I left my voice in San Francisco

girls dressed out for day one

Jenny having a pee next to the bus

There is almost too much to say about my adventure in San Francisco. I can try to hit some highlights for each day of the festival. One thing I do know, I would love to go every year!

Thursday - the gang arrives from Canada. My daughter arrives several hours before, and we spend an hour trying to locate one another via paging the white phone. After that we hung out, picked up the car rental, had some supper and then met the plane with the others on it. After scooping the luggage, we were off. We got turned around once on Van Ness, but easily found our hotel after that. Driving on the other side of the road and car again was interesting. Just a few errors and then constantly turning on the wipers to signal a turn. We made it to the hotel and quickly noted there was a Walgreens, a gas station, and a liquor store across the street, handy! We loaded up for a few days and had some drinks at the hotel room before heading to bed. I was pretty jetlagged, so was ready for bed easy enough.
Friday - lets get up and go to IHOP just down the street. I was in ecstasy. I had a double order of bacon, and stuffed french toast. Divine indeed and very reasonably priced. From there we went downtown in search of Old Navy. Of course, it wasn't without incident. In trying to get in the right lane in the right direction to get to the parking lot, I made a u-turn. There was so many one way streets and no turn intersections, you could drive for blocks just to turn around. I drove the car like it was my Rav 4, and I was in Australia where the curbs are built to be driven on. Not 9 inches of marble topped concrete with a straight edge. I nearly ripped the bumper off, but finally got off the curb, then popped the tire when it hit the curb. Flat as a pancake on Market Street in the Mission District of San Francisco - so busy. I pulled over behind a Brinks truck as traffic was already diverting around it, and set to changing the tire. A nice janitor man from the mall plaza beside me came to offer help and initially I declined then said, what the hell, I was wearing a dress and wanted to move on quickly. So we did it together. I then limped off on the biscuit and parked. Did some power shopping in Old Navy and then we headed back to the room to prepare for the concert. We drank a few beers while getting ready and packed a road pop and grabbed the bus that was to take us right to the park. Then a tour bus ran out of gas at the onramp to the hwy. Damn. So we were blocked for nearly an hour. Drank most of the road pop. Two of my friends went outside the bus to pee in the meridian. Another went out after that but got left behind when the bus pulled away! We didn't see her again until midnight when we all returned to the hotel room.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Neil was rockin' it!

     We got to the park finally, and stood in line for a shuttle to the box office as I had will-call tickets. While waiting a bunch of hippy girls ran up with some vodka shooters and handfuls of some green. Yeah, they did. Thank-you. And then we were off. Once in the venue, my daughter went off in search of Die Antword, my friends went for wines at wineland, and I went for the portapotty. I did not partake in the roadside pee session. We regrouped again after Die Antword and headed over to the Foo Fighters and waited near the vendors for the lost friend, but saw no sign of her. We then moved up into the crowd, and we lost one of our friends, then another so was left with just my daughter and I which was fine. We ran into those two again at the front of Neil Young & Crazy Horse. They were amazing!!! Rocked it down. We all got separated after the show and had to find our way home. We took the long way, not being oriented to the park. We finally got a bus to a corner where we could get one right to the hotel, but then we flagged a cab and took at $11 ride home. Moments after we arrived, the other three turned up. Two together and the lost third one was on the same bus, unbeknownst to either. So within 5 minutes, we 5 five all came home safe and sound. More drinks and munchies at the hotel before heading to bed. I think I was up until 3am, wired for sound.

looking down Haight Street

looking up Haight Street

Saturday - Up and at it again, we planned to hit IHOP for breakfast again. I was up early, and eyes so friggin sore since I left Sydney, so went to get some antibiotic eye drops at Walgreens and they said I couldn't get them without a prescription. Unlike Canada or Australia that sell it over the counter. So then I was off to the walk-in clinic down the street. $162 later...I had a case of conjunctivitis. Gross. Once back at the hotel got the rest of the crowd moving so we could hit Haight-Ashbury district for some shopping after IHOP. The Haight was awesome with so many great things to spend money on. We then made a plan to walk into the show through the park from there. Lost Three of them again, and saw them after Metallica. My daughter and I managed to squeeze in Regina Spektor, City & Color, Big Boi, Norah Jones, and Metallica. Metallica rocked. I mean seriously rocked. I had never seen them before, and didn't really listen much to their music but omfg they put on an amazing show. We five then managed to regroup by the Heinekin Dome and grabbed a limo home for $40. It was a sweet limo too, and Angela gave birth to a SF hat. It fell out of her skirt when she climbed out of the limo. More drinking and snacking at the hotel room before settling in once again to do it all over again on Sunday.

