Bushfires seem to follow me.....
I went to Thredbo, NSW to the highest peak. I saw bushfires from the highest peak. The day after I left, the town was evacuated.
I'm back in Tassie now, and there are fires VERY close to Cradle Mountain and they've been picking up Overland Trackers and transporting them by helicopter further down the trail. Good thing I'm not doing that!
Right now I'm in Middleton, TAS (south of Hobart, on the channel looking across to Bruny Island) working with Marj and Toby, an awesome couple. Yay! Pictures later, of course...
Monday, January 22, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
why i always carry my bag with me, goddamnit
An anonymous lad with whom I have been travelling lately (Matt) asked me one day, "yeah vicki, why do you ALWAYS carry your little backpack EVERYWHERE???" though at the time I could only answer something on the order of "i like having a lot of stuff with me," i can now elaborate.
tonight, i went to the Salamanca rectango live music area in the early evening, where they were a handful of tasmanian children (devils? naw!) with their parents drinking cascades and some young-pre-parentage people (though all over 20 or so I would say). That was quite fun, even though I wasn't there long enough to loosen up a lot and go dance in the main area. But I did say hi to a guy wearing a Green Mountain Club tshirt (aussie, not american, though).
Anyways so afterwards I decide, hey, I'm at Salamanca, I'm hungry, I've been eating cheaply, I'm gonna go out to dinner here! I wing up chosing this restaurant because there will be music playing around 8 pm. It's 7:45 pm. After some shuffling I wound up sitting outside. I got a drink promptly but it took maybe till 8:10 for them to come and take my order. Then, I wait. There might have been music, I think, but since I had moved outside, I couldn't really hear it. The good waitress, but who didn't seem to be my main waitress, was nice and brought me a paper, because I'm sitting there by myself and all I had was my emergency cell phone and my camera and my ID and money, cause I had thought "oooh I'm going out on the town I'll look nicer and bring a purse, not my big little backpack!"
tonight, i went to the Salamanca rectango live music area in the early evening, where they were a handful of tasmanian children (devils? naw!) with their parents drinking cascades and some young-pre-parentage people (though all over 20 or so I would say). That was quite fun, even though I wasn't there long enough to loosen up a lot and go dance in the main area. But I did say hi to a guy wearing a Green Mountain Club tshirt (aussie, not american, though).
Anyways so afterwards I decide, hey, I'm at Salamanca, I'm hungry, I've been eating cheaply, I'm gonna go out to dinner here! I wing up chosing this restaurant because there will be music playing around 8 pm. It's 7:45 pm. After some shuffling I wound up sitting outside. I got a drink promptly but it took maybe till 8:10 for them to come and take my order. Then, I wait. There might have been music, I think, but since I had moved outside, I couldn't really hear it. The good waitress, but who didn't seem to be my main waitress, was nice and brought me a paper, because I'm sitting there by myself and all I had was my emergency cell phone and my camera and my ID and money, cause I had thought "oooh I'm going out on the town I'll look nicer and bring a purse, not my big little backpack!"
Anyways, long story story, the food (a salad with meat, which was cold when it arrived, purposefully i think) came at 8:45!!!!!! And by this time I was cold outside! I had read that entire paper (after starring into the square for a while too). The most interesting article being about China's recent addition of stringent green building requirements. It appears to be a good facet of communism! I ate my dinner, was sure to ask for my bill very promptly, and needless to say I left a very small tip. Others near me were served my faster, by the way. Then I bought I cookie somewhere else--in spite of them and to make me happy.
The moral of the story is ALWAYS carry your little backpack with your book and journal in it so that when you, now single as a traveller, are standing there or sitting there awkwardly watching small children or starring off into space, you can actually have something to do and not have to sit there for 40 minutes waiting for one salad.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
shoutout to helen (and any other folk music fans) and margaret, my current favorite travel buddy
so, though being a bit homesick/companion sick, i wound up having fun today. at a loss of what to do my first evening in Hobart (spending every moment trying to get my plans set), i thought, i'll at least go walk outside. find a park or a bench to sit on to eat my dinner/snack, and call my Lalla, TAS farm people and maybe others. First, a crazy guy walks down the deserted street (seriously! at 8 pm! 1 car or pedestrian every minute or two! so empty!) shouting expletives while i'm on the phone with someone telling me i can't woof for them because they're not free during the day but that i can stay in their woofer accomodations if i'd like. ..... wow!
