Werewolf Fantasy Comedy follows Sorrowful Poem

Cradle Mountain seen from Dove Lake, Tasmania (Photo credit: claudinec)

  Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Travel can be an emotional rollercoaster, and Grey’s epic solo fantasy travel ramble classic Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps is no different. This episode starts with the quackers quartet about as low as they can go, but then some of Grey’s favourite characters of the whole trip appeared on the horizon, and it was off on another thrilling Werewolf of Oz adventure.

Conveying the Essence of Experience

One of the golden rules of travel writing is to try and take the reader on the journey; experiencing the place and time as closely as it was experienced by the traveller and writer. Grey tried to do this, and hopes it succeeded.

Avalon Tasmania (Photo credit: RalphJB)

While it can feel like a Groundhog Day Road to Nowhere repeating this epic tale, it can also be beneficial for understanding it as a complete package, as Grey had to work quite intensely to write it, and of course was writing it ‘from the inside’.

And we’ve also noticed some things that could have been included, such as highlighting in the notes of the last episode that the names in the epic literary nonsense poem were Tasmania places: Great Lake, Lake Arthur, Central Plateau, Meander, Mole Creek, Sassafras, Beauty Point and Green Beach.

There’s another little poem in this episode, paying our respects, before the awakening hopefully brings some laughs.

Green Beach (Photo credit: Håkon Iversen Photog – On and off Flickr)

63.  GREEN BEACH IS BREACHED WITH DECORUM 

We collapsed on the sand; fatigued by our rapid poetic journey through central Tasmania and shock loss upon reaching Green Beach.

We’d hoped the beach would be lusciously welcoming, but now it seemed devoid of spirit, and eerily silent.

Waves of woe
lapped the silent shore,
as we huddled without mirth
within a waning warmth.

Dec O’ Rum Provides a Lift

Rum runner sloop “Kirk and Sweeney” with contraband stacked on deck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just when it was getting too grim for words, we heard a voice reach us from out at sea. It roared, ‘Ahoy, me hearties, would you like a lift to the mainland. I’m on my way to Victoria, and I need a few more deck-hands on board for what looks like a difficult voyage.’

It seemed like great timing, and when my hat shone we agreed it was an irresistible offer. We swam out to the boat with renewed hope. We were helped on board by a rum-swigging sailor, and when I looked around the deck I saw that it was full of rum barrels.

However, despite all the rum on the deck and presumably inside the sailor, he still seemed to have a sense of decorum. So it wasn’t a shock when he introduced himself as Captain Dec O’ Rum.

 

What is Greatness? Werewolf of Oz Philosophical Debate

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. It was great to have the blog filled up with interviews this week; as it has given Team GG an easy week! Not that we’ve been completely at leisure, as there’s always work to do in the Greenygrey world. For example, I found this great greenygrey image to brighten and dull your day in equal measure.

Image by Greg Annandale via Flickr

Greats of Television and Writing

I’m glad I had a break, as today’s Werewolf of Oz blog is a sad one, reminding Grey of the time when he found out that Belinda Emmett had passed away at a tragically early age. Although it was her beauty that first brought her to our attention, she does also seem to have lived a particularly nice life, which touched a lot of people in Australia and around the world.

Iain Banks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some people might question her ‘greatness’, but it all depends how you measure ‘greatness’, which is just a subjective human concept: for example, should greatness be measured more for leading a nice good life or acquiring power and wealth?

Yesterday, Iain M. Banks, who we think justifies being called a great writer, even though we haven’t read any of his books, revealed the sad news that he is terminally ill. We thought it was particularly poignant that he hoped to see his latest book published, and appreciated his humour in asking his girlfriend to be his widow.

Anyway, on with the show, and another literary nonsense poem episode:

62.  CENTRAL TASMANIA PROVIDES PAINIER 

Too Late to Pay Tribute to a Great

Wolfram showed us north
was the sensible way forth
over lakes of Great and Arthur
and across Central Plateau after
through Meander we did stroll
in Mole Creek we saw no troll
Jumpin’ Jack Flash had a gas
with Angry Bonzo in Sassafras
from Beauty Point we did see a peach
Rebecca Fisher enjoying Green Beach
the vision swam gracefully out to sea
rising above waves until she was free.

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Notes

Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Rolling Stones song).
Rebecca Fisher (character in Aussie soap opera, Home and Away. She was mostly played by Belinda Emmett, who died in 2006).

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English: Baby wombats at Mole Creek, Tasmania, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pious Poetry Precedes Pietry in ‘mania’s Melton Mowbray

One line’s text disappears
when I click delete
and the next seems to jump
to a rhythmic beat
joining other words in ver… tical… dict
poetic justice complete.

