Mt. Isa, OZ

Okay, back onto the road we go. After talking it over, it looks as though we may not head North to Kakadu, and instead head South towards Uluru and King's Canyon. This is based on time and the weather at the moment. While, it's been a very dry Wet season here, that doesn't mean it ain't coming and as I wrote before, it's Cyclone season. Plus, it's supposed to be humid as all hell up there, and dry heat sounds much nicer. So, we head for Alice, and the Red desert.

Mt. Isa, OZ

Well, Longreach ended up being our line. After leaving town, there was no question about it, we'd hit the Outback. The night after Longreach was spent camping down by the road. At this point, the flies were starting to drive us mad, though they would thankfully buzz off after sunset. The following day we bought head nets which were a very, very good idea. We headed up the Matilda Highway, stopping at Kynuna, where we decided to spend our Saturday night. It's a town of 16 people, and home of the Blue Heeler Hotel, where "Waltzing Matilda" was performed for the first time in public. Wasn't as wild as some Saturday nights that I've had, surprisingly.

From there, we headed on our way, passing by the Walkabout Creek Hotel, the bar out of "Crocodile Dundee." They may have shot parts at the Blue Heeler as well, but I'm not too sure about that.

We pushed on, and finally made it to Mt. Isa, a bustling town of 20,000, and the largest that we've been in since leaving MacKay. Today, was an off day from driving, a chance to do some internet and generally take it easy. We checked into a lovely little caravan park, that provides us with our own bathroom (pure luxury). So, we stay here tonight and then figure out where to next. We're looking at heading North, but we need to check the weather first. I guess it's Cyclone season, and I figure those are best to avoid (cyclone = hurricane). So, we'll see.

Longreach, OZ

Well, we left Mackay three days ago, and have reached the lovely town of Longreach, birthplace of Qantas and home of the Stockman's Hall of Fame. I'm gonna pause here to note that any town with more than 6 people seems to have a museum here in OZ, it's a bit unnerving. Eva's right that it's probably their best attempt at tourism, but geez.

So far, so good on the road. The last few days have been nice, we drove from Mackay down to the Capricorn Highway, which runs roughly along the Tropic of Capricorn. I believe that Longreach is smack on the Tropic, so once we leave, we'll be back in the Tropics (we dipped below for a few hundred K). Our first day, we drove from Mackay to Clermont, a nice little town that Eva just loved. We had to find a town for the night as Eva had a phone interview for a job back in Germany, managing a Beer Garden. She had the interview and I passed out, waking briefly as we moved to the caravan park for the night.

From Clermont, we drove South, passing through the gemfields region of Queensland and maybe OZ. At any rate, while we missed Emerald, we did see Rubyvale and Saphire. We passed through Alpha and finally parked on the side of the road for the night, judging that there was nobody that'd give us a hassle. We were right, it was one of the nicest places we've camped so far. And one of the best nights.

I woke this morning for the sunrise (not sure how or why), which was stunning, colors of deep red. Eva woke briefly for it as well, took a look, grunted and rolled over for a few more hours of rest. I did the same after taking a piss and photos.

I'm not able to put up a link on my website to the latest photos, but here are some from the last two days, click here

So, that brings us about up to date. We're headed to Mt. Isa at the moment, and from there, we're not sure. We may go up to the Darwin area, or head South to Alice and Ayer's Rock. You'll have to wait and see.

McKay, OZ

Again, I tried to see a platypus, and again, I failed. Eva and I drove from Airlie to Eungella Nat. Park, in the hopes of seeing a platypus.

The drive up into Eungella was an interesting one. I say, "up," as it was one hell of a steep hill. One turn defeated Vacilando, and we were forced to back down and try again. That was after I got us stuck in a ditch. However, we managed to free ourselves from the ditch, roll on back, and give 'er some gas and made it, barely, around the bend. It was a steep hill.

The first night, we camped on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, figuring that it'd be unlikely that anyone would be on the road at night. We were wrong. John and Sue drove past us, returning from a evening swim and stopped to have a beer with us.

The next day, we woke and then went for a walk in the park, passing a platypus viewing platform. However, it was the wrong time of day. We later found out, after driving back down the hill (much easier), that we would've seen several had we waited around, but we weren't in the mood. Instead, we stopped at Jack's Lemonade Stand on the way into the Hatton Finch Gorge and whiled away the afternoon hanging out with Jack, and his friend Sheriff, plus playing with his new puppy (really cute).

And now, we're in Mckay. It's the last town for us before we leave the coast and head into the Outback. I'm not sure how much internet we'll find out there, so I may well be out of touch for a while. But, we've got all the gear we need, the extra fuel cans, and the water tanks. It should be one hell of adventure, isn't the Outback what OZ is all about?

