Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Agnes Water, OZ

Well, in the Black Hole, I be. I spent the afternoon on the beach. I had my normal morning, waking and stretching and coffee alone usually gets me till noon. Gotta get those joints stretched. Heh heh, I just got that. I wandered down to the shoreline passing by Pete's the hostel's longest resident at 6 mo. and grabbed the surfboard that he had there. It's a nice 8ft+ with a wide body. Perfect for me. I strolled on down, thus armed with Steph and Sonja. Steph occupies a van very similar to Vacilando, which is parked next door. Sonja's a Deutsche Frauliene who I'd love to see wearing a Dirndl. Ah, the ladies here... Yeah, that's the best part. Well, no, but it does make for pleasant scenery. Mmmmm.

I hate reality shows. Wrecking my concentration all together.

Okay, just spent a minute watching the Skandi's behind me playing Monopoly. Yep, back in the motion, back in the mood. So, the beach. Right. I changed into my rashguard, and hit the waves. And you know what, it really is a hoot. It really is fun. Now don't worry, I'm not about to become a surf bum, but I'm gonna enjoy it when I can.

It was a bit choppy in the water but the waves came in on a regular rhythm and had a bit of oomph to them to. Nothing big but the had some push to them. I've yet to really catch one, and I didn't get one today, but it was my third day out since mid April. And the second in a row. I started remembering some of the things from Raglan, how it felt when the surge of the wave catches up and how much it matters where you lie on your board, an inch really does seem to make a difference. Getting used to a different board as well, but I have to see, this one is great. I wonder who it belongs to? There were waves breaking close to the shore and I made for these, practicing my standup, moving the board beneath me as I rise up onto it, connected to the water by the soles of my feet. Yeah, I can understand the rush, and I've yet to really get one yet. Hmm, maybe tomorrow.

My afternoon then passed cheerily on the sand, chillin', spillin' and having a goof. The swiss misses paddled in and greeted John Boy who'd been looking pretty on the beach. My toenails matched my mood as they'd been painted a few hours earlier by Biggie which I think precipitated my entire day.

Yep, if I had to put a pin on it, it was the toe nails that really starting the spinning of today's revolution round that yonder orb. Yep, that was it, Butch.

The Swiss are a goofy duo. It's odd that since I've gotten North of Brisbane I've met a plethera of Swiss but things just swim that way at times....

My mind's awandering again, so I'm gonna sign off for abit, and have a stroll. So that's about it, just thinking about the fact that Halloween is drawing nigh. Hmmm..

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Agnes Water, OZ

Well, I've been here three days now, my second at "Cool Bananas." So far, it's living up to its billing as a very nice hostel. It is immaculately kept and has a very pleasant layout. It's not large and as there's very little in this town, this hostel definitely is of the Black Hole variety.

Friday, I drove up to Bundaberg, which is best known for its Rum. It's a huge sugar production area so it's not just the rum, but why most people have heard of the place. Many backpackers stop there to work in the fields, most that I met were doing vegetable picking, the sugar season hasn't started. Friday night was a loud one at the main bar in town. I met up with Hugh and Adam, two guys that I'd met in Brisbane and Dingo, from Fraser Island. It was rather fun, a good band playing outside and decent dance music within. And the crowd was a very motley group indeed.

The next morning the heat woke me early. I found a campervan supply store that I'd passed the evening before, and was able to get a new faucet for my sink in Vacilando. It's finally working! This means that I can fill the watertank under Vac to carry non-drinking water, for cleaning and for the radiator. This is something that I'll need once I hit the outback and the East coast is getting smalller and smaller as I move towards its end.

I have to digress for a moment. They just finished watching "I Robot," here at the hostel. It's final credits say that it was "suggested by the writings of Isaac Asimov." What kind of crap, is that? I happen to love Asimov's writing and am still annoyed that they made a movie that runs contrary to everything that Asimov wrote about. The movie is about robots attacking people. Asimov's writing was not about robots as monsters. And while he did write about robot attacks they were inadvertent rather than diabolical. Grrr.... It just ticks me off. There, vented.

