thunder down under

Oz. Not quite how I expected it. Perfectly nice, tho not altogether different from the states. Most of the time, when I forget where I am, it seems like either San Diego or maybe Canada. Only the the abbreviated speech pattern reminds me that I'm in Australia. every word with more than one syllable is truncated. The other hint is that “men at work” still get airplay. AC/DC, midnight oil and of course Ozzie Ozzborne all hail from down here, but nothing gets everyone pumped like “I come from a land down under”. Its like playing “love shack”, “billy jean” and “we are the champions” in succession.

Had good fun, and want to return with more time and a camper van rental, really the only way to really see the vast place. but It's just hard to beat the utter insanity that is Asia, so while it's novel to see that the menu at Mcdonalds differs slightly, there's plenty of amazing places in the states id sooner check out if i wasnt so close-by.

Melbourne is a world class city, with all the fashion, shopping and restaurants you would expect, and this satisfies my wander lust for a couple of days, but soon I want to move on and see the real Australia, if such a thing exists. I quickly learn that its too spread out to get anywhere on foot, so i walk into cheap AZ travel (pronounced cheap ass) and in under an hour, swipe my credit card for $1000 worth of package tours, connecting flights, accommodations and pickup from airports. Not how im used to traveling, but this is like being in LA without wheels.

The tour of the Great Ocean Road is beautiful, but like other bus tours, it suffers from having to do shit with a dozen other people you have nothing in common with. the majority on this trip were a rather dull bunch, spending the entire time on the road snoring or plugged into an ipod. the fun ones were a couple of cute girls, sapna, a physical therapist at NYU and judith, a swiss high school graduate, an english soccer fan named Luke, and David, the Catalunian, who was especially into human tower building. though my family too comes from the Catalan region, the reason for why you would build a ten story tower of people, with a small child on the top no less, was lost on me. still, well worth checking out on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nly_FQFNcr4

I post a request on Couchsurfing.com for someone to have drinks with when i get to Adelaide, but it gets just a single response. Need a sexier photo or perhaps one of a cat to make my sex ambiguous. They go to great lengths to remind members that its not a dating site, but just like personal ads, I'm going to guess that postings by chicks get a thousand percent better response. there was a weekly get together. I was planning to attend, but just when the thing was starting, I am hit with complete exhaustion. zero sleep on the bus from Balarat the nite before, so this was a complete battery drain I should have seen coming. I miss a the big jam session at the Grace Emily Hotel that is supposed to be one of the best nights in Adelaide. shit.

the beach community of Glenelg (a palindrome!) where Im staying is something like choosing to stay at the Brighton Beach instead of the the hustle and bustle of the city. Great by day, only a block from the beach, the place is populated with the types of people who work on their tans all day. I share a dorm room with a couple of members of a semi pro girls volleyball team. but at night, theres precious little to do. At the backpackers (what they call hostels), people are watching Pretty Woman and Slumdog Millionaire. Good cheap entertainment, and a good way to beat the intense summer heat, but when this double feature is done, i need to get out. Based on a recommendations, i head into town to Couger St, where Chinatown and the central market are. But tues is not a spectacular night out anywhere, and everything other than a few Chinese restaurants are closed. Mongolian bbq dinner for one costs almost $40. Earlier today, I purchased a half liter of ice cream for $9. True, it was the nicely packaged stuff, burnt fig jam and honeycomb, not the huge box of supermarket variety vanilla which cost half that. I dare not stay out past the last tram, since after that, it's a $30 cab fare home. this place is spendy.

"She woke up the frech in me", says the guy on the stairs when we see the two girls I met earlier in the supermarket come out in their panties to brush their teeth before going to bed. Our view from below was quite accidental, just a right place at the right time kind of thing, but absolutely exquisite. somewhere tucked in there was a thong hidden between perfectly round, tanned and toned cheeks. for all intents and purposes, their asses were bare. Im not a religious person, but this was something of a Praise the Lord moment.

Gott in Himmel!