Great paddling today - calm in the morning and then the Nor-Easter got up as I was coming into Ulladulla. It was a short day’s paddling because I was on a mission to get some sign-writing done on the kayak. All the sign-writers in town were busy or on holiday and it was becoming a very frustrating afternoon until I went into a newsagent and met Toni and Roxanne who recognised me from the Telly and the article in the South Coast Register. They made a big fuss and then put me on to their friend Mick Murphy. Mick had been mowing lawns all day in the sun, but had it in him to help me out - what a legend. Mr Murphy is one of those blokes who looks a bit rough but has a great sense of humour, a heart as big as a house, and a happy family to prove it. So now the kayak has the basics on it, and if I run into an artist further down the coast, there’s room for that too.
Mick gives up his afternoon for the trees.
Speaking of looking rough, I also met up with Mike Snoad and his mate John, two "old men of the sea" Not that old really, but with the most incredible amount of kayaking experience. Mike has crossed Bass Strait 3 times, and John has white-water kayaked down just about everything, including rivers in the Himalayas and Tasmania. I’ll be joining them tomorrow for the trip down to Bateman’s, and they are heading on to Malacoota as well. They’re passionate about preserving Tassie too, of course.
And on the subject of the pulp mill - please check out the link below: Julian Green the Chair of the RPDC resigned because the Pulp Mill Task Force was undermining the objectivity of the assessment process. The other RPDC member who resigned, Dr Warwick Raverty, has come out publicly saying that Gunns couldn’t put the Pulp mill anywhere worse than their current proposal. Well Hello! http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21031083-3462,00.html
You might also recall that I was wondering who has replaced Julian Green. Here’s the answer: http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=379174. Donations to the Round Table are really needed to provide an independent and objective solution to all this.
To end on two very positive notes, many thanks to Chris and Lynda Dean, founders of the incredibly successful (and sustainable) TP Health, for their generous donation today, and congratulations to the Federal Government for announcing $3million in grants for eco-tourism projects in Tasmania. They must be reading this blog ...