A Faaabulous Affair!

It's not uncommon to walk down the street and have two policemen in uniform walk past. That is unless, the tall, dashing policeman striding down the road is wearing black, shiny, stilettos and the short, pudgy policeman has nicked the other's uniform trousers. When that happens, well, it's time for Sydney's annual Mardi Gras Parade!



This yearly event attracts over 70,000 people and is the largest gay pride parade in the world! So, on this very special day (which funnily enough, isn't actually on Fat Tuesday), I was more than eager to attend this flamboyant affair to hoot, holler, and whistle my appreciation for Sydney's LGBT community.

The celebration began near dusk with the roar and rumble of Harley Davidson's as the Dikes on Bikes came whirring up Oxford Street. Rainbow flags blurred, lights shimmered, breasts flailed in the wind, and the ground vibrated. What an entrance!

For the next 2 hours, the titillated masses watched as colorful drag queens sang on elaborately decorated floats, men sporting 8-packs (and not much else!) pranced around to Katy Perry's smash hit “Firework,” and Bananas in Pajamas skipped along with frequently friendly humping. It's hard to imagine a more colorful, uplifting, and positively “gay” celebration!

As the next weekend rolled around, I found myself out in the Australian bush with my friend Chelsea. Unlike in New Zealand where I learned from the Kiwis to call hiking “tramping,” Australian's tell me they call it “bush walking.” I'm not so certain either phrase is very kosher, but, when in Rome... ;-)

So, here we are “bush walking” in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park on a well routed track between the Borowra (try saying that one 5 times fast...) and Mount Kuring-gai train stations. For the next four hours, we climbed up boulders, kept an eye out for snakes and spiders, and just throughly enjoyed escaping the city and being immerse in nature. I particularly felt at peace during our mid-walk rest on the swinging bridge while my corner vision caught glimpses of jumping fish leaping gracefully out of the water and hearing a proper smack! as they reentered the water's surface. There's nothing like tuning into the modern melodies of Nature FM.

That same weekend, I had the opportunity to join five other rhythmic women in performing an eight minute Taiko drumming piece for an event celebrating International Women's Day. After only 3 weeks of playing the Taiko drum at the Rhythm Hut, I was now drumming on stage in front of a theater of 200-something people! I was flattered to be asked to perform and so pumped for the event! Little did I know that come drum time, my heart would be pounding louder than my Taiko drum...

As an entire evening event to commemorate women all over the world, the Rhythm Hut Women, plus our instructor Rendra on flute, opened with a dramatic and powerful performance, highlighting the strength and wonders of our femininity. And, despite being a jumble of nerves, I had heaps of fun sharing a mutual passion for rhythm, movement, and music. The applause at the end left our entire band bright and beaming.

For my fourth and final week at the Rhythm Hut, I helped Rendra with the sweat worthy job of re-skinning a conga drum. After first soaking the cow skin to make it pliable, Ren fitted it to a metal ring which he placed onto the base of the drum. Following that, I helped with the tightening and fastening of the rim to the drum and, after much grunting and lots of elbow grease, we fitted that beautifully black and shiny skin to the hollowed out redwood base. This handsomely chic conga is totally going to make all the lady drums swoon.



Tomorrow, I leave the hum and thrum of the Rhythm Hut for further Australian adventures. But, with the smell of freshly skinned drums in my nostrils and seasoned blisters on my hands, this special place has drummed its way right into my big, beating heart. Don, Do Ko Do Ko!