Roots Down

The big fig trees which line Oxford Street by the Memorial Park in Bulimba have these funky sleeves to protect them. Prop roots spring from the branches like scaffolding and grow downwards to support the huge weight of the tree and as a consequence they can grow over a vast area. Here's a closer view:

It reminds me of a poem by Brisbane's newly elected Greens councillor who recited it as part of an unprecedented maiden speech in council last month. A poem in council!? The rest of the councillors probably thought he was mad; a bit out-there for Brisbane! But you don't get more Brisbane than this:

Roots down
roots down
roots down
roots down
my heart's buried deep under Brisbane town
creekbeds, hilltops, riding around
cracking macadamias and putting roots down
I am of this city
its history is my history
my scraped knee and my favourite tree
and swimming lessons in the pool at Craigslea Primary
and Oxley's expedition back in 1823
and our Year 4 excursion to Saint Helena Island
and those weather-worn tennis balls that we were always finding
and the floods of 1974
and the invasion of 1788
and the park on the north side where I rode without training wheels for the first time
and the frog pond of drowning Christmas beetles
and Joh Bjelke-Pietersen
and hunting Easter eggs in the backyard
and hunting kangaroos by Breakfast Creek
and the roller coaster at the top of the Myer Centre that looked like a dragon and screamed at the madness beneath
Roots down
roots down
this town
roots down
My roots are tendrils, tentacles
reaching down below
splitting concrete and bitumen digging in
The soil is soft after summer storms
and the roots grow quickly, thickly
but Brisbane's burbs're built on clay
so once they're down they're down to stay
Roots down roots down brushtail growl hear that sound
But now and then in this circus I encounter a clown
who thinks that because he's got his roots in the ground
he somehow gains the right to define this town
and decide who else gets to put roots down
See the surface seems sufficiently serene
but if you peel back the bandaid you'll see the gangrene
And now I see you've forgotten
I see your roots are rotten
but this garden has no gardener
that's how we got to where we've gotten
The question on my mind is where we going?
This city is growing
sauropod construction cranes on every horizon
jackhammer clattering drowns out the cicadas
the relentless march of apartment towers makes suburbanites nervous
so they build higher fences
and mow their lawns weekly
Roots down, stolen ground
dead trees, river brown
I know something's awry in this city
but I can't quite put my finger on it
It's like we've outgrown the garden bed
roots in a twist
slumbering suburbs
silence those who resist
Vision blurring
but now I hear them stirring
climb Mt Cootha at midnight
see them lighting candles and switching off TVs
Flying foxes in the trees
stench of rotten mangoes
gives way to a cool south-easterly
Pumpkin vines wither and die but the passionfruit keeps growing
skyscrapers sprouting up from the bedrock
Wivenhoe overflowing
activists invade city hall and the clocktower falls silent in anticipation
Change is coming to Brisbane town
we feel it in the soil
while we cracking macadamias and putting roots down

(by Jonathan Sri)

She alright!

The sun came out and shone this morning on what was a very swollen, muddy, fast moving river. But the great thing for us in West End is that it just lapped the edges of the park - a lot less than we had been preparing for.  We saw some logs and bits of pontoons go past at speed but thankfully not all the debris and boats and household goods we saw during the flood 2 years ago...

My thoughts are with the people further north in the state, particularly Bundaberg. They've had a real battering with high speed water up to the eaves of their houses, having to be rescued by helicopter from their roofs. I don't envy them the task ahead but if the folk up north are anything like they are down south, there will be lots of support, plenty of laughter through the tears and new friends to be made along the way.

Corroboree Preparations

Continuing on with the Sovereign Embassy story... it's still there, just in a different part of Musgrave Park. They have 3 tents: one for men, one for women and a kitchen tent. The controversy seems to have died down and on Sunday there was a Corroboree to help celebrate National Sorry Day. It was a beautiful autumn day - warm in the sun but chilly in the shade. I hung out for about an hour or so but things were taking their time getting off the ground. I was especially looking forward to seeing some dancing but I had to leave before it all started. The BBQ food was all donated by the local church and elders ate first.

Stand-off at Musgrave Park

I couldn't really see much as the police had cordoned off the area with fences and blocked off the footpaths but the Sovereign Embassy in Musgrave Park this morning was not the happy peaceful place it was a couple of weeks ago when I visited. Scroll down to my May 1 post for shots of what it looks like.

Over the weekend, the residents were asked by the Mayor to vacate the site. The council has offered them another piece of land but the residents say that this is in fact their land with their sacred fire and they have no intention of leaving.

Today, over 200 police have surrounded the camp site in the north-western corner of the park. This is to make way for Panyiri this weekend which is the annual Greek festival held on the site (and the rest of Musgrave Park). Organisers of the festival have reportedly said they have no problem with the campers being there but Brisbane City Council haven't been swayed.

Brisbane's Sovereign Embassy

Brisbane's Soveriegn Embassy is an indigenous protest site set up in Musgrave Park in South Brisbane and has been open for just over a month. Read about the politics here.

Some of the coals from Canberra's sacred fire in the original Tent Embassy were carried to Brisbane to start a fire here. The residents of the camp have kept the fire burning despite prolonged rain over the past few days. 

