h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good morning fellas

Yes Bran. I hope she isn't stuck in France. Or even here in England. The English lorry drivers and farmers saw how easily the French government caved in (as they always do) and now they've decided to see if Tony Blair will give in as easily. They're blocking roads and - well basically trying most of the tactics the French used. So most of our garages have now run out of unleaded petrol and are fast running out of leaded and diesel (due to the public panic buying rather than the blockade). Poor Wazungu could be stuck in a traffic jam in a fuel-free zone. But with a bit of luck, she'll be safely tucked up in bed at home (it's 1.45 am here).

It sounds as though you both have dramas on-going over your side of the planet. Hope your friend, J, is on the mend now.

Feel free to rant Bran. I, for one, am prepared to sympathise. They clearly just don't appreciate you. Hope you manage to adjust their faulty thinking.

It's a shame about those folks of Scottish descent who try to cling on to their Scottishness by inventing false traditions. I suppose if you have a family tradition passed down from great/g/grand parents, that your ancestors were thrown out of their homes by a bunch of lairds or foreigners and that's the reason you're in America or somewhere else unScottish, it might make you feel a bit disenfranchised and indignant about the injustice of it all.

I don't know about the susceptibility of birds to the various poisons in the environment Walter. I have a feeling that most of the really toxic stuff has been banned now. I think (though I could be wrong) that the bigger problem is the shortage of food due to the loss of the plants that feed the bugs/slugs/worms that feed the birds. I think the herbicides and pesticides don't harm the birds directly but indirectly, by knocking out their food source. Wazungu might have a better idea.

The rabbits in this area were decimated by a new virus (man made again, I heard) a couple of years ago. It was horrible. They were dying all over the place. I was careful not to let the dogs go near them. But they seem to have recovered and now the fields are full of them again. I feel sorry for the poor old bunnies. I blame those Romans who brought them here.

Don't get too attached to those swallows - they're just a borrow.

Speak to you all later.
Sal

Walter, your story reminded me that when we lived in our last house - 27 acres in a very well-treed rural area, Sal and Wazungu - we had swallows nesting under our eaves. We watched them for three springs and summers, as they first built their nest and then reused it on subsequent visits. They would cram so many young-uns into that small nest it was incredible. We were able to watch the kids take their first forays out of the nest, watch them learn to fly (or run into things!) and then see them all go off.

We liked to think that it was the same pair who came back every year, though I guess we really couldn't tell. One year, a second nest appeared, which I have a fancy was inhabited by one of the offspring. It was such a delight to watch them leave for a day's outing, and then just before duck, wheel their way back to the house and duck and weave for a while before settling down for the night. Our cats were of course fascinated by them, but I think the birds actually enjoyed having them there ... quite a few times I watched the birds diving and passing just above Madmartigan's head, with him helpless to catch such fast flyers. He usually just came back inside when this occurred with a very grumpy expression on his face. I imagined the birds making Monty Python noises at him: "you silly English k-nigit!" and all that. (This is not to say, by the way, that cats aren't bloody terrors for killing off the wild-life).

I miss the swallows, I must say. The current residents of the house tell us that they have kept coming back ... good news.

Cheers
Bran.

Gooday Wazungu, StM, and Bran the Explorer,

Thank you for asking, Sal, our friend J is unfortunately no better but her specialist says that with time, rest and intensive care she will recover almost as good as new. We pray for it.

Swallows assuredly do come back year after year, whether the original pair or some of the kiddies. When you get to see them close-up, it always amazes me just how tiny they really are, yet they are without doubt the best aerial acrobats of all. And very social and gregarious. Last Spring/Summer they moved their nesting site over to the top edge of the bathroom window, which meant we could not open the window for several months, a situation which had its moments. But the swallows bred two lots of littlies, so it was all most worthwhile.

StM, I'm not sure about that disease that was deliberately introduced a year or so back to exterminate the bunnies, but we had one released here about the same time - Colesivirus (spelling may be off). It was a complete floperoo in Tasmania, but had greater effect elsewhere in Oz.

By the way, in Earls Colne, the village I was born and raised in, there was and still is a road named Hillie Bunnies. You get to it from Burrows Road. It's true, I swear. Take care, y'all.

Walter.

Dear Walter

It was your BIRTHDAY on the 12th???!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERUDITE ONE!!

