Coming down the coast

Cairns could be called the starting point of the backpack trail along the east coast.

The city itself is not that attractive and the main street, the Esplanade, is filled 50/50 with Tour Agencies and Restaurants/Cafes. Again, not much to see unless you want to book something to do.

Close to the Esplanade is the Lagoon though, a big treated water pool leveled barely above the sea level. The public toilets/showers are better than the ones from the hostel I was staying at (Gilligan's is said to be the best, mine, the Bohemian is not worth the money), so this quickly became my favorite freshen-up spot.

I bought a Greyhound Australia coach ticket in the morning and booked my first trip from here down to Townsville. I came a bit too late and after checking out of the hostel at 9AM, I could then only take the 1PM bus...

This is where the Lagoon shows its value - when there is nothing else to see or do, take a dip in the mild sweet water under the scorching sun and relax in the shade of the surrounding trees.

The sun was already there, combining with the tropical humidity, I hauled my (heavy) stuff to a bench where a couple of swedes were resting, asked them to keep an eye on my bags and splash... here I go for a veeery welcome dive.

As the time to leave got closer, I spent my time chit-chatting with the swedes (not the easiest task in the world I tell you), snacked and prepared to leave.

One thing I haven't said yet, is that the east coast is packed with german backpackers. It's incredible, I feel in Germany here and that is NOT what I was looking for when I decided to travel in Aus!

Oh well, it could be worse... and I'll tell you how when I can think of anything worse...

In the coach, I met Maria, a... german girl:) She's a very happy, bubbly and photogenic girl from Landshut, a place very close to Munich. Worthless to say that we spent the whole ride speaking in german, but it was fun.

Rolling a bit back in time: before leaving Cairns, I searched for some couches in Townsville and hurray, I took two numbers to contact with me. Returning back to the present...

As Maria did not yet book a place ot stay, I proposed her to stay with me at Lana's and her mother's place in Townsville. CS was a total new concept for her, so she was quite... dubious about such an adventure. Not only did I have a bed at Lana's, Jason, who was very keen on hosting, was also offering his place. M did not want to stay at my first offer (Lana) and I wasn't up to quit on Lana so Jason could have been an obvious choice for her. OK, she would be a girl, staying alone in a stranger's place and she'd spend a night (or more) there. In fact, 2 guys live at Jason's... I can only think of what M was thinking "this is getting dodgier by the minute...". In the end, I should be the one with doubts about such an arrangement! In fact, the guys are gay, which means M would be in a perfectly safe haven.

I wish she had accepted the offer, J was a real fab and offering host. I crashed there for my second and last night in TV. He did go out of his way to show us around town, give us the sights and some hints. I hope this little demo about CS and hospitality were enough to convince M to join and give it a try. And here a snapshot of the happy trio high above TV, on Castle Hill.



I ended up staying at J's after his invitation and because he would be able to take me to the coach terminal when driving to work. Lana (and Maxine, her mother) were my hosts for my start in TV.

Drifting a bit aside... My contact with wildlife has been rather scarse for the last times... I actually can't remember the last time I petted/touched a wild animal.

L&M are wildlife care takers. They are part of a small group of people taking care of injured or sick wild animals (not pets). While I was there, they got a call on their 24/7 duty phone - a possum had been attacked by dogs. The lady brought the little animal in but it wasn't too seriously injured. The little fellow was more affected by hunger and thirst than by his injuries. He was about to be put down as he had only one eye, but after a vet call, we got the confirmation that he should be able to learn how to survive like that.

Just imagine holding this 250gr little animal in your hand, he's shaking a bit, everything around him is new and strange, he's been handed from one pair of hands to another but now he's warming up in this towel and somebody is handing him a plastic nipple to suck on for some water. Oh and does he love it! A piece of fruit has the same effect, he grabs it with his 2 tiny long-nailed hands and enjoys evey little bite he takes at it. They agreed that the little had been abandoned by his mother. After being released, he would need to learn to survive on his own and stay away of dogs.

The same night, L, a diplomed zoologist, had to put down 2 birds - they had a virus and the treatment was not able to improve their state. What looks simple and downward fair, an euthanasia performed on two little birds, is just... I don't know how to describe it, but something dies inside you at the sight of the last struggle an animal offers and the fading out laying down of the head.

L looks at me and says "you get used to it with time...", she had noticed the look on my face.

More about the post-TV happenings in a later post.

n.-

The Melbourne Experience

Kudos to Alisdaire, who is the MelbournExperience, a CSer that just thrives on CSing, who was mainly hosting and we could truly feel his drive and energy. He organized a trip down the Great Ocean Road - what better way to thank the soldiers for their effort during the war? Have them build a road, this road! -a place where a car accident is so easy. In a car, the driver has a hell of a hard time to keep his eyes on the road and not on the scenery. It's so beautiful. Well, the initial sensation is great, after a while and many stops, beautiful sceneries composed of a clear blue sky, strong currents smashing against huge rocks are just "one more scenery". Still, looking at the pictures today gives me great pleasure.

This trip was superbly organized and we were 8 CSers sharing 2 cars.

It took us 2 days, monday and tuesday, departing from Melbourne at 8AM and getting back at night. He, Alisdaire, already knowing the place knew where to go and what to see. Following his lead we saw waterfalls, Koalas, the twelve apostles, etc...

