Box Hill (Blog 7)

My website has been updated, and my book can be found here…..

http://www.lulu.com/shop/simon-wiedemann/the-danger-of-proverbs/ebook/product-23089307.html

However, currently, it’s only available from lulu.com. I need to sort some stuff out, before I can get it out to other websites. But all that stuff’s boring, let me tell you of my adventures with a friend at Box Hill. To start with, he picked me up in is car. Then… we drove to Box Hill. Well, around that area, finding the exact place proved tricky. That didn’t matter, though, from a nearby(ish) parking spot, we could walk there. Right? Much more trekking than anticipated followed, along with paying maximum attention to our route; we didn’t want to get lost, that was insisted upon. Still, we always had a mobile phone to help guide us, just in case. On our way, we saw a few mini fires that couldn’t be explained. Why would small, isolated groups of people want to destroy a tiny particular group of trees, and who’s paying them to do so? I’ve heard of tree surgery, maybe we witnessed religious cremation of terminally ill trees? The world has truly gone insane if so.

Eventually and unintentionally, we found a Wild West themed restaurant. Its members of staff were wearing cowboy hats, which made sense, but what was a little weirder, was that there were two customers wearing the same. If the place was packed, that would be understandable, but it wasn’t. I think there were around eight of us all together. And how long does it take to eat a small meal? Half an hour, at most, and maybe half an hour waiting for it. What kind of people get dressed up in obscure clothes, just for an hour, and just to be seen by six other customers? It’s like that hour of their lives was some kind of huge event for them. This implies that country life must be exceptionally dull. As we moved on with our lives and ignored the two fanatics, modern country music played in the background; not music from the 19th century. Sound harmless? I disagree; there is nothing harmless about misinformation. Still, in the end, the restaurant did a very good burger and traditional Wild West curly fries, and respect goes out to them, for giving Doritos away for free.

What followed leaving the restaurant, was some more hardcore hiking. Eventually, we came across a hill, with a lovely far reaching view. However, it was not the time for admiring the scenery. No, we spotted a wooden plank, some logs, and triangular concrete blocks on the ground. It was obvious what this collection of objects could be used for. It was our chance to make a modern art masterpiece, and to fulfil our dreams of having excited tourists, posing by our work. Whether we were successful, may never be known; maybe the wind or simply gravity, knocked our construction down, before it could ever be appreciated. However, even if it did collapse, a new work with some deep meaning behind it, would be created, anyway. With that excellent thought in our minds, it was time to go home.

Finding the way back to my friend’s car, was a challenge. When he told me to remember the way, I didn’t know he literally meant it. He’s an intelligent individual, and as I said, he did have a phone to help him navigate. But he did mean it, and the phone didn’t help. To compound that, darkness soon came, and it at the time made directional sense to walk down a road, with no pedestrian sidewalk. When a car came from behind, our only option to avoid it, was to try and merge into the bushes, by our sides. I particularly felt what we were doing was stupid, when a car beeped at us to get the hell out of the way, and quickly beeped again, to warn other drivers. It was a beep that in car language said ‘warning…. retards’. We soon realised we were lost, and that we had to resort to abandoning our car, and call a taxi. The local train station seemed to be a logical destination to get driven to. My friend was normal about waiting for our saviour, but me less so. It was cold, so I knelt on the ground, with my jumper over my knees. I then rocked back and forth, to warm up. I understand, that this must have looked weird, but it was effective. Whether the soon arriving cab driver was amused or awkward wasn’t clear, but I’m assuming, more of the latter.

So, later we arrived at the station. All you have to do is enter the destination you want to get to, in a machine, and you’ll get your tickets. Simple. Well, no. I was told by the train conductor, to get off at the wrong stop. Fortunately, however, my trusty friend knew his routes, and told me the actual place to get off. Tomorrow, was the time for me to drive him all the way back to his four-wheeler, and then journey the way home. Great success!