The Real Mars

I've just finished reading one of my favourite science fiction series again - the "Mars" trilogy. Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars are each pretty thick novels by Kim Stanley Robinson that track the establishment and early history of the permanent settlement of Mars. Written very much as "future history", by the time you have read through the 3,000 pages or so, you do reach a point where it is almost a surprise to discover that in the "real" world, no-one has actually been there. The books are a great journey. With the limited free time I have these days, it took me almost three months to read through them, but upon reflection this is probably the fastest I have ever read through the three. Previously, I have completed one book and don't get back to the second for a year or so... reading them back to back like this has revealed all sorts of sub-plots and subtleties I would have otherwise missed, and the series comes out of that sort of review looking all the better.

I like science fiction - particularly at the science end of the spectrum, as distinct from fantasy. Few things annoy me more in a novel than when the chips are down and everyone is desparate and the hero discovers a passage that magically relocates them to a far safer place on the other side of the world. Especially when their enemies don't, or can't, follow them, and they all live happily ever after. What rubbish. I regard such plot lines as weaknesses on the part of the author, who obviously created a world in their novel that they couldn't themselves control, so they broke their own rules.

Clearly I like a world that has physical constraints. Reason and order are very important - I need to be able to understand what I am dealing with in life. Which might make you wonder why I have any interest in religion - but that assumes religion lacks reason. To me, blind faith is almost as bad as no faith. My annoyance frequently bubbles over at the car sticker that says "God said it, I believe it, that settles it". I worry that this is the panacea some prescribe whenever anyone asks them anything remotely challenging about God. My God is beyond imagination, but not beyond contemplation. It is richly rewarding on all levels to wrestle with the "why's" of faith. My personal experience with Him - like a good science fiction novel - is complex and remarkable but not irrational.

Forecast: dry and disastrous

It's been a strange week because it has been quite wet and cold in Melbourne, and yet several of my colleagues and I have been involved in ramping up to launch a drought appeal. But, when it came to putting up my usual weekly statistics on Lake Eildon yesterday, the figures were a stark reminder. The little bit of rain that has fallen this week has made virtually no difference. The forecast for the time ahead is still dry - and disastrous. The numbers are bad enough - Lake Eildon will certainly drop below its all time record low some time early in 2007, and could even get to the point of running out of deliverable water by Autumn. At this point, it's just stats, but this is people's lives - and there are people losing everything financially, and wondering what the point of continuing on the land really is, and in some cases wondering what the point of continuing at all is. It's serious stuff.

As a part of my "day job", I have got involved with the organisation of a fund raising appeal to assist those farmers and others who are suffering as a result of the drought in Victoria. The fund is being organised by the organisation I work for - Baptist Union of Victoria and its community ministries arm - Baptcare. Donations to the fund are both tax deductible and being matched dollar for dollar by Baptcare for the first $55,000. Funds will be distributed via the 20 Baptist churches in country Victoria on a needs basis (but recipients do not need to be a part of the churches). Initial grants of $30,000 have been made to the appeal, and I am also making representations to various corporate and not-for-profit organisations to also chip in. We hope to raise $300,000 in the next few weeks for distribution early in the new year.

If you would like to know more about the appeal, please have a look at www.buv.com.au and follow the links. Donations can be made to Baptcare via cheque, credit card, over the phone or online through their web site - www.baptcare.org.au. Full details are available online. We would hope it is a small thing that would just recognise that we care about those who are suffering both financially and mentally as a consequence of the drought. Thanks!

The Longest Day

As mentioned last month (see “The Driver”), a TKD – or Thousand Kilometre Day – is my ultimate statistic in terms of driving the car. To date, 93 times I have driven at least 1,000 kilometres in a day. Almost always I have been the sole driver for these, although more than half the time I have had at least one passenger – generally my wife and/or kids. Similarly, most of these long days are contained within a fairly normal day, admittedly with an early start (pre-sunrise) and/or driving on into the night at the other end. But the longest drive of all broke most of these rules.

Without going into the complexities of how I found myself doing so, four friends joined me in Melbourne to undertake a drive up the west coast of Australia and home via the Centre in August/September 2002. The five of us had never travelled together before, so there was an element of social experiment about it as well as holiday! My Jackaroo 4WD was our chosen vehicle and we towed a large trailer full of camping gear.

We left the southern suburbs of Melbourne as soon as we could get out of our work commitments, around 4:15pm, and headed west. I drove us as far as Ararat, where we changed drivers, and went on to Bordertown. Another driver change, and on again to Tailem Bend in South Australia. I took over again here as I was keen to pilot us across the Lofty Ranges and Adelaide, and we crossed the suburban area in 35 minutes from 12:05am to 12:40am, encountering very little traffic. Another driver change at Port Wakefield and we headed on to Port Augusta where we were supposed to have a shower, breakfast and refresh ourselves for the day ahead.

Surprisingly, we arrived there almost 2 hours ahead of schedule at around 4:30am. We refuelled, took a break for a bit, but then decided to head on and have breakfast somewhere further along. We eventually did stop at Wudinna – far out on the Eyre Peninsula, with the sun rising in the sky. By the time we got to Ceduna at 10:30am, everyone had driven at least one leg, although we were driving shorter stints each and stopping more regularly at this stage. No matter – we were still well ahead of schedule.

We continued across the Nullarbor, pulling in at most of the cliff-top lookouts as we headed west. Finally, we crossed the border into Western Australia, passing through the quarantine check, and arrived at Eucla at around 4:00pm. We had done enough! We checked in, freshened up and then drove down to the old Telegraph Station, now inundated by the shifting sands of the ocean beach, and watched the sunset. We had driven 2,008 km for the “day”, and we celebrated the longest driving day any of us had ever been involved with.