Maybe I'm not cut out to be a diver. I still couldn't hear out of my left ear, so I told the instructor, and he recommended I see a doctor. So off I went, hoping to get some wax removed and be back to catch the boat by 8:30. The doc did indeed remove some wax, but that didn't help, so he had another look, and said there was some blood in my ear. Apparently a blood vessel burst in there. He said it would heal in a week, but in the meantime I can't dive. So that threw my plans into chaos. I have to see the Reef, so I booked a snorkeling day-trip for tomorrow, then I'll head off for Mission Beach to heal. Hopefully when I get to Airlie Beach I'll be all better because there I can kill two birds with one stone: sail the Whitsundays and finish my dive certification. It's slightly more complicated now, thought, since I've done the theory and confined dives already, and don't want to repeat them. All included, the diving fiasco ended up costing me about $210US. Hopefully I can find a place to finish the course for $200US. If I could have finished here, it only would have cost $333US. The girl at the hostel's booking desk felt sorry for me since she couldn't refund the deposit I paid here, so she gave me a free night tonight in a four bed room (wow, a $12US value!). Currently I'm the only one in there, and I hope it stays that way, since I've been sleeping in dorms for two months. Hopefully snorkeling tomorrow will go better.

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Snorkeling turned out to be alot of fun. I chose a company with a small boat; there were only 25 of us, including my buddy from the scuba class. It turns out he has asthma and had a bad attack after diving, so had to drop out. The reef is actually quite far from the mainland, so we had a two-hour ride out. The weather was beautiful, so it was fun. When we got there we put on wetsuits, masks, and snorkels. I took a flotation noodle too, since I was feeling unsure. It turns out you can see lots looking down from the surface, since the coral is only a couple feet below you. And there were fish everywhere, of all shapes, sizes, and colors. It was like swimming in an aquarium. Eventually I ditched the noodle, and found I could float fine. I even skin-dived a bit, and was almost able to get down to where the scuba divers were. We got an hour of snorkeling in, the they served lunch, then we went out to another site and got another hour in.

They were letting snorkelers do intro dives for $40US, and in retrospect it would have been better to do this than the free pool dive, since they actually went down a few meters.

Then I took the bus to Mission Beach. A Canadian guy in my room in Cairns said a place called Sanctuary is great, but I couldn't get in tonight, so I stayed at the Treehouse. It's pretty cool too, laid back with lots of people just chilling out. I'm pretty anti-social because of my ears, though. They hurt, feel blocked up, and my hearing is diminished.

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My hut

It's interesting that when you travel, a guidebook is of limited use. First of all, the restaurant listings are a total waste of space. When I'm hungry I'll just walk down the street and find a place that suits me. It turns out that accommodation listings aren't that useful either. A far better source of info on places to stay are fellow travelers, which is how I heard about Sanctuary. Based on the description in Lonely Planet, I would not have picked this place. It's something else, though. You can only get here on a 4WD because the road through the rainforest is dirt and incredibly steep. Once you get here there is a nice wood house that you have to take your shoes off before entering with a cafe, couches, and a patio overlooking the rainforest. A steep path leads down to the pool (with "no particular dress code"), and along the way are a few huts, only about 30. The huts are right in the forest and consist of wood floors, and a wood ceiling, and mosquito net walls. It only costs $4US more than a hostel, but the huts only have 2 beds, so you only have to share with one other person (the other bed is currently empty). Such luxury!

So what does one do in a place like this? Well, I'm pretty messed up, so I don't want to do much of anything. On top of my ear problems, I have several other wounds. In Alice Springs it was so dry my feet cracked in two places. It was impossible to keep my feet clean in sandals, so the cracks were healing, until I started bandaging them a couple of days ago. Then in Cairns I unwisely walked back from town in flip-flops (or "thongs" as they call them here), which eventually dug into my feet and wore the skin away. Finally, I cut my fingers on some coral yesterday, which is particularly painful. So I'm pretty busy just cleaning and bandaging my wounds. I did find time to make the 15 minute trek through the rainforest to the beach. It was so humid I was covered in sweat by the time I got there, but it was worth it, since the beach was beautiful and mostly deserted except for a few topless sunbathers. On the way back a cassowary, one of the almost extinct birds that live here, crossed my path. It looked like a black emu with a horn on its head. I've also been doing alot of reading. I picked up The Beach, which is great, since I'll be going to Thailand. It really captures the traveler subculture.

