Name Call

Okay, okay, we get it, “Portal” isn’t Her name. Man, I really thought we were getting close though! We are back to the drawing board, so feel free to leave a comment with your briliant-brain-spasm-ideal-boat-name, ok? Here’s some inspiration:

New Equator, Imagine, Further, Bedouin Rain…

In the meantime, we are having a grand ol’ time installing our new fuel tank, getting running water (finally!) and generally spending days in cramped places. Escapades to hidden caves and an upcoming birthday sail are a few highlights, more photos on their way! Also, I’m having a little birthday bash this Friday, so if you’re in the LA area, come and join us!

 

 

Delicious meals to start the day! Yay Summer!

That’s right… RUNNING water! Just push a little button on the ground, the electric pump kicks in, and voila! And it doesn’t even taste weird!

A trip to the lumber yard… fuel tanks, planks, basil plants, you name it – you can carry it on your bike!

Some Mail Art… i’ve been inspired by Trader Joe’s wrap packaging!

Digging deep

The new beast… got it all secured in there with a trucker strap, a few wooden wedges and a screw or two. New hoses hooked up and she’s ready to go cruising!

Nothing like wrenching on diesel tanks at 7am, before you go wrench on bikes for 9 hours :)

Somehow, he fits.

Few! All done and back to being ship-shape!

Our now good friend Rob, who has been nothing but help and delight since we arrived.

Hoisting the main for the first time. No snaps of it though, since Murphy and the wind got together to change direction at JUST the right time… I dropped it again pretty quick :)

 

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New Equator – The Documentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a weekend! What an extravaganza! Life begins to return to normal now, but the memory and love of such a beautiful event will stay with us forever. Looking over the photos I’m reminded of the love and community that we all shared. Friends and family from around the world, and from right here in Madison, to unite and celebrate Love!

Each one made such an effort to be here – from hitch-hiking adventures to  last minute plane departures, there was a story in each arrival. Seeing so many of the people we adore all in one place, supporting us and unifying us, was… unforgettable and indescribable.  And the unimaginable hours put into food, bikes, co-ordination, and a million other things – an extravaganza would never have been possible without so much help. We felt touched, blessed and eternally grateful for the mission effort that went into pulling it off. Thank you packages are on their way!

Head on over to Flickr for lots more photos:    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilyluck/

And lots more coming soon! We’ll include an explanation in the thank you notes on how to upload YOUR photos to that flickr account too. We’d love to see them! Big thanks to Chris Hoppe for these snaps – the ones we have so far are beautiful!

The New Equator

Canoeing in

Charlie and the precious cargo

Lily, drifting in on Lake Monona

Charlie and his Basso

Lily and Juno

The bride and groom – Love and Bicycles

New Equator Bicycle Gang

Carolyn and Dad, pedaling the Pedi cab

Love is all around

Spiral Energy Ritual – first of three.

Spiral Energy Ritual, a gathering of energies

Best friends united, Rosie, Many, Ginny, Ange

Charlie in his Moroccan Gilaba ‘dress’

Lily in her ‘suit’

Charlie prepares for the Union of Hearts Ritual (three of three)

Lily prepares for Union of Hearts Ritual

Lucas leaves us his fire and water token – Union of Hearts Ritual

Lily and Charlie

A double rainbow formed above the park 15minutes after the Union of Hearts Ritual!

Carolyn

Bridget wrapped up in tissue

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New Equator – A Commitment Ceremony

On this little coin-sized circle, there is a place called Madison, Point A. It sits amongst green fields of dairy cows, people with large cheese appetites, and a whole lot of bicycles.

On this same coin-sized circle, there is another place, called Brisbane, Point B. It lies next to a big bountiful river, miles of white-sanded coastline, and a whole lot of surfboards.

There is magic here. If one were to tilt the world on it’s axes, if one were to – fall in love for example – one would discover that by drawing a connecting line between these two locations,  one would pass right through the centre of a Third important point, point C.

This point is of a much smaller nature, on our coin-sized circle above, but it’s name is Port Vila. It belongs scattered amongst 80 islands, millions of fruiting coconut trees, and a lot of water – the salty kind. Now, this is really the most valuable of the points to you, dear reader, since without it – this moment would not pass. RIGHT NOW, you would not be reading this blog. You would not have stumbled on this character “Lily Barlow” and you would certainly never have heard of “Charles Brigham”. Port Vila, Vanuatu is where it all began.

Don’t worry if you missed it though, it happens. Beginnings begin all the time, and it is a rare occasion when everyone can make it. Plus, guess what? There’s a whole other beginning happening in just Three Weeks! It’s called the New Equator Extravaganza – A Commitment Ceremony. It will be held at Point A, AND it will be dutifully blogged and logged on this here very website. There will be photos of the food, photos of the people, and photos of all the decorations that have been accumulating in my living room the last few months!

Turns out, if you spin the World around a little, it lands in Perfect Balance: right in the middle of Love, Trust, and Commitment. It’s a good idea to draw it coin-sized too, so it doesn’t look so big. That way, people you really really love and miss and wish could be here, will look at it and think “oh, Point A is so close to us here at Point B, there’s a dotted red line right to it”. And Voila! You will have yourself a grand extravaganza, with people coming from far away lands just to ride a bicycle, camp in a tent, and laugh with two pretty ordinary folks

 

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