Upon arriving in Agnes Water and 1770, it rained, a lot. There have been storms passing overhead for the past 4 days or so, dumping rain for an hour at a time. Sometimes, there's lightening as well. I should really get the wipers fixed eh? You'd be surprised at how good Rain-X is though. After the deluge, I swung by Bananas to enquire about a room. I'd been hearing about the hostel for some days, and figured I'd give it a go. They assured me there were plenty of beds, so I said I was going to go to the beach and check in later. No worries. When I got back, the place had filled up, "so with tears in our eyes, we headed off into the Sunset, looking for another place to..." sleep. I'd met up with Adam and Hugh again at this point. They left Bundaberg a few hours after I did and passed me just as we arrived in town.

We eventually ended up a campground that was $4 a night. It was absolutely crawling with bugs. We had a relaxed evening among them, cooked some dinner and finally got to see the stars. It's been days since there's been a good night of stars, what between the clouds and the recently full moon. The stars were pretty.

So, that gets me close to present. I'm staying another night here, or so. And then pushing up the coast again. I'm going to make every effort not to get sucked into this place.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Hervey Bay, OZ

Okay, finally moving again, I'm about to head up North. Not sure how far I'll get today, but I'm headed to 1770. All in all, Hervey was great for me. I love the front porch. Last night, it rained again, I pulled the Hibache under cover and had a great steak meal for $3. I've taken a look and right now I can sleep 15 people under cover in Vacilando now. Geesh, I'm impressed even if you ain't. So, onwards and upwards I go, where I'll be this time next week, I don't know.

Hervey Bay, OZ

Yeah, I'm still here. I've been taking it easy and the fact that I can live in my car for $5 a day and the internet's $1 per day (yep), helps things. Also, it turns out that Hervey's a prime spot to outfit Vacilando for the drive North. I've got the two new speakers wired in. I picked them up last week when we first arrived in town. The day after I got back from Fraser I picked up another tent for the van. I guess someone pissed in it, so the group had to pay for it. No one wanted it and I overheard them making plans to take knives to the sucker rather than give it back to the hostel after having paid for it. I said I'd take it, piss smell and all. It's been washed since then.

Finally, I got a third room for Vacilando! Well, fourth if you count the kitchen and living room separate (don't forget the penthouse). Paul, a guy who works here gave me an awning for Vacilando that has zip down walls. It's pretty sweet. I've got it up now so I've got a front deck. Considering I spent $15 for the speakers, and the rest was free, I think I've made out like a bandit.

Escape is one of the less sociable hostels I've been in, it's a constant flux of people going and coming from Fraser, no one stays long. That said, I like it. In addition to the price the take away just outside the gate (30m from Vac) serves really good food, possibly the best nachos that I've had in OZ. Every night I get a bat in the tree above Vac, there was a bit of a fight for the branch last night. I don't know if it's the same bat, but I prefer to think it is.

The weather has been crap, which may also explain my lack of movement. But, for whatever reason, I needed these days off. But I think I start moving again demain, onto to 1770. Really.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Hervey Bay, OZ

Born to be Wild

"Get your motor running,
head out on the...Beach.
Looking for Adventure,
or whatever comes my Way.
And like a true natured child,
I was Born,
Born to be Wild,
I'm gonna climb across the sand, push through the land, and I'm never gonna die!" (we'll see)

I am back from Fraser Island, Baby! Before leaving, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of sunburnt veterans of the Fraser Island tours and got myself some sunblock. And, of course, it rained. Quite a lot, actually. If it was the Heavens pissing down on us, well those angels pee like fire trucks then. Now before consoling thoughts creep 'cross your commentary thus far, let me,"Stop, and thank you, Baby. I just want to stop, and thank you twice." I had a Great Time! Arrr.... A Toyota Landcruiser 4x4 with muscle, Baby! And they let me drive, heh heh heh. Certainly, the ex wife can appreciate the sheer fun of tearing across Fraser in a beat of a very different color than Vacilando. And I pushed that mother through rivers that flowed down the roads winding their way amid the lush rain forest of Fraser's interior. A tree broke in the storm, crashing down cross our path 10m in front of us. I double clutched, dropped a gear and sailed over that bastard more smoothly than any speed bump back on the mainland.

I'm getting ahead in the tale. I joined a group of 9 on a self driving Fraser Island tour (one of many), for 3 days/2 nights. My group was the standard mix: 2 Pomeys (Jenny and Hailey, 2 Germans (Anne and Claudia), 2 Irish (Connor and Brina), and 2 Swedes (Eric and Petra). I was the token Yank. The other 4x4 in our group had a few Canadians in it (what do you call a noisy Canadian? A Yank, or in the Tank), so the noise level was about equal.

