Beginnings and endings...

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.

I didn't think that it had been 12 days until I was thoughtfully reminded. Wow 12 days ok so this might be a long one. After Byron we picked up 5 girls who payed for gas for the ride up Surfer Paradise. 2 Canadians (Jenna and Shanon) 2 Americans (Lexie and Brittany) and an English girl from Blackpool named Kelly. You have seen the car situation so it was the 10 of us spread between the Fairmont and the Euro's van which has lovingly been named "muff the magic wagon" which may or may not be related to the actual activities that take place in it but regardless of that I've not been sleeping in it (and i don't think that i would recommend it) Anyways its packed pretty tight

We spent 3 days in a hostel in surfer's paradise which we timed to coincide with the biggest Australian rally race which they close down the city to conduct. With massive amounts of barricades and fencing over a course of 3 months each year they convert the otherwise bustling city into a three day clusterf*ck of non moving traffic congestion, absolute pedestrian chaos and the sloppy boozfest that is hopelessly drawn to the ear splitting reckless speed of Indy racing. I'd never been to races before and they are awesome. We got free entry the first day by working in a corn dog stand. After making them for about three hours and because I care very much for all who are reading this blog I tell you this, NEver ever ever eat a corn dog ever again.

I enjoyed staying in the hostel and partying by the pool but we inevitably were forced to the plethora of clubs that Surfer's sports. I am getting convinced the the same 500 people are in every club and that they are just quickly bussed from tourist town to tourist town in order to jump in the queue just before you. The group is subdivided into many parts of which I can go on and on about but my particular unfavorite is the sweaty European group in leather pointed shoes and silk shirts. It should be noted that this group is generally smelt before seen (usually after you've just fought your way to the toilets through the 10 or 15 greyhaired men with bellies who don't dance but linger for that one girl whose just so sloppy she might not notice age.) You may be getting the idea that I don;t really prefer clubs... and you're right.

by the way, I've gotten a mowhawk
We left work early in the afternoon because we said that we had plans to settle that night but that we would be back the following morning to work a full day (8-6) but instead showed up and enjoyed the racing. It was a bit sketchy because the tickets we got to work are actually work tickets and when we showed up a bit tipsy at noon to "work" it took some fancy speaking to get us in. We didn't get paid for the three hours of work but we got 2 days entry into the races and I got to keep my tee-shirt uniform which I must say is pretty trendy.
Needless to say I was happy to leave the hustle bustle of surfer's paradise and when we got on the road three days later it was up to Noosa Heads for a night. With the addition of the 5 girls camping at actual camp cites has become an option because so many people cuts down the price to about 4 bucks a person. Unfortunately for all the couple and families taking a leisurely vacation we are up quite late and inevitably make quite a bit of noise. The man the spot next to us was raging when for the 4th time he had to yell out his window at us about people trying to get sleep or something, sleep is definitely a thing that is overrated at times and I'm finding one can do quite well on the minimalist amounts of the stuff.
After Noosa Heads we went up to Rainbow Beach where we were meeting up with our tour group for Fraser Island. About 50 ks south of Rainbow the Fairmont broke down and we towed it with the van for the rest of the way which is probably the second scariest thing I've ever done. Driving 100 k/h in neutral attached to a van only 8 feet in front of you is always scary.

Fraser Island is one of the biggest all sand Islands in Australia, with a local population of about 10 (rangers mostly) it is a last frontier of wilderness and endless coastline. You have to have a 4x4 to make the shady roads and still we got stuck several times but man is it so great. 11 people to a truck you have free reign of the place occasionally running into other groups or local fisherman. At our first camp site we met some guys catching Talia who fried up some for us and man was it great. I think that overall they were thankful for us considering we were a group of thirty 18 to 29 year olds that they got to reminisce with for a couple nights. The coolest part, by far, of the island is a massive spring in the middle called Lake McEnzie which had the clearest water I've ever seen. It seems that all tourist activities in Australia include massive amounts of Alcohol or perhaps it is just that this is my first tourist experience old enough to participate in this sort of thing but no mater what we do their is booze intimately involved. They call boxed wine here Goon and you can buy 4 liters or it for about 9 ausi bucks making it the drink of choice for money scarce backpackers. If you ask around you will find that it goes well with every meal (even breakfast). Met some really really great people on Fraser that we are traveling with (Sarah a Canadian and Bianca and Graham from England.)

this is Sarah, Bianca and Rhian.

the whole group at the champaign pools
After Fraser and an additional 3 nights in Rainbow Beach we have ditched the girls and picked up some new traveling partners and headed back south. On the way back from Rainbow to Noosa Heads is the Australians Zoo (former home of the beloved and missed crocodile hunter) and it is all it is cracked up to be. I fed an elephant, petted a kangaroo, hugged a Koala, held a giant lizard and attempted to pick up a wallaby (which didn't make it very happy)

Needless to say the crocodiles are amazing and we got to see them fed and man are they scary. I am almost positive that I will be extending my trip a month (I find out tonight) and so this backtracking is fine and actually I'm glad of it cause we missed some stuff coming up to Fraser so fast. Tomorrow we're going to Stradbroke Island which has a similar feel to Fraser but there are no vehicles allowed on it, making it an "untouched paradise" as the brochure assures me. I promise to continue with the updates, my camera has finally kicked it and its hard to get as excited about writing without pictures to share. Keep tuned in though cause it wont be as long next time. Hope everyone is doin great.