Thursday, November 30, 2006

First Meetings

Morning, we wake up and hustle into the waiting bus to go to the WWOOFing place. There, we are introduced to our three fellow WWOOFers, Franka, Lukas and Johannes who have already been there for a week.Maggie and I have our first meal there and it's depressing. We had predicted the night before that schnitzel would be our last good meal and it was fast becoming true.

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We are brought to Kingscote, KI to do shopping and laundry. The shopping goes very well but the clothes arent clean. Maggie and I spend a while at the beach watching birds and talking. I go back to the KI Central Backpackers to shower, hoping that nobody catches me.

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After Pete's pelican show (which we didnt pay for), we go to the other side of the jetty to hunt for baby penguins. No one else knows what we're doing peering up drain pipes. Back home, we muddle around the kitchen and whip up a pretty satisfying dish of spagheti bolognaise. We have dinner right through to sunset at around nine and everyone is reluctant to leave the table. A round of yahtzee is called for but we end up playing until midnight. Tonight, no shower for everyone (but at least I did).

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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Was it love at first sight?

The Ashes Urn exhibition opened at the SA Museum and so I decided to go. It's a tiny urn and the idea, of two sporting nations of the world who tussle year after year for an urn that might contain a dead man's remains, is pretty sordid.

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picnic at vic square. it is easy and nice to sit on the grass and eat under a tree while reading. bread free from hostel and canned sardines free from pam

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The first time I've seen a real windmill, on Cape Jervis in the Flerieu Peninsula, SA. In the days to follow on KI, geography lessons with Ho Ah Chai will all come to life.

I'm on the bus when the driver stops at Wilunga to pick Maggie up. She's pretty small sized and has a nice smile. Her hair is dirty blonde and even her eyelashes are golden. On KI we board the shuttle bus but miss the stop. We end up having to stay one night at the KI Central Backpackers, before we proceed to the WWOOFing place tomorrow. Maggie and I think it's pretty funny and we decide to make the most of it. The fatherly shuttle driver (he says he has a soft spot for WWOOFers) tells us about the Schnitzel Nite in the hotel on the beach. It's a short but pleasant walk there, and I get to have a relaxed chat with Maggie. It's 8AUD for a beef schnitzel with chips on the side and also unlimited servings at the endless salad bar. Very very good!

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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Nightwalker

I'm in Adelaide again for one night while waiting for tomorrow's bus to KI. The hostel's centrally located on King William St. It's terribly boring at night after watching Simpsons, Futurama and Will and Grace, so I take a walk alone. Outside the adult shop, I think about it and pluck up the courage to go in. It's very bright and cheery in there, not dark and dingy like Singapore's, maybe sanitary even. I buy the first porn rag of my life, take my change, and go out shaking in nervousness and glee. Turns out that I have not enough change, and this time, I go in and ask for more calmly and righteously. Money-minded backpacker, me.

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Monday, November 27, 2006

Dead/Alive in Melbourne

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The Melbourne Cricket Ground

Morning was really horrible. Afternoon, weather was sunny but cool and lots of people running/cycling along the Yarra. I joined them, and ran to Prahran where I would be meeting Dave. He and his friend Byrd sit down for a drink with me in one of the district's many cafe's and just watching the people. I walk back to save money and the weather's starting to cool down. At night, Fed Square beckons with Owen meeting me there. We go to his place where we decide that I'll stay the night there instead of at Mervin's. We go for a stealthy night drive and move my bags to his place, so I can walk to the Spencer St Station early tomorrow morning. Sneaky!

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Sunday, November 26, 2006

Morning Madness

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Shu En, Mervin and Hui En at Vic Mart

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Saturday, November 25, 2006

Alone again

I woke up early in the morning to meet Pam before she flew off to Singapore. As usual, she was late and funny about it. We go to her place where we spend the entire morning eating, talking, sleeping, packing and stressing. Finally she goes and I'm alone in Pam's uni dorm in Melbourne.

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The "light and fire show" (as dubbed by Scott) at Crown Casino in Melbourne is not so nice. Not unless you're dressed like a "hobo abbo" in shorts and thongs and a huge army jacket in freezing weather. Not unless you're watching it from a ninth storey apartment right beside Crown (courtesy Owen).

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Friday, November 24, 2006

The Overland

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The Overland between Adelaide and Melbourne is something like a relic. It is straight from the 80's and the toilets on the train are something to behold. The passengers are mostly old Australians (unlike on The Ghan) like these two fogeys here. He's wearing a HAT and a tweed jacket with lapel pins and she a dress with a pink flowing jacket. amazing.

