The last days of Albany, and finally leaving WA

Thursday Nov 20th - I had to go into town to print off my flight emails but as per usual it was pissing down in the 2nd of a 3 day storm that was happening. I got soaked on the way there since my waterproof jacket is crap and the water runs off of the jacket onto my legs and the pockets let in water. Got everything printed off though and after a quick shower I had to meet Steve after work at 3.30 so we could get some beers for a farewell drink. Tonight was the last night since Steve and Jack were heading off to Denmark (the town, not the country) the next day. He actually finished at 4 so I went off to find Nick and said bye to him, and then saw Sarah & said bye to her aswell. Jack picked us up and took us to Dan Murphy's (cheap bottleshop) We did a bit of shopping, grabbed a Hungry Jacks and headed back to Steve's. Cracked into the beers and watched "Outpost" which made no sense. And then proceeded to get drunk. Good times. Said our drunken goodbyes etc. The next day I said goodbye to Jack and Steve as they left. Sad times. I may have lost Darren as a mate on this trip but I've made new ones. I'm really going to miss those 2 and their banter. I had some awesome times there. If Steve and Becca hadn't let me stay with them I genuinely think that this trip would have been over long ago.

Saturday 22nd November - I was up early-ish since my bus left at 11am. Had to go to North Road to get money for the rent I owed which gave me even less time. I had to run to get my bus. Well...I say "run." It's a long way so I was running and walking. Got there in time though and the journey itself wasnt too bad, just a bit depressed to be leaving Albany I guess. I got into Perth 30 minutes earlier than planned and made my way towards the Townsend Lodge...yeah, i know i complained about it before but at least i know what to expect. It was pretty cool seeing the Perth skyline again. Doesn't feel like I left there like 10 weeks ago. The Lodge was fully booked but I booked myself in for december for the couple of days before I fly home. The girl there was sound though and gave me a list of hostels in Perth. So i went to the one that the idiot taxi driver dropped me and Darren off at when we first got here but they were fully booked too. But 3rd time lucky I got into 12:01 Backpackers. They didn't give me a key but charged me for a key deposit anyway. Weird. The key the Irish guy had to let me into the room didnt even work so eventually some Malaysian guy let me in. Then some guys told us that I could use a credit card to open the door...or pretty much any door in the hostel. I dumped my stuff and headed out for some munch. Wandered for a bit cause I wasnt in the mood for socialising and those old feelings of homesickness started coming back. Bad times. After a couple of hours I went back since I didn't want to be out by myself at night haha. I attempted to update my journal but couldn't be fucked so i went on the net...and talked to Winnie the owner. Nice guy, bit odd though. I was hovering about when the Irish guy who showed me about invited me to have a few beers out the back. My spirits lifted pretty much straight away as I headed to the Bottleshop. Don't think anyone told me their names so I'll go by nationalities. The Irish guy was from Dublin and had a mate with him(also from Dublin,) a Northern Irish guy, 2 guys from Melbourne, a German wifey and 2 Aussie girls. They were all friendly and pretty wasted...except the girls...and one of the Aussie guys who was absolutely ruined. In fact, he was sick in a corner half way through the night. A guy from Brisbane called John sat next to me and we were getting the craic for a while. Then the really fucked Aussie spilt beer on the German wifey-she was ripping but chilled out pretty fast once he got her a towel. He went on to get the hose to wash away his sick but gave up. His mate then tried to soak him with the hose but had the nozzle round the wrong way and squirted himself in the face! One of the funniest things I've seen on this trip, worthy of You've Been Framed haha. We got moved inside by Winnie since it was getting late and I got talking to a Welsh guy but I can't remember his name. His nickname was very original though - "Welshy." John let me use his laptop for a bit while he went out for a smoke. Still no word from the people I'm meant to be "couchsurfing" with in Melbourne. Reckon I'll just stay in the airport the first night since my flight gets in late and even if the trains run at that time into the city I don't know if any hostels will be open.

