The Sun shall be blotted from the sky!

[Sundae]

Zen, tis marvelly-ous.
I appreciate you were saving your camera but hey, next time can we have photos of meals?

Then again if you did I'd have cravings for aigs. I fry them to Aliantha's recipe now, with a lid on top of the pan. It's solved the problem of runny whites/ hard yolks but when someone else is cooking I still love a crispy bottom.

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Great pic's and commentary and scenery.
But no pic's with Z, himself

Lamp, you must have missed the photo of the tent.
That's actually Zen's shadow. That's how he's so Zen.

Moar plz...

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by glatt

When you pass a road train on one of those single lane paved roads, you have to get off of the paved surface and pass in the gravel? That's amazing!

Generally, I pull over and STOP. The shoulder is often pretty dodgy.

I'm not surprised you had an electrical problem. It's probably about the worst abuse you can give a car. Get me a grader, STAT!

Keep this part of the story in mind, okay? It has a sequel.

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Great pic's and commentary and scenery.

But no pic's with Z, himself
... must have or didn't happen.

There may be something.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Those road trains should carry a bumper sticker I saw recently...

IF MY BLINKER IS ON, I'M NOT ASKING PERMISSION, I'M TELLING YOU WHERE I'M GOING

Although, if a truckie sees you're looking to pass, and can see the road ahead is clear, they'll give you a few flashes on their right hand indicator to say "clear to pass". As I begin the overtake, I flash my spotlights twice then leave them on as I pass, firstly so the truckie knows I'm passing, and also so any oncoming traffic can see something is going on. I ALWAYS have the headlights on on country roads, so oncoming traffic can see ME.

On the rare occasions when you get passed by a truck, when the back of the truck is clear of the front of the car, flash your headlights. It is a bit hard for the truckie to judge this in the mirrors, and this lets them know it is safe to pull back in. Most will indicate right-left-right, to say thank you. Actually slowing a bit and flashing your indicator so a truck can pass where there is an overtaking lane will get a r-l-r-l-r "thank you very much".

I suspect all of this isn't really necessary, but it gives us something to do amongst the boredom!

Originally Posted by Sundae

Zen, tis marvelly-ous.
I appreciate you were saving your camera but hey, next time can we have photos of meals?

Took one just for you, Sundae, it'll come.

[Griff]

Road train, wow just wow.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

snip--

I'll also say I chose not to pass trucks a few times. In one case I was behind a triple with standard shipping containers on it, and the back was getting blown about by cross winds pretty badly. I wanted to do 110, the truck was doing about 100 - but it was barely 20km to a town where I was going to stop for fuel and food anyway. I sat behind it and lost maybe two minutes.

Recreational math? Nope, survival math. good man!

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Great pic's and commentary and scenery.

But no pic's with Z, himself
... must have or didn't happen.

do you know what a singularity is? such a picture would be one less.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

snip--

Keep this part of the story in mind, okay? It has a sequel.

--snip

Does it involve a fire extinguisher?

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by BigV

Does it involve a fire extinguisher?

Lol. nope.

Mind you, the car has been having issues with oil seeping through some old tired gaskets and seals and smoking away when things get hot after a few hours of freeway cruising. I had a few leaks fixed before I left, but there were still a few moments when I stopped after a long haul and had smallish amounts of smoke from the engine bay. After a while I decided to consider this "normal" and stop worrying.

I did have a couple of "fire extinguishers" in the form of two cans of mediocre beer. In the event of an engine fire, crack the top, shake hard, use the foam. No worries, eh?

[ZenGum]

Here are some sights around the festival. There was quite a bit more awesome psychedelic stuff, but that got taken down shortly after the Main Event and I missed the chance to photograph it.

Anyway, here is the dam/lake, with a fairly minimal camp beside it.



Some folks take "minimal" camping a bit further. Someone lived here for several days.



Then there were the old-school hippies. Not extinct yet!



And this was the shade domes of the crew I met and hung out with.



These folks - six or seven people, it varied - were mostly adults like me, but further from mainstream. The structure in the middle of the domes is a hippie-trap. It is made using coloured wool, twigs, and any shiny or interesting objects that can be found. Wandering hippies get lost in it for hours. Note the sound system on the left.

I'm sure there is evidence of misbehaviour in this picture. How can I put this... I had brought a stash box, a small piece of tupperware, the contents of which would have kept Hunter S Thompson amused for maybe 36 hours. This crew had brought a stash box, a footlocker big enough for two people to use as a chair (not that anyone did, that would have blocked access) that would have had Hunter S Thompson asking them to slow down so he could take notes. Nothing that went up the nose or in a vein, but apart from that ... pretty much everything.

[ZenGum]

It was pretty warm - 30 to 35 each day - so swimming was necessary.

In Far North Queensland (or FNQ, pronounced Effen' Queue) there are crocs in most waters, but this far inland, almost certainly only freshwater crocs, and they're small(ish) and timid and are not considered dangerous.

Just in case, my neighbours set up this tribal mermaid goddess to warn them off.



And the day before the eclipse, I got attacked by a wild animal!!!

Possibly NSFW, so look here.

Dammit, get the tweezers. At least it was only on my belly this time.

That genie must have been hard of hearing. I'm pretty sure I said CHICK magnet.

Meanwhile, where I had chosen a small gathering of maybe 300, George TheCow was off at a large (10,000 peeps) rave/doof festival nearby, helping DJ a few sets, then getting funky on the dance floor.

[xoxoxoBruce]

a r-l-r-l-r "thank you very much".

Here they flash all their rear lights off and on... I had a button in my van to do that without affecting the headlights.

Large or small, methinks I'd rather avoid crocks.

[Sundae]

I love the fact that crocs in Oz are one of the few animals you don't have to worry about. Freshwater ones at least.

Crazy hippy people.
Glad you avoided the trap.

[infinite monkey]

Is that you holding that green hippo, Zen?

[glatt]

[infinite monkey]

Well, no one has ever seen Zen, have they?

In my mind he has as James Franco thing going on. But who knows?

[glatt]

The mullet/mohawk combo with the extensive tattoos on the arm we not what I pictured.

I also kind of pictured James Franco.