Poetry Explanation before Cheesy Temptation 

Melton Mowbray Hotel, Melton Mowbray, Tasmania (Photo credit: lokulin)

Hi, it’s Greenygrey, with the latest episode of Grey’s greatest solo adventure: Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps. I just deleted some text listening to Pete Tong‘s Essential Selection Miami Special, and the poetic words above seemed to jump into my mind and dance around.

I’ve got rid of them now, so here’s the next episode, which sees the quackers quartet reach Tasmania‘s Melton Mowbray, which reminded Grey of the town of the same name in Blighty.

61.  BEYOND THE LAND OF CHEESE, WOLFRAM IS KING 

We thanked the horses for the lift, and raced north. I didn’t know it at the time, but Hobart turned out to be the most southerly point of my Ozyssey.

Melton Mowbray is Cheesy Delicious 

spinach and cheese pie (Photo credit: HatM)

We reached Melton Mowbray in time for dinner/supper, and saw a sign advertising The Scrumptioust Salubrious Surprise Supper Pie in South Oz. We agreed it looked too good to miss, so we called into the food emporium advertising it.

The surprise turned out to be that there was only cheese included in the pie. It was still delicious, but we couldn’t help thinking the advertising had been somewhat cheesy.

Wolfram powder

King Wolfram is a Grey Tonic 

The dust sandy path took on a greyish appearance after Melton Mowbray. Angry told us it was because Wolfram was king here.

I thought it must be nonsense, and was shocked that something grey and wolfish could be king. Shock later turned to flabbergastation when I saw a piece of wolfram. Not only was it grey, but it also looked greeny in sunlight.

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Notes 

The Melton Mowbray in England is famous for food.
Central Tasmania has many wolfram (tungsten) mines.

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Bart Simpson Stars in Hobart, Australia Episode

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s about time for the first episode of the week for Grey’s classic Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps comedy-fantasy epic.

After spending a week that just flew by in Taz-mania, the quackers quartet travelled to Tasmania’s capital, Hobart, where Grey met an old friend. Can you guess who?

60.  HO BART IN HOBART IS NO ART

‘Ho Bart! How’s it going dude, haven’t seen you for yonks; not since back in Springfield on the original ramble.’

Bart’s Enjoying Hobart

Bart Simpson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’d just arrived in Hobart, and I’d bumped into an old buddy of mine from the original epic Greenygrey ramble. As you know, we’d met up with his parents back in the Simpson Desert, but Bart hadn’t been there.

Bart said he’d turned over a new leaf in Hobart, and was doing much better than on his family’s visit to Australia; when he caused a diplomatic incident that ended up on television.

He said his parents told him about our meeting in the desert, and that they’d enjoyed our reunion.

I was introducing him to the others when he fired off a catapult at the Tasmanian Tigers, before throwing the catapult to me. I caught it instinctively; just as Bart told the Tigers I did it. Bart then ran off. I was left standing there with the catapult, not knowing what to do.

The current Tigers logo as adopted in 1995–96. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My mind was made up a few seconds later when the Tassie Tigers started running toward us. I legged it in the opposite direction, along with the others.

We were soon across the Tasman Bridge and scaling Mount Wellington.

Wild Horses and Tassie Tigers

There were wild horses on the peak, and Angry suggested we jump on and ride like the wind. I thought it was a good use of his mind. We rounded up four horses, and set off just in time, with the Tassie Tigers hot on our hooves.

The Tigers gave up the chase as we pulled away, letting out one last roar before disappearing back into extinction.

tasmanian tiger (Photo credit: twesener)

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Notes 

yonks – slang for a long time.
Bart Simpson (the son in the Simpsons cartoon family).
Tasmanian Tigers (surviving cricket team and extinct animal).

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WWF Earth Hour, Woodland Trust and Werewolf of Oz

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Thanks to ‘Werewolfie’ for the last couple of blogs and starting the sporting year with a Spanish double; and congratulations to all involved with the Team GG successes.

WWF Earth Hour Off and On

centre (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did you enjoy WWF’s Earth Hour last night. We celebrated it at 23.30 GGT (Greenygrey Time), after forgetting about it at 20.30 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

Yes, we turned the lights out an hour earlier than usual, which as you will no doubt know by now, was not down to just one simple reason in the Greenygrey world.

It was partly through feeling quite tired, partly through a little guilt about missing the official Earth Hour, and partly because there were no football highlights from the top two English leagues due to it being an international weekend.

Looking on the positive side, I think that by turning the lights out an hour earlier and keeping them off we probably saved more electricity than turning them off for an hour and then back on; although Earth Hour is of course mostly symbolic.

Woodland Trust Offsetting Book Sales 

Woodland Trust (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WWF’s Earth Hour also reminded us to offset our book sales with a donation to the Woodland Trust before the end of the tax year, as promised in last year’s blog.

Talking of books, it is of course time for the second Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps episode of the week. And it’s another all literary nonsense poetry post, as Grey tried to sum up Taz in a whiz.

