Anzac Day

Yesterday was not just Easter Monday in Australia it was the 25th April and Anzac Day.   Australia has a perverse way of celebrating things.  It still idolises a murdering bank robber, Ned Kelly and remembers its service men and women from all wars on the anniversary of the landings in Gallipoli.  This was a national disaster .

I have lived in Australia for over 50 years and had never been to an Anzac Day Ceremony.  I have watched the parades in Adelaide on TV and found them quite moving.  Margaret and I attended the simple Remembrance Day Ceremony in Tewantin four years ago which was carried out with dignity but apart from grumbling that the shops were closed never thought much about Anzac Day.

Yesterday I had walked Louis,  tidied up the house and it was still 8.00am.  I checked the local newspaper and saw that the local Anzac Day march was due to start at 8.45am and would be followed by the traditional ceremony at the War Memorial at 9.00am.  I decided to ride my bike into Tewantin and watch the march.

The main street was shut off to traffic and the marchers were beginning to assemble at the opposite end of the street to the War memorial.  I walked my bike to the far end and locked it to a street sign near the memorial and found myself a good spot next to an area reserved for the Tewantin Town Band.

Near bye were a group of teenagers dressed in Navy Ceremonial White uniforms.  They were our local Sea Cadets and carried wooden replicas of modern rifles.  Two lads and two girls were the Catafalque Guard Party and were under the charge of another teenager in uniform with Chief Petty Officer stripes.  They were all larking about and their officer, a middle aged Lieutenant, had to bring them to order.

At 8.45am The Parade Commander called the Catafalque Party to mount, which, under the direction of the CPO, they did with dignity if not quite the precision of a Guardsman.  They maintained their positions with the same respect throughout the 75 minutes of the ceremony.  They were really great.

Next the parade began.   It was headed by a Police Car leading a group of vintage and classic cars carrying Veterans who were too infirm to march the 500 metre length of Tewantin's main street.  They were seated under shades as the Flag Party arrived and took up position in front of the Memorial and the Sea Cadets.

The main body of marchers followed.  There were about a hundred Veterans accompanied by their children, grandchildren and even great grand children.  They were followed by the local community groups such a scouts, the rest of the Sea cadets, local school children and finally the Tewantin State School Band.

The Veterans formed up behind the Flag Party and their families found good spots to watch the ceremony.  The band sat down near me and the ceremony began with the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems.  We had all been given a program which contained the words but I am ashamed to say that it was the worst rendition of any National Anthem that I have ever heard.  Everybody, including me, appeared to be scared of singing out loud.

There was a good address by a a retired Brigadier who lives locally and an address by the President of the  local Returned and Services League of Australia Sub Branch which I thought was a bit racist.  The local C of E Vicar read the Twenty Third Psalm and gave short invocation and prayer.

Next we all did not sing Abide With Me.  Another prayer and an address by a local school girl who is the Head Girl of the Sunshine Coast State High School about what Anzac Day mean to the today's youth which was very good.

Now it was time to lay the official wreaths and other individuals also laid their own floral tributes.  The children were asked to lay Rosemary Sprigs as a sign of remembrance.

Finally the RSL Ode was read:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The Last Post Played and the ceremony was over.

The Flag Party were dismissed and the Catafalque Party Marched of with the same dignity they had shown throughout the ceremony only to become teenagers again when they were dismissed.

In spite of the small town atmosphere and  the atrocious singing, I had found the whole ceremony very moving.  The respect shown by the predominantly young audience  was tremendous and the number of children present was great.  Now if only we all could sing.

Over the last week I have gradually recovered from my cold.  I made two MOW runs and went cycling with my club on Saturday morning.  I am also preparing a talk to give to my Computer Club this Wednesday so I have been busy.

Easter Friday I went to my friend J's house for lunch with her 93 year old Mum and a couple of other friends staying with her from Brisbane.  On Sunday I went to the Theatre in Nambour to see a play which my friend B starred in.  He played the Pope in a 1970's US play about a Bronx Taxi Driver kidnapping the Pope.  It was a comedy with a peace message.  I went with B's wife J who had a complimentary ticket in the name of Mrs Pope but the Pope's friend had to pay!  

Today is the fifth consecutive Public Holiday but the shops are open for reduced hours today so I am off shopping.

Getting Back into a Routine

It is two weeks since I returned from the Australian Bike Friday Club Weekend.  The experience was great and I managed to have a good time meeting both old and new friends and riding around the Grafton area however getting back in the swing  of things back home in Tewantin has been difficult.

