On the Bottom Half

Country Crossing

I did precious little after getting off OceanQuest on Friday. The transfer boat, SeaQuest, is a posh thing indeed especially fitted out for the wealthy tourist set from Japan and east Asia. It cruises about 25 to 30 kt, though, so what a ride back to land. Anyway, I got back to the hostel, checked in, and went downtown for the free supper at the backpacker's joint The Woolshed. Then it was early bed. Wah-hoo! Careful of the Woolshed link, they have an 'adult content' warning, but it's not a 'gentlemen's establishment'. Just overzealous backpackers spending too much money on nothing very important.

The next day was mostly sleeping in, phoning, washing clothes, cleaning up, etc. There was a group of Danish guys living at the hostel and they have 15 episodes of The Family Guy on a computer. Every night, we usually got together and watched a few episodes, which was almost a highlight when trying to wind down after all that dive boating. I also vegged out and watched a movie called Birdman of Alcatraz - great show, I highly reccommend it if you get the chance. It was The Woolshed for dinner again - for good food everynight, you just can't beat $5! I went to bed a little early again, but the highlight was when I got up at 0400 to go to the washroom.

There were four other beds in my room and all of them were rented out. To my surprise, however, there were no other bodies in my room at that time of the morning! 'Hmmm, going to be a late night,' I thought. Well, the first stumbled in at about 0530 and left the door to the room open as well as the outside door to the hostel blowing in the breeze; the last fell into bed at 0730. I have precious little sympathy for drunks that turn on lights and clang around at those hours of the morning, so when I got up at 0800, I wasn't being too careful. But 0800 is still kinda early, so I was a little quiet. After 1200, though, tough luck suckers! They were too groggy to do anything about it though (racous, cackling, evil laughter). The response from the 0730 straggler - 'Alcohol should be illegal. I will never drink again.'

The following day was much the same. I went downtown and wandered a few of the shops, bought some fruit, and rode my bike. Then I asked the hostel girls if they wanted to get some pizza, because I had a craving for saturated and trans-fats. The next morning, it was time to bid tropical north Queensland goodbye and Jetstar to Melbourne. It was wonderful to fly again. The A320 was very new as well - the paint was hardly scratched and the T/O acceleration was quite strong. Don't know if they've changed any specs on the engines, though.

So there. Bruce so graciously picked me up from the airport in his shiny new Holden Commodore and I'm back with my adoptive Australian family. Helen and Bruce had a birthday cake, card, and Dean Martin 2 CD set present for me! How cool is that?! It's true - you should always have a cake for your birthday.

Alright, the tasks were set before me for the next couple of days: finish registering, find a place to live, get my student visa, book flight to Sydney, maybe move some stuff in...

Tuesday morning I got to the U and finished the enrolment paperwork, but when I went to hand it in, they said that they needed my student visa to finish enrolment. Shot down...

After that, I phoned a lady about a 'new' townhouse near the U and booked a look for after supper. Then I cut back into the city to do the student visa thing. Apparently you need to book an appointment, the first one of which available was for 4 May at 0900. Hmph... I wandered the shops in the city to pass some time and look at wardrobe upgrades. It's really quite funny to see winter season clothing just coming out in stores in March.

At 1700, I took the train back to the U and started to push hard on my bike to get to the townhouse on time. But my bike just wasn't into that kind of thing and promptly kicked the left hand pedal out of the crank! The threads on the pedal stripped out. So the rest of the way was made by foot. Well, after all that, one thing did work out, and that was the place to live. I'll post photos later, but nervous that I would lose it, I paid for the thing and picked up my key yesterday. It is quite new, three bedrooms, tons of windows, and comfortable living space. It's only about 10 minutes walk from the U and is in a gated townhouse complex. $140 per week all bills included.

The next day, I phoned the bike manufacturer about warranty repair, but was rubuked because the bike only has a 30 day warranty. He asked if I'd greased the pedal threads before installing. I said 'no' and he said 'that was your problem.' Luckily, the threads on the crank were good and the new pedal went in without trouble.

Today was highlighted by the search for house stuff, with me ending up buying a cool orangey bed sheet suite! Who new there were so many types of cutlery, dishes, etc., etc. Photos later.

Tomorrow is the flight to Sydney, where wayward me is to meet my parents! They get in on Sunday morning, but I was hoping to use Saturday to find some treats for them and go to minus5. It's a pub in which the stay is limited to 30 minutes, but in which everything is made of ice! The bar, stools, glasses, ice, and walls are all ice. I have to get at least a little bit of snowy weather or I'll go nuts.

Congratulations to my brother and his wife on their new baby boy - another child I can corrupt with airplanes! I have misplaced your phone number, but I'll find it shortly and call you soon!!

Update complete!

posted by Kyle @ 23:00