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I slept until 9 today. Then I decided I wanted to do some bushwalking through the rainforest. I wanted to do the Kennedy Track, a 10 km walk along the coast over secluded beaches, but I missed the bus. So instead I decided to walk to and up Bicton Hill, renowned for its "spectacular views." The guy in reception said it was a 10 minute walk, but he must be in pretty good shape, since it turned out to be 5 km (3.1 miles) away. I was covered in sweat by the time I got there, and it was worse when I entered the forest, since it was humid and uphill. I saw a black lizard with yellow spots as big as my arm, though, so it was all good. At the top the only view was from a 10 foot window in the trees, so it wasn't too spectacular. You could see a bit of the ocean below, though. During the walk I started vigorously equalizing my ears (holding my nose and blowing), which started to clear them out. It's weird that my right ear is clogged too. Each blow would only give me about a minute of hearing, but I was pretty glad I was not deaf.

During the walk through the forest back to Sanctuary I spotted another cassowary. He was right on the trail ahead of me, and I was thinking of moving up for a better look. Then he started to walk towards me. Now this guy was as big as me, with a horn on his head. And they have killed people before (back in 1945, and the kid was taunting it, but it can happen). So I did like they told us, and backed away and hid behind a tree. I probably took about 10 steps back before he stopped his charge (it wasn't really a charge, but that sounds more dramatic)

That night I had a final encounter with wildlife: there was a huge spider in my hut. I went to brush my teeth and he was gone when I got back.

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I figured that title would be appropriate, since that's what I'm reading. It's a great book. I heard they show the movie in Thailand alot, the same way they show Vertical Limit in Katmandu. So here's a random tip: Don't tell an English person you're going to the movie theater (or the movie theatre), because they'll think you're going to see a play. You are going to the cinema. And here in Oz they don't have snack bars, they have candy bars.

Today I walked the Kennedy Track. It took a bit of effort to get there, but it was worth it. And I successfully haggled for the first time. When I got to town, I had missed the bus. A taxi drove up, so I asked the woman how much it would cost to go to the track. $25AU, she said. I balked, since I thought the bus was $3 (it was actually $7.50). I said that was too much and walked away, and got out my maps to plan a different walk. Then she drove up and asked what I would pay. $10 I said, and she said OK, since she was going that way anyway, but asked me not to tell anybody.

The walk was good, and practically deserted. The thing is, though, even though this is the wettest part of Australia, it hasn't rained for months. So the rainforest is very dry and droopy, and the ground is covered with dead leaves. The views down to the ocean were good, though. The last part of the track was over a deserted beach. At the end I had lunch and took a nap before heading back. All told it took 5 hours.

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I had an eight-hour ride on the Greyhound today. Luckily the Greyhounds here are very nice; they even show movies. Crappy movies, though. First we were subjected to the surreal "Operation Dumbo Drop," which I did my best to ignore. It's a strange movie because it's a happy Disney-fied version of Vietnam where nobody swears or gets killed. Equally eerie is that it stars Dennis Leery, the comedian who became famous about ten years ago for is profane act. He's the guy who sings the song "I'm an Asshole," which for some strange reason is popular here. Next up was Twister, which I saw about seven years ago.

When I got off the bus in Airlie Beach, the three guys from my diving class, including my former buddy, were waiting on the platform. They say they had a good time here, and did a sailing trip where they saw more fish than in Cairns.

There is only one guy in my six-bed dorm room, a Korean who barely speaks English. It's a shame we can't communicate, since I'd like to ask him about what he thinks about North Korea's nuclear anouncement. After having a room to myself for the last four nights, I wouldn't mind having roommates. In fact, you need some if you want to have someone to go out drinking with, since that's what you do here. I walked around town (just a street) a bit, but am not one to go into nightclubs by myself, so I went to bed early.

