Freedom
Ride Journal Entry ONE
The Freedom Ride is on the road all-beautiful colour, good company and web savvy-ness. For
the take off the convoy comprised "Peacebus.com", a thoroughly muralised Toyota
Coaster bus, "Happy Wheels, a '77 Hiace, the "Repo van", a '95 Econovan on
the run from the repo-man and the "Web Sled", the XF Falcon station wagon packed
with spare computer hardware.
For the record, the launch crew was: Max Stone (webmaster and unofficial smokesperson of
the Radical Fringe of the Cannabis Law Reform Movement); Jab (a leprechaun whose
name is an acronym for "Just a Bus Driver"), Cannabis Dave, (A.K.A the UNDATOKA,
the Nimbin Hemp Bar web master - Cannabis Dave is his deed poll name by the way), Paris, a
poetess and activist,"Saint" John, (a former prison counsellor who burned out,
hit the road and found healing and understanding in Nimbin), Ruben 9 and Felix 8 (Paris'
bright and eager boys) and me, (a passionate and
foolish old man).
All the local media, TV, print and radio, supported us. They were so warm to me and so
young that I felt like some old patriarch of social action being aided and abetted by his
grown up children, as they took my direction, helped and advised me on camera angles and
the like. While we waited for a delayed news crew, they others hung out at the back of the
Hemp Bar chatting to each other, glad to be at ease, glad to be in Nimbin.
Nimbin Elder and former university teacher of Premier Carr, Dr Winifred Mitchell, blessed
our journey for justice. She reminded us that this was the second time she had blessed a
bus mission leaving Nimbin, the last being the epic journey of the Cannabus to the NSW
Drug Summit last year, which she said had made a profound impact on the Summit and thus on
drug policy in NSW.
Including the media crews, we were a circle of about 50 well wishers gathered around
Peacebus.com, with its paint still wet, on the road outside the Nimbin HEMP Embassy.
Peacebus.com carries two big speaker horns on its roof (true Blue Brothers vintage!) and a
big joint bearing a peace dove with the letters "peacebus.com" in its slip
stream. Elspeth Jones, whose painting has given so much colour and character to the Nimbin
Museum, the HEMP Embassy and the Mardi Grass over the past 8 years, contributed the art.
The rainbow flags and banners of our road rig were flying - "Freedom
Ride/peacebus.com" and "End the Drug War/Release the Prisoners" - and
tacked to the wall of the Nimbin School of Arts, were four splendid new banners painted by
Nimbin artist, Helen Rodriguez, and friends who had worked to 2 am to finish them for us.
Great social action art! The Freedom Ride is nothing if not eye-catching.
To bless the journey Winifred broke a coconut on the road and well wishers, touching their
fingers in its juices, wrote their blessings on the window screen.
Then Nimbin magic did its stuff as Chibo led the Peace Bus out of town with the Hemp
Olympix Torch.
A koori man and woman spoke up to give us their blessings. I recognised them as regular
visitors to Nimbin and we had exchanged greetings as I walked past their campfire in
Nimbin village a couple of days before. As the man moved forward to speak, all eyes, all
lenses were focused. He said he had been in most of the jails we were visiting and had
slept in the parks we would be speaking in. His speech was slurred and he staggered a
little, maybe drunk, maybe stoned, maybe just fragile from homelessness. But his heart
message of goodwill was clear.
He presented painting on black paper - a bright green turtle dreaming - tied a scarf
printed with his peoples' motif on it around "Granny" Winifred's neck and kissed
her. Drug law reform in a time of reconciliation.
Comrades, this I know. Peacebus.com is carried as if by a river on a tide of blessings and
goodwill. As it rolls around NSW, many doors and many hearts will be opened and the voice
of justice will be heard.
Peacebus.com took off back to the Cybershack to finish packing. We got out of Nimbin at
sunset and circled our wagons, lit a fire spent the night beside the Pacific Highway at
the Mullumbimby turn off 100 km away. Max Stone, a man who, many a time and oft, had
hitched this route in search of cannabis law reform action, called this "roadside
advocacy" with the whimsy and relish of a true fanatic.
I called it disturbed sleep and went off to camp by the Main Arm of the Brunswick River in
a park where I had witnessed the funeral of musician friend, Steve Gilpin, five years
before. I felt his shade about me, and his blessings. Meditating by the river at dawn I
watched the tide come in, turn, and sit quite still with me. More blessings.
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