Did you have a party with candles and cake and presents and all??

Best wishes my friend.
Bran.

Wot, no Wazungu - still? Oh dear. I bet it's the fuel tax protest. Britain is now virtually a fuel-free area. Our fuel tax is astronomical, making up about 72% of the cost of the fuel PLUS another 17.5% VAT on top of that - here they even tax our tax, if you can believe that! I think a tax revolt may have been inevitable, especially when the Brits saw how easily the French government succumbed to the pressure applied by their truck drivers. It's a huge inconvenience. If Wazungu's stuck without fuel miles from home ... well, I hope she takes the opportunity to try a nice soothing, refreshing G&T, with ice and lemon.

Speaking of which, belated happy birthday Walter! Hope you had a perfect G&T or 3 too.

It sounds as though your poor friend is having a rough time. At least it sounds as though the long term prognosis is good.

We watched from my office window as a mother swallow fed 3 youngsters on the roof of the barn opposite, on Tuesday. We were surprised that they should be doing the job so late in the season. It's still very warm here though rain's forecast for the next 3 - 4 days. Here's a sign of summer: I've just had to give the dogs a bath with flea shampoo. When it gets colder I'm not going to turn the central heating on until there are icicles hanging from the taps. B***** fleas!

I can't remember the name of the bunny plague Walter. Colesivirus doesn't ring a bell. I think I'd recognise the name if I heard or read it. It was different from the Myxomatosis which involved swollen eyes with nasty pussiness. The new rabbit scourge was more sort of haemorrhagic with blood round the eyes nose and mouth. The rumour round here is that the farmers collect some samples of the dead bunnies to keep to reinfect them in the future when the next population explosion happens. Dire isn't it? They do a hell of a lot of damage to crops but it's so sad to see the poor little devils dying all over the place.

Earls Colne sounds like a place you get to if you follow the "yellow brick road" - lovely names. We have a Honey Pot Lane here and guess what, "honey pot" is just a euphemism for a sewage works.

Hope Wazungu gets back soon. It's Thursday now (just) and she was only going for the weekend.

Better go and see if those dogs are dry enough to go to bed yet. Speak to you all later.
Sal

Gooday StM and Wazungu (wherever you are),

Thank you for the birthday wishes, and happy unbirthdays to you all.

Have been following the 'fuel' crisis in England spellbound. Sal, our government tax on petrol is around seventy cents in the dollar, and moreover we produce between 70 and 90 per cent (depending who you listen to) of our own light crude needs. Yet our petrol costs have risen by 15% over the past month and of course, it is all the fault of the 'greedy' Arab oil cartels or the 'grasping' Oil companies. Although I understand that our petrol price, around a dollar a litre, is about half what it costs in the UK.

Your bunny plague sounds very like the one introduced here.

Are you going to be sitting up watching any of the Olympics? The soccer tournament actually started last night (Australia got beaten in both men's and women's comps), but the official Opening Ceremony starts tomorrow (Friday) evening at 6.30 local time. I can't give you the time difference, especially since we have had an early introduction of daylight saving just for the Games. Anyway, all the indications are that the Opening should be worth staying up for. Who gets to light the Flame is a closely guarded secret, but I am hoping that it will be Betty Cuthbert.

Wazungu - YOU ARE MUCH MISSED - hope things are okay. Take care y'all,

Walter.

Hi All

I am feeling in much improved mood this arvo, after having an inspirational chat with my supervisor about the scholarship issue (he referred to the bureaucrat who told me the sad news as a "lightweight dickhead" - which shouldn't have, but did, make me feel better).

I have been following the petrol issue as well on the very lively forum off the community page. The latest ones are getting very tetchy. I remember when we were in the UK and Europe in 1995, that the fuel was 60p per litre and DM1.80 in Germany. And we thought that was exhorbitant. We have a PM who reckons that if they reduce the petrol tax, schools and hospitals will be closed. This has of course led to a challenge of naming the exact ones which will get the axe. No answer so far from the slimey little bugger.

On more sunny matters ... I saw a pair of rosellas (a type of parrot) wheel past our kitchen window half an hour ago. They seemed to be having a great time chasing each other. We have also seen quite a few sulfer-crested cockatoos, and the occasional black cockatoo recently. They make a very loud and distinctive noise which always sends me outside to see where they are.