Sunday 23rd - Checkout was at 10am but I'd arranged a lift to the airport from Winnie for a small fee ($12) Way better than a taxi. He was giving me and John a lift to the airport at 5 so I had like 6 hours to kill. I needed to get a pen & some batteris but since it was sunday nowhere openes til midday. So I decided to get a paper and head down to the river to chill and read it. On my way there there was some sort of music festival going on in the field opposire Swan Tower...I presumed it was a dance event since they had a "Ministry of Sound" sign in the venue. But the dirty bastards had put a black cover round the fence so I couldn't get a free show haha. So I sat on the grass and listened to the tunes they were playing out for the soundchecks etc and read the paper. I got pissed off with the wind though and headed for shelter on a bench sheltered by some trees. I was there for about 15 minutes before 3 guys came up and sat down next to me "to look inconspicuous." They were drinking and hiding from the cops. Then the most talkative guy jumped up and was like "Where the fuck's my bracelet?!" They found it though and off they went to the music festival. By this point it was past 12 so I headed to the shops. Wandered about for ages then stumbled upon "The Big Game." Mental show that got kids participating in like a giant board game. It killed some time. I needed something to eat but didn't want to get a McD's or Hungry Jacks but the city centre was heaving so I just got a McD's and chilled on a bench for a bit. Wandered round a bit more then I saw this amazing dancing guy on the main street. He was total funny too. After that I got my pens and batteries and headed back to the hostel and updated my journal a bit til me and John got picked up about 5.10. My flight was at 6.40 but it was delayed so there wasnt a big rush. Then I got pissed off at the stupid info screens, almost punched some bitchy woman, and when I was in the departure lounge some kid hit me in the arm with a piece of cake or something in a bag. The flight was fine but the Jetstar planes are a bit cramped. I didn't get to see much of Oz from the air since it was quite late but the sunset was beautiful. Got into Melbourne airport about 12.40am, & it wasn't til after 1 that i noticed there was a bus running into the city centre. Saved me a fair amount of money since I didn't have to get a taxi. I found a leaflet for a hostel near the bus station & it had 24hour reception and free internet so I was sold. The bus took like 20 minutes si I'm getting it on the way back. Got to the hostel about 1.50, booked in without a wukka, got a bottom bunk (good times) and fell asleep...eventually.

Chops, bowling alleys & Eddie's 50th

Sat 15th Nov - Got a phonecall from Nick (the guy who works with Steve) asking if I wanted to go round to his for a feed and to "drink some piss." Weird expression, but kinda figures since Aussie beer isn't the best haha. I headed over about 5.30, and met Nick's girlfriend Sarah, and his flatmate Petra. Nick cooked up some awesome pork chops, chips and veg. After that we headed to the bottle shop, which actually sells Fosters! We ended up getting some "TED's" though. Then me, Nick & Sarah headed down to the Bowling Alley to meet some folk they work with; Rena & Sara, and Rena's cousin Kristy. The 3 of them played the game while myself, Nick and Sarah started drinking. We weren't there for long though as Rena got a call telling her there was a party on. So all 6 of us got in her car and headed to the bottle shop since they had already drank all their booze. The drive-thru on the highway was closed so we headed into town to the one on York Street, next to the Prem. Then it was onto the party...which turned out to be on the outskirts of Albany. And oh yeah, it was some 50th birthday party for a random called Eddie that none of us knew. Nick and Sarah were pretty fucked by this point so I started blitzing the beers. In the mean time Rena was getting "chatted up" by some old guy in a cricket uniform who was absolutely fucked. So I ended up pretending to be her date...at which point she said "You look like Harry Potter." Can't even escape that on the other side of the world. I'm not sure when Nick and the rest of them left but me & Kristy decided to stay. She was total sound, well good craic. It gets a bit hazy after this though...I think there was a fight between some massive Kiwi and I'm not sure who else but I either tried to break it up or somehow got involved. Didn't wake up with any bruises though so I'm guessing nothing happened. I remember Kristy saying her fiance was giving us a lift home, telling them where I lived, walking in the back door and telling Becca I was drunk, a random thought that I might be sick so I put plastic bags on either side of my bed. Fin. Then waking up still drunk in the morning and doing my classic of worrying about whether I'd lost my stuff...which I hadn't. That beer gave me a weird hangover, sore head instead of a fucked stomach...then a fucked stomach about 6pm. Stupid Aussie beer :P Good night though.