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My ears feel OK now, but I went to the doctor to see if they were good enough to dive. He had a look, and said my eardrum still showed signs of trauma, and if I dived, I risked rupturing it. In fact, he said I was lucky I didn't rupture it in the first place. So I guess diving will have to wait until Thailand. Even if I can't dive I still want to get on a boat, so I booked a three-day cruise on a racing yatch. I will have to make do with snorkeling again. They briefed me on how stinger season has begun, and if I got stung I could die. Stingers are jellyfish, of which the most lethal animal in the world, the box jellyfish is one. If the tentacles of one of these bad boys touches you, it is so painful your heart will just stop. So I opted to pay the $10US to rent a stinger suit, which will cover me from head to toe.

That night I went in to one of the nightclubs and ordered a beer. They come in three sizes: a "pot" is a really small glass, a "schooner" is a bigger glass, and a "jug" is a pitcher. I don't know if they call bottles "stubbies" here, or if that is a South Australia thing. I don't know if it's the wrong season or what, but the town (street) is dead. Maybe it's the stingers. The clubs are all half empty. At the one I was at they were playing MTV Spring Break type games where they try to get the women to take their clothes off. It was all very half-hearted, and only the guys took off their clothes. So after I finished my schooner I went to check my email.

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The Samurai and crew

The name Airlie Beach is a misnomer, since there is no beach here. That's a shame, since the water is a beautiful shade of turquoise. Instead of a beach, there is a nice artificial lagoon, where I hung out until it was time to catch my boat, the Samurai. it's a very small boat, with room for only 20 people. There are only 12 of us, though: a Swiss couple, two Irish lads, a Canadian woman, a Spanish guy, an Italian woman, three German babes, the obligatory Korean guy who doesn't speak English, and me. No English people, strangely enough. No worries, though, since the crew is mostly English (all the Ausies are working in England). We raced out to the islands, and I had no idea what I had signed up for, since the deck was tilted at 45 degrees for the two hour trip. This left only a small area at the rear to sit on, so we all huddled there. When we arrived it was dark, so we hung out until the water-taxi came to take us to the island pub, where we only stayed an hour since it was so dead. Back at the boat we went to bed pretty early, since the deck is so small so there's nowhere to hang out.

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Sailin'

I slept well in the double bed I had to myself, until they turned on the engine at 5 am. We could sleep until 7, but it was tough with the noise and the rocking. Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach, a beautiful sand beach. After hanging out there for a couple of hours, we sailed to our next stop, a coral beach. Instead of sand, the beach is made of pieces of coral, so it hurts to walk around. Included with the cruise was a free dive, and I decided to defy the doctor and give it a go, since I was feeling pretty good. I could always just stop going down. Since I'm not certified I had to do an intro dive, which meant I had to listen to a lecture and prove I could clear my mask and take out and replace my regulator. We did this in shallow water, then swam out to where it got deeper. The instructor had my BCD so inflated it was hard to go down, but I managed about seven meters with no problems, now that I know how to equalize. It was fun, and there were lots of fish, but even though the water is aqua-colored, visibility was poor, so you couldn't see much. I'm just glad I know I can dive, though, and can't wait to get certified.

After dinner we had apple pie. Instead of being served with ice cream, pies here are served with custard, which is like melted vanilla ice cream. One of the German girls, Rachel, had never had pie before, and I had to explain the difference between cake and pie. This led to the subject of cupcakes, which always confuse non-Americans, since only we have them.

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I think I'm safe from stingers

Another early day on the Samurai. Up at 7 for breakfast, then we sailed to another coral beach. You could do another dive for $20US, but I didn't want to push my luck, so snorkeled instead, which was excellent. There were so many fish, and you could swim right through them. There was one fish, nicknamed Elvis, who was as big as me. It was unreal. I followed him around for awhile, then a boat nearby started throwing food to him, so he and an entire school of fish swarmed all around me.

We go back to Airlie Beach around 3, and I had some time to kill until I caught the 11 pm bus to Hervey Bay (pronounced Harvey Bay), which takes 14 hours. A few of us from the boat got together for drinks at the Wanna Be MTV Spring Break bar at 9, then I was off at 10:30. To be continued...

