Back in the Forest with Mandie, Nick and GLO Dance

After hitchhiking thousands of kilometers with many nights in my sleeping bag wherever I could tuck away, it felt great to get a truly peaceful night's sleep deep in the forest in the big comfy bed in Mandie's little guest room separated from her main dwelling - it's hard to call it a house, or even a home, it's more like a dream.


I met Mandie back in 2008, lived with her for weeks without really knowing her amongst a dozen more people, more than that even, all in a house with a backyard view incomparable tucked towards the bottom of Alaska, all there working on a project called couchsurfing. It wasn't until the end, the "time to go", the "where to next?" that we started to really connect as our shared "where to next" was decidedly Vancouver. Better than that was our method, hitchhiking, and it didn't disappoint in it's everlasting promise for adventure. In mine and Mandie's case (and Walter!) it over delivered on that trip pulling all the stops - getting split up,reuniting, repeat, feeling stranded, different weather, explicitly manifested hot chocolate, big trees, overwhelming unexpected generosity, wine, bikes, beaches and more sorts of everything nice, wild and long lasting.


Now I was in her realm that she'd created, something magical in a place proud on it's own magic, just inland from Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia, which for me was a far off land I knew I'd always have to visit, finally here. The magic, Mandie's, was fueled by tea. It set the tone for her space in the forest, her solar powered rain water fed wood burning fire fluffy carpet big glass window mountain forest dream world, teaming with a sense of peace, progress and inspiration.


That's Mandie. Enter Nick, I met him in Alaska too, he was cooking creme puffs as I walked in the door and I've since sampled his jambalaya numerous times and anything else he brings out of the kitchen. I've seen him in more states and countries by now than anybody. Mandie and I picked him up, he'd just hitchhiked up, he'd been hitching all over the country, it was his by now. We spent the night swapping stories of our recent travels, Nick had been in Australia a while now, bouncing between work here and travel there.

In the morning we went to the market and came back to Mandie's for a nice big breakfast, Mandie is particular about her meals and the timing while Nick and I would eagerly deep fry anything at any hour with a side of donuts and there'd be no pulling our smiles away - we ate different meals and all smiled the same. It was at the market though that I discovered my big bill, the 50, was gone, and really gone, slipped out of the pocket not in the backpack gone with the wind gone. I had enough for the dance coming later though, the rest of time would be another matter.


We drove into Byron Bay in the afternoon and hiked a little trail which initially took us to a sort of pier, Mandie laid blissfully in the grass as Nick and I climbed to it. The waves crashed upon the rocks below. A woman cheered nearby and we followed her attention to a dolphin leaping in and out of a wave heading for the beach, "Go go go!", she was beside herself and the dolphin was loving it. We all watched as he popped around a little more and swam the long way around the pier off and away out of our sight.


The trail continued up to a lighthouse and through some forest, the three of us all smiles eventually back to the car. In the midst of deciding our next move we spotted activity in the park, a free feed of sausage. Nick and I swarmed in and filled up, then made it to the edge of the water in time for sunset and in time for Mandie's next scheduled meal, she always had a little container of her mixed goodness food at the ready, clockwork. We enjoyed the darkening sky and some makeshift drum circle that had formed nearby.

That night came the main event, the date on the calendar, GLO Dance. It had been my true introduction into Australia, Nick's too months before me. It was simple really, good music and people dancing, but the first time had been electric and this time would be more fun than that. We danced the night away, gentle at time, wild for most, moving and shifting through. At the end Mandie, Nick and I put on an array of dance moves so off the wall that threatened to rip our cheeks open in laughter, from slow motion to climbing the ladder to dribbling the ball and everything else we could come up with.


Back at a friends house we stayed up with energy talking into the night. I woke up being attacked by kids with raisins having fun, then it was off to a rally. "No fracking way!", said the signs. There was a certain vibe of hate floating around, anger really, perhaps justified and certainly far from violent or otherwise, but we kept a certain mental distance and eventually a physical distance off to another part of the park. We sat in a circle of "good intention" as Mandie probably put it, all chiming in good vibes and anecdotes to put our own good energy into the cause in our own way. It ended with some walking around and hanging from a tree we climbed.


We went to go on a hike, but found ourselves passing out in the car in he parking by the trail head instead, GLO dance caught up finally. We had tea back at our friends, then to Mandie's for dinner, then somehow motivated out the door that night to a party towards Byron Bay. A big fire pit in the backyard and a dance floor that had our attention for a while as well, but soon the warm comfort of Mandie's realm drew us back into the forest for an easy going end to the night.

The next day was relaxation too, but in the afternoon we went driving to see some waterfall. On the way we drove up some steep curvy roads. Coming around a turn another car came wrapping around and the cars brushed in a tense moment. Both cars stopped and Mandie popped out quickly as did those from the other car, there was a quick exchange more or less agreeing no major damage had been done, no one had plummeted off the cliff to certain death, cheerio, carry on.


