I love how Aussies shorten every name or word in general. Brisbane is Brissie, Rockhampton is Rocky, kangaroo is roo, volunteers are vollies, mosquitos are mozzies etc. The first time I heard the word 'mozzies', I couldn't stop laughing! The cutest name for these often unbearably annoying creatures. Also, arvo as afternoon, or tea as dinner.. Gotta admit I was pretty confused in the beginning. Then again these abbreviations and all, are addictively handy, so please forgive me if I keep shortening all the words and no-one understands me.
I have skipped so many nights these past couple of weeks that I really miss sleeping. Perhaps I'll get a nice 9 hour sleep tomorrow in the plane..
Took a Greyhound night bus from Cairns to Townsville last wednesday. It was more like a party bus. Half the way at least. Got caught in the company of some Irish people who were determined not to sleep. The bus-driver didn't help much as well. I'm pretty sure he is a comedian when he is not driving the bus. The way he talked about the rules and gave demonstrations, even made somebody demonstrate how to use a toilet and played a prank on her, as a result she got caught in there. The whole bus was in tears.
Who I also met on the bus, were Lexy from The States and her boyfriend Andrew. I met Lexy in NY and haven't really talked to her ever since but it was super great to see her, felt like no time had passed and we decided to travel together for a little while. The bus was probably speeding, as we made it to Townsville almost an hour earlier than were supposed to. The terminal wasn't opened yet. After half an hour of freezing caught a ferry and went to Magnetic Island. A lovely, very natural island with lots of wildlife!
Townsville itself is not the most exciting place but it is pretty!
Andrew has lived in Townsville for years, stayed in his mates place for the night, claimed his car from another friends place and drove down the next day. Andrews cousin lives in Gladstone. They were supposed to go there a bit later, but as I was headed this way too and needed to be there the next day for "Busby Marou" concert and they quite liked what I played them on my i-pod, they decided to come to the concert with me. It was one of the coolest concerts I've been. So good vibes, energy and people. Ended up dancing on the stage with Lexy during their cover of "Girls just wanna have fun". Jeremy Marou's guitar-playing skills are out of this world and Tom Busby's voice sounds even more amazing live than on recording. They are fun, free and improvise a lot. As it is a band from Rockhampton which is close to Gladstone, they call it home, half their families were amongst the audience and Jeremy's cousin played with them during a couple of songs. The warm-up band was "The short Fall" - brothers from Rockhampton, and awesome as well. Both of the bands called the concert as one of the best they've played.
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THE SHORT FALL with Jeremy Marou chilling at the back and singing along to his favorite song of theirs |
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Jeremy Marou |
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BUSBY MAROU |
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Jeremy Marou and his cousin Dave Dow |
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| Tom Busby |
Gladstone itself is a lovely little town, pretty much untouched by tourists. There is nothing special to see or do, but there is something about it! Andrews cousin lives basically on a mountain-top. End of the street up the hill, next to a park and with a view over the city.
Plus points for a cool art gallery!
Made breakfast for the guys. The easiest pancakes in the world. For 4 people we used 4 small eggs and 4 big bananas. Delish!
Couple days later I left Lexy and Andrew to relax and discover the area and took a night train to Brisbane and scored a free ride from there to Surfers Paradise.
3 last says in Australia. For this time. I am pretty positive I'll come back one day, not for a year again most probably but for some time. Australia has claimed a piece in my heart as well and I tend to go back when I love a place.
Got the train ticket for 50 bucks, considering the distance, it's cheaper than gas divided by 4 people!!! It was a backpacker price which needed a certain card for proof which I do not have, but it was worth the risk, in the end nobody even checked if I have a ticket, let alone some special card. The train itself was pretty comfy and would've been a decent place to sleep if it hadn't been so damn air-conned.
Quite nostalgic to be back in Surfers. Weird thing is, it's not even that up north but it isn't much colder than Cairns. What a wonderful winter.
Visited old dear friends, met lovely new people, could not not go to Sin City and Beergarden and went surfing!! I've been surfing once before with Matt and Keiu in Nsw, but then without much introduction or learning and with way too big waves (tho I can't say it wasn't hell of a fun time!). I promised myself then that I won't leave Australia without learning the basics of surf! So, bought a groupon and took a surf-lesson at Cheyne Horan surf-school. Had a great instructor. Got lots of good tips, caught some beautiful waves, stood up!!!! As a bonus saw the majestic humpback whales witnessing our attempts of being as graceful as they are.
"Surfing is one of the most exciting and addictive activities out there. Once you've tried it there's no going back - you'll be hooked mind, body and soul."
I was talking to my instructor about how he has surfed all his life and I loved his explanation of why he does that. "Surfing is one of the few activities that really allows me to live in the moment. While surfing there is no time nor even the slightest idea of thinking about anything else or thinking at all."
Surfers has a modern art gallery as well, who knew!
Last beers, last chillout on the beach, FOR THIS TIME, see you someday Australia!
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