Nov 2006

After our spoiling in Hervey Bay we reluctantly headed out and stayed a night in the town of 1770 which is the last surf spot on the AU east coast. From 1770 to Airlie beach (which is where I am now) is about a 7 hour drive but we broke it in half (unintentionally) by running out of gas half way through. We pulled op on fumes to a little bush town called St. Lawrence that's population is 179 people and about 10,000 cows. The petrol station in the town was closed when we got there and the owner (probably too drunk in the pub) refused to open up till this morning. So what did we do? joined him in the pub of course. It turned into an actually pretty good night though we definitely got some shit for being the only non-locals within about 200 miles. I talked a while with a drunk ranchhand who told me his cattle plot that he was responsible for was 10,000 acres and that is just a small one. Up in the Northern territory single ranches own millions of acres of cattle land. It wasn't untill last night and todays drive that the vastness of australia really hit me. There really is absolutely nothing except 10 meters of pavement that is man made for hundred of miles up here. Australia is the 4rth biggest country I think, about the size of the contenintal US and more people live in London than in the entire country. they certainly have the acreage to go around.
we are all looking for work in Airlie and I think that it will be pretty easy to find. Try to make close to A$600 in two weeks which i figure is pretty good for no work visa and no real skills. Camera is done for, costs more to fix than buy a new one, think I might be getting an early Christmas present???? Love you guys.

Interestingly enough Uncle Tommy, after your loads of comments about sipping rum on the beach we are actually in the rum capital of Australia, Bundaberg. I've had it a couple times and its not as good as our carrebean stuff but it isn't so bad. I don't really remember seeing it in the states but next time your in the shop have a look for it. We are about to go take a tour of the distillery and the such which usually involves a free drink . I'm so glad that TRB III is here and healthy, I'm not really sure what number of grandkids that is but I am pretty sure its a lot. Congrats congrats and sorry but the surf has been not so good. Even the surfers on the trip have been lacking barrels pretty much from just north of Sydney, the surf stops soon, at our next stop Seventeen Seventy, and the stingers start. North of Rockhampton you can't go in the ocean this time of the year without a stinger suit on to protect you from the killer jelly fish that apparently actively hunt targets including humans with highly developed sensory organs (even eyes). Anyway you can't swim in the ocean cause of them and you can't swim in the waterholes cause of crocs and its starting to push 95 degrees and were wondering just where we are supposed to go to cool down!
We just spent the last 2 nights in a real bed in Hervey Bay, where Tom's mom's friend from London (years ago) has a beautiful house that she put us up in. We had roast lamb for dinner and great lunches, we certainly didnt feel like backpackers anymore. 2 of her three sons were living and working in the city and they took us out for a great night on the town and (i'm sure) regrettably invited us to their poker game that I won. 70 A$ is a pretty good pay out for a couple hours of fun! Hope everything is great back in the states, It's beautiful here but I miss you guys.

also I keep forgetting to tell you, my traveling companion Nick Fairman has one of these and it is a interesting supplement to this one so if you want to check his out it is
http://nickfairman.travellerspoint.com

Once again I am siting in Surfer's Paradise updating this blog. It seems that the only internet cafes in the Gold Coast are in Surfers, yesterday we had to drive down from Runaway Bay to book a flight for Mono who will be leaving us in Brisbane on the 4th. Graham and Sarah (who we've been travellin with since Rainbow Beach are leaving us in a couple hours and heading South towards Melbourne eventually. One of their original crew, however, we've picked up and she coming back north with us towards Cairns. We're plannin on stopping in Airlie Beach for a couple weeks to see if you can get jobs on some of the tour boats that service the islands from there. Apparently its pretty easy to do and you get to get paid to go on the island tours. I am hoping to get my camera fixed soon so that I can start taking pictures again, I have been bumming pics of the group and we've burnt some cds so that I have the pics from Fraser Island and stuff. I've finalized the extension of the trip and will be coming home on the 20th of December after spending 19 days in New Zealand. I think that Sarah is gonna be there at the same time and Nick will be coming so I will have companions mom . Anyway, sorry no picture updates I know they get a little boring without the photos I hope to have more up soon.

If you'd of told me how true the heading of my blog was even weeks ago I wouldnta believed you. Its come to embody what seems to be the theme of this trip, however I still am curious about the purpose. If the point of this trip was supposed to be a evaluative life-centering and self finding experience it certainly has failed miserably. If I felt lost before I set out the feeling now is indescribable. Its amazing how a track in life (even one that you've been in so deeply and for so long) can be bounced out of in a matter of minutes, a most minuscule amount of time relative to a life. Amazing how mere words delegate futures, the right combination changing lives forever. What this trip has done is illuminate to me the vast infinity of life tracks that I was previously unaware of. Attempt to look into the future and you'll see thousands upon thousands of paths all so interconnected and collective that one path is certainly unpredictable if even decernable. This is quite a realization for me as (like i said before) was unaware of even the existence of these options and detours but a week ago. The slightest bump might send you miles off your intended direction and perhaps the right combination of bumps and grooves will see you back to where you thought you were going, regardless each track ends in the same horizon and I am clinging to the hope that one particular path might not be better than another, that down each interconnected groove there are valuable experiences and important people and finally I am desperately hoping against hope that down one of these unknown ways I might find something to fill the hole in my heart as valuable as its previous occupant.