On The Road

I tried to manifest myself a ride to Perth and I got one. Then I got another.. and another. I have run across so many rides to Perth that I'm able to pick which one is most convenient to me. I have had a new traveling partner for the last few days. English Joe was supposed to fly out of Melbourne on Sunday but ended up missing his flight to Adelaide due to complicated circumstances. We were sitting around talking about the infinite possibilities of our lives and came up with an excellent travel plan. The first part of this included hostel hopping around to the different suburbs in Melbourne so we could check it all out. The second part, which we embark upon tomorrow, involves catching a ride out West, stopping to camp along the Great Ocean Road, and dropping him off in Adelaide so he can catch his connecting flight to Perth. I will then continue on with our heroic driver, Julie, through the expansive desert for a few more days before we arrive on the West coast. All in all, my journey will cover 3,422km (2,126 mi) in 10 days. This is the equivalent distance of San Francisco to New York City with only one major city in between. Luckily I have some good books to read.

When people ask me where I'm from, I say that I'm from California rather than the states because I think that outsiders have a more positive perception of California than the rest of it. Indeed they do. Lots of people have been to Cali and talk highly about San Francisco and San Diego. I have been waiting for someone to ask me if I'm from the OC and it finally happened tonight! I was so happy and responded with an emphatic noo.

I've been staying in St. Kilda, which is known as the party suburb of Melbourne. I've been very unimpressed with the people at my hostel, the Coffee Palace. Even though all the people here are from far off lands, a lot of them have made the CP their home, squatting here for months at time. I heard several of them say that they have been here for more than six months and haven't seen any of Australia, or even left Melbourne. They've been sitting on their ass at the CP, smoking joints and drinking goon with their friends. I don't know.. to each their own but it just blows my mind. To me, traveling is an opportunity to expand your mind and step out of your comfort zone. I didn't leave my circle of friends to make a new circle and fester in it.

Perhaps I'm sounding too harsh. I don't really like the people at the Coffee Palace. Many of them come off as pretentious, exclusive, and arrogant. Since so many of them are long term, they've all formed a tight clique and aren't very welcoming to newcomers. It's the oddest hostel I've seen so far. Usually people are very friendly and eager to welcome you to the tribe. Many of the people here are English. Before I say anything to make myself sound like an ass, I'll pass on a comment made by English Joe a few days before we arrived at the CP. He said that he's often annoyed by other English people in Australia because many of them only engage and hang out with other English people. I really do feel like I'm out of the club just because I'm not a Brit. It's hard to relate when they're all referencing things that I've never heard of in my life. I found a few nice Canadians to talk to. We talked about cold weather and I pretended to relate because I've been in Lake Tahoe when it was 10F. Yeah!

I'm really quite excited about getting out on the road and back into nature. Even though the moon is half full and getting fuller, I'm sure the stars are going to look amazing when I'm hundreds of kilometers from civilization. I've been drifting away from my healthy eating and substance habits and will be going back to it from now on. I've been smoking a little weed now and then and it slowly starts to make my body ache. I can feel the toxins creeping in to my blood and tissues. Disgusting.

I hear there's lots of roadkill out there that gets hit by buses and road trains so hopefully I can salvage something from the death of these poor creatures by taking their teeth and making myself a necklace. Ahh, it's hard work being righteous. Seriously though, the big vehicles have "roo bars" installed on the front of them so they can plow through kangaroos that stop in the middle of the road like idiots. Since Australia is so expansive, they have road trains with a massive.. cab?.. front puller thing and multiple trailers attached like an 18 wheeler on steroids. I've heard that when you see one coming, you have to pull over and stop or the force of the wind will blow your car off the road. I'm not sure I believe that but another guy told me that the force of the wind will knock you over if you're outside of the car. Sounds suspicious to me. Anyhow, they're so heavy and have so much momentum going down the road that it's more dangerous for them to break rather than pimpsmack roos like pesky flies. Poor roos. If only you would move 6 feet to your right or left, you would live. Instead I'm taking your teeth to make a necklace. It's your fault poor roo, not mine.

I'll probably be out of contact for the better part of two weeks. They come in peace and love so embrace them with the same.