Mooloola-Baja

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I decided a few months ago that any new songs I wrote would be happy. It’s too easy to be miserable.

Anyway I used to be in a band in Canberra in the early 80’s with a wonderful character we vcalled Uncle Don – we called him that because he was significantly older than us. He was a resourceful dude who built his own pedal steel guitar out of wood, scrap metal and car parts and he was a colorful addition to our already colorful country-rock band.

He comes to Qld every year to escape the Canberra winter with his wife, Jill.  Last year we were sharing a few beers and reminisces and fooling around with the chorus of a song, deciding to write one each. Here’s my paean to the wonderful Mooloolaba beach.

I had a hand from some musos all round the country – Michael Schack from Warrnambool, formerly from the Dead Livers, but still gigging around, Graeme Cameron from Melbourne, from Mike Noga and the Gentlemen of fortune, and Toni Pollard, great country, blues and swing singer, and good all round shiela.

If you like the song, tell Jimmy Buffet and ask him to record it!

Then sign up with a group of your friends or family to trek the Kokoda Track and in doing so, know that you will be helping villagers in the mountains of Papua New Guinea with employment and access to school teachers and medical supplies.

The trip will be delivered by Naoro Kokoda Treks Pty Ltd, a company established by local PNG men who live along the Track with voluntary assistance from Australians Lindy & Peter Dunn of Canberra. They have worked with the men (who have years of experience guiding and portering for other companies), who now wish to be independent and see profits go directly to their villages.

Neither of the two Naoro villages have a school teacher, although they have built beautiful bush school houses. Likewise, medical services are rudimentary and supplies extremely limited. Many of the village people, especially the children, continue to contract malaria and often supplies of medications are non existent. By trekking you can help these people and they look forward to welcoming you to their land.

Sadly, very little of the massive aid program Australia is delivering to PNG is reaching these villages.

The Treks

Two treks are offered, the first, a 10 day full Kokoda Track trek, starting either at Owers’ Corner and finishing in the town of Kokoda before flying back to Port Moresby or in reverse. The second option (still 10 days however less trekking) is a more culturally focused trek involving trekking along the Kokoda Track for 3 days from Port Moresby end, before leaving the track to trek through both Naoro villages before returning on a slightly easier path to the start.

Both trips allow an opportunity to experience the war time track and learn the history of the area as well as gain an understanding of the culture of PNG. The second allows more time for village stays.

Costs

Cost ex Port Moresby is $3,300 (2nd option $3000 as there is no need for an internal flight). In 2010, departure dates between June and October, can be arranged to suit your group.

So take your fitness to a new level – or start training now to ensure you are ready to enjoy this awesome experience. You will be offered a training program when booking for the trip and can either do it by yourself or train together with your group.

Full details on the development and aims of the company, costs and inclusions of the trip can be found on the website or by emailing Lindy at lindy@NKTreks.com.au .

A powerpoint presentation can be made available for viewing at one of your group’s meetings to generate interest or Lindy can also hold briefing nights and show photos from the trek and village life should you have a group enthusiastic.

Contact Lindy directly at lindy@NKTreks.com.au or M 0407 910 603 to discuss aspects of the trek or the community development project.

Most of you probably remember Matthew as the Terry Clark character in Underbelly, but here he’s the overconfident officer up for anything on the night before three mates are due to go to Iraq with the RAN.  It’s got a really good storyline that keeps you wondering where it’s going to go. As well  it’s really funny, with some great cameo roles with people like Jackie Weaver and the late Bud Tingwell.

The attraction for me, as an ex serviceman, was that the movie transported me back to a similar time, ie, when I was about to go to Vietnam, the dialogue and events were incredibly real and the characters instantly recognisable.

It fails as an example of the recent Australian movie genre though because no one died in the dunny with a needle in their arm, there were no  minority groups pursued and beaten, and shock horror, there was no nudity.

It’s really worth looking at. Four and a half out of five stars, no probs

ROBERT McNamara, the former US defence secretary who sent 500,000 troops to Vietnam and later called American involvement in the war a “major error”, has died. He was 93.

He died in his sleep early yesterday at his home in Washington, The Washington Post reported.

After seven years in the job, McNamara became the longest- serving US defence secretary. He then spent 13 years as president of the World Bank, whose development budget he increased sixfold to fight poverty and disease.

McNamara was the only member of president John Kennedy’s cabinet to be plucked directly from the ranks of corporate America, after serving five weeks as president of Ford.

At the Pentagon, the former “whiz kid” air force officer with an affinity for numbers and details played a pivotal role in crafting military strategies that shaped America’s political scene for much of the 1960s and beyond.

He later acknowledged, in his books and interviews, that US defence policies on Vietnam and adjacent countries were probably rooted in a misunderstanding of South-East Asia’s history. Many critics of the Vietnam War still derided McNamara’s turnaround and remained sceptical of his views.

Recognisable for his slicked- back hairstyle and wire-rimmed eyeglasses, McNamara eventually became disillusioned with the Vietnam conflict, finding himself at loggerheads with the commanders of a war that killed 58,000 US soldiers and more than 3 million Vietnamese.