DAY 72 - CEDUNA SA

CEDUNA SA

DAY 72

I’ll probably hang around in Ceduna playing King of the Kids until Tuesday.

A number of reasons exist for this.

My indecision as to which direction to head really has little to do with it, although the extra time will either help to sway one or else completely confuse me.

Firstly, the prevailing weather conditions are not conducive to anything but doing what I’m doing.

The wind is all over the place, changing in direction and strength almost by the hour and it has rained for most of today.

Wind is a big part of the gig over here in these parts, so you want to be at least half certain it is going your way.

Local storm activity isn’t helping, so it’s just as easy to stay put.

Another factor is that tomorrow is a National Holiday.

I have never understood why we are always imposed with a public holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday in June, when the actual birthday is in April.

It is surely nothing more than a typical bloody Aussie excuse for another day off and moreover a "Long Weekend" - shooting a hole in national productivity and making life even more difficult for the self-employed and other free agents such as travelling bicycle warriors.

I’m enjoying my time here staying with the Kooris regardless.

King of the Kids is what I am.

It’s not a role I shirk at all – after all, the majority of people I have connected with on this particular trip have been in the over-50’s demographic.

The kids are full of juice but it is quite refreshing. Nothing against the older and wiser set here, just a nice change of breeze.

Between Grey Nomads and the youngsters, I can hold my own quite readily and as usual, it’s the ones in the middle that concern me the most.

Some of the elders are in need of some serious review.

The only responsible adults around here have approached me for either cigarettes, money or chop-chop.

And the town hobos are simply wasting good oxygen.

I’m really not convinced of exactly what their problem is, but they are successfully detracting from Ceduna’s approachability to all-comers as well as keeping the standing of their own people entrenched in the dark ages.

And this is not racist in the least.

It just the way it is and it's not just Ceduna’s problem.

In the kids, I can see hope and freedom of spirit but unless they can get themselves out of the cycle and develop their own lives positively, their dysfunctional elders are the benchmark.

Rich white people always strive to comfort ourselves by wanting to help – whether by throwing money towards the problem or doing good in some other way.

Unfortunately, the only truth that will hold sway in these situations is that help is only ever available to those that help themselves.