Pulling off the Fraser Island ferry, I was behind the wheel in my standard garb. I'd forgotten, or more accurately I didn't think about the fact, that I'd shown up that morning wearing my sarong. It was early and I'd forgotten that some people think me an odd nut for running around in a dress (as I'm writing this, I'm still clad in nothing more, I've just realized).

Some of the group I'd gotten to know a bit the day afternoon before as we went food shopping for the trip. We had $135 to spend (9 x $15) and we ended up spending $134.20. The last few items were scanned with mounting tension and anticipation. When the last item was swiped it was like winning, "The Price is Right." So, already we'd bonded.

The sand was soft as I pulled onto the island, but the 4x4 cut through hit like butter, sliding round corners, gliding before the tires bit, and the beast's horse power took over. Fuckin' A! I'm pretty sure we strayed from the recommended route, the Canuck wagon took a different fork in the road anyway. We hung a left and I had brief moment of getting bogged in the sand. The troops deployed and I assed my way out. But before I could drop 'er into low 4 (oh yeah, Baby, I can feel my balls growing just saying that aloud, pure testosterone), a coupla Ozzies appeared from the brush and proceeded to deflate our tires.

"What the Fuck?"the first thought passing through my mind, but I settled on voicing the second, "Who the Fuck are y'all?" For some reason I need to curse while writing this. Maybe it's the music that I'm listening to: Indigo Girls. The Ozzies assured me that there were no worries, and we had a lively exchange on how much air they were leaving us with. We settled on 25 psi (or whatever it was measured in) which was less than the 30 the dealer had told us to go to, but more than the 20 the Ozzies were gunning for. Also, they'd already let one tire down to 25, the feral bastards. Anyway, everyone left happy. I gunned it through the soft bit like it was nothing (too easy), and then slid her back up to high 4 as the troops loaded back in.

We made for a lake set in the midst of sand dunes sweeping inland, like a desert erg. The water was delightful, filled with catfish like Farm Pond which I grew up swimming in. And like the beaches there, I went buck, the excuse being that I'd forgotten my bathing suit. Those of you who know my bathing suit realize that I'm full of shit as the bathing suit's more embarrassing/offensive. But no one care, save I when the small fish, the fingerlength ones, nibbled on my nuts. Have to say, it wasn't bad, just surprising. I'd give it a go.

The gals in the rear were navigating. I broke onto the beach amid shrieks from the rear as I once again muscled through the deep sand. However, closer to the water I could open her up a bit, dropped into 4th and passed 30kph.

"I feel the need. The need for Speed!"

It was decided that it was already 3p and we were supposed to be off the beach by 3.30p that we should take the inland tracks instead. I didn't have the map and preferred driving the inland tracks so we took a left, back into the bush. Again, rolling over, around and through at 20-25kph. No one else wanted the wheel so I tore up those trails. Passing other cars managed to be a bit tricky as it involved inevitably someone throwing it into reverse, but it was just part of the adventure (plus, most of the other cars backed down, it musta been the cowboy hat).

After an hour, we again neared the beach and stopped at a fork in the road. At this point we paused to consider our options. After looking at the map it was realized that the inland route was 3x the distance of the beach and I could also drive 2 or 3x faster on it. And so, though it was past 3.30p we returned to the beach to try and get to camp before 7p. Jenny was wary of this move, and voiced her fears of being washed out to sea. I'm pause here to say that Jenny may well be a Nemesis of mine, in that if I were to say "up," she'd say, "down" and so on.

The tide was on the rise but there remained plenty of beach. I stuck to the soft stuff making for excited flurries from the fannies in the rear, but we sailed along with minimal bumps. There were several streams feeding into the ocean, each one bouncing those in the rear. At the largest of these, Connor went out to test the water depth. The troops also dismounted and decided to ford the stream on foot (I dunno why). I put up a spray of water as I gunned it through.

We stopped to admire the hulking wreck, rusting on the beach before pulling into Base camp, our home for the next two nights. The tour that I ended up on had its own campsite with toilets, showers, a BBQ and range set and covered picnic tables (bear that one in mind).

We set up camp and relaxed with some drinks and a smoke. Our first night was a feast: burgers, sausages, taters, corn, coleslaw, and sweet potatoes. Good, good feed.