Airlie Beach, OZ

Back from the Whitsundays, and what a trip it was. Quite simply, I had one of the best times of my life. The weather was great, the boat was excellent, it was about as close to perfect as I could ever have hoped for.

Tuesday, we set the alarm, and woke early. I don't know how people can do it, wake each morning to a blaring noise, such craziness. Grumbling, Vaciland, Eva and I rumbled our way from the campground to the port. Before leaving Vac, we decided to drop a bomb on the unwanted guests who'd been inhabiting Vac (this is me glossing over the cockroaches). Bunch of freeloaders, but I've seen nothing of them since our return.

We joined an equally bleary group of people waiting for the Condor as well. It turned out to be an interesting mix of people, including: 2 guys from Yale (one was a wetback though), a Canadian, some Koreans, a lot of Scots, a few English, Irish, a healthy dose of Germans, a few Austrians and some Dutch. Oh, and an Ozzie. Interestingly, there were both Red Sox and Yankees caps being worn as we cruised out of harbor. Neither was American, but I'll give Hey-Chong (that's what it sounds like) credit that she wore her Sox cap because of BK Kim, and not just because she wanted a pink cap with a "B" on it.

The sailing was great. The Condor, we learned, has won every major open sea race twice (this doesn't include the America's Cup, but the stat still seems impressive). The crew knew their stuff and when the sails were run out, we moved.

On our first day, we sailed out to a good snorkling spot and spent some time bubbling about in the water. Eva and I did a slow snorkle, which often included me watching Eva dive down for a closer inspection. I preferred to float at the surface, partially as my mask wasn't great and leaked. Eva used to work for Prodive in Cairns and had her own.

After lunch, we sailed to a sandbar surrounded by water and islands. It was one of the nicest beaches I've ever been on, just a spit of sand in the ocean surrounded by beauty. Eva and I lay out on the beach, enjoying the sun. Back on the boat we had an evening/sunset sail to our berth for the night. The sunset was brilliant was was the full moon rising shortly later (there was land in the way, which delayed the moonrise). As we sat out, showered and full with a good chicken dinner, a warm glow filled our souls. This was the best Valentine's Day that I've ever had. Not that I usually have great Valentine's Day (don't get me started), but it did top the one I had 14 years ago which resulted in my first kiss. My first kiss was great, but come on, lying in a tropical paradise with a lovely woman, while doing a three day sail around islands of stunning green and waters of arresting blues?

The next day, I woke early (I hadn't slept well), and started my day with a naked dive from the boat. Not that many people were up so I avoided the shock value. We elected to have a nice, chill day sailing and stop in at Long Island where there was a resort with a pool, bar, bar in the pool, and the other usual amenities. The place was filled with Americans, about 50 up from their studies in Sydney. We had the required Long Island Iced Teas and then pushed off to head to our second night's stop. That afternoon sail was the best of the lot. We passed several small storms, managing to avoid most of them. Where rain fell, rainbows marked the spot, one falling on a three sailed yacht on the horizon. As the sun set, it set a shower behind us gold. It was spectacular, and there was a fare breeze and we took a hard line into it. We put in for the night, and had what turned out to be a rather quiet one. Eva and Robbo took turns giving me head masages (I didn't know the difference, Rob has surprisingly soft hands). A guitar was broken out adding to the mellow mood as it became a bit of a sing-a-long night. I didn't really mind, instead settling into the front sails with Eva to relax and enjoy the evening (get your minds out of the gutters, there wasn't even a hint of privacy on the yacht).

Our final morning began with a choppy breakfast and a sail to Whitehaven Beach, evidently the most famous beach in the Whitsundays. It was beautiful: fine white sand against a deep aqua-blue ocean. We played in the water a bit, sat in the sun and admired the myriad of bikinis. And then, we sailed home, a lazy four hour cruise is mild winds. Most people napped.

Words can't express how wonderful this trip was. In Eva, I've really found someone special, and what can I say? I'm in love. It's been a long time since I last said that, and it was the last thing I was expecting, but there it is. It's scaring the crap out of both of us, as we know that our time is fleeting, but we're resolved to make the most of it, and enjoy what time we can make together. So, I'm going to wrap things up for now, I think we're off tomorrow to find Platypus. But, I'm doing well, and happier than I've been in a long, long time.

Airlie Beach, OZ

I made it! Bob has left Agnes Water! We left on Wednesday, I waking early for a morning surf to start my final day. Didn't catch a single wave, seemed fitting somehow. I got the Vac packed enough to get out of town and then started making my goodbye and farewells. That took a few hours.

