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.