Australia IV

October 24, 2005

So I awoke and had an uneventful day. That is until Clint drove me home that evening. I thought NJ was the only place that had to deal with the infamous traffic circles. Nope. Western Australia has recently installed them everywhere!! And just like in NJ, most people here have no idea how to navigate them correctly. Here the bigger ones are two lanes all the way around and that is what contributed to this accident.

The first guy was already on the circle and beginnin his exit. The second guy was entering and nearly forced the first guy off into a fork in the road. The second guy then panicked and stop dead in the middle of the lane. Being focused on the veering car to the right, it was too late when Clint saw the moron who completely came to a stop for no good reason a few meters ahead of us. SCREECH, SKID, CRASH BOOM BAM. We got very intimate with the Nissan Patrol. One just like the Patrol Gup recently bought. Which is good for Gup because when I inspected the damage to the Patrol I couldn’t find any except for the shattered rear window glass on the ground. Tough trucks! Not so for the Triton truck we were driving. Smashed. It wound up being totaled. No injuries luckily. We all pulled over and Clint called the police. They asked if anyone was drunk or hurt because otherwise they won’t bother to come out to the scene. I guess they are too busy setting up the radar speed cameras! Or maybe they’re still very busy working on the latest serious crime case. Which probably happened 3-4 years ago! We got the Triton towed to the yard and Gup picked me up and we went to The Prince for a couple of beers. Gup’s parents are in Bali this week so they won’t find out about the loss until next week. The good news is that it was insured for $10,000. The bad news is that it was really only worth $1000.

To celebrate the conclusion of hump day we went to the Hiway Hotel. An interesting place. A raffle for a bottle of booze, free sausages to snack on, and a very large hottie in a bikini serving drinks. Then Gup wanted to meet a work mate of his over at The Prince so we did. Gup got to talking to cutie, Shauntele, a cocky and sort of annoying counselor of some sort. God help her victims, I mean patients. I was also introduced to her friend Bridget who was bartending, just finishing her shift and not at all annoying. We hung out till it was closing time and then continued to hang out, drink and play pool with Tim the closer. Eventually Gup wanted to leave but reckoned I should stay. So I did. But that just meant I got home at 2:30 am and very intoxicated on a school night. The next morning, needless to say, was difficult and I bonked hard at 2:30pm, but I made it through the day. Pay backs are a bitch.

Friday night we went with some of Gup’s mates to see Ash Grumfield at The Parade. He’s a pretty decent solo guitarist/vocalist, but I spent most of the time socializing. There I got to meet two of Gup’s uncles, among others. Including a nice Brazilian girl until Penny scared her off. Just another jealous married guy spoiling the single guys fun.

I found out that the job Gup was going to be working on down at Margaret River looks now like it won’t happen. So we probably won’t be moving down there. Which means I probably won’t re-up my visa for another 3 months. Besides winter is still hanging on and I’m starting to doubt if summer will ever even get here?! And when it does it’s being been predicted it’s going to be a record hot scorcher. And of course the swell will suffer.

Monday night we packed up some gear because we are headed down to Margaret River for the rest of the week. So as I’m sulking because I won’t get any Halloween candy this holiday due to the fact that the Aussies don’t celebrate it, we drove down south. It is however still a bit of a holiday here this year because the Melbourne Cup falls on this day. It’s “the race that stops the nation!!” And for a few minutes it actually does. Everyone seems glued to the race either via the media or the TAB off track betting sites. During lunch we went into town and thought we might place a bet. The lines at the TAB were out the door and our lunch hour would have expired before getting the bet in. One person reportedly laid one million on Makybe Diva and wound up winning another three million as Diva became the first horse in Aussie history to win three Melbourne Cups in a row.

So that brings me into November. Slowly, but surely. One bit at a time. Hey I'm only three weeks behind ;)

Coming up shortly: our week in Margaret River.