right on the corner of Haight-Ashbury

Sunday - up at and it again but this time we skipped IHOP and went to the Haight to get some breakfast/lunch and do some shopping before picnicking in the park for an hour or so before the show. We headed to hippy hill and had ourselves a grand picnic in the sun while sprawled on the green grass. We met tons of very interesting people, saw some musicians making music, and so many people dressed in very interesting outfits.
     From the picnic we made our way to the park, but two of the crew began to feel kind of funky and didn't want to continue on to the festival, so my daughter and I left them behind to return to the hotel room and we went to more shows! We saw Mimosa, Stevie Wonder, Jack White, and my daughter went off to Skrillex on her own. We headed back to the hotel room in a private car for $30 and found the others came home and ate for 5 hours while we were at the festival! Munchie fever for sure. We had some beers and settled in for bed early as we needed to vacate the next morning and 4 of them flew home to Canada.

Impressions: the vibe in San Francisco was wonderful, no matter where I was, even in the Mission district. People were helpful, polite, and easy to be around. I did feel safe most of the time, especially at our hotel. My stay at the hostel for two nights after everyone went home was pretty good. The hostel was great, no problems and great location, but a whole lotta homeless people in the area, as that is it's nature. I'm not afraid of all homeless people, but some are serious drug addicts and I can't always tell the difference in the dark when so many push a shopping cart, are layered up, and hovering under tarps. I helped when I could, a bottle of water here, a light for their smoke there, or food I could pass along.
     Golden Gate Park was fantastic. I love that park, and got to explore most of it, either by foot, by limo, shuttle or bus, and at one point, a bicycle cart with my daughter. It sure beat climbing that hill for the gate. I walked more this past week than I have in years. Golden Gate Park is so beautiful, but it is also very large, bigger even than New York's Central Park. With the festival happening in the park, there were people everywhere, and we met so many interesting people along the way. The weather was perfect, blue skies throughout the day and then the fog would roll in just as you need some cooling down in the crowd. I didn't get to see much of Golden Gate Bridge, but I'm okay with that. I walked the streets of some pretty awesome neighborhoods.

Norah Jones

     Alcohol was super cheap, as we knew it would be. $20 for 60litres of vodka...yeah. We bought two of those bad boys for the weekend. A dozen Coor's Light - $10. Yeah, I can handle that. In Australia it is at least $40 for 24, and you cannot buy a dozen pack. So that was nice. My liver wasn't so sure. We drank along the journey to the festival grounds each day, mostly on the bus and in the park. When we were shopping we were focused. I managed some clothes at Old Navy after fixing the flat tire, but my favorites came from the Haight and the festival vendors. I bought some amazing tie dye from a local shop that made them himself. T-shirts all around and a little dress for some friends' little one. I brought home so many souvenirs, some for myself, bunches for my friends, everyone was happy. I did leave some things in a store in Los Angeles, but nothing irreplaceable.
     I fell down. Yeah, big surprise. I was walking with my daughter and we were heading down the last hill before the gate, which was at the bottom of the hill. My toe hooked a tree root and DOWN I WENT. Flat on my face in the dirt that scattered around me. My daughter was genuinely concerned, as she stifled giggles behind her hands. I was afraid they wouldn't let me in because they thought I was too drunk, so I scrambled up right away, dusted myself off and took off to the gate to have my ticket scanned, and my bag checked, so we could get to the right stage in time. When I reached the gate, both the ticket scanner and the bag checker told me they saw my spectacular spill and asked me if I was okay. Aside from a scrape on my arm, and a dusty outfit, I was fine, surprisingly. Thought I'd have broken something for sure, I hit the dirt so hard. Guess the elevated alcohol content helped me bounce.
     At least I came home with all of my clothes each time. Some of the ladies did not. My friend A. left her underpants behind somewhere that she squatted. I don't blame her. She had taken to peeing on the fields with her dress fluffed around her, so you couldn't tell. It was hilarious. Yeah, we'll go with that.
     The food was amazing, particularly at the IHOP. I can even tell you how much I enjoyed the bacon. I ordered double orders each time, heh heh. Now I don't think I can eat the Aussie bacon again. Which is not a bad thing. The fried Macaroni and Cheese at the festival vendors was awesome, as were the Churros while we waited for Jack White to begin. The festival was crowded and busy, but there was always enough space to step out of the flow of traffic and watch it all go by. It was kind of like being in the big current of turtles in Finding Nemo, if you step out, things are real slow,  but otherwise you can be swept along. That's how we lost our friends a couple of times, they disappeared into the crowd and I couldn't move through the people fast enough to catch them. There was also quite a selection of beers and wines. I had a few of the beers, mostly the H. There were tons of great vendors too, so lots to browse between shows.

