day home since Lib and I took our final evening stroll on the Bali beach on the last day of of our holiday in the tropics, before flying out at midnight. Since then.......

1. THE GRIPES.
On Wednesday night, two days after returning, I came down with diarrhoea. Fancy that, no hint of Bali belly while away but get crook when we get back. It lasted through Thursday and Friday. I took a dose of 15 drops of citrus seed extract on Friday night and Bob's your uncle. I should have taken it sooner but the Lipitor the doc put me on to lower blood cholesterol says on the packet 'avoid taking grapefruit while on this medication'. For why it doesn't say.
(Yes, I have to admit it, I'm back on the Lipitor after 4 years of resistance, I went to the doc, for the first time in 4 years, to organize a follow up colonoscopy I was supposed to have two years ago and before you know it I'm taking blood pressure tablets and the Lipitor. I got the all clear on the colonoscopy and from another gastric type specialist on Friday. My wallet is a lot lighter, as it was after three trips to the dentist before the doctor. Why tell you this? I wasn't going to, I loathe being self absorbed, but I need to explain the Lipitor. After Lyle died and I'd been so busy for so long I thought it was time for a bit of maintenance, under some pressure from Meredith and Elvie. Rick, who has been on blood pressure tablets for years,- both his parents died before they should have around 1980, and who's had a heart attack himself- said, 'why not just take them, they might give you another 10 or 20 years.' So I'm giving them a go but I'll keep an eye on the liver function when they take blood tests and give it all the flick again if I'm not comfortable.)

2. SICKEN ME BARNEY.
Also mid week, on page 3 of 'The Ranges Trader Mail', there was a picture of local MP Jason Wood and Federal Justice Minister David Johnson leaning on a police car with the Cardinia Shire police District Inspector in battle jacket, and local resident Dot Griffin, in Cockatoo, with the article heading "CCTV for crime spree".
Apparently hill's youths are "terrorising" the town with a continual barrage of vandalism, graffiti and bad behaviour."
I had just heard Justice Minister Johnson on the radio news talking about the doctor arrested in Brisbane for alleged collusion with those in Glasgow who tried to blow up the hospital. I wondered why on earth he would be in Cockatoo. Surely youth vandalism is a local police problem, and would be more effectively and economically solved by putting a number of undercover police, in close communication with mobile units, on the spot at night, rather than sending political heavyweights and highly paid 'brass' there during the day for photos, spruiking closed circuit camera surveillance. Of course, I understand La Trobe is a marginal seat, and there's to be a federal election later this year. Say no more.

3. STONE THE CROWS.
Another local paper reported that king parrots are being struck down by a dangerous infection spreading through the Dandenong Ranges. A single cell parasite-spironucleus- infests the bowel lining, weakening the birds as they can't eat enough to support the parasites, making them too weak to fly and falling to dog and cat predators. The spread of infection is being helped by birds feeding at backyard bird feeders.
Nature is marvellous at correcting population explosions such as that which has occured over the last couple of decades with the king parrot. Flocks of them destroy all our apples and plums every year, well before they're ripe, not to mention the tomatoes if they can.
I wouldn't mind if it spread to the white cockatoos which also are in plague numbers.
On the subject of bird populations, the number of bellbirds around the house reduced dramatically while we were away. I watched a group of about 8 gang gang cockatoos this morning after my walk and not once in half an hour were they harrassed by bellbirds. Normally the gang gangs are peppered constantly and don't stay long so I was happy to see them relaxed and comfortable. There was a freezing patch of weather while we were away, with snow, which may have killed many insects on the trees, causing bellbirds to move, but I'm guessing. There's a large number of currawongs around, that might be it.

4. HOW'S THAT?
On Thursday the Essendon Football Club announced it would not be renewing Kevin Sheedy's contract after the current one finished at the end of the 2007 season. Essendon coach for 27 years, Sheedy has worked the media like a master fly fisherman luring trout, all the the time building his public image. Within 24 hours the AFL CEO announced the AFL would create a job for him if he wanted.

5. ME TOO.
The next day, Steve Bracks resigned, effective immediately. Then the Minister for Water John Thwaites. I said to Lib, when recently the state government announced it was going to build the world's biggest desalination plant near Wonthaggi, that I didn't think they had the balls for it. It hasn't taken long for them to start jumping ship. But guess what? The AFL CEO has offered Steve Bracks a spot on the AFL Commission.