The hike to the waterfall was a nice one, first a view right on top of it looking down, then crossing the water to the other side for a little different view. Back at Mandie's there was some more relaxation, tea and pumpkin soup were involved.


The next day we piled into the car, it was then that I realized that in addition to my 50 bill being gone, so was my debit card. I would find out later, after canceling it, that I'd left that in Cairns a week or so earlier dropped on a floor under a car in a house I'd stayed in. All would be well anyhow.


Nick and I were dropped off in a town just shy of Surfers Paradise while Mandie went to work. We wandered the town that Nick had been in before, working out a cheap stash of tuna and the like to sustain us for a while. Quickly bored of the small town, we walked ourselves to the main ride for a hitchhike to Surfers Paradise.

A guy named Dean picked us up taking us halfway. He said he had to stop for something and would continue on later and that if he saw us again, he'd take us the rest of the way. Well we didn't manage any kind of ride for a good while which was a bit surprising actually and Dean came around again and picked us up again. He was on his way to the police station to lodge a complaint about an officer he felt had been harassing him at his home. 


We pulled up to the station and he said he'd just be a minute and we could wait in the car. Nick and I sat and talked a good while and a good while became a wait and longer still. Eventually we decided he'd been detained after a series of arguments and a bit of wrestling match, why not, so we left the car and got to walking, we were just about where we wanted to be anyway, which wasn't anywhere in particular anyhow, so that worked out.


This brought us to the beach and the little city wandering about, an afternoon of rambling, strolling and kicking around the beach. We found ourselves sitting in a park awaiting the call from Mandie, eager for Brisbane. We got the call and made our way to the main road for an easy scoop. We loomed about near the road like a couple kids, throwing rocks and sticks and dancing about until Mandie finally came and scooped us up, we were happy to see her.


Brisbane was Mandie's old stomping grounds, she knew it well. We did a drive by on her old apartment, got some tasty food and paused up by a big overlook that had ice cream and tea to take in the city lights from high up. We also took a stroll through the south end which still showed signs of the storm that had washed some bits away.


We ended up at Mandie's friend's place for the night. I was able to check my email there and get a message from Bridget, one of Mandie's friends, the message was she was busy and couldn't have company. Mandie had mentioned me to Bridget who was living north near Rockhampton and she'd said she'd like to meet me and could put me up for a night or so. From here in Brisbane my next true destination was Darwin (the North center of the country), this on my way to the west coast where in less than a months time I had a flight booked for Singapore. Rockhampton could be on the way, while not direct, but something intrigued me about this Bridget character, although I knew nothing about the girl that was tangible.


"She broke my heart Mandie", I said, closing the message up, "looks like I'm heading straight to Darwin", this with a slight jest in my voice, but Mandie wasn't having it. She insisted Bridget was missing something or bound to and got to sending her a text message herself to try to sway her otherwise. I'd in fact had some sort of butterfly like anticipation of meeting this unknown girl up there, no face to the name and hardly a story or anecdote, but my mind was now switching gears to Darwin and the long road ahead, I anticipated at least a week to hitchhike to there.


Before the night was done a message came through and all the sudden Bridget wasn't busy, Rockhampton it was, switch gears again, Bridget bound in the morning and the long haul to Darwin would be put off another day or two, so I figured at least. I rested nicely, enjoying the reoccurring sense of freedom I got from stutter stepping around life, turning on dimes with day to day, hour to hour and even minute to minute pivots that would alter everything, another path entirely off one decision or action, paths with entirely different geography, characters and rhythms awaiting to be taken or passed for another, all of them for me or anybody and the one thing they all have in common is their simple summary, good times.

First Video From New Zealand

I posted a video from when I first got to New Zealand, the start of my round-the-world trip that began in January 2011. A day after arriving in the country I hitchhiked to the furthest point north and decided to hike down along the beautiful coast. It was peaceful and I was alone in paradise, surprisingly no one else for miles and miles. I chased some pigs, that was fun.

The Final Stretch Down the Coast - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 7)

I wandered to the road, just north of central Cairns with my thumb pointing southbound. It can be tricky getting rides from the opposite side of town and heading through sometimes, but this time a teacher and her daughter gave me a ride a little ways then a quick ride came from a woman who's husband works at the UN, she got me clear out of town to the wide open.

I walked over a long bridge making my way further out, as I walked I saw the French girl's van pass by me, I figured I'd see it eventually. She'd offered me a ride as far as Townsville, but wanted a handful of bills for it. Hitchhiking, on the other hand, is free, usually not too much slower (sometimes faster) than driving yourself, and mainly, offers much more opportunity for unpredictable good times.

This point was proven soon after some walking down the scenic road a ways more when an awesome little red buggy pulled over for me. The guy driving this was as chill as they come, his name was Clint and he was wearing a teenage mutant ninja turtles shirt - all was right in the world.