It does indeed look like Wazungu had to hole up in Kent. We will no doubt be treated to a great story on her return. Wherever you are Wazungu - stay safe and well.

Best wishes for the fuel crisis Waz and Sal, and hope to see you soon Walter.

Cheers
Bran.

Good evening Bran, Sal and Walter,
I am not holed up in Kent! Though I wouldn't mind being so.
It wasn't just the weekend Sal, we planned to go to Kent on Saturday, France on Monday and back Wednesday evening. And that's what we did. Nicely missing the worst, I hope, of the petrol crisis . We filled up in England just before garages started to run out and again in France, who were back to normal when we got there. So no problems of the fuel sort. But we did have other problems. One the friends I went with became ill on our last day in France. She will be fine but it meant spending some time in a French hospital, the language barrier didn't help there, and then in our local one on the way home.
Sorry to hear about your friend Walter, hope she is getting well. Happy Birthday too! Bran didn't say which one it was?
Sal and Bran, wherever Scots kilts and dancing etc. came from I think they've made them their own since. I like the way the Scots football fans wear kilts with teeshirts and red wigs! A living culture has to adapt - I saw a morris dance troup in Nantwich dressed in biker's leathers! BTW, near here, is a house called "Rising Sun". The house goes with a job. Guess what job and what's next door!
I hope you get your PhD sorted Bran. My brother is currently on what seems to be an extended extension for his. I haven't asked him how it's been going lately, not that I ever get much of an answer to that sort of question anyway.

I enjoyed most of my holiday very much. No G&T's but some wine. I found Tesco hock boxes there. A third of the price so brought three lots home. The first night in Kent was spent in Cranbrook. A place I spent a spring and a summer holiday in when I was nine and have never forgotten. I thought it was a beautiful place and have always remembered it that way. It's still beautiful, the centre that we saw anyway. And I met Maria again, now 93, who made it such a good holiday when I was nine! Taking us (my sister and me) with her to the windmill and up the church tower. She asked us into her cottage, which doesn't look as if it's changed much since she was born there, never mind since we were there.
She had lots of stories, she was one of eleven, her mother was village midwife and layer out. She took in laundry and ironing, ironing with flat irons from a stove. She was verger... she's still 100% with it and does all her gardening but she has given most of the rest up! When I asked, the lady who ran the bed and breakfast we stayed in said a letter would reach her addressed to "Maria, Cranbrook". Everyone knows her.

I should go now, all in all it was a tiring trip, my PC at work is still sulking, everything is at 6's and 7's due to revolting truckers, farmers and oil companies, and, final straw, I have to get up much earlier than usual to share a car to work to try to make the petrol last 'til it's all back to normal.

One last thing, about the rabbits - there were very few on Barra and Mingulay this year. I wondered if they were being "controlled" there to discourage the buzzards. I saw one sick one (rabbit) on Mingulay.
Good to talk to you all again, I'll try to catch up properly over the weekend,
Wz

PS, the BBC are showing the Olympics opening ceremony at 8.45 tomorrow morning - I'll be at work so I'll have to catch the highlights later. But I will be watching what I can, the local newspaper has printed a timetable tonight together with all sorts of info. Like the stadium has 9000 more seats than the Americans had! And that 1000 gold medals have been produced but only 650 are to be awarded?

Gooday Wazungu, and StM (and Bran if you have surfaced today),

It really is lovely to have you back, now our little chattering circle is complete again. I look forward to you bringing us up to date with your latest adventures, but what a wonderful story that was about Maria - dare I ask (approximately) how many years had passed between your trip as to Cranbrook as a child and the latest visit. And what is your brother studying for his PhD?

No, Bran didn't say which birthday it was. He is a true and kind friend, and always gives proper deference to the aged.

Bran, I can underastand your frustration, but I think it is most intemperate of you to refer to us bureaucrats as lightweight dickheads. Personally, I really resent the description lightweight.

StM and Wazungu, thank you for your kind thoughts about our friend Julie. I was with her an hour or so ago and watched her stand on her own two feet, and make one step forward. Can you imagine how big a step that was, after two weeks of being completely immobilised by an MS attack? It will take many weeks, months, for her to return to something like normality, but this champion woman will make it. She asked me yesterday "How was your day?" and I replied "Ordinary to mediocre." And then realised what I had said, and to whom. Gee I felt a complete dill, but it sure puts things into perspective. Take care, y'all, and I do hope you have time to watch and enjoy soemOlympic action over the weekend.

