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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Leaders and Legends (Apr 26 - May 2)

Chilled at the Billabong for the day while Simon said his final goodbyes. While waiting around this fellow popped up during a little guitar round circle that was going on. I can't remember his name BUT he was mad dope on the guitar. He came over and was saying how he's been fieding to get back on the guitar for a while now but didn't bring his over from Sydney (click here for his myspace). He was probably the best guitar player I've ever sat infront of, all the girls around were pretty much falling inlove with him. He played with the guitar laying on his lap and had some percussion going on, I really wish I took a video while he was playing.

After an epic guitar session filled afternoon, Simon and I departed the Bong for the last time and started our journey to Geraldton. We got going at about 6pm and it takes about 4 hours to get there. And if you know about Aus, you know you should NOT be driving at night on the highway because you'll hit a kangaroo (sounds hilarious I know) and you don't want to hit one of those. They'll smash through your window then slash you up out of fear, scary stuff. So anyway, we started our journey in the dark like fools, but luckily right when we got on the highway we pulled up behind a ROAD TRAIN (long truck). This thing was great, provided us with much better light infront of us, protection from the wind and kangaroo protection (on the way down we saw around 4 dead kangaroos, and they are big mfers). The best part was that he lead us all the way to Geraldton, so we were safe the whole way, and he was driving quite fast and passing other slower road trains so we made good time. The drive was just one long straight flat road, really desert-y, or at least I think so, it was also pitch black outside. I wish I could have high fived the truck driver but the opportunity never came up.

We arrived in Gero at about 10pm and pulled up at the beach to stretch out. We were meeting a friend there who we had previously met at the Billabong, he was the one who suggested coming to Gero in the first place. Once we arrived we phone him up (Adrian), and funnily enough he was staying in a hotel right infront of us on the beach! So he came out yelling and we had a great laugh and he invited us to stay with him in the hotel for two nights. BONUS~ Had a great few nights there getting drunk in the hotel room, and having a nice bed to sleep on, it was beautiful.

Adrian is probably the nicest person I've met since traveling. He's originaly from Victoria (Aus), but is on this side for work and whatever. He bought us food, is helping us find jobs and all kinds of stuff. Really great guy, basically if it wasn't for him I'm not sure what I'd be doing in Aus right now, but I know I wouldn't be having as good a time. I can't say enough good things about Adrian so we'll just leave it at that! LEGEND!!

The second day we spent in Gero the Canucks were playing game 7 vs the Blackhawks so we had to go down in the morning to a bar to watch that (Simon is from Van remember). It was a great game, it was even amazing that we found somewhere playing it, and Van won in the end which was great (kept the spirits high for the rest of the day lol). At night we hit up the local pub called Camel Bar, we met the bartenders and had a nice chat, and they invited us back to their place that night which was wicked. The cool thing about being in such a small town (about 30-40 thousand) is that people are really friendly, and they want to meet you because they know everyone else in the town. It's always good getting in with the locals.

The next few days I just spent doing some job related things like getting a bank account, tax file number and handing out some resumes and such. I've got a few leads but nothing definite yet, I'm looking to work in the Department of Environment and Conservation, or at a school for disabled children (as a gardener to start). Both I think would be pretty interesting jobs, I also heard there is quite a bit of IT work to do in the mining industry, so I might check that out as well.

I'm currently staying at a really cheap hostel ($100 a week!) and its run by a christian organization that does work with the mental hospital so it's a nice quiet place to try and buckle down and find a job.

Oh - and I'm pretty sure I saw a shark in the water while sitting at the beach one night.. hmm...maybe it was a dolphin

Peace & Love

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