At the blockades

As the day draws to a close, I'm quite content with the activities I've fitted in today, and indeed this past week.

I began by attending the inspiring water workshop that Tamsyn spoke excellently at, then headed up to the town of Bad Doberan to join Leila at the nearby blockades where I was able to spend around seven hours in solidarity with the other blockaders, some of whom have now been there over 36 hours and will remain there until tomorrow.

The blockade, at the east gate of the $17 million fence, had a party atmosphere, and in the brilliant sunshine felt like a giant picnic. I was impressed by the organisation by the blockade organisers - there was plenty of food and, most importantly given the weather, water for everyone, toilets with soap and water, rubbish neatly bagged at the side of the road and someone had even signposted a route to the beach, only a few kilometers away for anyone who needed a break from the action. As I approached the fence I passed a "Children's autonomous blockade" where the average age must have been around two, and spotted resourceful protesters making hammocks from the plastic netting the police used to fence off the road.

The police looked hot, tired and bored, but were kept entertained by protesters who were drumming, line dancing, juggling and otherwise generally putting on quite a spectacle, and as the day drew on, they conceded to retrieve a beach ball that breached police lines in an animated game of volleyball, and one bemused officer accepted a big bunch of wild flowers from a thoughtful activist.

From the east gate I followed the fence for a while, and watching it disappear into the distance was almost reminded of pictures of China's great wall. It made me smile to see that Heiligendamm's "great fence" had in fact been breached, as somehow a series of photos depicting people's lives around the world had been installed in the rolls of razorwire on the other side of the fence.



I left the blockades to return to camp here in Rostock as dusk approached, but hundreds of the most dedicated protesters will be there throughout the night, showing the G8 leaders that their summit is not acceptable.