11th November
Busy day today. Had to clear out the van & clean it to give it back.
Woke early & drove down close to the beach & watched the sun come up
Had a dip in the ocean - it was surprisingly warm, being the pacific ocean I guess
Typically, a much better beach day but I had work to do! - packed up all my stuff and cleaned the inside of the van - no easy task as there was so much fine sand from the beach.
I had to take the sheets to the launderette & did my washing too. At 11 am, they did the remembrance day tribute and silence - as I folded my sheets.
The car wash guy, recommended by the van owner Simone was too busy so I ended up taking the van to the hand car wash - recommended by the car wash guy's wife 😂 - $7 for 7 minutes. Had to be quick! then drove it back to Marcoola beach resort, and handed it back over to Pedro - mission accomplished!
will miss you little van.......and the plant survived!
I caught the bus to the airbnb, at Mount Coolum. I had booked it as it was the cheapest place near the airport, cos I had decided to get a flight to Sydney from the Sunshine coast to cut out tons of travelling.....dunno if it was a good decision......just booked the flight on a whim, as people I had talked to had suggested it.
Got to the bnb early so had a nose while I waited for the owner, Glenn to arrive. Its an amazing place, full of stuff he has collected over the years from his work and travels, with the backdrop of the mountain. The balcony was really cool, up in the trees.
He was a very nice guy, easy going, and I felt at home. I even liked his dog - a shaggy old little thing called Jack. He offered me beer, but I was trying to be good, so I had coffee instead and later, after eating, I thought I'd be sociable so we chatted & sat and watched 'outback truckers' on the TV.
It turns out his ex wife and kids, (twin boy & girl, 11) live in the house next door and he was taking them to the airport the next day........which transpired they were on the same flight as me to Sydney! His ex is British - Irish background - but speaks with a northern accent.
Just as he was telling me this, his ex - Bernadette - turned up to borrow some ice as she had her niece and nephew over from England and her other nephew, who lives in Detroit and his friend, and they were making cocktails.
She invited us over to her house and I ended up having a really nice evening, feeling a bit like part of the family! The Detroit nephew, John, was making a cocktail called a 'batenburg' like the cake, which had Malibu and Disaronno in it and it did taste a bit like batenburg cake.......needless to say, you'd be battered after a few of them - I - still trying to be good, but not wanting to be impolite - ha ha - had a small glass which I sipped very very slowly!!
They were really fun and were all going to Sydney on the flight next morning to stay for a few days, and Bernadette worked out we could all fit into one car and one Uber, as there would be eight of us. She said we should leave at 6.45 for the 8.20 flight - a 10 minute journey, but including bag drop and security.......
(I have to say, I was a bit uneasy as I'm the sort who likes to get to the airport with stacks of time - which I mentioned - but they reassured me that the airport was tiny and domestic flights are so different - any way - I went with the flow and put myself in their hands!)
We chatted about music and travels, watched 8 out of 10 cats does countdown, which happened to be on the TV at the time - It was a Sean Lock tribute including 'carrot in a box'
We then had a bit of a pool tournament and I ended up leaving later than planned.
Next morning, Glenn was telling me about how he had spent two years south of Darwin working with an Aborigine colony. It was a kind of community conservation project, but it was interesting hearing things from a different perspective.
He said the younger guys were great, but the elders were often racist towards him. He said he felt sorry for the younger guys as it was customary that if the elders asked them for money they had to hand it over, so they would get their wages on Friday and have to hand it over straight away, where it all got spent on drink. He said he ended up looking after their money for them in the end and giving to them on Monday instead, just so that on Friday they could say they didn't have any. He said the women often used to turn up for work with black eyes and bruises, but they'd always turn up for work
The place sounded pretty remote - out in the outback with the crocodiles.
During the day, the young guys would swim in the water but later, when it got dark, the same water would be full of crocodiles.
He would take them spear fishing for Barramundi and they'd be waste deep in the creek.........he said he hoped the crocodiles wouldn't come, thinking he was 'a white chicken' in the water.
It sounds like much of the old Aborigine culture and ways have been lost and they seem to be following a new 'gang' culture, aligning themselves with the likes of 'Tupac' - much like the gangs in the UK. Drinking all the time and taking drugs.
.................the 'underclass' or 'the blacks'..........and it's not talked about. ........
Australia also suffers from the 'PC' epidemic, less so than in other countries but it's there.
Incidently it's the story of Tupac's Mother, Afeni Shakur, which is far more interesting & inspiring and probably less talked about.
She successfully defended herself against the American legal system, exposing the corruption in the FBI.
...........sorry......I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there..........
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