Presto! It’s Ernesto!

As we head deep into hurricane season, the weather reports have been quiet with much of the same: hot, hot and hotter and little sign of precipitation. Fairly helpful with keeping my field work on schedule, I suppose.

But Tropical Storm Ernesto is coming to visit. Thankfully, early reports that Ernesto would get hurricane status seem to have faded, but most of the rain is supposed to hit the Carolinas in the next 3 days. We have tins of soup and crackers ready anyway.

The forecast for Thursday says 100% chance of precipitation. Yep. I think it’s gonna get wet.

A much needed dose of topography

Although it has been quite difficult to even scratch myself throughout this crazy field season, Mrs Antman and I managed to schedule ourselves a day off on the flipside of a weekend. This provided a much sought after opportunity to visit the mountains of North Carolina. At over 4 hours away, we thought that 3 days would provide a nice intro.

Running along the western edge of the state are The Great Smokey Mountains (shared with Tennessee to the west) and the Appalachian mountains which continue north into Virginia. Through much of this is a scenic drive (496 miles) called the Blue Ridge Parkway (not unlike the Great Ocean Rd in Vic) and it is one of the most visited natural attractions in the US. (Hey, I sound like I could be in tourism!).

The city of Asheville is a central outpost for the BRP and also seems to be a safehaven for anybody who doesn’t fit into the cultural norm of the south. This kinda includes us, I guess. But, that is only part of the reason we fell in love with Asheville.

Although the mountains and forests are the main local attraction, Asheville itself is a gem and we stayed downtown so that we could experience some of the local flavour (and so that we could drink lots of the locally brewed cherry wheat, IPA, ESB and summer Porter without having to drive).

What’s to love about Asheville:

Beautiful art deco architecture (including an art deco bike shop)

Excellent food, beer and atmosphere

Veggie pakoras at The Laughing Seed

One of only two Yeti dealers in the whole of North Carolina

Subarus everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Most Suby’s had bikes and / or kayaks sitting on the roof

The cooler mountain temperatures (~10 degrees C lower than the piedmont)

Southern brekkie at the Early Girl Eatery

The Mast General Store (which provided moose & bear shaped cookie cutters)

Good record shops

The views (from downtown) of the clouds resting between the layers of mountains

For those at home, I think I could best describe Asheville as elements of inner Melbourne fused with the Dandenongs. It also seems to attract many of the same people as the Dandenongs; a diverse mix of wealthy retirees, outdoorsy people, artists and general funksters.

We made a day trip out to Chimney Rock and did a loop out to some falls and walked back along the cliffline used in the film “The Last of the Mohicans”. Spectacular. Finished the day in the town of Chimney rock alongside a gorgeous river eating some western NC BBQ (which has an inherently different flavour to BBQ from Raleigh and the rest of the piedmont).

On the way back we took a diversionary drive along some of the Blue Ridge. Oh, man……wow. All it is cracked up to be and more. Watched the hardwood forests give way to patches of weather-beaten fir trees and endless views of the Appalachian mountains.

For any of ya’ll that come a visitin’, rest assured that we’ll take you to Asheville.

Just desserts

North Carolina has the infamous Red Imported Fire ant (Solenopsis invicta for those who care), so named because they are red, they are invasive and their sting feels like fire. Brisbane, Australia has them and all Australian states just spent a combined $185 million trying to get rid of them because they don’t want them to leave Brisbane.

These ants are everywhere here. I was really excited the first time I saw them. And I’m still fascinated by them even though I see them everyday.
They are also fun. They generate impressive mounds to utilise heat from the sun and these mounds are fun to knock the top off with your shoe. Not because I get joy out of senseles destruction, but because the ants react so aggressively that is quite a sight. They pour out of the broken mound like an eruption and they go as nuts as ants can go!

I know, I sound like a right bastard, but discussion among other ant researchers across two departments at uni reveals that this guilty pleasure is shared.

Throughout my unwarranted attacks on these ants, I have not yet been stung. Not only am I on guard, but I only unleash such “shock and awe” in closed shoes.

But, I let my guard down the second I decided to lie down on the ground to check something under the car. The first sting got me standing up. Those that followed had me jumping around like a lunatic trying to shake off a shit load of fire ants. Apparently I had disturbed them making a meal of a catepillar near the car’s front wheel.

I guess I had it coming. All’s fair in love and war.

Oh, yeah – it is like burning your flesh……..without the smell

Hold tight

The long-awaited 3rd album by The Shins is just around the corner

Lets hope the product deserves the anticipation

Patience is a virtue

Two years away from my guitar was never going to happen. So, travelling overseas to live meant trusting my acoustic to a group of workers not renowned for their light touch.