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The bus ride was pretty rough, but I managed to sleep a little. The problem wasn't really not being able to stretch out, or my sunburned back, but the weird stops. I got on at 11 and fell asleep, then the driver woke us up at midnight for dinner. I stayed onboard and went back asleep, but then we had another dinner stop at 1 am. I guess people on busses get the latenight munchies or something. The worst thing was when they woke us up and kicked us off the bus at 5 am. After that I slept on and off until they played another crappy Disney movie, the one about the geeky schoolgirl who becomes a princess.

I arrived at Hervey Bay at 12:30, and checked into Fraser Escape, which is hot, dirty, and had bugs on the floor. Pretty much par for the course. The thing to do here is a safari on Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island, but I'm not looking forward to it. It's not having to spend three days with people I don't know that scares me, I've gotten used to that. It's the fact that the tour is unguided, so we will be cooking for ourselves, and trying to navigate and keep to a schedule. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I got to meet my group at our briefing, and that may be a problem too. There's a Canadian couple who won't talk to anyone, and five German-speaking people who are traveling together. So everyone already seems to know each other. I hope the next three days don't suck.

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The Fraser Island crew

We started the day with a safety briefing, where they scared us by showing news reports about head-on collisions and rollovers on the island. Then they set us loose on our 4WD, but nobody was too keen on driving, for some reason. All our gear was on the roof, and eight of us were crammed into the back. Since Fraser Island is made of sand, the roads are too. Deep sand with lots of bumps. We had to cross from the West of the Island to the East, through the forest, which was about two hours on the bumpy roads. Plus every once in awhile a truck in front of us would get stuck, so we would have to stop and wait for them to push themselves out. On the way we stopped to check out two lakes: Mackenzy and Basin, with beautiful blue refreshing water. After our swims we finished the bumpy drive to the beach on the East coast. A very brief drive up the beach and we were at our campsite at 3 pm. Between eating late lunch, setting up camp, cooking, eating steak dinner, and drinking beer, time passed pretty quickly. I got to know some of my fellow passengers. It turns out they weren't speaking German, but Swedish. Six of the group is traveling together: four Swedish guys, a Welsh guy, and his Danish girlfriend. We stayed up playing drinking games until midnight.

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Beach traffic

We were up by 7, and out by 8, and had a long drive up the beach. There's lots of traffic, which is why it's dangerous. Since there are no lanes, when a truck is coming you're not sure if it will pass on your left or your right. You are supposed to bear left, and signal a left turn so you don't crash in to each other, but we were the only ones signaling. You also have to watch out for washouts, places where water has washed away the sand. I gave it a go, and surprisingly had not problems after not driving for two months. Shifting with my left hand turned out to be easy; the hard part was the turn signal, which was on the other side. I kept turning on the windshield wipers. It was fun, though, and I got up to 50 km/hr (31 mph)), which seemed pretty fast on the beach. I even got to drive briefly on an inland road, which was like driving a train, since the truck follows the grooves in the sand.

On the north end of the island we had to cross through knee-deep sand. We just had to put it in second and floor it, and we passed right by a truck stuck in front of us. However the campground was all deep sand, and we got stuck several times, and had to push. The flies here are really bad; wherever you go you have your own personal swarm. That, the heat, and the sand made me quite uncomfortable. There are no showers, so a dip in the Champaign Pools helped, but I cut my hand on some rocks when the tide knocked me over. On the walk back to camp we saw a whale or a dolphin, and there was a fearless dingo on the beach.

After dinner we found we had a dead battery. Luckily an Aussie camping nearby had jumper cables. He had some beers with us, and said he has never had Fosters. Real Aussies drink VB, XXXX, or Toohey's New. Like most Europeans, the Swedes smoke like chimneys, but they said they normally use something called "snuz," which is a little ball of tobacco you put between your upper lip and gum, which you can only get in Scandinavia. I tried one, and it made my lip feel hot and tingly. Not a big fan. Since they talk in Swedish so much, I learned a little. The Welshman said to say "Yavay Svenska" when they do this, which means "f***ing Swedish." People kept wandering over to our campsite since the other groups went to bed so early. We were up till 1.

