National Pride

See a world in a grain of sand,2

Soar on winds so high, gazing out, through an eagle’s sharp eye.3

Watch the weather come and go, like the shifting tides,4

Watch the ocean currents turning, churning…5

Look! There’s an owl! Gliding, descending out of the starry night,6

Watching out for its prey, closing in, closer, closer.7

Smell the wind; it’s a storm, riding violently on the bucking waves,8

The waves are roaring, leaping ever higher, the clouds obscure the sun, see it fade away.9

Cyclone alert! Run for cover! Howling winds blowing, fanning our terror,10

Pounding rain and clashing clouds,11

Wildly whipping wind, throwing things about,12

See the wheels of time turning.13

The eye of the storm, calm and steady, clear blue sky above,14

Look at the trees, all stripped of their leaves,15

Still bent by that terrible breeze,16

See the droplets of water clinging to the flattened blades of grass,17

Sparkling in the bright light,18

The eye is passing, the wind is coming, and the clouds begin rolling.19

Hear the roar of the storm, take care!20

Hear the hammering rain, pounding like a thousand hooves from the wild brumbies of the outback. 21

The wind dies down to a mere whisper, the rain to a dull patter,22

The storm has passed, and the day is fading, safe at last,23

See the ocean, the tide is wild, bucking in its wild frenzy, 24

The waves pound onto the pristine beaches and smash against weathering rocks,25

This is Cyclone weather.26

It’s Cyclone season in the Top-end, the wet season.27

Flooding the streets of Exmouth, rolling into Coral Bay,28

The Ningaloo reef keeps growing.29

When you live in the Top-end you get the Monsoon, when a Cyclone will, recklessly whip through,30

In the top-end that’s one of two, the second is the opposite of the monsoon,31

It spreads across most of Australia!32

In Australia, the weathers always fading, always changing,33

The heat of the desert always changing,34

Searing heat through out the day, minus five degrees as the sun light fades,35

Watch it, what’s it doing?36

See it marching toward the sea,37

See it reaching, creeping toward all shores, is this Australia’s destiny?38

Feel the dry, dusty air, way out on the beaten track, 39

From station country to desert land, see the land we leave behind,40

Watch a gust of wind, whip up what we call, a whirly-wind,41

See the dust devils dance across the dusty salt bush plains,42

Sometimes I wonder, what it must like to fly beside the Boo-Book owl at night,43

See these tracks? Here in the sand? They’re a snakes, seen it first hand!44

See those mountain Ranges in the distance? No?45

Well in that direction’s the Flinders Rangers!46

See the view, isn’t it great! See the Australian country in all its bright glory!47

See the rolling ocean in the light of day.48

To see a world in a grain of sand, but able to do nothing to it,49

Watch the winds of time blow by, the Australian landscape always changes,50

The ocean eats at the edges, the sands swirling in the centre,51

The forests fight a losing battle, against the human barrier,52

Look out through the eyes of nature; see the world’s changes,53

See the Volcano shudder before it blows,54

The stillness before an earthquake shudders,55

Hear the roar of a Tsunami, as it rips up the ocean, and strips the coast line bare,56

See the best lightening storms the world has to offer,57

View the slashing, snapping, growling skies, what a great view!58

And when all is said and done the world stops turning for a second,59

Look out and see the world through new eyes,60

See the lands wild beauty, the savagery of the land, this is all a part of Australia,61

A part of our Nations Pride.62