Well Sydney was fantastic. Originally I was thinking of traveling a
Title more before I got here just in case I really started running out of money but I felt that. Train trip out here was good enough. I couchsurfed for the first time and it was fantastic. Maureen andMick were their names and they were just the nicest couple. Down to Earth, had traveled the world and had a lot of life experiences, cute and funny together and completely opened their home to me. I already gave them a positive review and she shot back a super nice review of me so I'm gonna try and get some steam rolling on this couchsurfing thing. I'm at a great hostel now but I sent out several cs requests today for when my hostel time is up because it's cheaper and it's a different way to see the city as well (even though my hostel is amazing butI'll get into that later).
In the meantime Sydney was awesome. Thanks to Maureen I did this free walking tour of Sydney that she found online for a few hours. I gave the 5 bucks because thT's how he makes his money. Overall a good and inexpensive way to see a city. I also met someone from Chicago on the tour and her and I grabbed a beer at the opera house before we set off on our different ways. Then I explored the park near the opera house and had a great lie down on this grassy knoll that overlooked the opera house with the harbour bridge in the background. I then strolled through the botanical gardens and went back to my host's house. That was my full day in Sydney. Pretty chill.
When I first got in I was somewhat tired and just had a cab take me to a bar near my host's house to wait for them while they were working...excellent decision. I had some cold lagers and ended up getting into a fantastic conversation with2 local older guys about sports. The Super Bowl had been on and then they explained some rules about cricket to me. Overall, American football is a lot more respected out here and abroad than I thought. That night I went to dinner with Maureen, Mick and Maureen's siblings inahipster neighborhood of Sydney called Newtown. We had great Vietnamesefood and they were totally awesome. We were also walking around in an area where bats live in the trees at dusk time so there bats flying around everywhere. I don't think I'd ever seen bats up that close.
Alas it was time to leave and take my train from Sydney to Perth through the Outback. Honestly it was awesome. Amazing how vast the outback is. There is absolutely nothing for soooooolong but it was cool to get out of the train when it stopped and just be in the middle of nowhere. We stopped in one town called Cook that had a population of 5 and only existed for servicing the train. The train conducted made several tongue and cheek jokes about coming in at rush hour in downtown cook. They were good ones though and that was awesome. It was cool. Saw some kangaroos and emu's from a ways away and actually the train was quite comfortable. The first couple days on the train were not so social but after some people warmed up and others got off and on at a stop in Adelaideit totally changed. I met some cool people on the train whose numbers I got and hopefully we'll spend some more time together. There wasn't much to do but read and shoot the shit while looking at the amazing views. I read a lot! I am halfway done with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and I was also reading quite a few other things. That was nice to do for a while actually. I met people from all over the world on that train but not too many from the US actually. It was kinda fun to play the only A,Erica's in the room card and it still is.this lovely older woman named Rosie who was traveling with her fired and Watkins of motherly offered up her couch when I return to Sydney.she was sitting across from me and her and I talked quite a bit. She said she understood how sometimes you just need to sleep, eat some good food and do some laundry so I will be taking her up on that for sure. She also has a son around my age who is a dj in a hotspot neighborhood in Sydney and said she'd be sure we could meetup when I visited. Boom! That's fucking awesome.
I got into Perth and dropped my stuff off at the hostel and the headed put because it wasn't check in time yet. First I had to chill. I got a couple of beers at this place and my God it's expensive out here. I don't thinkI'll be going to pubs too much when it's $10 beers. Jesus Christ. Ingot a Subway sandwich after that because I didn't want to pay $20. For food at the bar. Apparently February is their $7 footling deal month. As I was chilling in a park in some shade in a very urban area these obnoxious aboriginals cam up and were hassling everyone. They said some pretty vulgar shit to me too but I decided it best to not start something with with 3 probably intoxicated dudes. Now this is a topic I have read up on and because of that I have gone out of my way to not mention anything about Aboriginals while I've been here. Some things I'venoticed isAustralians seem to be very embarrassed by this part of their history. Now I understand this but I don't see how ignoring helps. Germany may have fucked up with the Nazi's but they take very step now to educate all likes of people about that dark chapter of their history so as they say " it will never happen again". The other thing is the way these guys were acting I didn't feel sorry for them or anything that had happened to them. Maybe that's because the States is based more on individual rights and actions but fuck that. Those guys (as well as otherstoriesI have heard) chose to act that way and they should be stood up to and recieve consequences for their actions appropriately instead of trying to sweep it under a rug.i think until that's done Aus is always going to have a major problem on it's hands.this also shows why thecivilrights movement was monumental not just for minorities but all people of the States. I could go on and on about this but from a sociological standpoint I find it fascinating.
Back to Perth. Bill Bryson compared the sleakness and easy going nature of this town toMinneapolis. So far I would agree. It's got that sameawesome vibe Minneapolis does. Parks, sleak downtown, a couple of cool and trendy neighborhoods, an artistic community and super friendly but well educated people. Just imagine if Minneapolis was not in an ice cold tundra and on a warm bay/ocean/river. That's my first impression of Perth so far. So after that I walked through a cool neighborhood, the city center and god a great view of the skyline and the river. I also bought a phone but at a super cheap tourist rate(which is pretty common) because it's necessary for being in contact with people and getting jobs. Definitely talking with people about how to get this stuff going has given me good info.it's gonna be a bit harder than I originally thought butI'll holding out hope. My hostel is the best hostel I have ever stayed in. People are up drinking and talking but nothing crazy. Then people will head out if they want to be crazy. But you pretty much can just stay in and chill if you want. It's far enough away from the bars that it's very peaceful. The people are amazing. I've just been walking around,inning my own business and all sorts of different people have gone out of their way to come up tome and introduce themselves, share something with me and start and overall great conversations. If it was super cheap to stay at the hostel it would be my permanent hoes for sure. Think I'll come back to it though.
So my friend Christene basically gave me a great plan. Her and I met up in the bay and she passed on some pretty solid knowledge to me. I think I'll give till then end of the month and then basically re evaluate if I haven't got anything really going. I've got a couple of ideas but that will give me some time for sure. I'm gonna sign up for some employment agencies, I've heard getting a for,lift license is a worthwhile thing to do and it's a fairly inexpensive course considering the wage you'll be guaranteed with it. I still need to look into the wine work and other options will pop up as well.
Overall I was thinking about this on the train and when I was first pulling into Perth. I fucking got myself here. That's awesome man. I've always wanted to come here and I found a way to do it. That's a very gratifying feeling and it's reminded about the importance of goals and accomplishments in life, how important they are and how much more is attainable than you think. If it doesn't workout in the aspect of work out hereI think I'll be ok with that. I came out here and will have spent some solid time in Perth regardless and Igave ita shot man. It won't even be a failure so much as it just didn't work out. Some of the experiences I've had already have been so memorable and in some ways I feel like breathed new life into me. I will definitely travel until the day that I die.
It's interesting though because it's also given me time to reflect on my future, my past, my present and just what I want. I try not to think too far ahead but Ithink the next step for me will be focusing on trying to develop a career and pursuing some hobbies and community interests that I have. I'll still travelbut it probably won't be taking off like this again...at least for a good while.
Well in the meantime I'm gonna head off and have a beer on a perfectly warm night on this town city on the Indian Ocean. There's a breeze that comes in from this suburb Fremantle on the ocean. That breezes called the Fremantle Doctor because it comes in and makes everyone feel better on a hot summer day. And let me tell you...the Dr. Is in today. Hoe everyone is well and I love you all.
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