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Fraser Island has a lot of sand

We slept in until 7 again today, and were the last group out of the campsite. While we ate, there was a group of brumbies, rare wild horses, hanging out nearby. We had lots of driving today, since we were leaving the island. On the way we stopped at Eli Creek, which h ad amazing clear water. You could see fish swimming around, and the sand on the bottom. It was freezing, though. I forced myself to jump in, and after about 30 seconds of pain it felt great. We also stopped at another lake, but there was a difficult 45-minute walk on sand trails to get to it, and it wasn't as nice as the other lakes. We eventually made it back to the hostel. Me, the Welshman, and the Spanish woman went to the bar for a couple of drinks. They were supposedly having a wet tee shirt and wet jock contest, but there were only about 10 people there, so nobody entered. The Irish lads from the Samurai were there, and were leaving for Fraser Island tomorrow.

Overall, I thought the experience was a bit disappointing, since the group all knew each other. It's more fun if nobody know anybody. I'm still glad I did it, though.

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I had a three hour bus ride to Noosa today. Pretty easy after that 14 hour nightmare. I was finally able to check my email and found I was inundated with 40 messages. It turns out my website was a Yahoo! pick. I used to hope to break 100 visits in a day. Well, that day I had 2000 visits. Of course then it went right back down to 11 again, so I don't know how many long-term followers I've gained.

I finally set up the mailing list as a Yahoo! group. I hate to use Yahoo! for this, since the messages contain ads. They won't spam you, though. If you sign up, you'll get an email whenever I update the site, which is looking like every 2-3 weeks.

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Your perception of a place is often colored by the weather while you are there, and the people you meet there. It's been cold and rainy since I've been here, and I don't know anybody here, so I'm not a big fan of Noosa. There's only surf beaches, shops, and expensive cafes, so unless your' re a surfer dude or a wealthy tourist, there's not much to do. I wanted to check out the national park, though. First on my agenda was to catch up on world news after not having read a paper for two weeks. So I bought a Weekend Australian, found a cafe, and read it for three hours. It was great. So they caught the Bali bomber. That's good. And Osama Bin Laden's back. That's bad. Then I walked over to the park, which turned out to be tiny. When I asked the ranger for a map, she warned me not to walk alone, due to criminal activity. I asked what sort of activity, and she said she was not at liberty to tell. Not being one to turn my back on excitement, I set out alone to face the unspecified dangers. The walk was OK, with lots of eucalyptus trees, but I have seen better. Plus it was cold and raining.

Since I can't be bothered to cook dinner, I've decided I'd better self cater for breakfast (brekkie as they say here) and lunch. My brekkie toast was wearing off so I had an unsatisfying lunch of peanut better and jelly sandwhiches. I wonder how long I'll keep that up. Then I went to work on the website, but ended up doing emails again.

I thought it might be nice to see a movie tonight, but nothing good was playing at the theater, er, cinima, so I randomly picked "The Ring," and bought some chokies and lollies at the candy bar (translation: bought some candy at the snack bar). The movie turned out to be pretty wild, kinda Sixth Sense like, only weirder. There was one scene where a first grade teacher had the kids' schedule written on the blackboard. It was:

• morning meeting
• walk outside and observe trees
• read and write
• eat
• play outside
• rest

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Thankfully, it was time to move on today. I killed time until my bus came by updating my website and playing more 1945 Plus. My mad skilz impressed a watching kid. A quick two hour ride and I was in Brisbane, capital of Queensland. I wandered to the Queen Street pedestrian mall in the CBD (Central Business District), in search of food, but the place was dead. Sunday night, I guess. The hostel I'm staying at, the YHA, is dead too. There seem to be a large number of elderly people and screaming babies staying there. I picked it because it's a "non-party" hostel, but if this is the alternative...

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It's been a long time since I've been in a city, so I figured I should fulfill my tourist duties and do some sightseeing. I wasn't too enthusiastic, though, since even though Brisbane seems like a nice city, it doesn't have much character. It's kind of like visiting Columbus, Ohio. Nevertheless, I walked to the Town Hall, and took the lift to the top of the clock tower. I imagine the view was spectacular 50 years ago, but now it is surrounded by skyscrapers, so you can't see much. But from the outside you get an interesting contrast of the new towers with the old neo-classical facade.

Then I walked across the river to check out the Museum. I was particularly interested in seeing the German WWI tank. But after going through four floors of exhibits, I couldn't find a tank. Turns out it's hidden outside the back of the museum, behind an inch of glass, so it's hard to see with all the glare. It was still pretty interesting, though. I learned only 20 were made, and this one, "Mephisto," is the only one to survive. Why's it in Brisbane? It was captured by an Australian Unit, mostly from Queensland.

