Heavy Liquor

I want to put a distillery on Palm Island.

I started getting this idea while waiting for the ferry to Magnetic Island, which departs from the same point as the ferry to Palm. There was a sign there pointing out that no one is allowed to take any alcohol onto Palm Island beyond a single carton of light or mid-strength beer, and heavy penalties would apply to anyone caught with anything stronger.

For some reason, as I read this sign, I thought "that would make it hard to start a distillery, then." Although, I wonder weather making your own alcohol is under the same prohibition as bringing it in from the mainland...

Now, I'm not talking about one of those backyard distilleries like my uncle has at his place. I'm thinking more along the lines of a boutique distillery, like I've visited in various parts of Tasmania. Like Lark Distillery, or Hellyer's Road Distillery.

One of those little places that make something for the gastronomic tourists. You know the ones I'm talking about - those people who (a bit like myself) stop into places offering tastings of wine/cheese/whisky/chocolate/liqueur and end up buying something to give their grandmother for Christmas.

You know, something that can support a visitors' centre with a restaurant/cafe and art gallery attached.

One of the islands in the Palm Island group is called Fantome, and that would make a great name for a vodka or liqueur. You could use one of the shells that frequently wash up on the beaches around these parts as the logo...

Now, there may be some people wondering why you can't take heavy liquor onto Palm Island in the first place. It's because of a little something called "paternalism".

Basically, whenever people of a certain socio-economic status have access to cheap alcohol, they have a tendency to get drunk and engage in violent and destructive acts in lieu of something called "getting your life together". They don't all do this, but those that do can make a rather large mess of things.

With communities of white people, what generally happens is everyone thinks these people are jerks and avoids that neighbourhood. With communities of aborigines or islanders, the government traditionally attempts to ban alcohol - especially if they have helpfully sequestered themselves on an island.

Now, there are those who think this is a good idea, because it cuts down on the amount of alcohol related violence. It is also seen to have a positive effect on nutrition, as people who would otherwise be more likely to buy booze than food have difficulty organising their finances in this manner.

On the other hand, there are people who think councils and governments have no business telling one group of people they aren't allowed to do something when other groups have no such limitations. Why should it be perfectly okay for Magnetic Island, with its white middle-class residents, to have as much alcohol as they please - while Palm Island, with its largely low socio-economic aboriginal/islander population, has the alcohol highly regulated?

Do you know what does a better job of curing delinquency than prohibition? Economics. People need industry to break out of the bad habits that come with unemployment and poverty.

So I personally think a boutique distillery (selling their wares to restaurants and other tourism outlets in the greater North Queensland area) with a visitors' centre would do a lot more for the island (which costs a fortune to visit) than an edict about how much beer people can take on the ferry.

And for anyone who thinks the level of alcohol abuse might increase, I ask you this: when was the last time you heard of someone on welfare getting tanked on high-priced limoncello?

If you assume the best, the best will come.

Bussita

I've been harbouring a great plan for some weeks, now.

While I try to ride my bike to work three days a week, sometimes I like to shake it up a bit by making my way on foot. It takes me under an hour to "run" to work (well, periods of running interspersed with periods of walking) and not quite an hour and a half to walk.

However, in order to do this, I have to plan it in advanced. I don't want to carry everything on my back while running, so I have to make sure I've got everything I need for work there the day before. Then I have to get out of bed an hour earlier than I normally do and eat half a breakfast before heading out, then work out what to do about the other half when I get there.

And, then, if I run to work for 50 minutes I'm usually much sweatier than when I ride to work for 25, so I need a proper shower instead of a simple "freshen up" (something I can avoid if I walk instead), and my clothes are usually too unpleasant to put them back on again in order to make the return journey on foot (again, something I can avoid when walking), so then I have to arrange for a lift to get back home.

So, after I realised I was actually avoiding making the trip on foot because of these inconveniences, an idea began forming in my mind - I could reverse the order in which I do these things. Instead of bringing my gear to work a day before and running to work, then getting a lift home (after getting up an hour early), I'd get up at my normal time, catch a bus to work and run home, leaving my gear to be collected the next day.

A great plan, I thought. One of those "invert the problem" things that always make me feel like I'm actually doing something with my brain. One problem, though: the bus service in Townsville. It's not exactly easy to navigate.

You see, our bus stops only mention what zone the stop is in. They don't tell you what buses stop at that stop or when one could reasonably expect to see a bus come past.

When you consult the timetables online, they also neglect to mention anything other than the "major" stops on each route. I found one bus that said it would stop in my suburb, and assumed that would be the bus I would catch at the bus stop on the street around the corner from my house.

Alas, that was an erroneous assumption. The bus that goes down that street is a different bus number on a different route - one which gives no indication on the time table that it comes anywhere near my area. The one I thought I was going to catch actually goes down a different street a few blocks over.

The other day I tried walking down to a bus stop which my perusal of the time tables had lead me to believe would be a good and useful bus stop to attend. After waiting for about twenty minutes for a bus which was never going to come, I walked back home and drove to work, finding myself very grateful that I was catching a bus because I felt like it, and not because I had to. Also, very grateful that I tried this experiment with a non-existent bus that was leaving earlier than I would leave if I was taking a car. I still managed to get to work on time.

Talking about this with some friends at work, the general consensus was that they would never take public transport in Townsville, and pitied the poor souls who had no other option. It's "too confusing", "too unreliable" and "too frustrating".

Once again I'm reminded that my home town is absolutely and entirely enslaved by cars. It's just completely impractical to try to live in Townsville if you don't have a car of your own. I know some people who manage it, but I also know they do so out of sheer stubbornness, not because it's a reasonable and viable option.

And it all comes down to bad design. Whoever is designing the bus system isn't using it. Whoever is designing the bike routes isn't riding them. It's like everyone involved in the design of this city assumes every man, woman and child has a car and prefers to use it. All other "options" are afterthoughts.

What we need to do is clear the streets for a couple of weeks. Take everyone out and then put them back in a little at a time. Start with the buses, because they're the most egalitarian form of transport and, in a well designed city, everyone should be able to get to where they need to go with a couple of bus trips and a ten minute walk. Then revise the bike lanes and bike routes to make sure cyclists and skaters* can safely navigate the entire city without risk of being hit by a bus, thrown by a pothole or accosted by a solid object**. After that, bring the cars back in with the clear understanding that buses and bikes take priority in the traffic flow.

Yes, it will become less comfortable to drive a car. But, on the other hand, it will become more comfortable to take a bus or ride a bike, which is better for our health and wallets. It's my personal opinion that the best designed cities are the ones where visitors who have never been here before can find their way around easily without once having to hire a car or catch a taxi. Sadly, Townsville is not a well designed city.


*A post about skating soon to come.
**A post about solid objects soon to come.