Walter.

Hey Wazungu, you're back at last! I was sure you must've got snaggled up in the tax revolt no-fuel situation. I expect that would have been preferable to your pal getting sick far from home. Anyway you're all back safely now and that's what matters.

You're right about the boys in their kilts, tee-shirts and wigs. And speaking of leather Morris men, I once saw a team of enormous rugby players, fresh from a game, covered in mud and blood, all dancing (the signet dance from Swan Lake) down a road in Swansea, arms linked and singing "How do you solve a problem like Maria" (from The Sound of Music). Talk about incongruous!

Trying to guess the job that goes with the "Rising Sun" - is it anything like that house in New Orleans? A gambling den and house of ill repute? Is it something to do with astronomy? No. I give up. Give us a clue.

I confess that I don't want to get any further into Europe, but do you suppose we would be able to get Tesco's hock for a third of the price if we adopted the euro? I bet the price of alcohol in the rest of Europe would go up in line with the prices in Britain. Our taxes'll go up and their prices'll go up.

When you went back to Cranbrook, did everything seem smaller than you remembered it when you were a child? How lovely to take a stroll down memory lane.

Walter and Bran, the garage in our village is advertising unleaded at 90p per litre and 4Star at 93p per litre. Some of the protesters up in Scotland were complaining on the News that Scotland produces more oil than any other country in Europe and yet the Scots pay more for fuel than any other country in Europe. There was a whinging and a nashin' o' teeth.

Our government has also warned that our hospitals and so on need the money they get from the fuel tax. I can't help wondering though, if they're as skint as they try to make out, how they can afford to throw away £500,000,000 (enough to wear out your zero key - five hundred million pounds!) on some half-arsed, ill-conceived electronic tax-return scheme that they've just thrown away because it didn't work properly. They'll pursue you to the grave for a few quid, then set about your heirs but once they've got their paws on you hard-earned money, you wouldn't credit some of the nonsense they spend it on.

The new Ausie bunny plague is probably the same as the one over here. My boss was telling me that he remembered hearing that when they tried to take myxomatosis to Australia, they failed first time because it took so long to get the infected rabbits over there and they all died before they reached your shore. Also, they didn't realise to begin with that the fleas that infected the rabbits were only interested in feeding from pregnant does so they introduced the disease at the wrong time.

Your friend J is going to need lots of TLC and time to recover I expect. MS is awful. You never know when it's going to knock the sufferer over again. One of our friends got it several years ago and the first he knew of it was when he suddenly went blind as he was riding his motorbike on a motorway. The blindness was temporary but you can imagine how it affected him.

I've just watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Very colourful and spectacular. Can't think I've ever seen a better opening ceremony.

Glad you're feeling more positive about your scholarship Bran. What a headache. In the immortal words of Professor James Moriarty (you know, Sherlock Holmes' adversary) "how demeaning to be set upon by nit-wits". Anyway, you won't be able to stay fed up for long with all those exotic birds to entertain you and the fabulous view from you home.

Have a good weekend y'all.
Sal

Good morning,
Walter it was '65 or '66 when I went to Cranbrook first and no, Sal, it didn't seem smaller. I expected it to but I think there was so much I didn't notice back then, that I saw this time, that that didn't happen. All the white weatherboard houses, the wide high street of small shops not spoilt by modern shop fronts. The enormous windmill - that was bigger than I remembered! It's on a hill at one end of the town and towers over the houses. It's still working, run by volunteers. Maria said they were always looking for volunteers there but she'd "done her bit".

My brother is in economics, Walter and that's as much as can tell you. Trying to get information out of him about his work is a very unproductive way to spend time. BTW a heavyweight bureaucrat? Awesome!
I missed the Olympic opening, didn't get home in time last night. But I did watch three quarters of the triathlon, fell asleep and woke up to find it was all over. Still it was impressive, the swimming in the harbour and cycling the roads. Not too good for the UK though. Maybe we'll do better in the men's. My brother-in-law, diesel being available, is planning a visit here in order to do a triathlon in Wales tomorrow, swimming in Lake Bala. Considerably colder than Sydney harbour. So if I'm not around the rest of the weekend it's because my niece is here, hogging the PC.