Next up was a walk on Southbank, along the river. The thing to see here is the artificial lagoon. Then I took a ferry across the river and walked through the Botanical Gardens, past Parliament House, then I got bored of the walking tour I was following, so I went back to Queen Street to find food.

I was pretty excited because I found an art house cinema, so I went to see a movie called Samsara, about Buddhist monks in the Himalayas. I chalked it up to research on Nepal. It had some beautiful cinematography, and asked some interesting questions about the religion. It would be interesting to ask a Buddhist what they think about it.

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Me and my friend

Normally I hate zoos, but the Koala Sanctuary sounded interesting, so I went to check it out. As advertised, there were tons of Koalas, most crowded into small cages, like a zoo. And yes, I coughed up the 14 Australian Dollars to hold one. There were also cages of Tasmanian devils, wombats, and dingoes, but since these animals are nocturnal, there weren't doing much. The best feature was the kangaroo habitat, which you could go into. The kangaroos are totally tame, so you can feed and pet them. I had a whole mob (that's what you call a group of kangaroos) to myself, until a mob of Japanese tourists came in. The place was packed with them. While the Japanese watched, the dominant male decided it was mating time.

Then I tried to find dinner on Queen Street again. There are a bunch of malls with food courts right off the street, but they all close down at 5. The upshot is I got a pasta dinner for 3 Aussie Dollars. Unfortunately, it was disgusting. I made the third revision to my itinerary. I'm going to skip Surfer's Paradise, since it's currently packed with "schoolies," short for "school leavers," kids who have just finished high school. There isn't much to see there anyway. I decided to check out a few places off the beaten track instead.

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I like traveling on my own, because I can decide where I want to go, and for how long I will stay. It's actually pretty easy to get off the beaten track; all I have to do is get off the bus at a place called Murwillumbah, from which I can climb Mount Warning, rather than going all the way to Byron Bay, like everyone else. So I checked out of my hostel/retirement home, then I had an afternoon to kill in Brisbane, so I did what I like to do best in cities: drink coffee in coffee shops (non-Starbucks), eat fresh goodies from bakeries, watch people, and read. For this Brisbane is a good place, since you can do all that on Queen Street.

The bus ride was a quick three hours. We passed right through the middle of Surfers Paradise. The place is insane; it's a jungle of high-rise apartment buildings and traffic. I don't know whose idea of paradise it is, but I'm glad I skipped it. At my stop only me, a mom, and her kid got off, and they were taking a train onwards. The town is pretty small, with only two streets. The only hostel in town, the YHA, is the smallest I've been in, with only four rooms. I have an eight-bed dorm to myself. The manager served us ice cream that night, so all nine of us sat around the table reading. Not a very lively crowd. Once again, I'm the youngest one here.

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Costal Queensland and New South Whales have some strange names: Cape Tribulation, Magnetic Island, Point Danger. This is because the first white guy there, Captain Cook, chose to name things descriptively, rather than after people. Mount Warning is one such place. He picked that name after he almost ran aground on a reef, so future mariners would have a warning. And that they did, since the mountain is quite distinctive, and stands out from the surrounding mountains with its jagged, sloping peak. The whole area used to be a massive volcano, now all that's left is a ring of mountains, which used to be the outer crater, and the central core, Mount Warning, so there are mountains all around. Australia is not a place of high mountains, and Mount Warning is only about 1000 meters, but it's a mountain nonetheless.

I started the day by going into town to buy supplies. The town was almost worth stopping for alone. It's a small, non-touristy town, with actual small town people. I might as well be back in Indiana, except people keep calling me "mate." Then Tassie, the hostel's manager and only employee, drove us to the mountain, past beautiful rolling green hills, old Queenslanders (houses built on stilts to keep cool), banana plantations, and stinky pig farms. The climb proved to be difficult; two hours going up over rocky terrain in the humid rainforest. I was covered in sweat within five minutes. It was interesting, though, because the tropical rainforest at the base gradually became a temperate rainforest. So far this has been the best rainforest I've seen. The final part was billed as a "100 meter scramble up a vertical rock face." Thankfully, it wasn't quite vertical, and there were lots of places to put your hands and feet, as well as the guide chain. After Uluru it was a breeze. The views at the top were excellent, and I could see the sky scrapers of Surfers Paradise, and Cape Byron, my next stop. There were a couple of Aussies up there who lived nearby. It's always nice to meet locals at attractions like this. All told it took five hours.