I've also booked all of my flights/buses that I need for the East Coast...and the South Coast too since I'm going to Melbourne and Adelaide. The plan is Albany-Perth-Melbourne-Adelaide-Brisbane-Mackay-Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne-Perth...all in the space of 25 days. Good times. I was also told to check out www.couchsurfing.com by a friend, which I did, and now I've got a place to crash in Melbourne and Brisbane. Hopefully I'll get to see more of each place than just the tourist places. Plus, it means I won't be alone for the next 4 weeks. I'm not worried about travelling by myself, it means I can see what I want, when I want. But it's always cool to have someone to share your memories/adventures with. And I'm also kinda nervous about staying at someone's place that I don't know but I'm sure it'll be cool. I'm only spending a max of 4 nights in each place though so it's not as if I'll be stuck anywhere for long.

And today marks 12 weeks since I left Inverness.

Thoughts...

I booked my flights for the east coast today, well some of them. Either way I'm definitely flying out from Perth to Melbourne on the 23rd. It's a weird feeling; most of the time I've been here I've been wishing that it would just hurry up and be over with...but there is a part of me that wishes I had more time here. Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily regret coming here. I've had some awesome times and I may not get another chance to do something like this. It's just not been what I thought it would be like...at all. To be begin with, back in Perth, I was completely homesick. I had expected that though. But I had visions of travelling all over Australia, having plenty of time to do whatever I wanted, and working on farms as we went. If you've been reading my previous entries then you'll know it hasn't been like that. It's been more of a "Shit, what am I actually doing here? I'm missing out on so much back in Scotland" kinda deal. I guess I've just settled in here in Albany and now that I've finalised leaving I'm starting to think I'm going to miss this place...well, more like the people I've met here. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Oz though...I'm actually going to see more in the last 3-4 weeks than I have in the rest of my time here haha. I guess I'm trying to say that all this time I've been willing my time here to go faster but now that I have less than 2 weeks left here in Albany it kinda feels like this trip is nearing it's end. I know it's nowehere near but I've been away for almost 11 weeks out of 16 so 5 weeks doesnt seem like very much. Anyways, I'm just putting down what I've been thinking for the past wee while into this.

And I've still not spoken to Darren since the morning I went to Bunbury...which is weird. I knew we were going to fall out at points in this trip, it was inevitable. Spending pretty much every day with someone for over 100 days...it's pretty obvious there are going to be some "disagreements." I just never thought it would get to the point where we would be going off by ourselves...

A decent start to November

Saturday the 1st - The day before I had suggested to Steve if Jack was up for it she could drive us over to see the Natural Bridge, the Gap and everything else that is too far away from Albany to walk to. (We had been round at Steve's dad's place for a few beers and darts, good times...didnt feel like Halloween though) Anyways, Jack was up for it so we headed over there just before lunch. It's a bit mental since I've been here, in Albany, for so long and never seen these sights before. Anyway the trip there was pretty funny, Jack was torturing us with her country and western cd's haha.
The area surrounding the Natural Bridge/The Gap was really beautiful to look at by itself, let alone with with the Bridge and the Gap added on. And there was an amazing looking beach a bit farther off that you only seemed to be able to get at by walking along the otherwise rocky coastline. We sat and admired the view for a bit then headed to "Whale World" for some munch...fuck going actually going in; $20 entry = fuck that shit. The menu was shitty though so we just grabbed some ice cream and started towards Albany. We passed the wind farm on the way back though, and since it said it was a tourist attraction I had to go :P We went to a cliff on the coast first though, which was right beside the windfarm anyway. It was so peaceful there, and i love how the oceans are so blue over here. Then we went and stood underneath one of the turbines, they're ridiculously big...that sounds pretty stupid but you dont fully appreciate how big they are until you're right beside them. We jumped back in the car and headed to the "city centre" for some lunch, taking a look at one of the biggest houses i've ever seen on the way. Headed to a place called "Cossie's" (I think) ...it was an alright place. Then we headed up York Street and up to the Plaza, having a general look for clothes for Steve to wear to a wedding haha. We met Jack's mum and sister in the plaza too. Seems like a really cool family, they all seem to share a similar sense of humour :P Back at Steve's we decided to get a chinese for dinner so we drove back into town to "The Hong Kong Restaurant" (I think) ...wasnt the best, no Magic Wok but the guy who owns it was cool haha. Watched "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with our munch. Awesome day, best i've had in a while. Good times :D

