The Kronikles of Tony and Ruth
Day 41 - Wednesday 9 August 2006
Penultimate Day
Perhaps it is the gathering clouds and strong winds or the bad ice cube in my drink last night but I feel ratshit and have little enthusiasm for the planned viewing of Captain Cook's Artefacts exhibition at the National Museum. A good coffee and breakfast revive our spirits so we decide to go. The Museum is an example of turbo–charged, high-tech architecture in blinding acrylic colours positively coruscating in the steely sunshine. There is a hint of nausea returning. Gradually my stomach settles and I must admit these buildings are absolutely stunning. By the time we leave both Ruth and I love it.
It's interesting that the artefacts for this exhibition are on loan from the Museum of Gottingen in Germany. Why is it so? Cook's expeditions were funded by the British Government i.e. the Crown. On return to England all exotic material collected was vested in the Crown, you could say King George III. Somehow his siege (seat of power) was the region in Germany of which Gottingen was the major city. So there you have it. In a fit of madness or generosity he offered the artefacts to Gottingen, an offer that was accepted.
As absorbing as the material was one could not but think of the courage that was required to sail into the blue with crude navigation devices. Communication would have been ziltch. You could have been in more shit than a Werribee duck very fast (see Appendix 12)
At high noon we leave Canberra stopping at The Dog at 2.00PM for lunch and new windscreen wipers. The heavy traffic on the Hume Fwy forces us to seek accommodation in Wodonga, the depressing little sister of Albury. We crash at the Warrina Motor Inn. For dinner we walk to the local pub. Here we perform the rite as described in the intro – I quote ". To conform to the beef part I did have a mixed grill and Ruth had Lamb's Fry (Liver) at the Murray River Hotel (36 High St Wodonga – "Great Beer, Great Food, Great Pub")"
Having had the meal we gratefully fall into bed.
What the…..! A flashing light wakes us. It's like some one taking flash photos or a silent thunderstorm. Crashing around in the flickering light I work out that it's the infra red sensor activated passage floodlight – nothing will switch it of so I wrench the globe out of the socket - Have you heard the joke where a woman gets a divorce because her husband used to wake up during a thunderstorm screaming "I'll buy the negatives, I'll buy the negatives"
The darkness is only temporary: by some perverse coincidence a photo sensitive light next door is putting on the same performance and our room blinks away. Head under blanket, demand a discount tomorrow and pass out.
latepics |
National Museum1 |
National Museum2 |
APPENDIX 12
Werribee – site of Melbourne's sewage treatment facility. It utilises a massive lagooning system to process waste. This attracts a variety of water fowl.