His destination was Townsville where he had some work with his security company. After some talking he offered to let me stay in the motel suite he had for work down in Townsville given that we'd be arriving late and driving into some wet weather. I settled in and enjoyed the ride, wind blowing all around us and wide open scenery all around.

Storms and flooding had wreaked havoc on the area, Clint pointed out some of the damage as we cruised on down. Eventually we came into a storm ourselves, nothing in comparison what had wrecked the area, but heavy rain none the less. In the tiny buggy Clint had a couple full length water proof coats ready for just such an event, we slipped them on an kept cruising into the night. I couldn't help but feel like we were on some sly mission, partners in a crime movie or something.

We laughed our way all the way to Townsville and pulled into the motel where a woman he knew greeted us and we stopped into the room. He grabbed some pizza for us down the road after a while and we chilled out for the night relaxing in the room.

In the morning Clint gave me a ride towards the south end of Townsville and then went further still until we hit the first truck stop where he got us a big breakfast, I was liking the big portions these types of places had. Clint scarfed most of his down and took off for work, I thanked him for everything and took my time finishing the rest and filling up nicely.

Outside there was light intermittent rain, I walked across the road started walking a bit with my thumb out, it didn't take long for a guy my age to pick me up on with way to the next big town. He was a roofer who got flown out a ways from Darwin to aboriginal communities for work, weeks on, weeks off. He had dreams of South America and was saving his money up to go big once he got there.

I got a ride pretty quick from where he dropped me off and found myself near Mackay, walking alongside the rad I got a ride from an older man, then a woman into town, then a toothless Denmark born North German raised guy with a Bangkok Harley Davidson shirt. He dropped in a parking lot near the busier part of the road on the edge of town.

I walked along the road as spurts of traffic came by, eventually someone flipped around and scooped me up, this would be the breakaway ride after all the short little scooter rides that got me across the town. The guys name was Shawn, he told me all about his hitchhiking days and we swapped stories all the while as we headed towards his destination, Rockhampton.

Weeks earlier, when I was with Mandie (which is who I was heading back to on this massive Australian loop), she'd mentioned her friend Bridget in Rockhampton saying she'd be up for meeting up. As we got closer I started digging through my pockets sorting through the scraps of papers with scribbles of names, numbers, ideas and doodles of all sorts. I couldn't find her number and a call to Mandie from Shawn's phone resulted in a voicemail.

As time would tell in the weeks to come, this would be for the best, and as it turned out for the immediate time at hand, among the pocket scraps was another name and number next to the word Rockhampton. A psychiatrist named Gene had picked me up a week or so ago when I was heading to Cairns and written his number on a map he gave me saying I had a place to crash in Rockhampton if I ever I was to come through, a phone call to him proved he meant it.

Shawn and I got to town right before sunset and Gene pulled up right as we pulled in to a meeting point in town, off I went to Gene's house. He lived with his older mother who seemed to need a careful eye and a sly smile, but didn't talk much even though she seemed the type to talk your ear off if she wanted, the way older women like that can.

Gene and I sat on the porch out back starting on a case of beer talking about all sorts of this and that. The town had been flooded and he had stories of that, pointing to places and saying how he'd been paddling around. He told me about his daughter and her music (he'd given me her CD when I first met him), he even told me about seeing some other worldly spacecraft a while back when camping with some friends of his.  He whipped up some tuna sandwiches and we steadily finished the beer in the house until sleep was the only reasonable option.

I got a shower in when morning came and there was cereal and toast, then a good early start to another day of hitchhiking in my final leg to Mullumbimby, to Mandie and the GLO dance. He dropped me off in a busy spot and I got to walking. A truck pulled into the wide shady shoulder and I ran up and opened the door only to find the trucker hadn't stopped for me, but for a food cart up ahead. I kept walking and soon a car stopped, for me this time.

The guy was on his morning commute, but drove me a bit out of the way to show me an ANZAC memorial and tell me about some history of the area. He dropped me at a junction and I waited a little while until a young couple picked me up. They didn't go far, but got me up to where the highway picked up a bit more and wrapped up some homegrown pot for me.

I walked down a ramp to the main road again and up the hill alongside the road thumbing traffic. At a narrow part a car passed and slowed, pulling in a ways up the hill from me where they had room to do so. I raced up and met Bobby and Sam, two guys heading to Brisbane coming from Rockhampton where Bobby just bought himself a new motorcycle, this was being driven by another friend who was ahead of them at this point.

They were all back and forth jokes from the start and we carried on laughing. Sam had did a stint in prison and told us about the pedophiles all in a cage of their own getting harassed viciously by the rest of the inmates. He'd also done some hitchhiking, he told a story about some women who picked him up going on some curvy mountain roads, "Her driving was Shocking!", I loved the was Aussies said that, "Shocking". He carried on saying, "She pulled over finally and asked if I wanted to drive, 'Yes, you are shocking!' I told her".