Tues 4th - I've been wanting to climb Mount Clarence for aaages but either the weather has been shit or i've slept in or i have something on. But I finally decided to do it today. I looked up how far it was on google earth and it was about 45 minutes to the start of the road leading up to the summit. I didn't exactly have anything on so i went for it. Of course the weather had to be a shit and changed from hot, sunny and windy to cold, rainy and windy in about 15 minutes. I made to the start of the road though...it was lined for hundreds of metre's with trees planted in memory of all the soldiers lost in the wars Australia has fought in. Pretty intense, but a really cool idea i think. They have the same thing in Perth's King Park. After that though it was just a curving road up to the Memorial, dedicated to both Australian and NZ soldiers. Turns out the very first soldiers from both countries to go and fight in WW1 set sail from Albany. Behind the memorial there was another path up to the summit so I headed up. It was so so windy. I was pretty much getting pushed about by the wind haha. It had a cool sort of map at the top-most point; it was circular and you could line yourself up with the lines on the map that showed you what you were looking at and how far away it was. On the way back down i took a different route and ended up going down the rocky part that you can see from the back of Steve's house...and from most of Albany actually. This way took me out near the top of York Street, which would have saved me about 20-25 minutes...ah well, at least i saw a bit more of the place.

Bunbury and The Revolution Tour

Saturday 25th - I was up at 6am to get the bus to Bunbury for The Revolution Tour. I got a phonecall from Darren about 6.40 asking if i could meet him at the visitor centre where i was getting the bus from. He hadn't slept at all. He asked for his Aussie mobile number and told me his general plans for the rest of his time here. Mental how things turn out. We were talking for like 2 hours after a week of not talking then this happens. So he went off to book himself into the hostel for a couple of nights. Got on the bus but the driver was a total prick.
"What's the name?"
"What name do you want? My name or the name it was booked under?" Since it was booked under Steve's name.
"THE name!"
"It was booked under Whyte, my name is Mackay!"
"Just give me the name!"
Idiot. The bus journey itself was alright though...all 6hrs and 30mins of it. I found the hostel easy enough but the office wasnt open til 4pm so i had a couple of hours to kill. I went up to "Boulter's Heights" lookout point. I noticed how close i was to the coastline so i took a wander down and walked most of "Back Beach" as far as i know. On the way back into town i saw a better lookout so i scoped that out too. That killed the couple of hours i needed to i booked into the hostel, dumped my bags and asked for directions to The Rev Tour. So I went to the bus station to check the times of buses that went down that way and the last one was at 5.10, which gave me 30 mintues to grab some munch. Sound. Anyways, i made it onto the bus which took me pretty much to the front gate of the place but i fucking left my ticket on the bus! Rough, rough times. Fucking idiot. So i had to buy another one at the door. Eugh. The show itself was pretty damn good but the crowd were shit and not up for anything. Plus, i couldnt afford to get fucked :( They delivered on the bikes, babes and bands though so altogether is was worth it. Afterwards i went to the shopping centre opposite the field to try and order a taxi but all the lines were busy. So i hung about for 30 minutes before these 2 guys came out of the garage and started talking to me because they thought i was upset! They said they were heading to "the forum" which i knew was like about 3km away from my hostel so after they insisted on me coming i joined them in what i hoped was the right direction... Their names were Nick and Corey, and they were total legends. Had some of the best banter I've ever heard from Aussie's, and a lot of other folk too. Nick was way more fucked than Corey so he decided he needed more beer "for this mission." We took a little detour to his mate "Jonesy's" house but he wasn't in. So Nick decided to go by himself to the nearest bottleshop whilst Corey told me that the neighbourhood we were in was really rough and the sooner we got out of there the better : | He was on the phone to his gf and her parents just happened to be driving past us in the next 5 minutes so we rushed to the end of the road and called Nick to come back. So i managed to get a lift right to the front door of my hostel from Corey's gf's parents! Absolute legends. So thank you Corey, Nick, Frank and his wife. I headed to my room (4 bed mixed dorm, cheapest they had) and met Mitchell and "Chick" apparently... They were watching a movie so i decided to go socialise. Started talking to this guy from Northern Ireland called Ross, he was good craic. Gave me a couple of beers, introduced me to a couple of folk, wasnt an idiot, funny guy. Then there was the constipated Indian guy Riaz, his German gf, the Japanese girls (one of whom came into my room and tried to get it on with the guy in the bunk below me-he was having none of it haha), a Korean girl who started screaming when didnt know how to say certain things in english, Hayley the Cornish girl, Bubbles (cause he looked like Bubbles from Finding Nemo) and some guy from NZ. Sat up with them for a while then headed to bed about 1.45.