me and my tie died skirt in the tunnel entrance at GGP

     We all enjoyed ourselves so much we want to do it again next year, possibly make it an annual thing. Much will depend on the lineup, but if we come, we want to come the weekend before so we can spend some time just hanging out without rushing off for the next show. Sometimes we just wanted to sit in the park and enjoy the awesome summer weather. I stayed two nights past the others, which I enjoyed, but we'd all like to hang out before the festival, so that works too. The one downside is that the jet lag kicked my ass this weekend when I returned. I had no problem with it when I arrived in San Francisco, but when I came home to Alice Springs, I was beat to a snot for days, still beat now, and sore as shit. All that walking, climbing, carrying a heavy backpack here and there, uphill, downhill, lift this, climb over this, put this over there, etc was hard on the body I guess. I've been moving pretty slow this week which is unusual for me, as I am usually accused of walking like I'm on a mission.

this was at a train stop in Burlingame

     I had a fabulous time with my daughter. We were together most of the weekend, and talked and talked, and enjoyed the music together. She has grown into a lovely young woman, and we just have a great time together. Who knew when she was 14 and mouthing off, crashing through puberty, that we would be standing side by side at a Metallica concert someday. Or a Big Boi one for that matter. We took tons of photos between us, and shared so many laughs. My friends were happy to finally meet her and go on a grand adventure with her and I. And what an adventure it was. Until next time San Francisco!
   

stupid flat tire

drummers in GG Park

the big red gate entrance

my hostel

Minna Street

Suffering Through Winter in Central Australia

It's been rough here this winter in central Australia...real rough to take. With temperatures like this at 4:45pm in the afternoon, I can definitely handle the winters here compared to winters in Canada. We're two and a half months into winter here in Alice Springs and I've yet to shovel any snow. Now the nights do get somewhat chilly and I've had to close my inside door to keep the cold out, and actually put a sweater on. I even have a comforter on the bed this time of year, compared to the sheet for most of the year. I even had to buy a heater for the chillier nights when the temperatures have dropped below zero. Again, nothing compared to the -45C nights in Yellownife, but -3C is still cold enough to warrant some intervention, particularly when the houses here are not insulated, the windows are single paned, and they are drafty as an old barn on the prairies. I have even worn socks at night on occasion as the tiled floors can be like ice. Of course the socks never make it into bed, as my feet turn into furnace feed by the time I crawl in.

a collection of empty wine casks aka goon bags from the riverbed

another collection of bags, bottles, and boxes

more campers in the riverbed

a child camping in the riverbed

one of the many drinking sites at the riverbed

Who really suffers here though are the many Aboriginal people who are homeless in Alice Springs. Most of them may have a house someplace else either in a remote community in the NT or they are from out of state. However, when they come to Alice Springs and the homes of their relatives are either full, or they are not welcome because they want to drink, they are often found sleeping in the riverbed. We see campfires every night during the winter, and people curled up next to them. This weekend we have taken two children to safe houses, one each night, both 9 years old because their parents came to town to drink, and so they were sleeping in the riverbed. The first girl watched her parents dragged off to jail but no one thought to ask her parents if they had any children with them, so she wandered the riverbed, alone and afraid for hours until one of the NGO's who patrol the streets and riverbed came across her. And now tonight, a young boy has become separated from his parents who are drinking somewhere or possibly in jail as well, and has been sleeping alone for the past couple of nights, anywhere he can find. I cannot imagine sleeping in the riverbed with just the clothes on my back, and probably not near any warming fire. I feel for these children, and am thankful we are able to find them a warm bed in a safe house for the night, with blankets to curl up under without worrying about the next drunken person who might come along and bother them.