They were happy to find out that I had some pot, we pulled over and they pulled out some beers while we rolled a cone and took a short break. Down the road we got to the town of Gin Gin where we stopped at a pub and met the third guy of their crew who had the bike parked outside. The all ripped on each other and argued the way good friends do in joke, Bobby taking most of the flak, we had a few beers over this until getting back on the road.

A little more down the road we stopped at some place they knew of to get some jerky. Bobby took over on the bike and the other guy took over driving in the car. Him and Sam complained about Bobby the whole way as we cruised. It got dark and at some point we lost track of Bobby on the bike behind us and were driving pretty slow until we finally pulled over before the next gas station to make sure we could get his attention to stop and fill up. We waited a good while and they started to think something had happened to him since he wasn't on bikes much and especially not in the dark. On top of that his phone was in the car with us.

After a good long wait he at last appeared and saw us on the side of the road, Sam and I had just finished the last of the homegrown as he pulled along. They gave him a hard time, he said he'd stopped for pies to warm up. We all went the extra kilometer to the truck stop and filled up on gas, then continued on to Brisbane, Bobby had earlier said he could put me up for the night.

I drove his car as we shuttled the other guy home and got back to Bobby's where his wife and frantic little dog were waiting. Scraps of pot were gathered from ashtrays roaches and who knows where else to equate to a couple bong hits and Bobby relaxed, Sam and the other guy said that was the only time when Bobby was normal. He seemed like a nice guy to me in any event, but he had just given me a great ride, a place to stay and as the door bell rang, pizza too.

In the morning there was coffee, a shower, more coffee and then Bobby gave me a ride to what he thought would be a good spot. We weaved through streets as he relied on his flaky GPS which happened to have a "sexy" mod giving directions in a porn star voice, "Take a slight left, heerrrrre, oh you make me horny!"

I was left walking on the busy freeway that luckily had a shoulder wide enough to build a small house in. Luckier than that was the quickness in which I got a ride from a young guy heading for the gold coast. That got me out of the madness of roads coming together in the big Brisbane area, at the next on ramp I got a ride from two excited young guys who only took me two exits, but one in particular was pumped to meet an American traveling in this manner because of his plans to visit Texas for some reason unknown to me.

My next ride great, a guy going to one of the next towns who described himself as a "chatter box" and lived up to it. He must of enjoyed my flow of listening and where it guided his chattering because he took me clear past his town and a good ways all the way near Byron Bay and to the turn off to Mullumbimby, he said he would have taken me all the way into town, but I assured him that it would be all too easy to catch a ride from that turn off up into town.

I was right there, the first car picked me up, a guy and his crystal obsessed son. I mostly talked to his son who was 10 years old thereabouts, and by the time they dropped me off I was being invited to his crystal sharing birthday party, even though I knew I'd be long gone by the time it would come around. They drove me right up into the forest to Mandie's place, a slight breach in the sacredness of her hidden sanctuary up there, but they were clearly good people and I was happy to be back where I'd started this loop.

I relaxed in the paradise that is the Mandie's home eagerly awaiting her to get back home herself. Once she got home there was a nice hug and tasty food to be had, plenty of tea of course. We sat next to the fire as I told her the whole story from the moment I left to the moment we were talking now. She listened to me so intently, I was filled with warmth and energy more and more as I recounted all the rides, the orange pill, the beers, the water shortage in the outback and everything else. Something really struck me about that, how focused she was. When you talk with someone there's so much else that can be processed at the same time, whether it's driving, what you'll say next, something you've been reminded of, the scenery or things in the room - you're still there and carrying on with the conversation without missing a beat, but it's those times like this one where you can feel all of someones energy that perpetuates itself into one big glow of happiness.

It was a hell of a trip, and it was only the first part of my Australian adventure. There was still the arrival Nick, the GLO dance, love to find up the coast and, as if I hadn't hitchhiked enough, a trip clear to the north and all the way across to the west with plenty of entertainment along the way. The good times keep on rolling.

Australian Hitchhiking Loop
Mullum to Melbourne Orange Pill (Part 1)
Cruising Sand Dunes and Kissed Properly (Part 2)
Through Adelaide Towards the Outback (Part 3)
Into the Outback (Part 4)
Out of the Outback (Part 5)
Cairns Party and Train Tracks (Part 6)

I'll catch up soon

Hey all, haven't posted in a while, I'm way back in Australia as far as my last post is concerned. It's been incredible since then, Australia only got better as I met amazing people and hitchhiked huge distances. I've since been to southeast Asia and a good chunk of Europe, and back to America and across it once again.