Sunday 26th - Got up at 9. Amazing sleep, first proper mattress i've slept on in like 5 weeks! I checked out by quarter past but i had a nasty feeling that daylight savings had kicked in...so that i would be an hour ahead. I had to check since my bus was at 11.30 and there was no way i was missing that. So yeah, the clocks had been put forward an hour so it was now 10.30 instead of 9.30. Made no odds though since the bus station was close to the hostel, so i grabbed a subway and had a wander. The bus was fine, minus the old people in front smelling like burnt hair, and i just chilled when i got home. All in all, the trip was definitely worth it. Bunbury is a pretty cool place, doesnt look like there's much to do though. I would definitely recommend a trip there though.

The past 6 weeks, in a nutshell

There's not much point putting down all the boring stuff that we've been doing since the last proper entry because, to be honest, we havent been up to much. Wandering about town, watching films, playing the xbox etc. I'll put down all the important/interesting things though - at least they are to me :P The first sunday we were here (at Steve's house) I was up late watching tv after Dar & Steve had gone to sleep when Becca and her mate Alfie came in from the pub. We got talking and i mentioned wanting to work on a strawberry farm & it turns out Alfie works for a company that supplies local farms with feed, fertilizer etc. So he said he would talk to one of the local farmers for us and get a phone number - good times. That thursday Alfie gave me a lift up to the farm to get things rolling. Darren stayed behind because he was planning on going home...for a couple of reasons, not really going to go into them. The farm seemed alright, it was just getting out there that would be a problem. The day after i bought an Aussie mobile and spent half the fucking night trying to register it online & just gave up in the end. Ended up returning it the following tuesday and getting a decent one that worked. The same night there was a carry-on after our carry out, mainly between Steve and Becca, but again I wont go into details.

So between the strawb farmer owner being on holiday, reading the whole of the Narnia chronicles and playing the xbox time has been flying by with nothing much happening really. However me, Steve and Dar went out one night without having any dinner and we all ended up blacking out by the end of the night...with Darren managing to puke all over our room...and on some of my clothes - rough :S Then there was Gemma's (Steve and Becca's younger sister) "BBQ" the next day, which was actually held inside thanks to the arse awful weather. Good craic though, met a lot of their family, had a laugh.

Then there was the whole strawberry farm debacle. We had finally managed to score a job on the farm, so we started at 8am on monday the 13th. The taxi cost us $20 to get there, mental. We got there and were told to "talk to Joe" who got us straight into the work, didnt even ask us for working visa's, tax numbers etc. The work itself was alright, but it was back-breaking. So after our 15-minute lunch break i asked this Joe guy what the pay was like; $1-$3 a fucking tray! Complete slave labour! We were expecting like a basic wage plus more money for the amount we pick but no. Plus the assholes "in charge" were stealing our baskets and giving them to the pretty girls in an attempt to impress them or something. The place was full of window lickers anyway. So we just walked out. BIG mistake. I was wearing wellies and ended up with 4 blisters on my feet thanks to the 2 hour walk back to town.