That night I figured I had earned a real dinner, so I went to the "authentic" Mexican restaurant I saw in town. I feared this would prove to be a mistake, since there are no Mexicans in Australia. The last Mexican restaurant I went to, in Cairns, didn't even have cheese. Unfortunately, my fears proved to be well-founded, and my burritos, refried beans, and rice were bland and tasteless. Perhaps I'll try again in Sydney.

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Beautiful bay

There really are hippies here, just like Lonely Planet says. Long, dirty hair and everything. There's not that many, though, and they're getting pretty old. Byron Bay is a coanfluence of hippies, surfers, yuppies, and tourists. It's a bit like Noosa, but bigger and with more traffic. The weather is beautiful, so I headed for Main Beach, a block from the hostel. it's a very nice beach, and seems to go on forever. There are mountains on the left, including Mount Warning, and Cape Byron on the right, with the lighthouse on top. The beach was pretty crowded, and there were lots of topless sunbathers.

That night I went to check out Byron Bay's legendary nightlife, so I went to a club called Cocomangas. It was small, played crappy music, and was half-empty. The most exciting moment was when three cops came in and hung out for awhile. One danced with the ladies, much to the crowd's delight. I left at midnight when the music became unbeareable, and was surprised to see a line of people waiting to get in.

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Beach work

I walked up to the lighthouse for some good views, then went back to Main Beach. I saw Javier (no idea how to spell that), the Spanish guy from the sailboat, so we agreed to meet up tonight. I also saw Richard and Deckand (again, don't know how to spell that), the Irish lads from the boat, but they're leaving today. Me, Javier, and three Dutch guys from his Fraser Island trip went to Cocomangas. The Dutch guys complained that all the backpacker bars played crappy music and silly games. Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Nevertheless we stayed out until 2.

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I am feeling lazy and unmotivated, so I decided to stay here for two more days. I've fallen in to a bit of a routine: get up at 10, take a quick dip in the pool, head to the beach and lay on it until I get too hot, go in the ocean to cool off, at 5 head back to the hostel for a swim, shower, then go out for kebabs for dinner, then go to the clubs. Actually, today was Sunday, so the clubs were closed. I don't know why they close, it's not like days of the week matter here.

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According to the Master Plan, today would be my last day here, so I went through the chore of booking my bus and making reservations at the next hostel. Then I got off my lazy ass and took one of the hostel's free bikes out. There's not much to see, besides traffic, but it was something to do. And there was too much wind to lay on the beach.

That night I was checking email, and who should walk in to the cafe and sit next to me but Ines and Kathelyn, the Dutch Duo from New Zealand. We went out for drinks to catch up. Unfortunately the pub closed at midnight, and I couldn't talk them in to staying out. They're staying at the same hostel I am at, and want me to stay an extra day.

Strange. There's an Australian Dell Guy. Instead of saying "Dude, you need a Dell," he says "Mate, you need a Dell."

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The hostel still had my bed available for tonight, so I made the calls and delayed my plans by one day. It turned out to be a nice day. I took the girls up to the lighthouse, we layed on the beach, I body boarded, and we had a nice Indian dinner that cost $US12, the most expensive meal I've had in a long time. I remember when we used to go out for $20 lunches at work twice a week. I brought the subject of apple pie up, always proud to point out American ingenuity. However, they countered that apple pies are Dutch. Can this be true, that apple pies are really a Dutch treat? What's next, cupcakes?

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After bidding farewell to Ines and Kathelyn, who were spending the day at the hostel pool with the topless sunbathers, it was time to head for my final stop before Sydney, Bellingen, a small town with access to the Dorigo National Park. Since I had to work a little to get here, I was shocked to see an Oz Experience bus unloading 35 people into the small hostel. So much for off the beaten path. Whatever the case, the town's lovely; one street of stores in a beautiful pastoral setting of rolling hills with cows, Queenslanders, banana plantations, and mountains in the background. The hostel's a nice old house with a veranda to hang out on. There was a group dinner but I stayed aloof from the Oz people, then watched Interview with the Vampire.

