Thursday, June 30, 2011

Some unwelcome rest.

When we are paddling sea kayaks, as with any human endeavour, our body is our engine. Like the valves and pistons that spin the drive shaft in our fancy cars, our muscles, veins, bones, glands and synaptic gaps all make up an engine, a machine so efficient that Ferrari would love to get a copy of the blueprints.

To make sure the car gets us to work on time we keep it topped up with energy (unleaded, biodiesel or some other concoction), with coolant, air in the tyres, oil, brake fluid and all manner of other necessary resources. And so it is with our bodies. To keep the paddles turning (or even the fingers tapping on the keyboard) we fuel our bodies with a mixture of wholesome goodness - a fabulously balanced diet made up of all the major food groups and essential bits and pieces in happy, healthy harmony. Most of the time.

Every now and then we get a flat tyre, the air filter gets clogged, the oil needs a change and the car goes in for a service. The roadside dining of Jakarta has seen to it that Lain and I have received a very thorough grease and oil change this week. The typhoid trolleys got us!

Lain and I, having indulged in the street food of many far flung countries, are of course not inexperienced in the delights of having some dodgy laksa, ceviche, curry or bakso give our alimentary canals the royal flush. Bali belly, Delhi diarrhoea, Kathmandu clean-out or the LaPaz leak - we've each ticked those boxes. We were not, however, quite prepared for the knockout punch delivered by the chicken satays we ate on the way back to our hotel in Jakarta on Saturday evening.

I shall spare you the gruesome details. It is enough to say though, that while we had intended to escape Jakarta early on Monday morning to explore some more of beautiful Java, we are still here (on Thursday), still holed up in a thin-walled hotel, still avoiding any attempt to sleep through the blaring karaoke next door. This has not been the greatest few days - we are both still in the mechanic's garage making sure we don't stray too far in case the sump drain needs to be flushed in a hurry.

If only sound and smell could adequately be transferred on this blog!

Picture: Somewhere in north QLD, Lain demonstrates a kayaker's method for waste disposal - well, so many of you asked how it was done!!

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