I'm not sure when I'll have time to really catch up on writing, but I will. I'm in Arizona right now coding for my website Trip Hopping along with some other people who are into it. We're getting a lot done, it's becoming a great resource for finding new ways to travel and keeping up with my friends' travels, I think a lot of other people will feel the same way, which is why I'm putting so much time into it.

Looking forward to reliving the last six months when I get to writing, and looking forward even more to the travels and good times ahead, life is sweet.

Cairns Party and Train Tracks - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 6)

I hopped out of Dan's car near the center of Cairns, he'd picked me up in the outback 700 kilometers ago, he was carrying on just another 100 north for work.

The ocean and greenery had me feeling refreshed, I like the place already, and I knew I would. Sometimes I like a place before I've seen it, I just know, or maybe just make it so.

I headed to the library, no internet there, but a cool place to sit and write a bit, soak in the fact that I'd be off the road for a few days after the long string of consecutive hitchhiking days.

I managed some internet later on at a nearby McDonalds, messages waiting for me from couchsurfers saying thursday night and on were good to go. This being a Wednesday, I fired out a message to see if tonight would be ok too.

With that message out there, I wandered towards the beach and what they call the lagoon - a big shallow pool by the beach, a place for people to swim and cool down without fear of crocodile. It was filled and surrounded with bikinis and shirtless types, beautiful people in a hot vacation felt paradise.

I felt overdressed in my tshirt and shorts, but it was probably the backpack that put me a bit out of place. I relaxed in the shade and took it all in for a spell, then wandered down the boardwalk for a while taking in more of the beach.

I strolled back into town, going to the grocery store for pasta and then getting myself on the internet, a message came back saying tonight was a busy night, so I was on my own to figure out the sleeping situation.

I'd camped out the past eight nights, alongside the road, each night followed by and preceded by full days of walking and hitchhiking. The thought of hiking out of town in search of another place to camp for a ninth night didn't appeal, my time could be better spent.

I found a backpackers hostel a few blocks away that charged $15 a night and came with a meal ticket at a central pub, I settled on this. In the room I met Dan, a guy from Manchester who'd been there a few nights and booked about a week more while getting his scuba certification.

I took a much needed shower and changed into mostly clean clothes. Feeling relatively refreshed, I talked with Dan a while and then we decided to head to the pub to get our free meals. We decided we'd get a beer too, but just one, as it was apparently pricey and he'd also had a wild night a few ago with a bar tab upwards of a $100.

We got our free meals, mine was a small plate of rice with a spoonful of chili slopped on, I gobbled it down quick, still feeling hungry, but sipping my beer to make up the difference. The place had a steady flow of travelers, apparently the free meal offer was extended to just about every hostel in town and most people ended up there.

There was a sign on the wall "Wednesday - Wet T-Shirt Contest, 2-4-1 Drinks 8-9pm, 10-11pm". Being 7:30 at the moment, we decided we'd take a wander and come back in time for it all, just as these "one beer" nights often go.

We took our wander, down to the lagoon and a lap around the casino, then back at the bar right at 8 for a couple beers. The bartender said the contest wasn't due until 11:30, "and it's outstanding, every time", he smiled, "at 9 there's a goldfish race too", he motioned at two long water tanks lined up.

We found our place on the balcony, one round, then another, another, and one more before the 2-4-1 special was cutoff. Around then the goldfish race kicked off, two fish racing head to head, each labeled with "USA", "Japan", "Australia" and so on, a drunk backpacker representative for each fish armed with a straw instructed to blow bubbles to coax them to the finish line. Japan beat out England in the disputed replayed final, too close to call the first race.

A couple girls sat on the couches so Dan and I joined them, chatting them up for a good while and getting more drinks when the 2-4-1 kicked back in. By this time I was getting spectacularly drunk, whizzing around the bar back and forth. Soon there were wet t-shirts and nipples a plenty, screams, chants, hoo-hahs and so on.

Later and after I was getting ousted by a bouncer at the door, I'd gone outside for some unknown reason and for some similar reason they didn't want me back in, maybe there was a cover, maybe I was too drunk, all I could do was taunt the bouncer and wander away.

I wandered for a good while, half lost, half searching. At last I came upon the hostel, relieved I'd found it and remembering I was hungry still. A lonely drunk sat in a chair in the dark. I sat next to him, he seemed smug and unimpressed, but clearly welcomed the company.

I ran off almost as soon as I sat down to go and get some noodles from my bag, telling him I had a good story for him when I came back. Noodles cooked and I went back to the table to find him sitting in the same spot passed out. I started telling him the story of the night anyway, he never woke up for it. I finished my noodles and took a big swig of his forgotten German beer, leaving him to get some sleep of my own.

The morning came with a girl at the door saying it was fifteen minutes past checkout for me, the room was empty except for me and Dan in his bunk. I gathered my bag, said a goodbye to Dan and turned in my key at the front desk.