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The Oz folks were up and out early, waking me up. I slept in, but happened to get up in time for a guided canoe trip down the river. It seemed like a good idea, to get to see the countryside, but was quite expensive at AU$35. It was OK, but there wasn't much to see, even though it lasted two hours. The most interesting sight was the bull. I don't know if it was a "special" bull, but the guide described it as the five-legged bull.

That night another Oz bus came. This time I talked to an English bloke in my room, and we went to the pub for some beers before dinner. I ended up talking to a couple of local Ausies who work in the sawmill, which proved interesting. Then for dinner I sat at the table with the Oz people, and met a Canadian couple and a woman who I thought was French but was actually French Canadian. I also met Triffen, named after a character from a sci-fi novel, an American woman from Oregon (apparently pronounced Ore-gun) studying in Auckland, but working here for awhile. We all played Asshole (not Shithead, which is more complicated), normally a drinking game but I didn't have any beer, and I was President for eight consecutive games. That's the luckiest I've ever been at cards. Then Triffen and I went to the pub until it closed at 12 (what's up with that?), then talked at the hostel until people trying to sleep kept telling us to be quiet.

I don't think I've mentioned bedbugs, but they've been an ongoing problem for me. First Melbourne, then Cairns, then the sailboat, from which I have scars. Last night something ate me alive, and I have huge, swollen red bites everywhere: between my fingers, on my arms, face, neck, sides, legs. My back is especially bad; half of it is covered with bites. I look like I have some kind of skin disease. Worst of all is my whole body itches. I applied DEET cream before bed, but I fear the damage is done.

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This morning 13 of us and Greg, our guide, headed out to the Durigo National Park. It was a really nice rainforest walk with waterfalls, and some parts were elevated so you walked in the canopy. But I didn't enjoy it because I itched everywhere. Another annoying thing was the leeches. We went off the trail several times, then I would look down and see a leech on my feet. One was between my toes, and after removing it I wouldn't stop bleeding. Cindy from Singapore was on the walk, and I asked her what I should do in here city/country, and she said "I dunno." Not a very exciting place, I guess. When I got back I went to the Chemist, who's almost like a doctor here. She looked at my swollen bites and said it was sand flies, which I am apparently allergic to. She gave me some pills and creme.

At the hostel, devoid of Oz people today, I played backgammon with an English woman and Go Fish with Triffen until it was time to catch my bus at 10:20pm. It was fun to talk to Triffen about the strange things British people say. I learned that if someone asks you to come to tea you shouldn't refuse, since you'll probably get a meal with it. here's some more: a cookie is a biscuit and a biscuit is a dinner roll. It's strange to see "dinner rolls" on the menu at KFC. I never got around to booking my next hostel, or collecting my groceries, which I left in the kitchen. It was a eight-hour ride to Sydney, and I didn't get much sleep, since I was sitting next to someone and I itched all over. We had a snack break at 3:30 am at the usual greasy spoon type place, so I got off to have a greasy egg and bacon roll with tomato sauce (translation: egg and ham with ketchup). I got to Sydney bleary-eyed and tired at 6:30 am and...

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Big city

...tried to book in to the Gleeb YHA, which Ines and Kathelyn said was nice, and in a nice part of town with lots of cafes. Of course they were full , so I thought a place in the city center would be good, but that turned out to be a mistake, since the city center is mostly office buildings, blocks and blocks of office buildings. Sydney's much bigger than I expected. I can't find any cafes or restaurants nearby to eat at. I set out to do some sightseeing, and stumbled on to an impressive anti-George W rally marching through the city. I joined in and the crowd took me to the Domain, where everyone was gathering for the demonstration. It was 2 pm, though, and I hadn't eaten since 3:30 am, so I set out to find cheap food, since my peanut butter, jelly, and bread are back in Bellingen.

That night I met up with Clare, who I originally met in New Zealand and is now living in Bondi Beach and working in Sydney. She says working here is a bit anti-climactic after traveling for five months.

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