First I developed a heavy cold probably caused by getting my bum wet:).  I felt really bad on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday  and survived by taking Cold and Flu tablets.  I used my older bike for shopping on Thursday but really should have used the car.  I was fit enough and over the infectious stage by Friday and was able to do my MOW run.  It was an exceptionally long run and I drove about 40Km to deliver to about 25 clients.  As it was a Friday I also delivered frozen meals to many of the clients.  It took well over two hours and by the end I was exhausted and on returning home had to rest up for the afternoon.

I had hoped to go cycling with the Sunshine Coast Bicycle Touring Club on Saturday morning but the weather forecast was for heavy rain and storms.  When I woke up on Saturday I could hear the rain pouring down so I rolled over and stayed in bed.  I managed to get through the weekend OK and actually did all my washing and cleaning but spent the most of the time resting up.  While the cold symptoms had gone away I now felt very weak and for some reason very depressed.  I think that coming back to an empty house after being with a group of people for several days had an effect.

Over the last week things have gradually improved.  I have been preparing a talk for the Sunshine Coast Computer Club and also attended their meeting at Buderim where I give advice to members on the Linux Operating System.  I enjoyed my bicycle shopping trip on Thursday.  I also did MOW on both Thurdsay and Friday as we were short of a driver.  These were short runs.

Another thing is that I have booked Helen's airfares for a visit starting on the 4th May for two weeks.  It will be nice to see her again and I know that she has been having difficult time missing her Mum so we can help each other.

I was fit enough to go for a ride with the SCBTC on their 30Km ride last Saturday which started near the University of the Sunshine Coast at Chancellor College.  We started and finished the ride through the University Grounds where we had an audience of the local mob of quite large kangaroos.  Our ride took us through the local scenic areas to Forest Glen where we stopped for coffee before returning home via Sippy Downs.  It was a nice ride and reasonably fast as we averaged about 20KPH excluding the coffee break.  In spite of still feeling a bit weak from the cold my fitness has definitely improved and I able to ride much more easily.

I went out for a short ride yesterday to get new library books.

I realise how much I still miss Margaret  and  find myself thinking of the times, both good and bad, we had together.  I think that the last word is the nub of my feelings, I miss being together with her.

ABFC Meeting - Part 6

I woke up early and after cleaning my teeth packed up my tent immediately.  I just bundled the wet tent into the back of the jazz and was on my way home by 6.30am.  I had to fill up with petrol before leaving Grafton as it had been over 500Km since the last fill back at home.

I decided to take a different route home along the Summerland Way via Casino and Kyogle to the Mount Lindesay Highway back into Queensland and on to Beaudesert.  This is a very rural road and has little services on the way.  It is also hilly at times and coupled with road works made it a tough drive.  I pulled into Beaudesert and stopped for breakfast.  I then drove on to the Gateway Highway, over the bridge and up the Bruce highway back home.  I got home about 12.30pm.  I dried out my tent, aired my sleeping bag and did my washing before having an early dinner and crashing out about 7.00pm

I picked Louis up from the kennels early on Tuesday morning.  I was told that he had settled down soon after I left and had been a happy and well behaved dog during his stay.   When the girl went to get him he saw me from about 50 metres away and became very excited so she released his lead and he ran up to me to give me an enthusiastic greeting.  As I slipped his kennel lead off he broke free and leapt into the back of the car and was not going to get out again.  I put his collar on and attached him to his safety harness and brought him home.

End of Part 6 and the BikeFriday Weekend

ABFC Meeting - Part 5

Sunday was the official final day of the meeting and people were up early packing up their tents and caravans.  There had been heavy rain overnight but I had been snug and dry.  I had decided to stay an extra night as had my neighbours C and C and their neighbours.  By 10.00am there were just the three tents left in what had been quite a community.

The plan for the day was to have a short ride ending up at the Grafton Museum's courtyard cafe for lunch.  We left about 10.15am and I rode with my tandem friends as we took a new road north east out of the camp site.  This was quite hilly and I suggested that the tandems should tow me up hill but got no offers.  We were also riding with our youngest member's family and he was having a ball.  He is a very strong cyclist and a very polite nine year old.  On one occasion he passed me on a climb and asked me how I was going as he bombed up the hill.  He was closely followed by his mum who was struggling.  As she went by she called out, "Who needs a personal trainer when I've got him!"


We finished the ride along the road by the Clarence River back into Grafton and on to the cafe.  Here we had a nice two course lunch.  I had local fish which was good followed by an enormous fruit salad and yoghurt.  During the meal we socialised.  Young A got his photo taken with the guide dogs.