That friday (17th) my feet had recovered enough for me and Dar to go up to the lookout tower on Mount Melville. The weather was brilliant, almost too hot but not quite. And the view from up there was awesome. We were planning on heading up Mount Clarence too but Dar's foot was fucked so we got a carry out and headed home. That night, after a few beers, me and Dar fell out again. Which started a week long silence (almost exactly) between the 2 of us. But I'm jumping ahead a bit.

So on saturday me and Steve headed round to his dad's house for a few brews and a chat. Well good craic. But of course i hadnt had any dinner so by the time we left i was fucked. The beer wasnt the best either so that didnt help. Spewed hardstyle when i got back to Steve's. Meanwhile it was Jack's mate's Hen Night and she stopped by to drop her bags and for some reason we were persuaded to go into town with them. We ended up going to Nsomniax, officially voted the worst nightclub in Australia. At least now i can say i've been there :P It was pretty pish, and far too small...although there's hardly a lot of folk here in Albany. Pretty cool night altogether though.

Anyways, I'd been thinking for like a week or so before me or Dar fell out about how i would get to the east coast to see Sydney, Melbourne etc and the most feasible way seemed to be by air. But Darren's not too keen on flying...so i didnt want to leave him behind. But with the carry on on friday night i decided that i would fly out so i've been planning the trip since. The general plan is to work for 4 weeks, up til the 22nd Nov then fly out from Perth to Melbourne and travel round the east coast for the remaining 4 weeks that im here. And I'd also decided to go to Bunbury on the 25th by myself for the Revolution Tour since Steve didnt want to leave Darren behind, which was cool with me. That doesnt sound genuine...but I really was cool with it haha.

So yeah, up til friday just past (the 24th) me and Darren had barely said a word to each other. That night Nic, a guy from Steve's work, came round and invited me round to his via McD's and the Bowling Alley...which we left before we'd even had a game of pool or anything since he spilt his drink. We were halfway through watching a film round at his when Dar text me saying he had just been "slightly slashed" by a couple of aborignals...aboriginese? Anyway, I headed back to Steve's and walked in to see Dar with his face covered in blood and not in the best mood, as you can imagine. So ended the week long silence but it wasn't to last. Steve and Jack were out on a night out and Becca was working. Over the next 2-3 hours Steve and Darren fell out (via phonecalls and texts) which ended in Darren packing his bags and leaving completely. Notice a pattern here? 2 weeks in a row...

I'm pretty sure I've missed stuff out...can't be that important if i have though :P

More of Albany...

Sunday - Went for a wander until 11am when Becca started work so I could get properly introduced etc...had a couple. We had planned to head to hers that night but she was working the next day. And then she wasnt sure if we could stay at theirs until she'd spoken Steve - bad times. So we booked 2 more nights at the hostel until wednesday morning. Ended up renting some movies from the front desk at the hostel.

Monday - Another slow day; wandered, went to the supermarket, rented some movies, played more cards...

Tuesday - Had to meet Becca at 2pm outside the townhouse & went shopping with her. Becca said Steve thinks Darren AND me being there it'll be too many people - terrible times. So many thoughts went rushing through my head; where im going to stay, where im going to work to get money, will i get money? We got a taxi back to hers and Steve had returned from his holiday in Scotland. Almost instantly he said it was cool for us both to stay - absolute legend. Thank fuck. Had a few brewskies. Jack (a girl Steve works with) came round and was total good craic. The 2 of them (Steve and Jack) are the nicest/coolest people I've met over here. Steve had to crash cause he had work and Becca was pissed so Jack offered us a lift home. We got dropped off at the 24 hour garage, grabbed some munch and headed back to the hostel.

Wednesday - Checked out & headed for Steve's work to get a set of keys. It was pissing it down, typical. We got there and got the keys, despite Dar getting hit by a car on the way there :S We headed out after we'd dropped our bags and each got an inflatable bed and sleeping bag. We just chilled that nigth, watched some tv. Little did we know how cold it was going to be, i thought i was going to die - it reminded me of how cold it was at night at T in the Park.