Whereas the previous poem had a Fawlty Towers Taz angle, this one is all Tazzy. Here it is:

59.  IS TAZ-MANIA TAZORED TASMANIA?

Taz-mania in Seven Days for Ya

For one week we tasted Tazzy
from the basic to the snazzy
we met Taz’s funtastic family
Hugh, Jean, Jake and Molly
Constance Koala kept us clean
and Dog the Turtle busy as a bean
Didgeri Dingo wasn’t as much fun
and Willie Wombat has a lot to learn
but when it came time for us to leave
Taz had another surprise up his sleeve
presenting us with a ticket to Hobart
which gave our journey a great start.

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Notes 

Tazzy characters (Hugh, Jean, Jake, Molly, Constance Koala, Dog the Turtle, Didgeri Dingo, Willie Wombat).
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Poem of Fawlty Towers and Tazzy in Tasmania

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Yes, as Tony unearthed on his historic dig into Greenygrey history, I did have a great time sharing the Old Grey Whistle Test stage with Talking Heads and Blondie. With all respect to Talking Heads, Debbie Harry singing she was always touched by my presence was indeed a highlight of my musical career.

Taz 1500 (Photo credit: photobeppus)

Anyway, it’s back to the literary nonsense poetry, as it’s about time we had our first Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps of the week. After the last episode brought the Kangaroo Island to Tasmania tetralogy/quadrilogy epic poem to a rocky end, we have yet another poem in this episode. This is after Grey’s travels through Tasmania reminded it of watching Fawlty Towers. Here it is:

58.  TRAVELLING TASMANIA IS A FAWLTY FANTASIA 

Oh Lord – let there be Sun! (Photo credit: Cieleke)

It looked rocky approaching Marrawah, which brought out a rousing rendition of Let There be Rock from AB/DC. I was worried about landing on the rocks, so I was relieved when Taz, Baz and Caz took us up in a perfect storm before setting us down safely on the Tasmanian terra-firma.

After partaking in a latte in Port Latta, we carried on to Penguin, where Bonzo brushed up on his Penguinese. They had a different dialect here to Kangaroo Island, but Bonzo could still make himself understood.

This Penguin is in Penguin in Tasmania (Photo credit: Craig Bellamy)

We then headed south over Cradle Mountain, which felt very comforting.

Arriving in Taz-mania is a Fawlty Fantasia

In fact, it was so comfy I dropped off to sleep.

When I awoke we had arrived in Taz-mania. Taz said he had a full house, but we could stay at the Hotel Tazmania, which was owned by his boss, Bushwhacker Bob.

He was a little grouchy,
but no Basil Fawlty,
Sybil must’ve been off her trolley,
Fawlty Towers was a folly,
even if Manuel was jolly,
and what about pretty Polly,
oh, don’t get me reminiscy
about my time in Torquay.

After unpacking, we frequented the bar and met some of the locals. I got on great with Wendell T. Wolf, who was very friendly.

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Notes

Bushwhacker Bob and Wendell T. Wolf are characters in Tazzy.
Fawlty Towers (1970s sitcom) and characters (Basil Fawlty, Sybil, Manuel and Polly).

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Oz Werewolf King Island to Tasmania Poem

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Here’s the fourth and last part of the epic-take your pick-lucky dip Kangaroo Island to Tasmania tetralogy/quadrilogy literary nonsense poem(s) as promised. That’s your two episodes of the great and powerful Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps this week…

so no twisting our resolve asking for more,
for it would solve nothing,
and might be a bit of a bore…

This chapter sees the quackers quartet sail to Tasmania, and the excitement doesn’t end there, oh no, in fact, we (Green and Grey, as we were then) met up there for a little while… in the land of the Tazzy tigers/wolves (thylacines).

The Tasmanian coat of arms features thylacines as supporters. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

57.  POETRY VOYAGE WITH A SMILE BUT NO SAUSAGE

King Island to Tasmania  

We tried to set sail from Disappointment Bay
but thunderous waves sent us astray
feeling like a ship of fools without a winner
we crashed into a smashing crag called Lavinia
moving us to the milky waters of Cowper Point
where the current took us to The Blowhole joint
we sheltered there for a little while
before getting blown the extra mile
for enough knots to reach Tasmania
landing somewhere near Marrawah.

Oz Great Powerful Sailing to Tasmania Epic Poem

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. We thought you’d be on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what our Life of Pi-style boat-load of biodiversity were up to, so here’s the next exciting episode of your favourite werewolf fantasy-travels Australia by Google maps Wizard of Oz themed comedy-satire book; now not the newest version, after the release of Oz the Great and Powerful.

English: Map of surface geology of King Island, Tasmania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the third of the Kangaroo Island to Tasmania tetralogy/quadrilogy epic poem(s), covering the King Island leg of the quintessential sea quest, and fifty-sixth chapter of the Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps.