A with Willoughby and his Mistress.

The full crew.

After lunch most people drove off and a dozen or so of us pedalled back to camp where we had a big surprise.  In our absence another cycling group had moved in and had put up tents anywhere they wanted including our three camp sites.  Now there was plenty of room on my site for several tents but I had paid $25.00 a night for the site and would have liked to be asked.  

C and C were in a much worse position as somebody had put a tent directly in front of their tent's entrance where they normally put up their picnic table and propped up their bikes.  The husband is 77 years old and had Parkinson's  Disease he was very upset so I went to see the manager to find out who had given then permission to use our sites.  He told me that the new arrivals had been specifically not to camp on our sites which were clearly numbered.  He would come and sort it out.

Back with C and C things were getting worse.  He was trying to start his car, an elderly Saab with out any success.  He wanted to park beside his tent to ease packing up the next day.  We called the motoring association but their mechanic had no success in fixing the problem and a tow truck would pick the car up on Monday morning.

The manager had still not come to sort things out and when I mentioned to one of the newcomers that they were being rude by just taking over our sites he said that his tent had been there for a couple of days to which I replied "Bullsh*t"  and he told me that I was being rude to him!  At this I decided enough was enough and telephoned the manager.   I pointed out that when people camped in my back yard at home they always got my permission first and until 10.00am the next day my large clearly marked camp site was my backyard.  He agreed and came to sort it out.

Three tents were moved as there was plenty of space elsewhere,  apologies given and accepted.  Poor C nearly had a fit when the groups leader turned up.  It was Tony Abbott, the leader of the Federal Opposition.  He leads a ride for charity every year but C is not a fan.  Tony's ride is called the Pollie Pedal and account may be found here. 

The remnants of the group had a final get together in the Barbecue area and I went to bed early as I wanted to get away early next day.

There was one more incident when about 10.00pm I was rudely awakened by a couple of the Pollies walking back to their tents and right into my little tent.  The language I used advised them to have intercourse somewhere else!

End of Part 5

AFBC Meeting - Part 4

Saturday was the day when one could take a long ride, about 94Km, but I took the short ride just under 40Km.  For some reason I felt quite tired and didn't want to overdo it.

The day started well with me making perfect oats for breakfast.   Then it was a leisurely ride along a quite road running north beside the Clarence River.  All rides were to have lunch at Ulmarra which was the other side of the river and we were to take a ferry over the river.

When we arrived at the ferry we could see it parked in a little cutting at the river's edge but we had to wait for nearly 20 minutes before we were able to load.  Actually we had to wait for the ferry to fill up with cars then we were allowed to to pack our bikes around them.  It was a really small chain operated ferry.  Later we found that as an employee of the NSW Transport Authority the ferryman was entitled to a 20 minute tea break about this time.

That's the ferry down the hill in its cutting.

Waiting for the ferryman to let us on board.

That's Margaret Day finding space for her bike.

She has found a nice spot but it's a normal bike!

It was a tight squeeze but we all got on,

and we were on our way.

Half way across.

Once over the river it was a short ride Ulmarra which is just off the main Pacific Highway.  It is a pretty little river and appears to exist for second hand and antique shops.  Most importantly it has a pub and beer garden.  They opened the kitchen early - that's what happens when you tell them that they have 90 plus cyclists arriving ove the next couple of hours.

After a light lunch and a beer we sat for a while chatting and looking at the river berfore riding back to the ferry to retrace our route home.

The view from the beer garden.  The dot is the ferry bringing more riders to the pub.

I rode home with Margaret and Graham Day together with a Canadian called Dave.  We stopped a little way from the camp site to have a drink before arrivung back at 2.00pm

I had a shower and then had a brief nap in my tent.  That evening was the official dinner so later I changed into nice shirt, long trousers and proper shoes.  I drove the Grafton District Services Club where we all met for a nice meal at 6.30pm.  The first activity during the meal was the formal meeting of the ABFC where there was a heated discussion about doubling the annual subscription.  I think we actually carried a motion trebling of the subscription in the end.  As the 2011 subscription had been $0.00 nobody appeared to mind.The main activity was an aution of donated items.  They ranged from second hand bike tires to framed prints.  The bidding was spirited and some items went for over $200.00.  It was all in good fun except when one member's wife outbid him for some useless item.  Divorce was mentioned.  We packed in about 10.00pm and raised about $3000 for the Victorian Guide Dogs Association.

