IMPORTANT: The following journal is intended for the use and viewing of approved persons only and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious beliefs. Any dissemination, distribution or copying of this work is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word ‘absquatulation’ has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the creation of this journal and a minimum of Microsoft software was used. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards.

Year View| Summary| Highlights| Month View| Saturday 19 November 2005 (Day View) – I go to Newcastle, see Dale & Ragnhild, and attend a doof.

Tue 15 Nov | Wed 16 Nov | Thu 17 Nov | Fri 18 Nov |   Sat 19 Nov   Sun 20 Nov | Mon 21 Nov | Tue 22 Nov | Wed 23 Nov |

19.11.2005 – Saturday 19 November – Newcastle & A Birthday Doof

8:30am

• My alarm wakes me, and I head off to the city after some cuddling and a shower.

11:15am

• I catch the Newcastle train from Central, on my way to a rave party. The journey is quite scenic in spots, travelling through secluded mountainous bays and a few tunnels, one of which was quite long. It is a little expensive though, at seventeen dollars.

1:46pm

• I detrain at Broadmeadow and meet Dale, who gives me a short guided tour of Newcastle before going to his place and then onto Karuah where Ragnhild is working. Five litre V8s are good on hills.

4pm

• Dale goes to work, leaving me to wander around Karuah until Ragnhild leaves for the party. There is a scenic river, a park, and a handful of shops struggling to come to terms with the fact that what used to be the highway is now several miles away, bypassing the town.

4:30pm

• Four girls, who had been playing in a park where I was sitting, rode their bikes down a fenced circular path past me. One of them was unable to make the corner and hit the fence, landing sitting in the fence, as if posed—something she, in her shock, then did before collapsing onto the concrete while the other three laughed uncontrollably, unable to help. It had to be seen to be believed—she went from riding far too fast around a tight bend, to sitting demurely poised, stationary in a fence, in an instant; it’s a wonder nothing was broken at the speed she stopped.

Evening

• I hid from a sudden thunderstorm under a bridge, watching small boats fighting the storm, had chips for dinner, and then drove to the rave with Ragnhild. The party was held in quite an interesting place, on a large farm, owned by a professional inventor. It was the ideal place for it really, with a large circular hall filled with lights, lasers, and more smoke than air; and outside large gumtrees, icy-cold fresh air, open paddocks, a large swimming pool, and small river. Littered around the place were various unusual things—prototype perpetual motion machines, scarily powerful super-magnets, frictionless magnetic bearings and drive-trains, Australia’s best preserved Cobb & Co Coach, still with its original straw mailbag, a monster truck able to knock non-trivial trees right over, and a lot of people doing a lot of strange things in a lot of cars. The hot seat of a Cobb & Co Coach (or whatever it is called), is an awful lot smaller and higher than one might think—travelling fast in one of those things would be seriously scary.

Night

• I spent most of the night talking to Ragnhild and the blokes doing the front gate, wandering from the cold bar area to the fire at the front gate to the bonfire near the pool, keeping warm and avoiding the increasingly insane dance floor and car park. Surprisingly, many of the younger people flaked out around two o’clock, with a lot departing, leaving the older—and far more interesting—hardcore ravers to continue all night.