We have another wonderful Werewolf of Oz werileak for you, with hot-off-the-press news that the fourth and final poem of the tetralogy/quadrilogy is planned for tomorrow!

56.  KING ISLAND HAS a SURPRISING AMOUNT OF INTEREST 

Boatry Poetry is a Form of Libertree

Row, row, row the wave
surface of Davy Jones’s grave
we could sit back and relax
as roaring forties cut us some slack
not trousers to wear
but no rowing despair
as the wind behaved as it should
you know they say ‘well, it would’
sailing us towards Tasmania
I don’t know how to explain to ya
we just sat back and played cards
as the boat ate up the salt yards
it wasn’t long ’til we reached King Island
eating a Pearshape Egg Lagoon Currie by hand
shocked to see a Sea Elephant in Surprise Bay
but it was a fitting finale to a Bungaree day.

The clipper route followed by ships sailing between England and Australia/New Zealand passed around Cape Horn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Notes 

Pearshape, Egg Lagoon, Currie, Sea Elephant, Surprise Bay and Bungaree are all King Island places. As are all the place names in the next poem.
Davy Jones’s Locker – sailor slang for sea.
Roaring Forties – strong westerly winds in the southern hemisphere, especially between latitudes 40-49, which is where Tasmania is situated.

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Oz Storm Reminiscent of Kansassy Meets Tazzy

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. We’re still riding the crest of the Oz the Great and Powerful wave here, reminding Grey of a catastrophic Kansassy storm on its epic comedy-fantasy journey across Oz; not to be mixed up with Grey’s original journey from the Greenygrey world to Oz, which was even more like the classic Kansas to Oz journey.

Another freaking storm (Photo credit: Garry – http://www.visionandimagination.com)

And funnily enough; and hopefully funnily enough for you; here’s the second of the Kangaroo Island to Tasmania tetralogy/quadrilogy literary nonsense epic poetry narrative of that very storm, and fifty-fifth chapter of Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps.

Without foresight, writing of fives reminds me of the four by four question in the previous Werewolf of Oz blog. The four fours were: four travellers, four rocks in the image, the first of four poems and the Granduncle 4 image. Now, on with the fives… and twos:

55.  TAZ-MANIA IS A SAVIOUR AND STORM ABATER 

Taz-tastic Treat for Two Times Two

For two days the storm did blow
waves and spray like driven snow,
we did our best to hold on tight
two to the left and brace to right.

Great barracuda hovering in the current at the Paradise Reef, Cozumel, Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Barracuda and tuna flew past
as if fleeing from a deep line cast,
I began to fear all was surely lost
seeing a storm from a distant coast,
approaching at an incredible speed
I thought that’s all we need. 

Taz (Photo credit: Enokson)

But it was the storm it repelled
and with giant waves quelled
the new spinning fury did land on deck,
and when it calmed above the neck
we could clearly see it was cartoon Taz
along with his friends, Baz and Caz.

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Notes 

Tazzy (cartoon character and show).

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Oz Great and Powerful Poetry: Four Times Four

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. It’s that midweek time of what is known in Oz (the Werewolf of Oz Oz anyway, although Grey only just remembered it, and didn’t mention it in its book!) as the three-and-a-half-days-times-two or semi-fortnight; or in the human world as a week.

Talking of numbers, can you find the four four mentions in this blog? Just a little more f(o)u(r)n for you while reading this, if you can stand any more excitement..! Answers with the next Werewolf of Oz.

Granduncle 4 – Waking (Photo credit: geminicollisionworks)

Literary Nonsense Poetry 

As you can see from the above paragraph, Grey doesn’t like to rush around, which is one reason why it stayed so long on Kangaroo Island.

It felt it needed to speed up its journey a little, with still no end to the dust sandy path in sight, but didn’t want to leave anything out.

Robe Journey Four by Four

Long Beach, Robe, South Australia [DSC_2728] (Photo credit: peregrinari)

So Grey and its trio of travelling Tolkienistas moved up a gear from paltry prose to peed poetry with a tetralogy/quadrilogy (sorry to be technical, and yes, I just looked up the human word for one more than a trilogy on Wikipedia!) of literary nonsense poems covering their journey from Kangaroo Island to Tasmania, via King Island. Here’s the first of the tetralogy, and 54th chapter of Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps:

54.  SEA STORM BEYOND PALE CORN 

Four Sail For Sale

We set sail for the port of Robe
not far across Oz in terms of globe
as we’d heard there were bargains
in a supermarket without chagrins.

But waves did suddenly rise
in a storm of enormous size,
we wondered where it had brewed,
fury of the worst bad mood;
before it declared its intention,
to sink us without hesitation,
and leave no trace
of our boat race.

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Notes 

boat race – slang for face.

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