Then on the way back i'm walking by and there's a signboard out saying live music right now at The Loft. Turns out this place which was mostly a pool hall is now doing live music tues-sat nights! and tonight (thurs) was opening night! of course i didn't find all this out until I got inside. So at first i hovered outside for a few minutes because they were all female singers and i didn't want to walk into some unknown random angry-lesbian-singers fest and not know it because I'm not from here, or walk into a room with no one in there, as there was no one on the street.
so first i prepared myself that those might be the case but then it was fine! and i wound up sitting with these two nice girls from hobart, prob mid-20's, and we talked a bit which was nice. the main headliner band, which is awkwardly called Women in Docs (as in doc martins, but i don't think there's any implied stereo type there) were AWESOME (and from queensland!) and they're not huge huge huge but they've been around the US, to folk festivals and such (Helen they said they've trying to get in to Falcon Ridge!), and it was great. and their last song was a cover of Wagon Wheel, the only song that i can play on the guitar (sort of an old classic, which they told me afterwards they picked up in the states) , so i was psyched.
then on the way out these two random Brizzie (Brisbane, QLD) guys (Ryan and Travis) converse with me "you're from the US, no way!" and ask for my number kind of (and where I'm headed next--which would be home, alone!) but i tell them i don't have one. because for all intents and purposes i don't--i have an emergency phone. and they were drunk. and we all know how drunk people really bother me. But i played it off well, was pretty good socially even though i have very limited experience with the "adult" social scene.
Then on the way back i'm walking by and there's a signboard out saying live music right now at The Loft. Turns out this place which was mostly a pool hall is now doing live music tues-sat nights! and tonight (thurs) was opening night! of course i didn't find all this out until I got inside. So at first i hovered outside for a few minutes because they were all female singers and i didn't want to walk into some unknown random angry-lesbian-singers fest and not know it because I'm not from here, or walk into a room with no one in there, as there was no one on the street.
so first i prepared myself that those might be the case but then it was fine! and i wound up sitting with these two nice girls from hobart, prob mid-20's, and we talked a bit which was nice. the main headliner band, which is awkwardly called Women in Docs (as in doc martins, but i don't think there's any implied stereo type there) were AWESOME (and from queensland!) and they're not huge huge huge but they've been around the US, to folk festivals and such (Helen they said they've trying to get in to Falcon Ridge!), and it was great. and their last song was a cover of Wagon Wheel, the only song that i can play on the guitar (sort of an old classic, which they told me afterwards they picked up in the states) , so i was psyched.
then on the way out these two random Brizzie (Brisbane, QLD) guys (Ryan and Travis) converse with me "you're from the US, no way!" and ask for my number kind of (and where I'm headed next--which would be home, alone!) but i tell them i don't have one. because for all intents and purposes i don't--i have an emergency phone. and they were drunk. and we all know how drunk people really bother me. But i played it off well, was pretty good socially even though i have very limited experience with the "adult" social scene.
anyways, it was fun and i was proud of myself for finding something cool, and something cool that is new to hobart and exciting, and being social and not too awkward, and being solid with my american ness and not trying to hide it too too much but sort of letting it flow gently as needed.
pictures and sound clips, in like, 2 years, when i have internet again (probably when i'm back in the US)
Saturday, January 13, 2007
New photos up on Flickr
Added 45 faves to the existing 43.
Solid.
Don't want to deal with logistics of being on my own, but becoming somewhat easily jaded with my companions, even though they themselves are great.
Had another 3 fantastic days at the Coast House after Sydney (have I written since we went to Sydney for a week at stayed and Jon and Eleanor's place in Cremone and got to take the ferry everywhere when Matt wasn't amazing and driving us to the further away places like the cool beaches?). Paris was along with us at the coast, I got to play more blues guitar with Matt's dad, Geoff, read more of my book (Dibs In Search of Self by Virginia Axline), and most importantly, go surfing again!
Oh, AND we went to the fair and I rode a few rides :)
Anyways, click on the first link in the list of links and checkout the photos.
I'm back in Canberra now, might go hit up Mount Kosciuszko (highest peak at a whopping 2228 m or 7310 ft.) for a day or two, but on Thurs, Jan 18th, I head back to Tasmania for 3 days in Hobart (climb Mt. Wellington, Salamanca Market, maybe go to Huon Valley or Bruny Island for a day) and then on to the farm in Lalla, Tasmania (fantastic, isn't it?)
Solid.
Don't want to deal with logistics of being on my own, but becoming somewhat easily jaded with my companions, even though they themselves are great.
Had another 3 fantastic days at the Coast House after Sydney (have I written since we went to Sydney for a week at stayed and Jon and Eleanor's place in Cremone and got to take the ferry everywhere when Matt wasn't amazing and driving us to the further away places like the cool beaches?). Paris was along with us at the coast, I got to play more blues guitar with Matt's dad, Geoff, read more of my book (Dibs In Search of Self by Virginia Axline), and most importantly, go surfing again!
Oh, AND we went to the fair and I rode a few rides :)
Anyways, click on the first link in the list of links and checkout the photos.
I'm back in Canberra now, might go hit up Mount Kosciuszko (highest peak at a whopping 2228 m or 7310 ft.) for a day or two, but on Thurs, Jan 18th, I head back to Tasmania for 3 days in Hobart (climb Mt. Wellington, Salamanca Market, maybe go to Huon Valley or Bruny Island for a day) and then on to the farm in Lalla, Tasmania (fantastic, isn't it?)
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