and not a drop to drink

Well firstly - I can't believe Greer stole the polluted running water blog! From Sydney!

As depressing as the lonely green detritus trickle of White's creek is, try this on for size.

This images came from the South China Morning Post (courtesy of Scott). It is plastic bottles

floating down the Yangtze after a big rainfall. They are at least being collected, but it makes you re-think your next bottle of Mount Franklin doesn't it.

Also over the week of thinking about moving water and what it means to me, much of my thoughts were with the Australian's that have been affected by flood and cyclone and drought over the past few years. Water is as it always will be, the essence of all life. I often imagine the surging rise and fall of the ocean as the rise and fall of human breath and the life it sustains.

I did choose this topic because I love the water, I dream of it constantly, I spent much of much childhood lying on the bottom of rivers, pools, oceans and looking up at the world from the bottom. Its often referred to in our family that we could swim before we could walk, but I think my sister was the real fish in that department.

Scott and I share a love of Bondi Beach in Sydney and it will always be our home.

I desperately wanted Hugo to be a water birth, gliding freely into the world through the sanctity of water. He was more of a spinning tornado in the birthing pool, but kids have that amazing way of redefining your ideas for them.

My most precious memory of running water is the Orara River I grew up on, that stitches alongside the coast west of Coffs Harbour. Pristine, tranquil, clear water, that is so fresh it takes your breath away. Every afternoon was spent exploring the dark waterholes of the river. It is my most real memory.

Heartbreakingly beautiful isn't it.

Consequently coming from the Australian coast, I have HIGH expectations of what moving water should be like. It has been a constant internal struggle to redefine notions of water and what it means here in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a series of islands in the South China Sea and much of the lifestyle here looks outwards to the sea, there is plenty of water. But water means one thing.......industry. I live on the Harbour shore of one of the worlds busiest ports. We travel each day by boat through international shipping lanes. And a few days ago two barges and two tug boats came and camped out directly in front of our yard. Much speculation was spent

determining the purpose of these large rusty vessels. But it was Hugo who claimed they were here to dig sand. And so right he was, this is a video taken yesterday, clearing space in our ferry terminal.

OK so the intended audience of the video was for a 3 year old boy, some of you may not find it as interesting!

The uses and lifestyle of water cant be compared between China and Australia. It would be naive and a tad self-righteous of me to compare a developing nation of 1.3 billion people and their needs to Australia's synchronicity with aqua.

However, in the next few weeks when this new little baby will come into the world and he or she wont be a water birth, I hope to again use the benefits of calmbirth meditation that relies on immersing yourself in a special place. And this will be my sanctuary and legacy to pay forward,