Queensland - Where are you going?

Following on from the Daylight Saving Time debate, the Labor MP for Cairns in North Queensland, Desley Boyle, has suggested this week that, if the southern part of Queensland adopts DST, then they might as well separate the state in two and bring into reality a (supposedly) much desired new state of North Queensland, with its capital at Cairns.  As I've been following the Queensland news this month (a welcome respite from Icelandic volcanoes), I've been very aware of the 'second capital' debate, with Townsville being touted as a suggested second capital for the state of Queensland.  It's been suggested that a new state in Northern Queensland should have its capital at Townsville.  Some people have even suggested a capital at Cloncurry, wherever the gunya that is!

The separation debate is by no means a new one.  Even before the Australian states federated in 1901, the Central Queensland Territorial Separation League had been founded, based in Rockhampton, again with the intention of separating from the southern part of Queensland, namely Brisbane.  The book I'm reading right now, A Kindness Cup by Thea Astley deals with members of this league and it was a movement that was revived again in the 1950's. 

From an outsider's perspective, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about.  It sounds as though there are some regional economic issues that need to be sorted out and perhaps more funding for local government.  In Europe, we're trying to federate nations that are historically diverse and were generally murdering each other a mere sixty years ago.  The idea of breaking any of the Australian states into smaller segments doesn't seem economically viable.  I'm sure there is a good deal of political career making involved (as always).  Still, the mayor of Townsville, Les Tyrell, thinks it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when'. 

On a completely different subject, I've also been reading about famous Queenslanders and I want to grab this precious hour of blogging to highlight one woman whose life I've found really inspiring.  The name she is best known by is her native one, Oodgeroo Noonuccal and she was a poet, political activist and campaigner for the rights of indigenous Australians.  She was born on Straddie (that's Stradbrook Island to the unfamiliar!) in 1920 and led an amazing life that involved working for the Australian Women's Army service in WW2, joining the Communist Party and being awarded an MBE for her services to the indigenous community.

She was also the first published poet from an indigenous Australian background, publishing a book of poetry called We are going in 1964.  The main poem in this collection, with the same title, is quite poignant and describes White Australia, as seen through the eyes of a 'semi-naked band' who have come back to their old bora ground (used in tribal initiation ceremonies) 'where now the many white men hurry about like ants'.  She returned her MBE in protest at the Australian Bicentenary celebrations, pointing out that the arrival of Europeans hadn't exactly benefitted Australia's indigenous populations.  I can't think of a better reason for accepting an MBE than being able to hand it back some day in protest :-)

I'm going to leave you with a short poem by Oodgeroo called Understand Old One that captures the conflicting worlds of outback Australia and the roaring cities of the Europeans. 

Understand Old One by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

What if you came back now
To our new world, the city roaring
There on the old peaceful camping place
Of your red fires along the quiet water,
How you would wonder
At towering stone gunyas high in air
Immense, incredible;
Planes in the sky over, swarms of cars
Like things frantic in flight.

Image credits

The photo is an image of the sun setting over Townsville, Queensland - taken by flickuser Douglas O'Neill, thanks Douglas for sharing this with us, using the Creative Commons License.

Iceland

After doin G (Guatemala) and H (Hong Kong), the next letter in the alphabet was I, so I chose Iceland as my next country.




I've travelled a lot around the world and lived in some amazing places like Samarkand, Paris, Moscow and Bangkok, but the excitement I feel when I think about going to Iceland goes beyond all reason.



Reading about Iceland and listening to the music and cooking the food have just made me yearn even more for the landscape and poetry of such a country. So much so, that I think I'll finally get myself organised and go there next summer. I feel a calling to go there.



Anyway, one of the most surprising things I discovered about Iceland is that it's not really a 'land'. It doesn't belong to any continental land mass but is, rather, part of the earth's crust that has been pushed to the surface. No wonder anyone I know who has been there has been amazed by the landscapes.




Independent People, probably the most important book ever written by an Icelander (Halldor Laxness) was a revelation on so many levels, and such a joy to read. I'm convinced that, had this book been written by an American or an Englishman, we would all be really familiar with the story and there would be Hollywood versions etc. Apart from learning new words like, dottle, rime, gimmer and snath (all English words, by the way), I also got an insight into an important period in Iceland's history and learned a bit about Icelandic traditions and the mentality of the people there.



One aspect of the novel's legends that really interested me was how our own Irish saint Colm Cille is a vestige of an older religion in Iceland and became an Icelandic devil or bogeyman, to scare naughty children or superstitious young girls.



The main character Bjartur is a crofter who recites poetry, buries successive wives and children and knows the old sagas off by heart. I've never read an Icelandic saga, but even the small pieces Bjartur recites are enough to make me realise the great debt Tolkien owes to this literary tradition and how we all, to some extent unknowingly, carry on this tradition by reading (and watching) the Lord of the Rings trilogy.



As well as reading Independent People, I also listened to Agaetis Byrjun by Sigur Ross. It's one of those albums I just have to listen to again and again, especially the track Staralfur, which I've shared with you below. When the drums come in like fireworks, it sounds like the end of the world and gives me a weepy apocalyptic feeling and reminds me of how beautiful our Earth is and all the things we're doing to destroy it.



Finally, I cooked two Icelandic dishes. I was lucky enough to find an amazing blog http://icecook.blogspot.com/ and as a result of this I found myself cooking Lifrarbuff, which is liver patties, and Plokkfiskur, which is fish with white sauce. I was really impressed with the Lifrarbuff, as I'm not a big fan of liver, but cooked in this way, it was really tasty. Plokkfiskur is very similar to an Irish dish my Dad used to make us as kids. I guess it's official name in English is Fish Chowder? Anyway, pictures supplied below and tune in again for the next country.




Image credits:





Icelandic flag from www.33ff.com/flags
Icelandic landscape by flickr.com user t_buchele, who is from Sweden.

Food images by me :)