Sal, Rising Sun? - much the same as Honey Pot. I hope that tax return scheme isn't the tax credit scheme? I'm going to have to work out how to do that on our payroll next month. I've already had to spend a morning at an Inland Revenue "training" session on it.
On another subject, I've been commenting on a guide entry that's being written on "GM right or wrong" but due to my terrible memory I can only comment on the principles. You have a better grasp of facts Sal, I think. Evidence! I wondered if you'd be interested in reading it. If you are it's at http://www.h2g2.com/A429581 .The comments I've made are on the peer review line for it.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Wz

I posted a letter in the Peer Review thread as you suggested Wazungu, but it seems unaccountably to have gone missing. Messages 17, 18 and 19 have all gone awol from that thread. Humh!

I have to go out now but I just thought I'd mention the Inland Rev's expensive throw-away system was the one they were trying to encourage us all to use to submit our tax returns.

Sal

Gooday Wazungu and StM,

StM, I filled up this morning at 99 cents a litre. Our dollar is taking such a dive at the moment that I am really not certain of the exchange rate, but it is about 37p to the dollar, so if you are paying 90p a litre we haven't got a whole lot to complain about.

Wazungu, I would never describe myself as a 'heavyweight' anything let alone bureaucrat. Over-weight, yes. But immensely cuddly so my beloved says, and she is someone whose views are to be afforded great credence.

Before getting out of here (work) just thought I would mention that (a) Ben has started eating the Tree House; (b) beautiful Spring day yesterday, 19 degrees and sunny and the same forecast for today; (c) our Lilacs are about to burst into bloom; and (d) the Silver Birches and the Weeping Willow are shooting their new leaves. Oh, and (e) we will work in the garden all day and help ourselves to a gin and tonic late in the afternoon, before getting cleaned up to settle in and watch the Olympics. Take care y'all.

Walter.

Good evening everyone,
My niece has fallen asleep in front of the PC so I can get to the keyboard. I saw your very balanced comment on GM, Sal, thanks. The missing posts must have been a temporary fault.
Walter the leaves are beginning to turn on our trees. Plums and apples falling off everywhere. Ben obviously needs a new kennel - I take it he finished the old one?
It's after midnight so I have to get to sleep too, good night, Wz.

Morning to All

Welcome back Wazungu .... not lost in Kent after all! Sounds like you had a great trip. It would be fascinating going back to places of one's youth. I grew up in a town called Rabaul in Papua New Guinea, so it is a little more trouble. And, the town was mostly devastated in 1994 in a volcanic explosion. It was actually a volcano that I climbed into about 5-10 times when I was a kid. We used to go out with the volcanologists, who did checks twice a week on temperatures and such. As my Dad was the port manager, it was easy to get a ride on the launch that took them up the harbour to where they took their measurements. It was not so much a shock when the volvano eventually went up, as we all expected that it would (and no lives were lost as Rabaul had an evacuation plan that was well worked out - cos of a previous eruption in 1937). But a little sad, as it was a beautiful town. I digress ...

Walter ... I of course was not referring to bureacrats in general, but to a specific one who is in fact lightweight. Besides, the last thing that I'd call you is a bureaucrat! Great to here that J has taken a step or two. This bout seems to have taken her fairly badly, so any progress is fantastic. It does put one's petty problems into perspective.

Watched some of the Olympics yesterday - and saw Ian Thorpe (400m freestyle), by himself and with the 4x100m freestyle relay team, break two World records in the pool!! Very exciting, and I am not even a sport watcher under normal conditions. The relay was very exciting, as they were just behind the Americans on the last turn, and Thorpe (the last swimmer) put on a burst of speed and just pipped them by some fractions of a second. (Listen to me! I do not normally talk about this sort of stuff!)

Re the Scottish stuff Waz and Sal. Even if a lot of it is made up, it is still great to see people embracing their culture, or at least what they think their culture is. It is all about meaning for the present time I suppose, so if this is what makes people happy ... more power to them I say. The image of the Morris-dancing bikers is precious, and the ballet-dancing football team!