I said goodbye finally to Paul and then we headed to the Servo (gas station) to fuel up. Ran into Noah there. Eva commented that I'd likely see three more people to say goodbye to before we actually made it out of town. She was half right. I ran into two more people in town, Preacher Paul and Irish Steve. #3 was Mac from the shuttle bus, but I ran into him in Miriamvale. But, by 4pm we were cruising on the open road, Agnes Water receding in my rearview mirror.

We spent the first night in Yepoon, the gateway to Great Keppel Island. It was a bit late by the time we arrived so we stayed in a caravan park, it was only $5 each, so not bad. The next night we headed up to Serina, which is just south of Mackay. There we camped near Grasstree Beach on a hillside with a wonderful view overlooking the water.

We got up at a decent hour yesterday and made the final leg of the drive up to Airlie. Eva and I decided to stay in a caravan park just off the main drag which is $20 for the two of us per night, so not bad. It's a really nice spot, with power. Today, is a lazy day, no driving, just some relaxing and getting the van into better shape. Last night, Eva and I hit the town, and had a few drinks at a club. It was a great time. We ran into Mike and Corey from Agnes who had just gotten back from their Whitsundays cruise. I entrusted Corey with letter that I'd been asked to deliver to Chris who had already headed farther North.

Eva and I are going to head out sailing on Tuesday. We've got a three day/two night sailing cruise on the Condor, a former racing yacht. It looks very nice, we're both getting rather excited about this. This boat is the last "perk" that I got before leaving STA. Good thing it was an open reservation as it's taken me well over a year and a half to actually show up and use it. I was also able to get a bit of a discount for Eva, which had her bubbling over lunch yesterday.


So, that's where things stand as of now. The past few days have been amazing. It's crazy how well Eva and I are getting along, it's freaking both of us out a bit. And I'm not going to read too much into it but our feet are exactly the same size. At any rate, every day's been a good one so far. We're still taking things one day at a time, even though we get along great, we're still very different people and are still getting used to each other. But, the sex keeps getting better, and better.

Agnes Water, OZ

Well, I'm finally leaving and this time it's for real. I've got four other people coming with me tomorrow as we drive up to Airlie Beach. Of the four, one of them is Eva.

I mentioned in my last post that I'd kissed a girl and that girl is Eva. She's from Germany, Mainz, 6'1" blonde and very very cool. It's amazing how quickly we hit it off, how well we get along, and how difficult it is to keep our hands off each other. She's the reason that I'm finally leaving, I'd said for months that it was going to take a tall blonde European to get me out of here, and I was right. We've been together for over a week now, we've gone surfing together half a dozen times, which has been a lot of fun. I'm pretty danged happy, and so is she. Last week, she suggested going up to Airlie and doing the Whitsundays together. Yesterday, she sold her car, and is now ready to move into Vacilando. We're taking it one day at a time, but each day has been great. And, the sex.....yeah.

Yesterday was Ben's 18th birthday. Ben is one of the three guys whose house I've been parked next to for the last couple of weeks. I would've left last weekend, but I had to stay for his birthday. And being his 18th, I offered to throw him a party, as I have a bit of knack for that type of thing here. So, I threw my final party in Agnes, the first one in over six weeks, and the first party we've had since New Year's. It was a hell of a shindig. We went to the beach and it was the first that I've thrown on the beach that the rain didn't end (well, drive everyone else away, I never left because of the rain). It went late, the final group of 15 people left about an hour before sunrise. Ben, Paul, Eva and I watched dawn break on the beach. Well, not so much Ben. He passed out at some point during the night, and was still rather drunk when we finally woke him. He went swimming twice (the first time in clothes), spoke in gibberish for a while, but in the end we managed to shepherd him up the hill and get him home safe and sound, somewhere around 6.30am.

The other part of the night was that for the first time in over a month, Sam and I spoke to each other. Since I moved out of the hostel we hadn't spoken to each other, and I'd resigned myself to the fact that we probably wouldn't speak again. But, Sam asked me if we could talk last night, and I'm so glad that we were able to finally close the gap that had existed between us. Sam apologized to me for the pain that caused me, something that she said was not easy for her. It meant a lot to me, and still does. And, I'm glad that when I leave that I'll be able to say goodbye to her.

So, I'm ready to leave. For 3.5 months this has been my home. By far, the longest that I've spent in any one place during the course of this trip. And, it's been wonderful. I've made so many friends here, half the town considers me a local. I truly surfed for the first time, and I dove on the Great Barrier Reef. I spent the holidays here, starting with Halloween and going through the New Year. For over 2 months I was the concierge in the hostel. I've gone through some of the most difficult times I've had on this trip, and I've had some of the greatest times as well. It's going to be hard to leave.

So, I've got to get Vac packed, take care of a few odds and ends, and then tomorrow, for the first time, I'm actually going to head out of town, back into civilization, traffic lights, supermarkets and fast food chains. It all seems so surreal.