As people were getting to know each other's name, rank, favorite sexual position a dreaded Dingo strolled into camp. The moment of confrontation! Every Aussie who'd cautioned me as to the dangers of Dingoes flashed through my mind (you know who you are). A cry of "Dingo!" went up from our table and the poor critter shat his pants, turned tail and ran for it. An hour later he slinked past my tent, within a meter or two of me, as I relaxed in it, clearly seeking solace and a place to hide from the flash photography that'd been hounding him through the woods. Poor bastard.

The next morning began early for me. Oddly, I've been rising early the past few days and was the first up from our group (I know!). We loaded up, leaving our flies open (stop giggling) on our tents in case a dingo came sniffing along (I mean it!). We set off North along the beach, myself stuffed in the very rear as to better experience what I'd put the others through the day before, "Now, you'll see what it's like, you sadistic bastard." I snoozed, waking when Jenny hit 90kph passing another car on the beach. The general censuses from the rear was, "Slow the Fuck down!" We stopped to hike up Indian Head, a jutting headland which marks the northern end of 75 Mile Beach. From there, I heard that people often saw dolphins and whales. Didn't see that. Did see 4x4 in the water, the surf washing over its roof. The story was some idiot was out at 1am drunk and bogged the sucker. Some people were having fun snorkeling around it.

We headed further up to the Champagne Pools. I'd heard that they were just alright so I opted to stay with the 4x4 and have a smoke while listening to Lionel Ritchie's, "All Night Long." Connor has a great mix on his ipod.

Eric drove us back South, me moving up to shotgun engrossed in the music selection. And the rain began. Heavy and hard, the visibility sucked and the beach was under water. Eric declined to drive inland so I retook the wheel. We were headed to some lake with turtles in it. Yay! Turtles! Val, are you excited? Turtles. I dunno.

And so we're back to the flooded roads, crashing trees, driving through a rainforest amidst a nearly tropical storm (just 200k south). It was muddy, puddly Heaven! A dream track for a 4x4: mud to slide corners in, the bumps soft with water, and big puddles, 20m in length, to kick up a spray in (yes, I used to jump in puddles as a kid too). "Cannonball!"

The rain continued when we finally reached the turtle lake. Some went swimming and we met up with the other 4x4. We drove back to the beach in tandem, having a tight moment when we had to squeeze around a passing bus. However, during the return, the rain abated and quickly the waterways sunk back into the sand.

We headed back to camp for lunch. On the plus side, no dingoes ravaged our tents. However, my tent now came complete with a small lake. I drained the lake and did my best to dry the floor. Sleeping bags were hung from the rafters of the picnic areas roof, which we were appreciating far more at this point.

That evening the group was determined to exhaust our liquor supply, mostly intact from the first night. The lights went out at 10pm, but the rain had restarted so we carried on as drinking with a roof overhead seemed preferable to the alternative, our rather wet tents. I guess the one's supplied along with the 4x4 leaked. The front windscreen leaked as well, so I'm hoping it's simply that they don't get much rain on Fraser.

I digress. There's a parrot or parakeet just overhead harmonizing with the Indigo Girls. Bit tone deaf though....Well, he's getting better. On the same branch there hung a bat last night, I love this campsite! Which I found out is $5 unpowered (which they don't seem to check whether I'm using or not).

Our numbers dwindled as the night carried on, people eventually going to bed and passing out or doing it in the other way around. Eventually we were down to the Pomey girls, Eric, and Matt and AJ from the other 4x4, a Canadian and a Dutch SOB, respectively. And their bottle of Vodka. Silly thing to leave out. Strip poker ensued. Eric was soon bare assed at the table, his cap on my head and and a pile of shoes at my side (I'd gotten a flush in a game of 5 card draw). The game ended as the storm shifted into high gear and some were getting a bit chilly in their various levels of undress. Hailey became "Dingo" after she cried "Dingo!" for the fourth time (like the Boy who cried Wolf). Nothing that came out of her mouth could be taken seriously, as she lied compulsively. I liked her, crazy bitch from Birmingham. Told me all about Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Told me she lived next to one of 'em back home too. "Dingo!"

Far into the night it was down to Dingo, Eric Jen and myself. And the empty vodka bottle. Silly other car. We plotted our own dingo attacks at this point, which involved creeping into the tents, and giving a hickey to some sleeping relative stranger. Some high stakes Rock, Paper, Scissor determined that Eric was our first Dingo. The plan failed due to the fact that no one was really asleep in the tents. Instead, we packed the food into the van (after waiting an hour to see if the rain would slacken, it didn't), and huddled in there for a bit. Petra eventually came looking for her, "Toy Boy" (her words) breaking up the party. I retired to my tent and the girls went to sleep in the back of the 4x4. My tent was still a bit damp but sealed so otherwise dry and I soon drifted off to sleep.

