Page 26 - Exile-ebook

26 AN EXILE OF THE MIND MELTING TONES OF THE PACIFIC 27

Melting tones of the Pacific

Tandem adventure ends in the lock-up.
Ginger-wigged beauty. Rushed to the ship by a Tahitian
goddess. The Old Man of the Sea. A car called Midge.

y first travelling experience was inspired by the eye-popping
Mtales of adventurers in the bulletproof age of boyhood
comics, especially the Eagle, Tiger and Tintin series. This led to
the dim confines of a police cell. My brother, Terry, and I had
teetered into the boondocks on an ancient tandem bicycle built
for two. Thick wooden blocks tied to the pedals made it possible
to reach them and straddle the seat at the same time.
Reaching teenhood and the invincibility that comes with it, I
led an expedition up hill and down dale into the far reaches of
the English countryside. Well, I pedalled into the far reaches.
The problem with a tandem is its rear end. I would pump the
pedals furiously to stay upright. To discover Terry gawking at the
scenery with feet drawn up. His wood-blocked pedals spinning
footless beneath.
We watched our tent dance away wrapped around the horns
of a maddened bull. Bucking and kicking to crash blindly through
a thick tangle of hedgerow gaily decorated with tattered shreds
of our shelter. The irate farmer shook his fists at our backs as we
quickly retreated.
Disillusioned, we returned home earlier than planned in
expectation of a hero’s welcome with our neighbours lining the
street, waving and cheering the fearless explorers. Instead, we
cycled into a roadblock of frigid reception. And I, being the eldest

Reflected twilight on a New Zealand lake.