Sovereignty of sacred land (like Musgrave Park where the camp is), an end to the disproportionally high number of black deaths in custody and a change to the intervention laws currently in place in the Northern Territory are all mentioned on the various signs around the site.

The signs are hard-hitting but the mood around seems pretty light. I've heard there is a playgroup being held there and of course there is some great art going on...

Signs around the place strictly forbid drugs and alcohol but it looks like the cups of tea are going down a treat.

Applying The Brakes

It's been a hard decision for me to make but I've decided to stop posting daily.

A big thank-you to everyone who has visited here over the years and to all your words of encouragement. Without them I would have stopped all this blogging lark ages ago.

The blog will remain active, though, and I'll post every now and then.... so feel free to swing by from time to time.

Lazy Sunday at Musgrave Park

Chilling out by the pool at Musgrave Park which always seems to be too empty.

This one's especially for my family in the freezing snow in London.

3 Hour Barking

Woof  Woof! This sign is outside the dog-walking park by the Powerhouse arts centre in New Farm. There are other interesting signs nearby there so I think it might not be all that serious.

Don't quote me on that, though.

Bald Spots

Ok last one from the Bunya Mountains till my next trip. This one was taken whilst walking on the 'Balds' which are hills with natural grassland growing all over them. The balds support a wide range of native plants and animals and are shrinking due to the encroachment of the surrounding forests.

If you want to read a bit more about the Bunya Mountains habitat there's an interesting PDF you can download here.

Prickly Pears

Well I hope you like plants because you're not getting anything else from me at the moment. I'm still all loved-up from my Bunya Mountains camping experience, frolicking in the natural world and being at one with nature and all that. These cacti are about 2 metres tall. I love the way they are lit from behind. If you look closely you can see a spider web in the bottom right of the picture providing a bit of contrast.

The Elders

Some of the largest trees in the Bunya Mountains are the Australian Red Cedar trees like the one in the middle of the picture which right now in Spring have small red leaves that turn green later on. Most obviously, though, are the Bunya pine trees - that's one on the left. From December to March the trees drop their cones which contain lots of nuts inside. The cones look like a large green pineapples and weigh about 10kgs and the trees are about 60m high. So if one of them drops on your head it'd kill you stone dead. Yes, September is a very good time to go!

Postcard From The Bunya Mountains

Bunya Mountains National Park is about 200kms north-west of Brisbane. The mountains themselves were formed 30 million years ago supposedly from the remains of a volcano. They seem to rise out of nowhere from the plains around them and peak at 1135m. Walking around the park is different at every turn. It can't seem to make up it's mind if it's rainforest, eucalypt forest or natural grassland. There are idyllic waterfalls and rockpools and you get frogs there that are found nowhere else in the world (with the biggest tadpoles you've ever seen). There are kangaroos and plenty of other native mammals as well loads of reptiles and 130 different species of birds. If you like that kind of thing, it's definite WOW territory.

Oxley Creek Common

Back in January this urban green space area, south of the city, was under several feet of brown river water. Being close to several industrial estates, there was a worry that the chemicals from there mixed in with the flood waters but it looks like they might have dodged a bullet. The plants and wildlife are slowly returning.

Spring Swan Song

One last Jacaranda post for the year. Exams are over and the blossoms are disappearing as fast as summer is approaching.

Knots and Tangles

Looking up at the amazing aerial root systems of a Moreton Bay Fig tree. This one is in New Farm Park but they are found all over Brisbane. I love them. They provide something to eat for our large fruit-bat population and fantastic shelter and shade for the human population. The canopy is huge and dense and the spreading limbs can be a mass of tangles or gnarly and twisted like the veins on an aged pair of hands.  

Here's a photo I posted of the trunk.

Here's one of the canopy

So... going back to my roots (yeah)... and I couldn't decide which one was most representative.... so here's all three. Click on a photo for an enlargement and have a great weekend. It's going to be 27 degrees and sunny here in Brisbane - perfect weather to get out and about. I'll be at work in a darkened room. Aargh! 

Walk This Way

This wooden walkway weaves its way through the huge aerial roots of Moreton Bay Fig trees in New Farm Park. You can make a secret hide-out in the circular chambers that the roots create and you can climb up them and onto the main branches of the trees. Excellent fun!

Getting some colour at New Farm Park

Laying Carpet

The beginnings of a thick mauve carpet that is about to be laid all over Brisbane thanks to October's blooming Jacaranda trees. If you are a university student here, the saying goes that if you haven't started revising for the end of the year exams by the time the Jacaranda trees are in bloom.... you're in trouble!
When I was in Crete a couple of years ago, I noticed blooming Jacarandas in late May. Do you have them where you are? If so... when do they bloom?

Here's a proper photo of a blossoming Jacaranda tree taken last year.

Bribie Island Deadwood Forest

A king tide washed across the whole of the narrow northern tip of Bribie Island in Moreton Bay last year, killing a lot of the vegetation and leaving this skeletal forest in it's wake.

About as bleak as Australia's World Cup hopes.

Happily, new vegetation is starting to spring up and as for the Socceroos.... NEXT time!

Putting a cat amongst the pigeons

Ibis birds with their guard down at the City Botanical Gardens.