Another good day.

End of Part 4.

ABFC Meeting - Part 3

I woke up about 5.00am after a good night in the tent in spite of the overnight storm.  I wriggled out of my sleeping bag and pulled on some shorts so I could walk to the amenities block.  After unzipping the the internal sleeping compartment  door and then the external fly door I wiggled out on my backside into the vestibule to exit the tent.  Now remember in Part 1 the picture of my tent with the little bit of groundsheet sticking out, well this had channelled the rain into a puddle in the vestibule and I was now sitting in about 10mm of water.  When I stood up I had a wet patch right across the back of my shorts much like little boys get when they wet themselves in bed.  I was in a quandary as my clean clothes were in the Jazz.  Fortunately the only campers up were some way away so I gave them a wave and backed to the Jazz, grabbed my cycling shorts, a towel and shaving gear and beat a hasty retreat to the amenities block. Here in the privacy of a little room I substituted my wet shorts and underwear with my nice dry cycling shorts and went out to shave as if nothing had happened.

I then decided to bypass the oats for breakfast and have Weet-Bix, the Australian version of Weetabix, instead.  No cooking and no mess!  Wrong as I poured milk over them thin green lines of fluid spread out from underneath them.  My little bottle of washing up detergent had leaked into  the dish and I hadn't noticed.  So I threw away another breakfast, washed the dish and started again.  I sat with my neighbours from the next tent in the covered in barbecue area and ate my breakfast with them. 

We had time to kill as we were schedule to meet at 9.00am for a photoshoot by a local journalist so after clearing up I went back to the tent and dried out the vestibule  and reposition the groundsheet so that it didn't stick out.  I also removed all my belonging from the tent except for my sleeping gear and put them in the Jazz.  My little bike had been kept dry in the Jazz's boot over night so I pulled it out and reassembled it.  It takes all of 25 seconds.

About 8.45am I went to meeting point and as the group assembled I took several photos of the gathering.

The tandems started to arrive and the guide dogs and our youngest member A, weren't far behind.

We all posed for the journalist's photo.

 

I am second from the left in the second row.

The full article can be found at http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2011/04/02/bike-to-suit-all-types-australia-bike-friday/

Then it was off for our ride.  Again I chose the medium ride.  Today there was no lunch stop  unless you did the full ride.  We rode north of Grafton to day swung back south over the Clarence river over a bridge where we stopped for refreshments then back to South Grafton we stopped for a drinks.  I had a milkshake and a massive piece of chocolate cake which after I had my leg pulled about my diet I noticed several slices of cake arriving at the table.  I think the cafe owners in South Grafton thought that it was Christmas with 90 hungry cyclists turning up.  I took some photos on the ride.

The ride started along lovely quiet roads.

But soon a section of dirt road and the overnight rain delayed our progress.

We crossed this bridge and stopped by the Clarence River for refreshments.

It had been another great ride with more of the tough rolling hills.  I covered just over 50Km today.

Back at the camp site a took a few photos of the camping area.

My neighbours to the west.  They rode a recumbent tandem and were accused by all for lying down on the job.

After a shower and changing into normal clothes - yes I had another pair of street shorts with me I drove into Grafton and picked up a half roast chicken and some salad for dinner.  I took my table and chair to the barbecue area and sat and chatted with  the other members until really late. I was in bed by 9.00pm :)

A terrific day after a damp start.

End of Part 3

ABFC Meeting - Part 2

As always when camping, I woke up early.  I had decided to have Oats for breakfast and to warm them up on my Trangia stove but when I got it all together I found that I had not brought any matches or a lighter with me so it was over to plan B.  I decided to use the microwave oven in the camp kitchen.  I followed the instructions on the oats package and ended up with the oats spread all over the inside of the microwave.  After cleaning up I tried again but cut the time down from 90 to 60 seconds and this was OK.

It was still only 8.00am and we weren't scheduled to meet up for our first ride until 10.00am so I drove into Grafton for some more shopping including bananas for lunch.  My normal Thursday shopping has a mandatory stop at Aldi's and to my surprise found that Grafton has one so I joint to queue to wait until they opened.  I bought my bananas there and also a long sleeve cycling shirt at $7.99 reduced from $29.99 which was a real find.  I also went to Sam's Warehouse, a cut price store where I bought a small folding table and folding stool.