I woke groggy four hours later, and we broke camp, it being our final day. Connor drove us out as I nursed a small hangover and lack of rest. It took me a while to register that I actually got the best nights sleep as the others were getting dripped on the whole evening. We drove past two lakes and had lunch at the second: Lake Mackenzie (most popular beach on Fraser).

We spent the afternoon lounging, the clouds thinned and we were able to sunbake a bit. Finally, we sauntered back to the 4x4, finding Dingo asleep in the rear. We set off on our final drive back to the port. This road had been sand 3 days before now seemed like Green Lane, my home, but to a much more massive degree of pot holes, dip and bends in the dirt track. It was a veritable slalom course which I weaved our way through, enjoying my last chance behind the wheel.

We arrived early and the early ferry was late, so we rolled right aboard, reuniting with the other 4x4 which had left Mackenzie several hours earlier. There were a bunch of 4x4 tour groups on the boat back and arm wrestling ensued. I took on the other guy in a cowboy hat, in a North American showdown, "Bring it on, Canada." I got spanked. I was told later that he cheated, but it was with our right arms so I didn't think I had a prayer (I'm a lefty as is my whole family).

And so, we returned, muddy from the mire that I'll remember as Fraser Island.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Hervey Bay, OZ

Well, I have left Brisbane, after two and a half weeks respite there. Didn't fill Vacilando once till I was on my way out of town. And again, the sadness of goodbyes is mixed with the new vistas and vitality on the horizon. Karla and I parted ways on good terms. I was moody but I do appreciate how much I appreciated my time with her. I got to watch NFL. I'm going to digress for a moment to say,

"I LOVE FOOTBALL!"

I know a lot of people take offense to me using the term to talk about NFL football but, at least get behind the sentiment, me loving football. Maybe the word is more important.

Moving right along.

My last few days in Brisbane were spent in a backpacker's parking lot, where I was able to lounge in Vacilando and have free use of the pool, hot (bath warm) tub, and showers. There I met a new crew for the drive North. Again, a pair of Germans, and rounding out the group is Karen whose Swiss, albeit the German part.

I spent my final morning in Brisbane having a coffee with Ed, an Ex pat from the US who's been living in OZ for over twenty years, I think. He's lived a lot of places it seemed. The talk was good and we finally lumbered out of town, somewhere around noon.

We drove from Brisbane to Noosa yesterday, passing the Glass Mountains on the way up. These hills spring from the flat ground in a manner that reminded me of Northern Greece, though I didn't see any monastaries on top of the Glass Mountains. Noosa was nice, in the same way that I say Nice is nice. Yeah, I liked it, but...I've liked other places more.

We camped in a parking lot near a dog friendly beach, and cooked over 2 kilos of ground beef into a towering pile of meat. Good cheeseburgers, best that I've had thus far in Vacilando. Janine and Matt got their hands dirty and mixed up the ground beef with some seasonings and onions. Matt is from Mainz, which is near the Rhine Valley. I know this as I passed through the Mainz train station on my way to the Rhine Valley in 2000. I think I also remember thinking that heading to a small town in the Rhine Valley with no rooms after dark was more appealing than staying in Mainz. I haven't mentioned this to Matt, but it is in a nice part of Germany, and I only saw the area around the trainstation. Janine's from Berlin and is more American than German (in my mind), she loves PB&J, American Football and prefers Tequila to beer. Ah, tequila.

I should digress here to mention how I met Karen and Janine. I went out Friday night with a group from the hostel. We hit a bar and someone bought a round of tequila. At this point, I mentioned body shots. Now, we didn't get quite as advanced as the body shots of Greece, but there was much enthusiasm. Janine's got the photos.

So, back to Hervey Bay. We drove here this morning, as Hervey Bay is the commercial entrance to Frasier Island. Everyone has told me that I must go to Frasier, so here I am. We'll see. I'm reviewing my options on how to go, I can either pay $160 for a two night 4x4 thing or go on foot for $50. I may have to splurge. But I still remember Esther's stories of camping in the toilets on Stewart Is. and going on foot does have some appeal. So, we'll see. I've parked Vac in a powered site for $10, and have the benefit of having the fan tonight when I go to bed.