6. DISAPPEARING BEES IN THE USA.
This morning, Radio 621 had a segment on the disappearing bee syndrome in the USA and the parasitic varroa mite. There has been much publicity about the disappearing bees and speculation as to the reason. One US scientist said on the program that an Australian researcher, Graeme Kleinsmith, examined the crude protein levels of the pollen of different Australian eucalypts and similar work should be done in America on the nutritional levels of different pollens.
Graeme Kleinsmith was my instuctor and head of the Apicultural Research Unit at the Queensland Agricultural College when I attended in 1974. He was doing research on eucalypt pollen then, specifically on crude protein levels and nutrition of honey bee colonies on honey flows. Some eucalypt flows are notorious for dwindling colony strength and Graeme, or 'queen bee' as we called him because he looked like one, was convinced that Queensland, in particular, was pollen deficient. He was an advocate of 'building' colony strength and honeybee crude protein levels in 'build' areas where ground flora was abundant, especially high protein weed pollen such as turnip weed and capeweed, then moving on to the eucalypt flow with strong colonies. He maintained that bees draw on their their own body protein to rear brood when pollen is deficient, which weakens them and the bees they are rearing, which has greater consequence later. This was not applicable say for red gum which produces pollen of high crude protein and breeds strong bees as well as yielding large honey crops, but red gum is more the exception than the rule.
I'd not be surprised if the disappearance of bees in the US is a dramatic, extreme example of the dwindling or collapse of colonies we experience in Australia under certain conditions of poor nutrition. Throw in the varroa mites, and the treatment for their control, and the punishing schedule of crop pollination and monocultural agriculture, and probably it's just too much for the brave honeybee.

Back on the Morning Walk

I could see the sun rising yesterday through the window of the Garuda Airlines Airbus from my seat somewhere midship. We landed at Tullamarine about 7.30 am and, after a mixup in customs, when I discovered to my embarrassment, I had Shamus Haine's bag when I went to open the padlock to show the customs official the wood carvings purchased in Bali and declared on the customs form. Earlier, the beagle dog used to sniff out contraband 'sat down' next to Lib's hand luggage. She had to open it for inpection. According to the lady dog handler, the beagle smelt the apple Lib and I ate half an hour earlier on the plane, knowing we were not permitted to carry fruit into Australia.
After returning to the baggage carousel to get our identical padlocked bag, and replace poor Shamus's who must have got a bit worried, it was 8.20 when we stepped outside into the cold Melbourne morning which demonstrated the change in lattitude, from about 8 to 38 south, we'd had overnight. Also to jolt me back to earth was the $30 slug for 2 tickets on the sky shuttle bus to Southern Cross station, a speedy trip on the freeway taking all of twenty minutes. A few days earlier on Bali we'd hired a car and driver/guide for a tour, nine hours, which cost less than $40 AUD all up, converted from ruppiah. Welcome back to the real world. Or unreal? Buggered if I know.

I set the alarm clock early today, itching to do my walk after 2 weeks away. Starting up the hill at first light the gound was surprisingly dry, given that I'd tipped out a reading of 90 ml from the rain gauge when I got home. I laboured with a strained hip which was disappointing after having felt so well after two weeks R+R. I must have strained it lugging bags up ramps changing train platforms. Just the same, it was great to be back home walking, picking up cans for Jod, and talking to the excited 'Snowie'.

Temperate southern Australia is a stong contrast to tropical Bali. Messmates, peppermints, manna and grey gums, deciduously bare oaks, elms, and ash replacing the coconut and banana palms, banyans, cotapang, buwang buwang, tigwood, and plantipenny trees. Despite the change: from evening stroll on the beach followed by a beer, as the sun sank in the west into the Indian Ocean, to dawn walk at Gembrook in the winter cold before a bowl of porridge, it's good to be home. Drivers that hadn't seen me for a while tooted long and loud and neighbour Allison welcomed me back warmly, breaking from hanging out the washing to talk about Bali and local news.

Now back to work.

Bali

Hello from Bali. This is our last day of two week's holiday. Best rest I've had in years. Interesting place and people, good food, there's much to recommend. Looking forward to getting home now. Funny how on the last day of a holiday you're mindset changes and you want to get home. Our flight doesn't leave till 11.55pm.

A sign out front of a spa/massage place near our hotel at Seminyak says-
"The energy of the volano, the solace of the rainforest, and the balance of the ocean, they come together in Bali."
The Balinese population is more than 3 million, the culture reflecting the warmth and abundance of the climate, the depth of devout religion and respect for tradition, and the richness of art expressed in many forms, including wood carving, painting, jewellery, music and dance.

I'm glad I came to Bali. I came with some negative expectation, that I'd find a playground for Australian tourists; boozy, commercial, exploiting. That is here, but so is genuine peace and beauty and friendly people adjusting to a modern world that brings jumbo after jumbo of tourists every day from Asia and Europe and a surging economy. Without coming I would have no grasp of it.