I sat in the common area for a good while, coming to grips with a new day, clouded by a hangover. Some more noodles and cups of water helped.

Eventually I got the strength and will to leave, heading into town and towards the library to further chill out and do a bit of writing.

Later on I met up with Renata, my couchsurfing host in Cairns I'd gotten in touch with. She was a really friendly and laid back woman, we drove slightly out of town and to a trailhead, hiking up towards a waterfall on a serene path. As we walked we swapped some stories, but I was most interested in hearing about her sailing trips. She got me excited about the prospect of sailing around oceans, even telling me there were websites that made it easy to get hooked up with people cruising across oceans on all kinds of different adventures.

We went to her peaceful house afterwards, I took a walk on my own to the nearby beach, standing in the sand for a bit taking it in. People were kite surfing, other walking on the beach with dogs, a variety of birds sang away as the wind blew nicely.

We later went out hunting for kangaroos, I'd mentioned I hadn't seen any properly yet, so she was bent on making sure I'd see one. We took a hike around a place she'd often seen them, but nothing. We cruised around in her four wheel drive looking more, passing fields that were surprisingly (to her) empty. Eventually we drove down a dirt path through some grassy ditches to a clearing behind some new neighborhood projects where we found some small kangaroos hopping around, but they were actually wallabys, still I was happy with this.

The next day I relaxed the day away while Renata was at work. When she came home she gave me a ride into town and dropped me off where I was to meet my next host in town. Eventually a girl came walking up to, not my host, but a friend of hers who was also traveling through town.

I sat with her and grabbed a refreshing beer while we waited for Melinda to come, our host. Eventually came with some other friends in tow, we all sat around the table with a few drinks and more showed up as well. A tall dutch guy interested in travel, a blonde polish girl talking about rum, Melinda talking about couchsurfing and all of us having a good time.

Hunger got us moving, we went for the woolshed, the bar I'd went to the other night for the free meal and drunken night. I went to the counter asking for the free meal saying I'd forgotten my hostel ticket, that worked and I had a small meal to tide me over. We all sat eating with some more beer, the polish girl was mentioning rum again, saying she had a bottle or so and suggesting we go back to the place she was staying where there was also a pool. This sounded like the thing to me, but the others ignored her mostly.

Instead we headed to a place called Gilligan's, another backpacker friendly place with live music and a couple different areas. We danced around the live music for the duration, the odd drink here and there, we sat at a big table and I compiled forgotten drinks, most untouched, left behind by people with too much money certainly. Well enough time had passed, they weren't coming back, I began sipping these. I offered some to the french girl, the one I'd met first before Melinda, but she seemed to proper for such things, even the untouched drinks.

More for me and we went to the dance floor in the other room, the polish girl still mentioning rum here and again. The french girl was tired and had put in the word to Melinda that she was ready to go. Melinda took me aside and told me the score, and basically it came down to me leaving with them or there'd be no way for me to get to her apartment otherwise, so off I went, but not before getting the Polish girl's address in my head, her and at least a couple others were keen on going back.

We got back to Melinda's place, her feeling a bit apologetic about the french girl wanting to end the night. I was on fire, bouncing inside and still in the mood to jump around. I was considering splitting and heading to the rum and the rest of the night, I figured I'd be able to spend the night at the girl's house and failing that would have no problem with a drunken wander to the beach in the early morning or some such. Melinda talked me down though, saying it wasn't worth it, and besides that she was heading to work early the next day in a northern direction, which is the direction I wanted to go for a hitch up to some beautiful spots on a day trip. I fell onto the ground and into sleep.

The next day Melinda whipped up a quick and tasty breakfast and we got on the road, just 20 minutes about to where she worked. From there I started walking and sticking out my thumb with just my day pack and thoughts of the place people called Cape Tribulation. A bike passed me and said hello, soon after a lady coming from an early morning yoga session gave me a short ride a little further up the road. The biker passed me again before I got my next ride, "You're beating me mate!", he smiled as he rode by.

My next ride came from two young German guys, on their way north to gather some coconuts which they'd sell back in Cairns, this was their living for now in between travels. They had some in the car, one took out a knife to cut a hole in one, popped in a straw and handed it to me. I sipped the refreshing drink with a big smile, the whole of the ocean on my right as jostled between elevations and bends for flavor.

After this beautiful drive they dropped me off near a petrol station, I got a really short ride, about 2 minutes to the next junction, then walked a little past it and posted up in a spot before the road got to bending and twisting again. A guy was walking towards me along the road, as it turns out he was hitchhiking too. No backpack or anything, he was a guy from Ireland who'd never hitchhiked before, even now he was just heading to the next town which was about 20 minutes up.

