Pitiful of me to keep everyone in the dark about what's been going on here with me, I know. Since it will be awfully difficult to talk about everything that's been keeping me busy the last month and a bit, I'll just summarize (with a few details thrown in here and there). If anyone wants to know more about certain things, just ask me!
- Lamb roast party for Thanksgiving (with a 3 batches of punch)
- Learning to roll my own cigarettes instead of buying tailor made ones. It's a lot cheaper, and (as oxymoronic as it sounds) they're actually "healthier" because there aren't extra chemicals put into the tobacco to keep it burning.
- German lessons from Mein Deutschlehrerin. (Mein Deutsch ist schlecht!)
- several birthdays (with punch, of course). They really love having punch parties here - everyone throws in $5, and we manage to fill up a large garbage bin with a punch that knocks most people on their asses after just a few cups. Killer hangers though ....
- Met a cute little French girl named Emma, she was around for a few days, went up the coast and then came back a few weeks later for a few more days. Nothing happened, really...
- Saw a dozen dolphins swimming together, surfing some waves. Barely managed to get a photo (which I'll be uploading later).
- Our pet magpie passed away :( He was just too sickly, the vet said the only reason he survived as long as he did was from everyone here coddling and taking care of him.
- Driving on the wrong side of the road. Which is really a lot easier, once you get used to it (no accidents!). I think it's harder getting used to the roundabouts than anything else.
- Another full moon party, this time I was so hungover the next day that I barely got out of bed all day. Too much punch, and then when that was finished, cask wine. Horrible, horrible stuff, and it's what most people drink because it's $12 for 4L of wine. Even worse I think is that I'm getting used to it.
- Small live show in a cafe in Byron, put on by one of the guys that works at the blueberry farm (who's also dating one of the German girls here).
- Weed pancakes.
- Picking blueberries, and working in the shed at the farm, sorting and packing blueberries for shipment. That didn't last very long, because I was offered a paying job at the hostel doing admin work and collecting rent, which was a lot more relaxing (yes, I'm lazy!!)
- Bought a used cell phone from another traveller that was going to Thailand for $40 (with $20 credit on it - Bargain!).
- Day trip to Nimbin, a town about an hour inland from here, which is the marijuana mecca of Australia. You can't walk from one side of the town (which isn't very big at all - smaller than a city block in Toronto) without getting asked at least a half dozen times if you want weed, or weed cookies, etc. Certainly an experience, they're really relaxed about the legality of the whole thing, although there are definitely some seedy elements in the town that occasionally cause problems. Nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there ....
- Went to Brisbane for a night to see Xavier Rudd, an Australian musician, play. It was amazing - it's just one guy on stage, with 3 didgeridoos on stands, a couple slide guitars, harmonica, stomp pad and drum pads, and he just rocked the place. I highly recommend anyone check him out, it's really amazing music.
Aside from that, it's been pretty much the same - meeting people from all over the world (again, mostly Germans, Swedes, Canadians, and Brits). Swimming in the ocean every chance I get, and in the tea tree lake on the other side of town, drinking too often, and occasionally smoking some weed (which what most people do here, so ... when in Rome.)
For those of you anxious for me to move on - I've booked my flight to Perth from Brisbane, and I will be heading up to Brisbane in a couple of weeks to spend time there. I'll be in Perth for December 18th, and will be meeting up with Tim Brown, going to his parents' for Christmas in Albany, New Years in Perth, then ... after that I'm not entirely sure, but it'll work out :)
I have a couple rolls of film in development right now from here, so I'll post a few more when I get the chance!