I did the best I could. I traded in my beautiful purple-muppet-lined case for what was supposed to be one of the best flight cases available. If the guy in the brochure can stand on it, then it must be good, right? Oh, yeah I also forked out for travel insurance.

Case and guitar arrived in LAX in perfect condition. Unfortunately, something happened on the leg to Raleigh / Durham airport. There must be a “funniest home video” out there somewhere with a group of baggage handlers seeing if they can drop a guitar from the top of a jumbo sans conveyor belt.

This is not the horror story you’re expecting. The guitar was fine. However, the two halves of the super case, didn’t quite line up anymore, leaving a 2cm gap. They also gave my soundhole a snap inspection for bombs and white powder and unplugged the guitar’s electronics. Obviously it resembled a detonation device.

So began “The Saga of the Replacement Case”

I complained to the airline. They sent the case to their repairers to decide if it was broken. Their experts considered it broken (v. astute) and they sent me a new case 2 weeks later. The case they sent was obviously not up to the quality of the one I lost. I priced it online and found it was about 1/5 of the value. I rang the airline’s repairers and said that this was not on. I sent back the case at their expense and they referred the situation back to the airline. I was told a resolution would take a while.

2 months and many terse phonecalls later, I received a cheque from the airline. Sweet victory.
Going out to shop for a case, like most things in the US, required a car. We still didn’t have one.

More time passes. We get a car. I locate a suitable replacement case online. It is an Air Transport Authority (ATA) approved flight case with warranty covering damage to the guitar as well as the case. Nice. I call all local music stores. Nobody stocks it as it is “special order only”. Damn.

I picked a store that promised the best price and could get the case within a week. Deposit down, order done.

One week. Phone. No case. Two weeks, phone, no case. One month, phone, no case. You see a pattern forming?

Apparently, the model was out of stock and backordered at the factory. “When it comes in, they’ll overnight it here”.

Ok, I’ll buy that.

At 2 months, I pretty much cracked it. I looked online to get the store’s phone number and noticed that the case in question was listed as “in stock”. Curious. I mentioned this when I spoke to them – they were surprised. Then they suggested that maybe they could get one from another store…..WTF….really? You think?

4 days later, I had the case direct from their New Jersey store. The mind boggles. I still cannot believe that they hadn’t already tried this.
Now after months of being exposed to extreme temperatures and humidities, my guitar rests safely. It was worth the wait; it is a beast of a case, lined in fuzzy poker-table-green.

A tedious situation requires a tedious post. Rant over.

Was it something I said?

It is probably no secret that on my list of potential perks attached to working in the US was having many of my favourite American bands on tap. Conceptually very cool, yes.

So I came to America….but all the bands are going to Australia….

Death Cab just returned to downunder (finally) and Modest Mouse have announced their first visit. Neither have anything on the cards for NC.

Geez!

To be fair, The Decemberists have just announced a N. American tour. They seem to playing everywhere and for two nights in some towns. They aren’t playing NC.

Geez!

Lucky I have tickets to Built to Spill and Superchunk (in their hometown of Chapel Hill!) to tide me over.

Yeah, I know. Poor me!!

So here ’tis

“38 hours later”? The total elapsed time, door to door, before landing in our new (albeit temporary) life. A long and emotionally draining bout of study led to the opportunity that has landed my wife and myself on the other side of the world. Only after a moment’s consideration does it seem plausible that such an adventure could be solely attributed to the seemingly humble ant. The original title of this blog was to be “Continental Shift”. In addition to being another in a long line of groan-worthy “science jokes”, this title paled in comparison to the current one suggested by my wife.

Cutting to the chase, we left behind Australia, Melbourne, and our beloved family and friends for the zenith of westernisation. Yes, the USA. Somehow we avoided the standard states (i.e. those with recognisable landmarks), heading instead to North Carolina on the fringe of the infamous and steamy south. At first glance it is green and picturesque and most scenes trigger memories from a childhood diet of American TV.

We are now getting close to 6 months in. So far, so good. But, I’m sure like anybody away from their home and the familiar, the early days are a mix of the good and the bad.

Our current “adventure” is really the overriding motivation for what you’re reading (and Craig’s powers of suggestion). I hope that my jump onto the blogging bandwagon will provide a diversion for bored friends (and others) who might want to share in some some of our experiences, points of interest (from an Aussie perspective) and also the occassional rant (edit: maybe not so occassional) that may not make it into the regular “updates”. Not quite the subversive fanzine you might be expecting. Also, more general discussions and others surrounding music and mountain bikes are sure to make an appearance…..and none will be as formal as this post is becoming….

Whether you’re directed to it or just stumble across it, enjoy and feel free to comment.