I've also just bought some new speakers for Vac and a pawn shop. They were $15, so I figured what the hell. So far, they sound decent and I'm not worried about blowing them out with the tape deck.

Well, that's about if for now. I've gotten a few emails from people I haven't talked to in a while. Two from the ladies of Fiji actually. I got an email from my old stalker days, namely Abby. She briefly caught me up on her life (like I didn't know). Also, got an email from Bitch Bob. She's sounded rather gimpy at the moment with a injured hand or something. It could me cosmic fate in that I just passed through Gympie today (pronounced the same). Who knows?

So, that's about it. I'm on the move again, and each day is again unexpected. So, I'm going to clean up now, and see about some dinner (ah, the mountain of meat).

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Brisbane, OZ

It looks like I will be able to extend my visa here in OZ to stay past Dec. 12th giving me some breathing room on my travels. It's not definite, but the immigration office seemed to think that I had a good shot at getting approved. I'm currently staying in the West End of Brisbane, found a nice little hostel to park Vac in and it has a pool and hot tub. I know that I need to start moving North again, I'm just being slow about it. But with the knowledge that I've got a bit more time to do it.

I went to an Amway meeting with Ingrid this week, I think that was the biggest surprise for me. I figured out it was Amway about 20 min. into it, and then they confirmed my suspicions. To be honest, the live presentation didn't make much more sense to me than any of the infomercials that I've ever seen. I'm not shocked, but I still don't really get it. Oh well.

My plans are to go out this weekend, I'm due to have a fun night or two out. I may be meeting up with Karla, but I don't really know. We'll see, it's all subject to change and revision.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Brisbane, OZ (West End)

It's hot, damned hot. My plans got complicated again by people blowing things and other people up. I'm sick of terrorists, they make travel such a bitch. As you might expect, it's a subject that comes up often on the road, and yes, as the token American in many places, I'm often having to represent my country in lively debates. I just wish we could refer to it by any other name, Guerrillas, now that was a name I could always warm to. I'm much happier with the mental image of an ape than a name that is scary by definition. That said, my plan had been to exit OZ in Darwin and head to Bali. Now, I don't know. I'm weighing the options and hopefully will have reached a decision before my visa runs out.

Now, some of you back home may think me nuts for even considering going to Indo now. However, for one, all the bombings there happen in Bali, so avoid Bali, it's a larger country than just that island. Also, from what I'm reading there was some rumors on the streets that there was going to be a bombing, so take word on the street seriously. I also remember 2001, when I didn't go to Turkey after 9/11. As it turned out, that would've been the safest time to travel there. Anyway, I'm not making up my mind on this just yet, I'm going to take a month to decide and see what the news coming out of Indo indicates. And, yes, I know, don't touch drugs in Indo, I'm really not that stupid, close but not quite.

My immediate plans are a bit up in the air. It's getting time to move onwards from here. I've had such a good time here in Bris though that it's hard for me to move (what else is new). Karla is a large part of this of course. I've simply had a great time hanging out with her, essentially being a houseboy extraordinaire as I chilled at her place. But it's nothing new, saying goodbye, and while it's as hard as ever, it's becoming something familiar and I now how it'll be. As I move, my spirits will lift, and the memories that I've made, I'll cherish till senility sets in.

As it would turn out, I met up with an old flame from this trip last night, Becs from Tasmania. She was in town at a diving coaching workshop (something like that). We met up for a bottle of wine last night and I gave her a lift to her plane this morning. Seeing her gave me some nice perspective on my current situation, as there are some familiarities between the two for me. It's not easy saying goodbye to either.

But I must move on, at some point. And, Karla's heading on the road herself, to Europe, so I may yet see her again. I'm going to take a few more days here in Brisbane, I may go to a Rave that I've read about this weekend, and I'm going to see about picking up some people for the next leg North. I'm also now looking into extending my stay in OZ once more. I'm starting to feel rushed and that's something I try to avoid on these travels. So, we'll see.

On a final note, Baseball postseason is here. I was able to see my second Red Sox game of the season this past weekend, the season finale. It was nice to watch us whomp the crap out of the Yankees. So, post season begins, and I'm getting fired up. I hope all of the boys at Fat Face's are having a pint there on the beach. Bring it On, and Bang it Down!