We both got picked up by an older couple who were keen to tell us how beautiful the area was, we were all witnesses as we drove. They dropped us both in the next town, I parted ways with the Irish guy and walked to the other side of town, soon getting picked up by a girl about my age. Her car was littered with bottles and the dashboard covered with art - feathers, toy dinosaurs, dream catchers and the like. She took a swig of some rum as we drove, talking quietly and peacefully about the long night she'd add, very soft spoken.

We reached the line of cars waiting for the ferry, she said I was free to come to her place which was just over the river and relax a bit. We got over the ferry and soon turned into the driveway of the house she was watching for a friend. It was a tucked away paradise, far from anything and peaceful. The house was built high up and overlooked the small pond with a deck that went out where there was a trampoline. We sat on the deck drinking tea and talking. She reminded me of someone who may have done acid twice a day every day for years, comfortably out of it without being gone.

She played some music and went to her garden telling me to make myself comfortable and that I was free to stay as long as I wished. I bounced on the trampoline a while, alternating between hopping and laying on my back staring at the clouds.

Later her friend came over which she called the pirate, he had long hair and a demeanor a bit like a pirate, peaceful though. He too offered his place as one I could stay a few nights at if I wished, he'd be out of town with his metal detector searching for treasure, things were making sense.

He left and soon after I did as well, keen to continue up to see more of the area I had now entered upon crossing the ferry. I got a ride in the next rush coming off the ferry, I guy who once lived in the area coming back to visit family. He told me what a beautiful place it was, we were cruising through thick rain forest and everything was lush. "You can get away with a lot here too, no worries about police. If they ever decide to come through, the guy at the ferry phones the pub and gets the word out right away", seemed like a close community.

Where he dropped me off was the end of the line, at this time anyway, the road that connected to the very top of Northeast Australia was blocked off because of prior storms. I walked down to the beach to take in the scene there, enjoying that for a while.

Later I walked back to the road to catch a ride heading back towards Cairns or whatever else I'd see along the way. A couple girls stopped saying they were heading there, but were going to go swimming and make stops like this on the way, perfect.

We went to a swimming hole for a bit with a rope swing, one of the girls, from California, jumped in straight away. The other, from france, stayed at the top above on the trail, not wanting to attempt the climb down.

We made some more stops at different beaches and look out points, also at a place where they had exotic fruit ice cream, all the while taking small puffs of poor quality weed from an apple pipe they'd made.

On the stretch back to Cairns the girl from California asked if I'd mind driving, so we switched seats. Being my first time driving a stick shift from the right right seat up front and on the left side of the road, I think I gave the girls a bit of a scare at first with some poor shifting and the like, but all the same we made it to the north end of Cairns where they were staying. I used the California girl's phone to call Melinda and see where she was at, no answer, so I knew she was already at her recital she'd mentioned, so that's where I'd head.

I watched a bit of her singing at a recital outside a church, meeting some family and other people before heading back to her place. Turns out she knew the California girl, I'd told her the story of my dad and the girls name, she said she was a couchsurfer who was meant to stay with her and she'd missed a call earlier, but that was my call, and apparently California had found another place to stay in the meantime.

The next day we decided to go on a hike up north a bit, another nice breakfast and I headed with Melinda and the french girl to a friends house. We all piled in his car and off we went, I left my bag at his house knowing I'd come back and start hitchhiking south straight away.

We got to the trail head and parked the car and started up the trail head after a bit of debate over which was the best direction to start going. We climbed through the forest, at last breaking out to a bit of a view of the city, continuing still from there. We came to a bridge that went over the train tracks and continued up around a rock face, we paused here. Melinda and her friend debated what trail went where and where we really wanted to go anyway, but soon the idea was to follow the train tracks to get to the good spot, the question was when the next train would come and if we could avoid being seen by it.

I spied an easy way to get through a part in the fence under the bridge, they calculated we had some time until the next train and I guess we could hear it in the distance far below. We started down the tracks, pausing under a bridge in thought that the train would come soon and we'd be safe from sight below.

After a bit of waiting and taking in the great view, we continued on thinking we could make it further still, but soon we came upon the tunnel. We knew for sure we didn't want to be in the tunnel when the train decided to come, so we climbed right above the opening to wait. After a bit of time it finally came, there we were sitting right above as the train honked it's horn, a conductor not looking very happy waiving his hands for us to get down, heaps of tourists waiving their hands with smiles out the windows laughing.

The roared under us and we climbed down the stone wall back to the tracks, I picked up the five cent piece from the track I laid down, perfectly flattened as I'd hoped for. We ventured into the tunnel, Melinda first, then me, then the two others. We laughed our way through, Melinda taking pictures as we went with a flash as a way of seeing just a bit at a time exactly what was ahead in the pitch black. Despite this tactic, she went down hard towards the end of the tunnel and scraped herself up a bit, but nothing too rough.

