Waltzing Matilda

I’ve been back in Manilla for the last couple of days. Bob and Jill have been here with Eric, a visiting pilot from Aspen. It’s been high pressure and inverted for these two days with a fair amount of wind. Not the best flying days, but the best they’ve had here for the last week or two. Most of us have been flying and happy to get in the air. I haven’t found the motivation to try and go XC since the conditions are marginal and it’s just not worth landing out and having a long retrieve for what would likely be a short flight. I’m feeling a bit lazy as I recall that we would have been happy with these days during the Bogong Cup. That’s one of the best things about XC competition – it motivates you to try and fly the best flight you can for the day. The competition here starts on Sunday, so hopefully we’ll pay our dues with these days this week and have some nice conditions then.

Last night I took my turn cooking dinner for the four of us, and then we retired back to the campsite where Jill brought out her guitar and we attempted some sing-along. I got Jill to play a few Australian folk songs and Bob sang along. It brought back memories of how I had imagined Australia when I first heard these songs as a child. The evening was clear and pleasant. We were serenaded by the corellas, and a marsupial possum came by to visit and look for handouts. All in all it was a pleasant evening spent with good friends.

These are the best of times.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a Billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Down come a jumbuck to drink at the water hole
Up jumped a swagman and grabbed him in glee
And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker bag
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me'".

Up rode the Squatter a riding his thoroughbred
Up rode the Trooper - one, two, three
"Where's that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me".

But the swagman he up and jumped in the water hole
Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree,
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

You can find these lyrics some translations of the slang terms here