Batemans Bay

Well after a long bus ride I made it to Batemans bay. The ride actually wasn't all bad, but I was dissapointed when I worked out that the clock on the bus was an hour and a half fast. I managed to get a little sleep, the bus was pretty empty so I had plenty of space. I began reading Steven Hawking's "A Brief History of Time," it is written to an audience not familiar with physics but it is still hard to follow, I am liking it though. Anyway I got to Batemans Bay at 5:30 am, and couldn't check in until 8 am, so after a bit of skating around I found my hostel then decided to go back into the town to find a bench. Well I went to a park and lied down, but foolishly didn't consider that since the park was on a marsh, there might be bugs. I got like 5 mossie bites in 10 minutes and got the hell out of there. I found another bench next to the SALT water, which was not mossie infested and read, listened to music and waited. As I waited, the sun rose behind a forested hill on the water front and the sky shone red, then yellow then blue as the ships in the harbor drifted and the green starbird lights blinked. Then a flock of like 200 cockatoos flew directly overhead, it was pretty phenominal. After a while I headed to the hostel which is also a caravan park. It is really small with only one dorm room with 3 bunk beds. More than enough considering the amount of couches and floors I have been sleeping on. I intoduced myself to the German guys there, and crashed on the bed hard. I slept til about noon and got up and went into town. I searched the coffee shops for free wifi to no avail, but I was directed to McDonalds which has free WiFi. That is where I am writing this from. There isn't a whole ton to do at Batemans Bay, it is kind of a camping town, but I am going to go walk along the water and drink in the natural beauty. It is a nice change of pace from the city life. Well I am headed out in 2 days, next stop Wollongong.

Cheers.

Bon nuit Melbourne.

Well I am leaving Melbourne after a great 6 days. This city is rad, bad and ... mad? The couchsurfing.com community here is really good. I met a lot of travelers, drank a lot of beer and had a lot of good times. I got offered a trip to a farm when I was at a CS get together. I ended up going halfway to Adelaide and staying overnight at a dairy farm. I put the little suction cup things on a cow tit. Good times. There's all sorts of interesting geological shit up the South coast, you can see how the ocean has worn down the coast line of years and years. Well I can't write a lot, I have to go to the bus station for a lovely 12 hour ride up to batemans bay where I will stay in a hostel a couple days and figure out where to go next. It is getting cold here, luckily I am headed up the coast where it will be warm.

I stayed with my good friend Owen, who I know will read this. it was good times. LOVE YOU BUDDY!

March 23

Well, it has been hella long time since I updated this. I wont bother to recap what I did in Canberra. Although I had a good time, it was not very blog worthy. Last night at midnight I took a bus from Canberra to Melbourne, it took 8 hours of which I slept maybe 3. At first I sat near to someone with bad B.O., but a European dude wanted to trade me seats so he could be next to his gf, and I gladly obliged. I sat next to a grad student who studied linguistics and we had some pleasant conversation. I arrived in Melbourne around 8 am and the sky was overcast. At the train station I could see the local stadium upon a grey sky and was eerily reminded of Seattle. Throughout the day I couldn't help but be homesick because the city reminds me of home so much, kind of a hybrid between Seattle and Vancouver. I am staying with a Canadian for the week, he is really great and I am glad to be hosted by him. Zeus would be pleased. Couchsurfing.com has really paid off for me so far, and tomorrow I am going to meet up with a Swedish guy from the site. Today I met some Belgian dudes on the tram and asked them how they felt about Aussie beer, they said it was shite. They pointed me to a beer bar that served exclusively Belgian beer. I went there and bought a glass for $7.50, yikes! It was delicious though, worth the spendyess. I met up with a guy who I have talked to online for a couple years who loves pokey the penguin and tim and eric awesome show great job. We had good times, watched tim and eric on dvd and drank jap beer. I couldn't ask for more. I am planning my trip up the coast, and the bus will take me along a beautiful stretch of ocean highway. There will be a hand full of YHA hostels along the way as well, but I will try and stay with people from CS first.

I will be back in the U.S. in late May, I want to get a room in Bellingham and a job to get by. I have a ticket booked to return to Sydney in September. Not sure if I will use it or not. I guess I will see what the future holds.

spirits that haunt this house.... tell me, what was we talkin 'bout?

Quick update, I am kinda loaded. Me, my sister, and her 3 house mates used a pendulum to contact local spirits tonight. Apparently, I will fall in love in Australia, but I will move back to the states and she wont come with me. Also, I will be in Australia for a while, so says the spirit. :) I guess I am in for an exciting trip.