Bush Trip to Yuendumu

lawnmower has been retired

 On our way to Nyrripi and Yuendumu, we took a side road to Mount Wedge Outstation. It's pretty much deserted now and left to ruin, but the small house on the property was actually in pretty good shape. The big house was completely trashed and taken over by wildlife by the amount of kangaroo poo, and the dead goanna in the bathtub. All the outbuildings are in good shape though, but most of the solar panels are broken or stolen. These cool paintings were painted directly onto the walls.

kitchen at small house

the dunny

water tower

former garden

kitchen at the big house

dead goanna in the tub

old tractor

gov accommodation at Yuendumu

Unrest in Central Australia

Yuendumu

     If you live anywhere but Australia, you likely have not heard about what has been going on here in central Australia for the past couple of years. I recall reading about it before I came only because I was interested in all things Australia and wanted to know what it was all about. If you live in Australia though, you would have heard plenty, particularly if you have been living in the Northern Territory. A couple of years ago there was a death in one of the remote communities I travel to often. You can read more about that here, or watch a short news video here. As well, any Google search of the community will turn up various and assorted video, news, and blog stories about the ongoing unrest. This death sparked ongoing violence and rioting both in the community and here in Alice Springs allegedly because traditional payback was not doled out as expected.

These weapons were seized by police

     This week in Alice Springs there was a preliminary inquiry dealing with a violent incident that happened in one of the town camps here, related again back to the issues in Yuendumu. As it happens, one of the people implicated in the violence is a well known footy star, Liam Jarra who is from Yuendumu. The press has been camped out outside the courthouse just half a block from my office all week, and there has been hundreds of people in town to testify, watch, and show support for either side. It was deemed at the end of the inquiry today that Liam must stand trial for his role in the recent incident in the town camp. There was quite a brawl outside the courthouse earlier this week it appears, and you can watch some of that here.

this bus was burned last week in Yuendumu

     This violence has gotten so bad they've brought in extra police to the remote community when things ramp up. There are two sides, and they have been fighting for more than 2 years now. No one is immune, children, elders, pregnant women, all are fair game when the rioting starts. In the community, the schools lock the children in behind barbed wire fences to keep them from being enticed into the rioting. Many families left when it was really bad and moved to Adelaide in South Australia for many months. Some of those families came back, some didn't. One of my youth clients refuses to live there because she feels afraid. We are often told we cannot travel there on a given day or week because of the ongoing violence and the police cannot guarantee our safety. It is the largest remote community in our jurisdiction, and so most workers have at least one case there or several.
     Many people feel the violence can end when both sides agree to have a tribal council to finally settle the matter, but until they agree, the violence is likely to continue. In traditional times, payback would be doled out immediately and the wrong forgiven I'm told. Now payback seems to go on forever. I don't know when this will end, I don't know if anyone knows.

people in Yuendumu riots

     For folks like me living here in Alice Springs, it does create a great sense of unease. There are several hundred extra people staying in town this week for the inquiry, meaning the town camps are full, the hostels are full, and there are people everywhere, spoiling for a fight. I crossed the pedway across the dry riverbank earlier this week with a large group of men on each end. I wasn't sure what was up, but I could feel the tension. I hurried home and locked my doors behind me. There are police officers stationed outside the courthouse all day trying to keep the peace. There are more stationed at all of the bottle shops in addition to the usual security guards (bottle shops are liquor stores). There are police patrolling the town camps. We were warned today not to go to one of the town camps because of an outbreak of violence last night. With the inquiry wrapped up today, there is likely to be a lot of drinking and fighting going on. I'll be in my house, with my doors locked. I know the police are trying their best to keep everyone safe, but there are only so many of them to go around. I do not envy them their job.
     And tomorrow morning, I head out with my team for an overnight bush trip to Nyrripi and Yuendumu. We are lodging at a house in Yuendumu that is next door to the police station, both fenced off and secure, and I'll have two police officers from my team to keep me company. I hope that nothing ramps up tomorrow night in Yuendumu, but I really don't know for sure what will happen. All I can say is I am apprehensive but hopeful. While DCF and police have not been at the centre of the unrest in Yuendumu, sometimes one can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wish me luck. I think I'll need it.