We camped somewhere quiet for the night and there we could see how well we all got along. I am not saying we were behaving like brothers (or cousins even) but we got our stuff pretty well sorted out and had our camp was setup in no time and lifted the camp again in no time the following morning.

As I am frequently joking about myself, here goes my own gag.

I went to a barber on Saturday and he was quite prolific with his cair clipper. Let's just say that my head feels fresh right now:) Unfortunately, he left the neck like I don't like, with a square cut and I politely asked him to make the transition smoother... Surprise, I suddenly had a white horizontal stripe at the back of my neck because I am so darn tanned and my skull did not enjoy the sun as much as my neck! Let's just say I was not "going out material". Luckily, H had some cosmetics to cover the... stripe. That surely saved the night and nobody noticed it but I used the trip to GBR to shine some light on that poorly exposed area of my head.

So, yeah, it was great and I'll leave only these 2 pics for now:)

Thanks Alisdaire and the rest of the folks for the great time we spent!

Melbourne is a great city, I truly loved it. Starting with its beach, St.Kilda, reachable by Tram, the bars going from the classiest to the most fucked up ("Cherry" and "St. Jerome's"), the architecture.

Once back, I spent one more night at Mandy's place. She is a great girl, friend of Judd's who in his turn I met in Munich at Ilka's (see the connection?). He was a fuckin' great host! Jesus, that guy runs on atomic power, he's totally unstoppable and would stretch the furthest possible to help me and Heidi getting sorted out in Melbourne. Before Mandy, we stayed at Andrew's, another of Judd's friends and a GREAT guy! He works for a beer company which owns (among others like Carlton Draught) Foster's. I invited him to fly over to Munich, all for the sake of beer market research!

With these folks, we went to some cool restaurants, checked out the Italian neighborhood and its plenitude of restaurants and Ice Cream stores. Met up with mooooore people, invited some more CSers, went to some more cool places. On ACDC Lane (yes, there is one!!!), the Cherry Bar was rocking hard'n heavy on... drumroll.... ACDC!!! but when I left The Strokes came up... oh well, I'll give the joint another go when I move in... oops! Did I just write that?

Anecdote: As the lane's sign was quite often stolen, they replaced it with a painted version:)

The city's more urban than initially thought, the graffiti scene for example seems to be very fruitful with the city hall even supporting artists. Another CSer organized a "graffiti tour" where we ended up checking out some great art on quite a number or narrow lanes.

We happily remained quite a long time close to Brunswick St, an arty/alternative road in Fitzroy where some cool stores and bars can be happily checked out. I loved Bimbo's, a bar with LOTS of couches to chill on, have a pizza, admire the (fu**ed-up) interior decoration. The place's mascot is a baby plastic doll, very often suited with a strap-on, masks etc... groovy baby!

I read that the coffee culture was quite present and it's true, it quite felt like Munich but with less Starbucks. H being a vegetarian, she had a special pleasure eating out, in such a way that she considered the pizza she had at the Vegie Bar the best she EVER had! I have a pic of the place, but it's not available... just imagine a restaurant where I took the pic from the 1st floor which oversees the ground floor, there's a square bar, people, tables and chairs... I'll leave it to your imagination but make it very cool!

Other than that, it was quite easy to find our way through the city (H is so much better in orientation than me) and the tram services are good. Walking home was not a problem either, living on Brunswick makes it easier! (this was the "Lonely Planet" kind of information...)

Back in '99, I was an active ICQ member, and my number was/is 14401843. Aaaaanyway, ICQ had a "find random contact" feature and while I was online at 4AM (back then, I really did not have a life) I met a couple of foreign people, one of them being Keryn! We kept in touch for quite a while with diferent frequency levels but we never met in person until like... 5 days ago. I was tired but it was great to meet her (and Luke) and check out her great appartment in St.Kilda. Guys, see you very soon, most surely in Melbourne!

And here's my contribution to our hosts and all of those we met in Melbourne... a bit of humor please:)

(H, I know you don't like this photo but I just adore it:)... and I hope you don't mind me posting it...)

Thanks again Alicia, Andrew, Stu, Alisdaire, Penny, Judd, Mandy, Matt, Keriann, João, Kelly, Gerard, Paul and everybody I forgot to mention (I am composing this post for an hour or so, so give me a break).

Heidi's still in Melbourne while I flew up north to Cairns. It's the first time I ever went to a place WITHOUT ANY plan! If only Bron could see me, she would be so proud of me! snif snif...

She knows what I am talking about, I usually stress out if there's no plan and I have nothing planned for when I leave the city (Cairns does not look like it but she's one...) on Monday except that I want to hitch-hike my way down to... somewhere. Until then, I'll be checking out an aerial cable car travel over the Rainforest and a 2day sailing cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. Too bad I don't have a sub aquatic case for my camera - I am (still) so happy about it, it kicks some serious ass!

I was thinking about taking a 4day OWD Padi course, but I will leave it for another oportunity. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are so much cheaper:) and they're all on the travel map I want to share with a future travelmate.

n.-

PS: While reviewing this post, I tried logging in to my ICQ account and it still works:) I wonder who's still on from my old contacts! I have an idea I have to write more about later on involving a cheap, light but sturdy film camera and some people I know from around the world I know but never visited.

PPS: Posting with pictures is so difficult! It won't accept line breaks now! Just great!