261106: I spot her wearing the same thing on in Melbourne after saying goodbye to Shu En
281106: Again, them, in the same clothes, going back to Adelaide with me

In Melbourne, Pam is sposed to pick me up but she's nowhere to be seen. I walk to University of Melbourne to meet Shu En instead and two hours later she picks me up at the side of the street where I'm sitting like a lost backpacker. We go to her place where she cooks and feeds me (food!) and where I shower. Later, she brings me to Trader's Bar which has a very interesting concept. Drinks' prices are floating and determined based on demand. So if a drink is very popular, it becomes very costly, and vice versa. Thrice a night, the stock market crashes and drinks are all dirt cheap. But to get drinks at this time, you need to be all crouching tiger hidden dragon. so i just played it cool.

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Thursday, November 23, 2006

The UnXpected

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A visit to Adelaide FS in the morning. The firies here are fricking hot. In the SA Gallery, there's a Rodin exhibition so I fork out 5AUD for that, and it reminds me a bit of art history lessons that I had. I meet Scott and we go to the pie cart at the GPO for a pie floater, which is pea soup, with a mystery bag (Aussied for pie) drowned in it. Tres bien.

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Rocket invites me to PJ O'Briens for the firies gathering tonight. It's amazing how well they treated me, and the place was great too. This event is also being held to coincide with Movember, and most of the guys are indeed keeping a moustache this month. There are the daddy beards, the goatees and the very metrosexual fuzz even. Free food, 2AUD half-pints and...

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HHOTT girls to boot.. they're pretty intelligent actually! After this, I meet Scott again at Edinburgh Castle Hotel, which is just really apologetic. I take the O-Bahn home at around midnight and there're frightening drunk aborigines at the bus stop. Back in Tea Tree Gully, I have to walk for about 15 minutes in the freezing night. It's not that bad, a bit of an adventure, and the Southern Cross is magnificent.

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Homies

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Carly and Tony bring me to the community centre for some basketball. They have an amazing after-work life. Most days I just go home and sleep. They're a pretty odd young couple. Very hospitable but obviously still settling down. Carly makes dinner from frozen chicken nuggets toasted in an oven and sprayed with canola oil. She mixes Doritos in with the salad and also toasts some frozen potato wedges. She makes tom yum kway chap from instant packets and we all have to sit in front of the TV for dinner. It is too loud and we cant hear each other talking and the chicken is tasteless. But still, this is my first real meal since the Big Aussie Burger so it's much appreciated. Carly gives birth in 6 months so I hope she starts eating better.

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Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Ghan

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In Alice Springs, saying goodbye to Sandra. Murray's in the background folding Kristie's stuff into her suitcase.

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The Ghan comes right up beside the rock cliffs.

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The Ghan has the most spectacular desert views. Coming straight down the middle of Australia, the sun rises and sets on the two sides of the train every day, the windows making a frame of the picture.

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Monday, November 20, 2006

Fun on The Ghan

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It's going to be a two-day train ride from Darwin to Adelaide, so I buckle myself down for the ride I thought would be long. Until...

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With Pat on the way to Alice Springs. I bump into Sandra, who I met at the Budget Terminal in Singapore. At the diner, we pick up Murray and Kristie. Our gang spends the whole day on the train together, playing cards late into the night.

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Sunday, November 19, 2006

Exploring

Morning is spent on the greens in front of the NT Museum. It's pretty hippie and all, the band is playing Xmas carols and the smell of sausage sizzle wafts through the air.

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Roadkill at a Outback hotel. A true Aussie experience! This is Humpty Doo Hotel, where everyone else are friends and you can put up a naked picture of yourself if you are so inclined.

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Fishing at Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin, with Darryl. Thats all that is to do here. Dont read what everyone says and eat fish and chips here. It's not so good and costs too much. If you really want to, walk down to nearby Fisherman's Wharf. There's a fry-up here that gives you very good barra for only 6AUD. More authentic, more happy.

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Crazy riding.

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Driving through downtown.

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Saturday, November 18, 2006

A Great Beginning

Talk about great beginnings to adventures. In the Budget Terminal before we board the plane, we're herded from gate to gate across entire lengths of the terminal. One hour into the flight, the captain tells us we have to head back to Singapore and land to change to another plane. The next plane isnt until four hours later so we all wait.. and wait.. and wait..

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Finding my way about Darwin includes walking a great deal. Buses arent so frequent and reliable. And then a summer storm takes place. Im in the middle of a godforsaken suburb with no buses around, in shorts, and with no jacket. The wind starts howling the rain falls like needles driven into my skin by sister wind. After a while there's a bit of hail (!) so I hide under a tree but with all the lightning, I thought it unwise and ran with my bag above my head.

Getting back to the YHA, I rest for a while before tonight's date. Shower and changed, I walk down the street to Tap. Mitchell Street is the main street in Darwin and it's also the backpackers/club area. Everything is within 10 minutes walk so it's terribly convenient, not to mention rowdy. At Tap I order a Big Aussie Burger, and it's just that, so huge I couldnt finish it. We go down the street to the Lost Arc where we get agwa shots and then to The Vic where the tables are the dance floor. Last stop, Throb, and it's back to Darryl's place for the night.

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