Ahhhhhhhhh Straya Update

Time for a wee update - it's been a while. I have been in a relatively internet-less abyss. But, Australia has been fabulous. I've so far spent the majority of my time in Melbourne, my favourite city on the planet (if you couldn't tell by my previous post). I went to the Australian Formula One Grand Prix the other weekend - my friend Deano had an extra seat in a corporate box, so it was super nice to be fed and watered whilst watching the action. It was LOUD, and fun. I also went to the first footie game of the season (Aussie Rules Football) and my team (Go Tigers!) won, so that was great. Then on to the Rip Curl pro-surfing competition at Bells Beach (although we just saw the grommets going for it, the pros were off that day) and all in all it's been a very sporty few weeks.

I've also managed to pack in about a dozen park picnics, some dancing, lots of quality time with friends, including some from the US, and lots of time just hanging out and wandering through the city, taking long walks, eating yummy vegetarian food, reading and just being. Of course I can't leave out the alpaca farm adventure, but that's a-whole-nother story for a separate post (coming soon). And of course I have been amusing my Australian friends with my rendition of their accent, saying things like "bur-gah" and "what-iv-ah" and "wa-tah" whilst they try to immitate mine "waturrrrrr" "burrrrrgurrrrrr."

So in other news, I've decided to pack in the job search. Okay I will still look occasionally, but it just might have to wait until I come with a work visa already in hand (I am, sniffle sniffle, too old for the working holiday visa, so have been trying to find a sponsor, to no avail. I keep getting "your qualifications are great but we don't sponsor" as my standard answer). In the meantime, as I have been wanting and needing to do for some time now, I am going to spend the rest of my time (besides playing, of course) writing the book. It is time. It is in my head, and I need to do it. Encouragement is welcome, because it seems like a daunting dask (not the writing it part, the getting it published part). So there you go, that's my update, with an alpaca story coming soon.

PS Long overdue photos from Asia are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92640&l=05073&id=791230081

And Australia photos are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102753&l=0e14f&id=791230081

Why Melbourne Rocks

Could there be a more tourist friendly city? Let me tell you why I love Melbourne.

First: the free stuff. There’s the City Circle tram, which goes in a big loop all around the city, and guess what, it’s free. Then there’s the tourist shuttle bus, which goes from Richmond to the Arts Centre and throughout the city, and guess what, that is also free. And if that was not enough, there are tourist helpers on Swanston Street with red caps and shirts and maps in case you get lost. Oh and don’t forget the tourist information substation on Bourke Street. It’s as if the city were designed to make life easier as a tourist.

Then there’s Fed Square with its outdoorsy space and lots of free summer festivals and entertainment (Slow Food, Food and Wine, Thai, Moomba Water Parade, etc) and the tourist information center, which has, wait for it, FREE information on everything going on in town – you couldn’t be bored living here.

Let’s add to that the fact that the CBD is a grid, with easy-to-remember order of streets (King, William, Queen, Elizabeth) – could it get any easier? There’s the half price tickets booth on Swanston Street for same-day bargain theatre. Vegetarian food is everywhere. Good food is everywhere, of every variety. Some of the foods I thought I’d miss when I left Southeast Asia are right around the corner. Then there’s Ackland Street for cake shops, Lygon Street for all things Italian, need I go on? Suzuki Night Market, and Victoria market with a plethora of food and produce and cheap souvenirs and clothes, and any and everything you could imagine.

Oh, and I can’t forget about my favourite bridge, connecting Richmond to the CBD. It has these speakers that play spoken stories or songs from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries. These stories or songs all overlap each other, and make for a nice, distracting, arty walk in to the city. Oh and of course there’s city art and sculpture everywhere in the city.

There are bike paths everywhere, CLEAN public toilets everywhere, water fountains everywhere, it just keeps getting better. And let’s not forget the Royal Botanical Gardens, the perfect picnic spot, or just a place to chill out on a nice summer day. Oh how I love those gardens.

I mean okay Melbourne is not perfect, it’s getting expensive, the real estate is crazier expensive, there are some drunken brawlers in the CBD at night which is getting the police all worked up (justifiably so), and strangely, people don’t really smile or say hello when they pass you on the foot paths, and yes, I have been run over by city people trying to pass me on the street.

But for the most part, damn I love this place. If anyone can find a rival to this fabulous city, I’d like to hear it…

Meeting People

I meet people in the most random places or circumstances. Some of my best friendships were forged from random meetings, and I just think, wow, how lucky to be there in that exact place and time.

When I was a travel agent, I became good friends with some of my co-workers, of course, and some of my clients who were trying to go to some crazy place that I've never heard of in middle-of-nowhere Africa (Matt) or just to Dallas to buy a motorcycle (Bradley) or just stayed in Gainesville forever (Christos) so I was bound to help them out with very specific travel requests (George, haha) and become their friends.

Then there are the random meetings around town through bizarre hobbies like roller-skating, where you meet someone five times before they finally remember your name but end up becoming an important fixture in your life for years (Gregg) or you just say the word roller-skating and they say “sign me up” and wind up being your pseudo-family ever since (Claudia).

But the most random stories are those that occur on the road:
Paloma = working at Hard Rock Cafe in London in 1997, becoming flatmates for three months in 1999, and somehow managing to stay in touch and travel together to Spain, Peru and Thailand over a span of 10 years.
Tony, Anthony and Fred = on a Nile cruise with my mom in 1997. They were the only other people under the age of 50 on the cruise: "I must talk to them!!!" We stayed in touch, visited, and even went to Tony's wedding in Australia in 2002.
Tim and Dean = Terry's Top Hat Tour of Berlin whilst travelling in 1999. Tim had a fancy camera so I thought, right, he must be the one I ask to take my photo. Again, friends ever since. Tim came to visit when I lived in New Mexico, Dean is my saviour and lets me stay at his place in Melbourne and even cooks for me. Angel!
Windsor = brushing our teeth in a Bangkok guesthouse bathroom. Don't you often strike up conversations with a mouth full of toothpaste???
Laura by way of Sandra = met Sandra on a night train in Eastern Europe in 1999, stayed in touch via email for a little while, both coincidentally moved to New Mexico at the exact same time in 2000, and met her new flatmate Laura. Don’t know what ever happened to Sandra, but Laura and I kept each other sane in NM and even managed to escape at the same time a year later.
And now I am in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia, on an alpaca and horse farm belonging to Josie and Rick, who I met when they were just passing through New Mexico in 2000. They needed to change their flight, I was their travel agent, heard the Australian accent and told them how I missed Australia and boom, insta-invitation to visit and stay. So this is my second visit (and soon to be next blog post) to hang out with them and then alpacas and horses, a fantastic family whilst mine is so far away.

Why we choose to stay in touch with some of the bazillions of people we meet, I have no idea. But when I look back over my years of travel and the fabulous people I have met and stayed in touch with, it just makes me smile. So ... faithful readers, what is your strangest meeting with someone you are still in touch with? Inquiring minds (well, my mind anyway) would like to know.

And of course, a big THANK YOU to those of you I have since imposed myself on whist travelling. What would I do without you???!!!???!!! :)