Green or brown Australia!

It was obvious, even coming in to land at Adelaide, that quite a lot of South Australia is brown rather than green at the moment.  They’ve had a hot, hot summer:  and part of the problem is that the main river, the Murray, is over-used further upstream for irrigation and so is nearly drying up by the time it gets to the sea.

Water shortage, my host Christine thinks, is the next big crisis here.  If you ever doubted the reality of climate change, compare pictures of South Australia twenty years ago with how it is now.  It’s amazing that they manage to grow so many grapes and make so much wine!  But my host does a lot of water conservation, including having buckets in the shower – you fill these with the cold water whilst the warm is coming through (assuming that you don’t want to step straight into a cold shower!), and then it goes on the garden.  They have a water tank to keep any rainwater, and sometimes they use it as the main water supply, with just a small filter tap for drinking water.  And there may be more things I’ve not discovered yet.

I’ve certainly become more aware of the need to save water, in the few days I’ve been here.  Back at home, where we have the huge reservoir at Kielder, there seems little point in taking fastidious measures to save tiny bits of something we have in plenty, even in the dry times of the present decade.  But out here…and worldwide?  I suspect that fresh water will be a big issue as climate change bites more and more. 

Yet I don’t see any solar desalination here, or indeed hear of it anywhere much.  These systems are basically a sheet of glass set at an angle to catch the sun, with a shallow lake of sea water behind and a run-off channel for condensed water next to the base of the glass.  The sun heats and evaporates the sea water, and it condenses on the glass and trickles down into the channel.  Energy required once built:  zero!  Just keep filling the sea water pans and collecting the fresh.  This, on a large scale, could be a major help – couldn’t it?

Meanwhile, there are advantages to being in an area where wine is plentiful even if water isn’t!

Belinda on ice!

The problem with having cycling as your main method of taking exercise is that it's not easy in winter. So when, a fortnight ago, Monday dawned bright and sunny, and the roads were clear of snow, I saw it as an opportunity both to be green and go shopping on Belinda, my trusty bicycle, and to take some much needed exercise.

I set out for Sainsbury's, starting off on the roads but very soon turning off onto a well tried bridle path, which runs down beside the Newcastle United training ground. The path is almost due south, and as I turned on to it the sun was shining directly in front of me: so it was quite difficult to see the actual surface of the path. I could just about make out the potholes, of which there were several, all full of water. Whoops! I slid a little, a couple of times, and so rode slowly and carefully as it seemed the path was very muddy. Then, inevitably, the back wheel slid right away and I came crashing to the ground: not a good thing for an overweight 67 year old. I came down heavily on my right hip, and it was only when I was lying on the ground that I realised the path was covered in ice. The snow may have gone from the roads, but sheltered paths with no traffic were a different matter.

I picked myself up, swearing in a lady-like manner, and turned round, walking Belinda as far as the road and then cycling gingerly back home. A quick inspection showed no obvious damage: I sat down and had a cup of tea and a piece of toast and marmalade (carbohydrate is good for shock), and felt much improved. That evening I went to a wonderful concert at The Sage, our local international standard concert hall: it was a recital given by Murray Perahia, one time winner of the Leeds piano competition and now a world famous performer. I had no problems sitting for two hours, and no particular pains: it was only the next day I saw I had a small bruise on my right hip. Two days later it had become a very large bruise: it's now fading, two weeks later.

But it was on the Friday, when I had to go to London for a meeting all day on Saturday, that my left knee began to give trouble. On Friday night it was difficult to sleep (and being in a strange bed in a hotel didn't help!), and by Sunday I was having some difficulty walking. I took it to the doctor, who said it often took a couple of weeks for the full effects to be apparent, but that by the time I go away (see my Antipodean Adventure blog) it should be improving, and the warmth of Australia should help.

I've always accepted that being Green had a cost: but this was an avoidable one, and not what I wanted just before a long trip away. Ah, well....maybe I also needed to slow down a bit and do only the essentials in preparation. Either way, it will be April or May before I take Belinda out again!