Date 21 June 2011 Tuesday

Destination: Fitzroy Crossing
Distance: 0

This morning, I washed most of my clothes in the shower as the camping ground laundry had no taps for the tubs.

9am breakfast
Fresh and dried fruit salad with yoghurt - excellent -there's nothing like a few days without fresh fruit and veg to make you appreciate it.

1 orange
1 apple
5 pitted prunes
2 spoons saltanas

I discovered some yummy smelling coffee in the camp kitchen which I might pinch. Another camper has left it behind obviously.

Then I hopped on my bike and went back to the art centre. Only one artist was painting. Dolly Snell - she’s the grouchy one. I can’t understand her but I like her pictures. I discovered someone else I like today - sandy cox - his are tidy dots somewhat like the laari gallery people but the coordinator here said he’s not from there. His dots are white and there is a red yellow blue thing going on beneath. I didn't get a snap.

There were a few men in today and lots of people who weren’t painting. They were all watching a corroborree video. They like these singing and dancing videos though the quality is poor. The men were friendly but I didn’t get anyone talking about anything here really.

I spoke briefly to a young woman and asked her if she painted. She showed me one picture which wasn’t so good. So she isn’t too enthusiastic because it seems she knows its not good but she also said she didn’t have time. She had a job, though I somehow feel its the job of being a mother though I’m not sure.

I also went to the glass gallery which was in the next street. The guy was well set up and not a trained artist. Kudos to him for what he’s achieved in getting set up and having a captive audience. I liked some of this bead work but it wasn’t terribly original. He made boab necklaces which were tacky glitzy but these are the popular things it seems.

1pm: Lunch at camping ground
Ossobucco w mashed potato

Recipe as per last night with added canned peas
2 potatos mashed with some milk

It was ok but not as good as I’d hoped, so this afternoon, I’ve gone and bought some bacon so that I can improve the next serving which I am now going to eat tomorrow instead of tonight.

I got irrationally hungry this afternoon and went out and bought hot chips and a piece of not so great battered fish.

And again at 4.30pm 500g fruit yoghurt

In light of all this extra food, I am not cooking tonight.I seem to be having a bingy thing and will probably have bacon on sourdough bread perhaps. Although only if I get hungry. Otherwise I am not sure how I am going to eat all the bacon I bought. This binge is only because I am not doing much this afternoon, and because lunch was missing something. Or maybe its because i am losing weight too fast. Though it doesn't seem like it to me.

I went to the visitors centre which wasn’t very interesting. I went to the supermarket and spent more money on food. At the bp station I chatted to a german guy with a van who was stuck in Halls Creek for a month while his car was broken down. He had trouble getting it fixed and parts but he hitched to this town to pick it up and is hitching back again tonight. Poor guy a frustrating story but it sounded like he was well taken care of by the residents of Halls cReek. A policewoman put him up and people are taking him places and so on. So its not all bad.

I went for a bike ride down by the river. The river is big and bright blue - no wonder people paint it. (see yesterdays image of blue. That's a painting of The Fitzroy River!)

Before dinner, I went to the pub. Eggles, another camper was going earlier and invited me along to join him. I went but after he got there. He was sitting chatting with a black guy. I sat down with my shandy and some women behind asked my name and so I went to sit with them. They were getting pissed to varying degrees but were keen to talk. We didn’t really have any meaningful exchanges though one of them was trying really hard. She was a few years younger than me and had a good awareness of white culture it seemed to me and what we might be interested in. She talked about a sister school in Melbourne - wesley college. I suppose the interesting thing I learned was that fitzroy crossing doesn’t even have suburbs. I had asked where all the houses were. They have communities all around and that’s where it seems most of the people live.

When i told them what i was doing, they were worried about the dangers of cycling on the roads and it was only later on talking with Eggles that I learned that the reason for that is because of the drink runs to Derby that people do and there’ve been a few road deaths as a result of that. Because there are limits on how much alcohol you can buy in town and when you can buy it, cars full of locals go to Derby which is a few hours drive away. They come back with sometimes a sober kid at the wheel or sometimes a drunk person at the wheel. [I heard of a recent accident where 11 people died. A kid was driving. I didn't know all this when the women were so alarmed about my cycling. I found out later.]

Fitzroy crossing, like halls creek, is essentially an aboriginal township. I guess if they weren’t here, FC as a town wouldn’t be here either.

I'm glad you're back to continue the series. JenPat · 2011-10-09: 04:11

Your breakfast does look yummy. Bouncers around the world look similar. Oweena · 2011-10-09: 18:11