On the train I got that itchy feeling where you need to make
something. Do you get that? I had been alone most of the day in Thirroul, and
it leaves a lot of time for you to be in your own head. So I was thinking what
I could make. I thought maybe I should make a podcast to compliment my travels.
It’d be a 7 or 8 (NOTHING IN BETWEEN) minute podcast that
talks about an animal I see. I really like animals and I know how to record
stuff and I’m a generally emphatic speaker. It could work.
It would be structured
like first, my experience with the animal, where it lives, then go though parts
that define an animal. How it feeds, moves and reproduces. Then maybe five fun
facts. I could do it.
My first one would be about the Moon Jellies I saw in the
harbor. Jellies are super interesting because of their increasing population
all over the world. From what I little research I’ve done, nobody is super sure
about one cause but it probably has to do with rising ocean temps, ocean
acidification, and overfishing of their natural predators.
I’ve made friends. It usually takes some time for people to
get to know me and like me and for me to like them. But I’m def in the cool
group now. We eat dinner and drink together in the courtyard.
One girl was talking about how she saw some guys bean bag
and doodle the first week I was here. He was sleeping in the bunk bed across
from her and his shorts were too loose. She never identified the man since he
left the next morning. He didn’t check out though, that guy was me and I had to
move rooms since I extended my stay. Since we were friends now I figured it’d
be fine to admit it was my meat and potatoes. She was really embarrassed. Which
is odd, cuz it was really my fault.
Today was Australia day! A day where everyone drinks beer
and eats sausages. I’ll be honest, I’ve never really day drank before, any day
drunkenness for me previously had just been carried over from the night before.
I went up to the suburbs to a friend of a friend’s house to see how the locals
do it.
Beer beer beer. Like 200 beers. And a slip n slide with a
ramp and boogie boards. And a radio station that counts down 100 songs of the
year as voted by the public. I knew Uptown Funk and maybe one other song.
Taylor Swift had been controversially kicked out since she had been sponsored
by some big ol businesses. And that’s strictly against the rules.
It’s basically Fourth of July. But I had some crazy good
Aussie desserts. But I can’t remember their namesssssssss…. I’ll find them
again. I skipped being a vegetarian for that day too.
I didn’t get the surf camp job. Cuz I don’t know how to
drive stick and he needs someone who’s really good at that since the car is old
and will be carrying a load. I get it, but oh well.
So it’s time to move. I’m going to Darwin, in the tropical
northern territory. I was stopped at security for having an aerosol sunscreen
can (thanks mom). Felt like an idiot. But domestic flights are super easy here.
And like no one is going to Darwin now. It’s the rainy season.
In fact. I don’t really wanna go. I really liked Sydney! In
fact, it’s my favorite city ever!
But I can’t just stay in Sydney this whole time. That’s like
going to New York for a year and saying you lived in the US. You didn’t really.
So I’m going to Darwin to see something new. I applied for a few reach jobs up
there already. So I’ll stick around for maybe a week and see if I like it. If
not, I’ll go to Queensland and maybe get a job and a car and make my way down
the coast back to Sydney. Or maybe fly to Melbourne. It’s the summer and I
wanna be warm.
You ever think about people and if they think about you like
you think about them? Of course you do that’s a vague enough question for
anything. I was thinking about if any of the people I met will ever remember
me. I mean probably, statistically that seems valid.
Nobody’s really going to Darwin. The plane is about half
full. I sat next to this guy Gordon, he’s from a town with 7 people in it. He
works farms in the dry season and is a mechanic in the wet. It’s the wet season
now and he was nice.
Darwin is in the North. The way North, next to Indonesia.
It’s tropical. Sydney had been getting kinda cold (low 60s!) so I was looking
forward to the heat. I landed around midnight and hopped into a shuttle that
was playing the live version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Seems like a good sign!
I shuffled through the gate and into my room in the hostel.
It was a little more rustic than my last. But it was called Dingo Moon Lodge.
Which was the primary reason for choosing it.
I popped up early and then popped back down. I was sleepy.
If Sydney was like the feeling of Florida when you first
walk out of the air conditioned airport, then Darwin is like double Florida. I
ran at like 9:30 to get a good sense of the town. But I wish I brought my
mittens cuz by 10 Darwin handed my ass to me.
It was more like swimming. Darwin then proceeded to wreck my
iPod. Here’s a poem.
Too humid,
too sweaty,
too hot.
Now my iPod
is shot.
When I run I kinda hope that somebody sees me and is like
“Hey you seems tough and can handle the heat, would like a job in the harbor?”
Darwin is much smaller than Sydney, there’s a waterfront
that’s really nice. A fancy vacationer bay home area. And a long strip which is
the main city. But the weird part is that no one is here. It’s ghostly. The
hostel is also half empty.
I saw Gordon while I ran. He slept in the airport last
night. I don’t have those abilities. He was about to head south to go home but
he said if I couldn’t find work here I should call this guy in this town called
Renner Springs. Maybe he could help he said. Dreams coming true.
So the reason nobody is around is because it’s the wet
season and everything is closed. A lot of tourist stuff is seasonal, and when
the tourists have nothing to do, they don’t come, and when they don’t come
shops close up, and when shops close up I get stuck in the rain on the other
side of town without an umbrella or anything.
I don’t like Darwin. I’ll probably leave soon. No reason to
be here. I called two places about jobs but they said they don’t have room
anymore.
I actually got an email about an interview though! For a job
in web development! For a guy named Zolt. Somebody emailed me mistakenly. Bummer.
The hostel is more hostile as well. Lots of tattooed dudes
and Frenchmen. Not many friends to be made.
There’s a strong aboriginal population here. And a strong
movement to get them employed. And a strong disparity in wealth between them
and Aussies. Look racial tension! Even more Florida similarities.
Some people were having sex last night. I mean c’mon!
There’s like 8 of us in the room! I wonder who it was. Coulda been the only
girl in there. She was Or it coulda been
this one dude with a prostitute.
What kinda budget could a guy be on that he’s staying in a
$25 room but is buying prostitutes? Maybe he’s the prostitute. Maybe I’m the
prostitute? Did I pay for this service?
Anyway I gotta get outta here. The humidity and rain wrecked
my phone too. Darwin isn’t working out.
I bought another plane ticket. This time to Melbourne.
Somebody is yelling at the person who had sex. It was the guy. They might
fight.
The language is pretty bad here. Like usually I don’t care
about swearing but like every other word is fuck this and shit that. It’s just
super neg. And the worst one was talking to the phone store guy. I asked him if
he could unlock my iPhone since the other one is busted. He was like “well
mate, you could call AT&T but theyre not gonna unlock it, they’re raping
you with long distance charges” and I was like “uh ok” and then he suggested a
place to unlock it for me “But they’re gonna rape you with fees” ”Somebody’s
gonna do the raping”. I dunno, such casual use of rape bothers me.
I made another poem about Darwin.
Sorry
Charlie D,
Your town
just isn’t for me.
I was bummed
for a while, but I know me pretty well and I can get myself out of the dumps. I
rented a car!
I wanted to
practice driving the other way again so I rented my very first car and drove
myself to some parks and beaches and wandered around. Then I went to dinner
alone, which I don’t really like to do but oh well.
I got a box
of Tim Tams (Which you should totally order online right now and try), and
drove to a pier. A monsoon came and it rained and stormed but there were some
people fishing so I figured I was fine. I listened to Randy Newman and ate the chocolate
Tim Tams in the storm. It was a good investment.
