Bad memories...

I was recently on a bus that showed a video of the Gilmore Girls, something that for sanity's sake I had purged from my memory. Even dubbed into Spanish it made a little vomit leak from my nose.

Let us rejoice

I am patriotic about Australia, but in a way I hope is not blind. For example, I believe I have never been to a country that would be better to grow up in, but on the other hand think our history education should include less about cricketing greatness and perhaps a tad more about how many massacres of aborigines there were (since I am also in favour of dumping trigonometry in favour of first aid I doubt my revisions to the curriculum will be entertained).

Despite the patriotism I am rarely proud to be an Australian while overseas, and when in large groups of my countrymen have sometimes pretended to be English, or mute. The second is harder for me.

Yet I have recently been very proud of Australia, and while not overtly political, proud of its government. For Australia as a nation has taken Japan to court over its whaling. This is a vote winning move to be sure, but ignores certain economic sensibilities. It also may inflame Japanese nationalism (ever made a joke to Canadians about clubbing baby seals? They don't laugh, and you quickly learn just how uncomfortable an ice hockey stick can be) and may make the Japanese even keener to carry on with their sham 'scientific research'. But it is a statement, and sometimes great things begin just because ground is stood and somebody says, simply, "No more".

One of the reasons Japanese whaling pisses me off so much is the sham behind it - them claiming it is for research is a blatant sidestep of the laws in place, and also an insult. By making the claim, they are saying that they think we are idiots enough to believe their flagrant mistruth.And let's not forget it is not just our feelings they hurt. Whales have as many nerve endings as we do, so share the same physical sensitivity that we have. Emotional sensitivity is something never measured, but probably more important. Whales have social bonds, feel grief, speak, play, and love. Killing one by an exploding harpoon is not quick, not merciful, and never justified.

It is a rare thing to be happy when lawyers are called in, but Australians all, let us rejoice.

Bolivia

This country has amazed me and terrified me more than I think any other nation has done. It ranges from high Andean mountains to swampy Amazonian basin, all criss crossed by roads that the sane would never consider driving on.

To avoid them at one point I even boarded a raft made of those notable shipbuilding materials tire tubes and twine, and floated for five days down the River Beni into Rurrenebaque.

Tomorrow I start making my way to Peru, and can't wait to see what that country holds in store.

Sweeny Todd of La Paz

I just had the cheapest haircut of my life (about $1.15). It shows.

Five days afloat

Australia is going gaga at the moment (and rightly so) for a teen girl named Jessica Watson. She is not a singer, or soap star, but has just become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The venture may have ended disastrously, and it may be a bona fide miracle that it didn´t, but I for one admire her for pursuing it more than for completing it.

The last five days have been spent by me bobbing down a series of rivers in the Amazon basin on some crudely lashed together tire tubes, and while it too had its dangers it seems piddling compared to her seven month effort.

Occasionally I am accused of bravery, but always want to point out that for some people it is harder not to look around the next corner, over the next mountain, or beyond the next wave. Good for you Jessica!