Back at the camp site I got my bike out the Jazz's boot then changed into my cycling gear.  I wandered down to the start to find about a hundred people mostly riding little bikes similar to mine.  There were also several tandems including four being used by blind riders.  Their guide dogs were also in attendance but none were being towed in trailers this year.  Earl the trailer dog had been retired and replaced by Willoughby who although a perfect guide dog could be a little naughty when out of harness and not working.   Unfortunately I had left my camera in the Jazz so no photos to day.

I opted to do the medium ride and we all set of about 10.30am.  We rode south of Brisbane crossing over the Clarence River using the old bascule bridge. 

 

We rode on the lower level by the railway lines and the cars went on the top level.  It was great fun.  We had quite a hard ride to Couts Crossing for lunch.  There are no major hills but the route has a series of long rolling hills which were quite tiring.   At Couts Crossing we all met up for lunch and a drink at the Pub.  The guide dogs were taken to the lunch stop in one of the members vans and rejoined their masters.   They were all out of harness and just wandered among the crowd when Willoughby show his true nature by pinching somebody's hamburger.  His older companions were disgusted.

We had a different route home but just as hilly and we all stopped in South Grafton for coffee.  Then it was back over the bridge to the camp site for a shower and a nap in my tent.   I had ridden 53Km the longest distance since my accident in 2000.

I decided to go out for dinner at the Grafton District Services Club where I had a nice dinner of battered whiting, salad and mash potatoes.  Then I returned to the camp site  to join the others for a talk and more ginger beer before turning in early for the night.

Sometime during the night we had torrential rain with thunder and lightning but apart from the noise I was snug, dry and warm in my little tent.

It had been a good start to the weekend.

End of Part 2

The Australian Bike Friday Club Weekend - Part 1

The Australian Bike Friday Club  (ABFC) weekend was scheduled from Thursday 31st March to Sunday 3rd April 2001 but for me it started on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon I put Louis into kennels for a week.  Normally he just trots off with the girl and doesn't look back but last Tuesday he didn't want to go.  He pulled back and whined and in the end the girl sat down next to him while I drove off. Not a good start.

Back home I packed my bike in the boot of my Honda Jazz and all my other gear in the area behind the front seats made available by flipping up the rear seats and i went to bed early.  My neighbour, S, drives a bus to and from the Brisbane Airport and had warned me that I should try and be over the Gateway Bridge near Brisbane before 5.00am.  There was a lot of traffic being diverted onto the Gateway Motorway because of roads damaged during the January floods and by 6.00am there could be delays.  I set my alarm for 3.00am and intended to be on my way by 4.00am.  I fact I woke up early and was off by 2.45am with a 470Km drive to Grafton in NSW ahead of me.

The weather forecast for both Southern Queensland and Northern NSW was horrible with heavy rain and storms and as I backed out of the garage the deluge began.  For most of the way to my first stop just the other side of the Gateway Bridge the rain was continuous and heavy.  knew that I had been over the bridge as my toll e-tag beeped and I was aware of the climb but my view was restricted to the lights of the traffic ahead of me and heavy spray. The following picture shows the bridge on a better day when it was being duplicated.

My next stop was at a lay bye in NSW where I stopped for an orange juice and a banana.  I was joined by a flock of chickens just pecking around next to the Pacific Highway which is National Highway One.

A few of my companions.

As I got within 50Km of Grafton the weather improved and it was quite sunny as I pulled into the Grafton Shopping Mall for a proper breakfast.  It was about 9.00am Queensland time but 10.00am NSW time as they have Daylight Saving.  The drive with stops had taken about six and a quarter hours which was quite good considering the weather.

After breakfast  drove four kilometres out of Grafton to the Grafton Gateway Village where the ABFC were meeting.  In spite of it only being 11.00am I was allowed to check in and pitch my tent.

Note the little bit of my blue ground sheet sticking out to the right - more in Part 3.

I met up with Margaret Day the founder of the ABFC who I have known for twenty years from my time riding bicycles in Adelaide South Australia.

Margaret and her husband, Graham packing one of their Bike Fridays into a suitcase. 

I was told that there was a "bring your own" barbecue scheduled for 6.00pm most nights ot the meeting so I drove back to Grafton for some supplies which I stored in the camp kitchen fridge.  During the afternoon I met some of the othe ABFC members who were setting up camp beside me.

The barbecue was a great social gathering and I had a nice steak with salad washed down with ginger beer.  Most of the members had arrived early so it was a crowded affair.  I decided to go out early next day to buy a small table and folding chair to ease the seating problems.

I was back in my tent by 8.30pm and although I haven't camped for over ten years slept quite well.

End of Part 1