Helicopter to Gosse Bluff

"Wanna ride in my helicopter?"

Perfect words from Ryan, Glen Helen Resort's reisdent pilot!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of experiencing 40 minutes of feeling as free as a bird, being buffetted by winds, flying over galloping brumbies, swooping beside jagged cliffs, and exploring this truly amazing and ancient landscape.  Gosse Bluff is one of my favourite central-Oz attractions; its spirituaity can reach even the toughest athesist.  To fly over this massive crater, which feels as old as time itself, and which is isolated by thousands of hectares of stark desert, is simply sublime.

Soundwave Adelaide

Zebrahead put on a respectable show - check out the movie below as well:

Lots of honeys at Soundwave this year.

These lads enjoyed posing for a photo for me, and relished in "high-fiving" each other after I walked away.

Anyone want a t-shirt?  $40... what the???

Jase shows us where to buy food from.

If I look tough, no one will bother me.

Limp Biskit.  The "Jessica" banner was a bit limp, but the rest of the biskit was pretty good.  So were the 100 girls Fred invited onto stage.

Slipknot fans come out of the woodwork and face broad daylight

The heavens open and we are drenched in refreshing, sobering rain

Well, some of us are sober...  somewhere.  The fan with her eyes closed in the bottom of the photo was a die-hard Slipknot fan and gave us lots of entertainment.

Overall, Soundwave is LOUD.  I mean, really loud.  Lots of planes flew overhead during the day and evening, but none could be heard - it was surreal to see an aeroplane "glide" across the sky in silence.

Slipknot + pyrotechnics = good times

SOD were utterly brilliant, spot on, tight, angry and loud.  Perfect way to finish the night!

In the aftermath, there is nothing better than finding a nice old pub and enjoying a brewsky or three.  Here, we are surrounded by other metalheads, as we sip on some very nice international beer.

By the way, where the frack is Paul???

Back at Burners

This time last year, we were extracting razorfish from the seabed and cooking them up to eat with pasta in a cream sauce, preferably with sea urchin roe.

This year.... ditto!  The razorfish are humungous this year, so you can bring in a reduced haul and get the same amount of meat.... or you can simply eat more meat!  If you have a boat, you should drift along the rocks and catch plentiful squid - there is a chance you'll snare quite a few in an afternoon, and they are delicious scored and quickly stir fried with vegetables and noodles, with a little teryaki sauce splashed in.

Burners Beach is a 15 minute walk from Point Suttar, on the 'shoelaces' of the 'boot' that is the Yorke Pensinsula in SA.  This place just strikes me; there is something about its hot white sand and sharp umber rocks, its crooked cliffs of sandstone sprinkled with low sea-loving shrubs; combined with its erractically wild weather and clear deep blue waters, that brings out the beachcomber in me.  Other people that stay here on the common ground are likewise water-lovers; fishermen, snorkellers, and all outdoorsy-types.  In 2 weeks, I haven't heard a single generator; it's quite remarkable.  The town of Point Suttar is equally alluring; little fibro shacks with tin water tanks line the shore; each ricketty home threatened by wild winds and eventual (and inevitable) erosion.  I imagine myself spending months at a stretch here, pottering out in the water to catch dinner, or sitting on some half-mended/half-broken balcony overlooking the sweeping bay, observing dolphins play and flirt offshore, or spotting sting rays that swim right up to the beach in a few cm's of water in search of discarded bait.  Could I live here do you think?  Yes.

I'm not quite prepared to say "good bye" because I hope that some day we will return.

 Beware of squid as you reel them in - we both (and the boat) got 'slimed' by a monster squid that took no prisoners!

This year, the flies are quite bad, so we put up our blue 'fly tent' underneath the awning.  This worked a treat!  Here, Jase is barbecuing some capsicum and other vegetables for our dinner.

Bees.....  a real problem in this area.  The best way to deal with them is to float a piece of timber in a large bucket of fresh water (away from your camp).  They will come to drink from miles around, leaving your camp undisturbed.

Razorfishalicius!!!!

A glass of red wine, a lovely sprawling sunset, and fishing with the person you love.  Does life get better?