Saharan Flood

When H and I went to Morocco after leaving Uni we journeyed west from Marrakesh into the Sahara desert. As was typical for us, but not typical for the Sahara Desert, it started to rain quite heavily. It was allegedly the first time it had rained in 50 years. Little kids were coming out of their houses and looking at the sky and wandering what this strange liquid was landing on their faces. Needless to say, we got stranded by a series of flash floods the miraculously appeared and brought to an end most of the roadwork grid of Western Morocco. I remember placing a rock next to the river to determine whether it was rising or falling - a trick which many with whom we traveled deemed the an act of genius.

Cremated Foot

When H and I were in Bali a few years ago, we happened to cross the path of a rather large Cremation taking place outside the hilltown of Ubud. Like most other Cremations, there was alot of waiting around interspersed with quite frenetic activity. What was memorable about this cremation however is that we found ourselves quite close to the funeral pyre and sticking out of it was this enormous foot. It looked like anyone else's foot except that it had an enormous gas burner aimed at it. As the fire progressed the foot began to turn inwards.

Grandad's Final List

My Grandad died when he was 94. He had a stroke while he was cutting some branches of a tree in his backyard.

In the pocket of his pants my Auntie found a list. The list were items he wanted to research next time he went to the local library. I can only remember one of the items of the list now - Cirque de Soleil. There were about 6 other items on the list I believe.

Hotel My Home

When I traveled In Europe, I organized a rendezvous with my friend John at a particular time in mid-January at a particular hotel in Amsterdam. The hotel was a family inn in a respectable part of central Amsterdam. When I got there, he had left a note stating that he had moved and had left a forwarding address. I followed the address and as I walked along a canal the environment proceeded to become seedier and seedier until it culminated into a hyper-illuminated red-light district street. Here was his new choice of hotel - the Hotel "My Home." When I knocked on its entrance, a window above me opened in an explosion of smoke and a crazy looking American girl, barely visible through the smoke and her dreadlocks, stuck her head out stating "You must be Joel!" - things went downhill from that moment.

Nude Bush-Man

In Killara, Dad would often go for bush walks in the morning before work. One morning he was walking down a bush track and a nude man came walking in the opposite direction. The nudist passed him and nodded hello as though it were the most normal thing in the world to be walking naked through the bush.

Bush Hermit

In the bush in Killara a homeless man lived for awhile. He used to walk up our street to buy milk occasionally. Some of the local kids met him and he seemed harmless enough. One day we decided to take him some cans of food. When we got there his camp had gone and we never saw him again.

Weeing in Bath

G said to H tonight "Mummy, I have a big secret......I always wee in the bath...."