Day 67 - Time out in Texas

-
Texas QLD - 0km (Good Friday)

After a 'Texas by night' wander and the most fulfilling Chinese dinner, it's nice to stretch into a 'day off' this morning. Being 'good Catholic girls' we keep the energy expenditure low today. The same can be said for the energy intake... after Chinese Panda's MSG loaded dishes, we long for something light and green. 

When we stroll into town to get some lunch supplies, we meet more of the town's friendly faces. We get good travel advice from the lady at the cash register, who recognises us from the day before (aren't you the cyclists?) and she gives us the thumbs up for choosing the long way around into the Granite Belt wine region. Too many steep hills and windy road sections on the most direct route. So we are going to head north  (Coolmunda Dam) before heading east towards Stanthorpe.

With our new investment in the useful equipment department, a fluffy pet blanket, there are no more excuses not to engage in some well needed off-the-bike exercises. Over the past weeks, we neglected to allocate some downtime to stretch and flex the parts of our bodies that are doing all the hard work. As peaceful and low-impact riding your bicycle around the country for 4-6 hours a day is, it is also very static. We try to change our daily routines on the bikes a little bit, to shake up the inbuilt memory of our bodies. Sometimes we stop every 10km, sometimes every 30 minutes. And sometimes the terrain does it for you (e.g. gravel road, potholes, cattle grid, floodways). But there's no denying that our bodies become a bit like sewing machines clunked on a bicycle: steady and static at the top, and a constant up and down in the legworks. 

So today is a perfect day for some downward facing dog and a tree pose. Thanks to the years of yoga guidance by our dear friend Jane, we both have a little repertoire of exercise routines, that take mind and body to a quiet place. And paired with the recommended exercises from the equally dear friend Anna, a touch of physiotherapy is added. Honestly, sometimes I don't know how I would crawl out of a tiny tent in the morning without the meaningful teachings these two women have brought into our lives. They have taught us what our bodies can and can't do, in the most meaningful and healing ways. 

While we cook dinner, we receive company from one of the caravan park's permanent residents. A seventy something lonely lost and heartbroken soul (Louise thinks that's a generous description) who tries to see the positives in life but pretty much disagrees with everything you say. He is not rude or impolite. It's just that life doesn't offer much prospect to spark something good. Within an hour he shares his story: from being in the army (Vietnam Veteran) to his various jobs (truck driver), his divorce, the son who doesn't talk to him, his vast array of medical issues and life in a small caravan park in Texas, costing him $150 a week. With a fortnightly pension of $900, which needs to cover a small ute, a mobile phone and groceries, there is not much left for dreaming big. The thing is, this is not the first time we've meet characters like him. We run into them in these tiny towns, where living on the edge, of society and otherwise, is possible, but even then still frowned upon. 

Once he returns to his humble living arrangements, we ponder that same question again: if we keep running into these men, where are the women? Maybe one day, we meet them and hear their stories?





Location: Texas QLD, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for sharing! We read all the comments, replies depend on internet connection and energy levels.

Popular posts from this blog

Accidents happen

-
Image
It's slow going writing this particular blog post as I am doing it with only one functional hand.  After almost 7000kms on the bikes, injury found me while running.   I wish I had a fantastic story to tell, but I simply tripped on a rocky trail and fell over.  You know that meme that goes "If you want to know if you're old fall over.   If people laugh you're still young,  if people panic then you're old!"  I can confirm, I am definitely old! It probably didn't help that two of my fingers were quite obviously either dislocated, broken or both.   I begged Kerstin to remove my wedding ring before the finger started swelling, being three hours from the hospital I was imagining the worst case scenario of the ring tourniqueting my finger and its subsequent death and amputation.  Poor Kerstin, this kind of thing makes her faint, but she gritted her teeth and pulled off the ring.  I then gritted my teeth and asked the ex-army maintenan...
Read more

Learning a new language

-
Image
There's plenty of things I anticipated learning when we accepted the positions at Avon Downs.  I thought I'd learn a lot about cooking for groups, about different cuts of beef and how to prepare them.  Maybe some stuff around the logistics of running a community which is 260km from the closest centre, and even then, its still Mt Isa... But I didn't really expect to learn a new language.  To be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time in the Territory.  But they really do speak their own dialect here.  Much different from costal Queensland, which is a slower, relaxed kind of Australian drawl.  Here it's fast, brief and usually mumbled.  I think I spent the first month constantly asking people to repeat themselves, answering the phone is always a diabolical risk.  And trying to understand the radio chat, impossible! Then there is all the slang and local shorthand.  To be fair some of the slang I suspect has been created by the Ringers themselves, as...
Read more

Generation Z's perspective

-
Image
Q:  "Which is more important, the journey or the destination?' A:  "The company." Introducing the team at Avon Downs Station.  This video was made as part of a competition between AACo Stations for the Employee Challenge.  It's a great way to show the outside world what life on Avon looks like.  It will change your perspective on who works on Cattle Stations. There is a lot to be said for keeping company with Generation Z.  The stockcamp (the staff who do all the stock work) are all aged between 16-23 years old.  We feel pretty privileged to be given access and insight into their world.  They are generous when asked for explanations of everything from the work they do, to how the social system between them as individuals, as a team and as a Station works.  I'm pretty sure the education is going both ways!  If you want to be reassured about the future, then I recommend spending some quality time with it.
Read more