on May 27, 2021
TRAVELLIN LIGHT
I have been on the move a fair bit lately and although I have lived on the Sunshine Coast for the last few years have never really checked out the countryside up around Eumundi Yandinda Tewantin and Noosa so decided to head up that way for a week booked an Airbnb at Tinbeerwah and decided to pack light for my trip
Peaceful oasis at Tinbeerwah Air BNB
I have two identical suitcases and put all the unnecessary stuff in one suitcase to take to my storage unit and tried to pack light with some clothes in the other suitcase . Anyhow when I started out on my trip I couldn’t understand why my suitcase which I had tried to pack light felt so heavy When I arrived at my accommodation and it came to unpack my suitcase I just cracked up when I saw that I had brought the wrong suitcase containing the unnecessary stuff
The wrong suitcase
Found myself travelling with all the stuff I didn’t need including bathroom scales extra painting stuff , an assortment of clothes I hardly wear and cosmetics I never use and left with none of the clothes or stuff I packed for the trip .It cracked me up … NO WONDER my suitcase felt so heavy !!!!!!!
So with none of the clothes I planned to wear and only a few daggy things I usually only wear to dag around in at home I’ve had to wash out and improvise and you realize when it gets to the nitty gritty you could have done the trip and travelled really light with one change of clothes in an overnight bag
The experience put me in mind of when I travelled to Nepal in the early 80s when I was teaching out in Blackwater I went during a school holiday period with a school teaching colleague . For every travel hassle that could possibly happen ,it happened for us during that trip . When we arrived in what was then Calcutta it was discovered we actually had forgotten to get reentry visas into Australia and we had to reroute to New Delhi to visit the High Commission there to get the documentary stamps we needed . We finally arrived in Kathmandu our luggage didn’t turn up and we didnt actually see it again until six months later .Then when we arrived in Kathmandu and had a “Welcome meet your fellow trekkers dinner I swear someone had spiked the tandoori chicken with too much hashish oil either that or it was the change in altitude but later that night I found myself walking around the streets of Kathmandu alone completely disorientated and in a daze trying to find my way back to the hotel
So with only days before our trek and having nothing more with us than we had carried in our over night luggage before we set off walking through the foothills of the Himylayas we had to beg borrow clothes from our fellow trekkers and buy a few more clothes as we needed We borrowed thick woollen socks and undergarments and jumpers and purchased tough cotton nepalese style pants which tied at the ankles and bought yak wool coats and realized in truth we didn’t need half of all the army surplus gear and thermal vests etc we had raided army surplus stores for as we worked carefully through our checklists supplied by the trekking company Australian Himylayan Expeditions .Instead of the the probably expensive trekking boots I would have bought I actually did the trek through the foothills of the Himylayas in simple sandshoes .
Its true I was in those days a tiny size 8 and when I got blisters and started to lag behind the group on the trek Nima a lovely Sherpa graciously decided he’d piggy back me part of the way .Nima had ulterior motives though He had ideas he might marry me and come to Australia a land where cocacola and colour TV abounded In those days both coca cola and colour TV were western luxuries not so readily available in Kathmandu and seen as very desirable commodities
These days when I travel to a new place and am feeling a bit out of my depth I will often drop into a local art group where I easily and readily feel on safe and comfortable ground Its a world I know and understand . As you absorb and enjoy the art of a particular region you can tap into the vibe and sensibility of the local painters and see what inspires them and how they interpret and represent and are influenced by their locale . This is particularly true of coastal painters .Peoples creativity and individuated artistry never ceases to amaze me In other more nationally or internationally representitive galleries I can recognize immediately this person is painting in a style reminiscent of the old masters or this painter is clearly influeced by the impressionists or this artist is creating in mixed media or is laying on the acrylic paint thick with pallette knives.Its a world I know but there is always something new to learn
When I finally got to Noosa yesterday after lunch I visited Gallery at Eumundi (although it was in Hastings Street Noosa ) The owner I found to be jsut the loveliest guy he showed me a painting that had arrived that day where the artist had rendered his portrait of a dog in ground bitumen which gave the dogs apppearance a rough earthy appealing realism
There was also this huge painting in a very naive style that honestly any 7 year old kid might of done The tag said ‘price upon inquiry ‘ So I inquired and the price of the painting? 74,000 dollars Hubba hubba I thought to myself when I considered how long and hard and paintstakingly I had worked on the picturesof my book and the modest financial returns there Maybe I needed to get some larger canvasses and splash some paint around
Anyway the gallery owner assured this artist had a very healthy self concept of what he felt he was worth commercially and even had an art hotel in Brisbane dedicated to his work
Beautiful recent Aquisition at The Gallery Eumundi
Artist : Brent Harvey ……………Untitled …………….$5.000
then I finally got to Noosa main beach which is not readily apparent from Hasting street you kind of have to walk up a pathway to discover it but wow as I reached the end of the path wow what a gloroius scene spread out before me Noosa Beach proper sang and sparkled inthe sunlight There was a lovely relaxed vibe People sunbaking and frolicking in very calm seas quite a few people which surprised me considering that the summer is coming to a close With the bay sweeping around to where theNational Park walk begins it was actually stunningly beautiful The energy of the place absolutely pristine and clear being Qlds most Easterly point .
I dont know how I manage to find them but found myself in a long conversation with a doctor of psychology who I managed to convince to go and check out David Wilcocks Cosmic Diclosure series on Gaia .com where he interviews insiders who have worked in underground military bases communicating and interacting with ETs happily sharing information about their technology etc A most fascinating series I watched loads of episodes of completely enthralled back to back during the COVID lockdowns ,my favorites being the ones with Emery Smith .I figured I needed to help this Prof od psych to broaded his perspective and get out of his cognitive rationalistic mind
I had a chance to sit alone in a quiet spot overlooking Noosa Beach for while and recalled with amusement many years ago perhaps over 20 a time when I had walked through the Noosa National Park to Alexandria Bay which was then a well known nudist beach . I arrived glad for a chance to rest and sunbake and proceeded to spread out my towel and laid down to sunbake clad in a demure black swimming cossie Eventually I sat up and was surprised to see a nudey man laying pretty close to me with a towel draped over his face but all his tackle on display and pointing in my direction .Readers I swear as I sat there I could easily have reached out and touched it. Then to shake this fellow off I decided to head off into the ocean for a cool dip
On the way back to where I had left my gear another nudey bloke somehow calculated and managed to position himself along the route from the ocean and where I had to travel to get back to my gear and was lying there in a reclining position like a statue of David in repose with his crown jewels proudly on display as I passed
I shook my head in wonder and amusement and figured a woman clad in a bathing costume on a nudist beach might seem like a more titillating and tantalizing and less challenging and confronting proposition than the naked ladies there