We went for a great walk last evening to Blackmans Bay beach, which is about 15 minutes on foot. Walked along the beach, and out along rocks to Flowerpot Point (as it is shaped like one upside down), and sat there looking out the mouth of the Derwent, as the sun set behind us. My partner and I are wont to say that we are living in paradise, and it is at times like this that it really feels like it. The air was so fresh (also in the windy sense!) and the sea fabulously blue, and then darker as the sun dissapeared. Strangely, we came across a goose that was sitting on the rocks beside the water. AS far as I am aware, they are not really sea birds (?) so it was a touch surreal. But it seemed very happy there.

Well, my partner wishes to use the computer so must away. Have a great weekend all.
Cheers
Bran.

Evening,
Thanks for the welcome, Bran. Didn't it bother you living under a volcano? Years ago I used to have a recurring nightmare about volcanos. It doesn't always work to go back to places you knew as a child. Another place I remembered as a large beechwood was a small and rather scruffy patch of beech trees ten years later. It hadn't changed, I had!

I don't know of any sea geese. I was hissed at by geese today. Went to check on a friend's place and called on her neighbours. They have two white geese on guard at the gate. And two tame sheep. They were quite happy when we went in but when we left the sheep were baaing at not being allowed out the gate, and geese were cackling and hissing. No thieves will ever leave that house unheard! What a racket!

Good evening Wazungu, Walter and Bran.

Speaking of plums and apples falling off everywhere, I took the dogs for a walk with a friend yesterday and happened to mention the hedgerow in the next field was full of ripe junipers. She immediately decided that the dogs would much prefer to go that way and she filled her pockets with fruit as we walked. I'm now looking forward to having a sloe gin when it's ready (how long will that take I wonder). Next week when she visits we're taking a bag with us to collect crab apples for crab apple jelly, which she assures me is very nice. There's all sorts of wild fruit in the hedge rows at the moment.

Your Ben has quite an appetite Walter. What are his kennel and your tree house made of - bonios? We once had an Alsatian who completely demolished the kennel where he was boarding while we were moving house. Apparently, he waited until everyone was asleep and then quietly dismantled the place, including (goodness knows how) the chain-link fence and corrugated iron roof. My dad got a bigger bill than he had anticipated and poor Sabre was in the dog house in more ways than one.

Geese and swans have nested on the islands in my brothers ponds for years. They come, they raise a family and they leave. They're fairly tolerant of each other as long as both families stay on their respective islands - which seems a bit tricky when the chicks are old enough to wander - but if another swan or goose (territory threatening outsiders) comes near, all hell breaks loose.

You certainly do seem fortunate to be living is such beautiful location and surrounded by an extraordinary variety of wildlife Bran and Walter. And it sounds as though your childhood was another one of classics, Bran. Were you never tempted to become a vulcanologist yourself? I can understand their fascination with volcanoes - clever scholarly dangerous lunatics. It's a shame to lose the home of your childhood, but Wazungu's right - it can be a disappointment when you go back. Did I mention that the beautifully clear sea of my childhood in Brighton is now like pea soup with some unattractive large lumps (sewage) floating about in it.

I've watched a little bit of the Olympics but I found some even more interesting sport on TV last night. It was a boat race that takes place at Alice Springs - but only when there's no water in the river. The boats have no bottoms and the rowers are actually runners. Very entertaining. That should be part of the Olympics!

Speak to you all later.
Sal

Ummm ... no it didn't really bother us living near a volcano. Actually, there were three dormant volcanoes within kilometres of where we lived, as well as several extinct ones. It really was a crazy place to build a town, but it had an excellent deep water harbour. Rabaul was the base for Japanese operations in WW2 for this reason. We were all a bit blase (sp?) about the volcanoes ... it was just one of those things that you lived with, so it became normal; and even a point of pride for some (!) You know ... "aren't we brave and tough living so close to destruction".

Went for the same walk yesterday ... no goose, but this time we saw A POD OF DOLPHINS!!! We knew that they were to be seen in the area, but had never spotted any till yesterday. It was a large pod that swam right near the cliffs at one end of the beach (where we saw them), and then across the bay the beach is in, heading south towards the river mouth. They must have come from further up the estuary to be heading in that direction. WOW

Well ... work time approacheth ...
Cheers All
Bran.

P.S. Just caught your post Sal ... will respond more later, but just say that the Alice Springs race is called the "Henley on Todd" (I think) and is a bit of a send up of the other one on your side of the world. A lot of beer is required, I understand, to help the race along.

Cheerio
Bran.