We continued on for a bit longer when suddenly we saw a white truck come following us on the track, it was rigged to travel on the tracks like a train. We scattered, Melinda diving into the bushes and all of us trying to disappear, nowhere to go. The guy pulled up alongside and asked what we were doing, it was quickly apparent that he hadn't been sent to punish us as we all thought, he was just doing his rounds that way. He did explain that we were not supposed to be on the track and could get in a lot of trouble for it, fined anyway, but instead he offered us a ride which he also said wasn't a great idea for him to be doing.

We laughed our way on the back a few kilometers or so until he paused and we all hopped out and thanked him. Walking just a bit further we got to a train stop overlooking a massive array of waterfalls, he'd stopped before this so no one would see he gave us a ride.

The waterfall was impressive and we stood admiring it for a bit, then climbing out and up into a bridge that swirled through the top of the forest canopy, a brilliant little walk that lead to a car park. A bit more walking up the road, then through a jungle/swamp area with a nice trail and we arrived in a little touristy town. There we had a quick bite and the talk became how to get back to the car or otherwise. I was all for hitchhiking, of course, all too easy with the short distance and the one road that lead in one direction. If it had just been me and Melinda that would have been the way, but the others weren't keen and a $5 bus ticket was peanuts to them (a beer or two in my eyes, heaps of food even, no reason to waste it here).

Melinda spotted my bus ticket out of principle, and it's a good thing because days later I'd realize I'd lost the bulk of my cash as well as my debit card (but that'll be explained later). We sleepily and slowly meandered down the mountain back towards Cairns close to Melinda's friend's house. Her and I napped temporarily while the french girl took the friend in her van back to the trail head to get the car.

Once back I grabbed up my backpack and it was time to go. The french girl had mentioned that she was going to Townsville and could give me a ride that far, but she wasn't on to my whole style of travel and gas money was something she'd want and something I didn't have, so I turned down the offer and headed for the road, thanking Melinda for the good times.

At last I'd be in the home stretch, gunning it straight down the coast for Mullumbimby to see Mandie again, plus Nick, in time for GLO dance if all went right.

Also from this trip:

Mullum to Melbourne Orange Pill - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 1)

Cruising Sand Dunes and Kissed Properly - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 2)

Through Adelaide Towards the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 3)

Into the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 4)

Out of the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 5)

Out of the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 5)

I woke up just outside of Alice Springs where I'd camped for the night. I was just off the road down a short hill in the trees, hours earlier dealing with a passing dingo and other bumps in the night. Now the sun was on the up and up, I followed suit, sorting my backpack and getting up to the road.


I began walking the now familiar outback style of road, long and straight. This particular stretch had a slight rolling straightness to it in the up and down sort of way, and a few more trees than normal, I nice variation. As cars passed I faced them and stuck my thumb out walking backwards, soon enough one stopped for me.


I jumped in the backseat, an older friendly Japanese man and his daughter in the drivers seat. She spoke the better English of the two, although neither was great I was still able to get a sense of where they were going - forward.


We stopped at a petrol station when one appeared, the man pulled out a pile of change from the car and said for us all to get some drinks. He dumped the change on the counter while him and the woman behind the counter sorted it out. I got a sarsaparilla, which they'd never heard of, but thought was pretty good too.


We kept cruising through the outback, me nodding off here and again catching up on sleep missed the night before, not having to worry about conversation as much with the lack of common words between the three of us.


We stopped again for fish and chips, the Japanese man was buying again, this time with bills instead of coins. I was excited to have a proper meal, also entertained by eating fish in the center of the country, about as far from the sea as possible. While we ate here managed to tell me his story of going to Argentina when he was younger, backpacking around having a great old time. He gave me his card afterwards, he was the President of some oil company back in Japan.

They kept saying they wanted to go to "Debbie's Marbles", some sort of site along the road. They asked if I'd go in and ask for directions since my English was better. Inside I went to the counter where a beautiful girl stood looking bored, but content. She noticed me and smiled, I asked her for directions.


"Devil's Marbles?", I nodded realizing the real name, "Just keep driving and you'll see a big sign pretty soon, it's not far, you can't miss it", still smiling and I thanked her and reported the news to my new Japanese friends. I wondered what a beautiful girl was doing out here in the middle of nothing, so far from anything that the simple petrol station diner was actually not only the hub, but the only thing. This seemed to be a trend, these lone girls amongst the senior men and women typically spotted behind the counters as well. I asked some, typically they answered with reasons being to make some extra money for a few months or more, and they seemed happy enough, a rescue mission was not in order. 

We got to these Devil's Marbles, hugely reddish round rocks, looking like marbles, piled all over the place, on top of each other at times seeming unnatural, but apparently natural indeed. We moved through them quickly as they snapped off photos, photos almost more important than their own eyes getting a taste in the moment. 


We kept cruising until we hit a town that was some ten kilometers from the junction I was looking for, I would go right there, towards the coast, going straight meant the top of Australia, Darwin. They were going to settle in this small town the rest of the day and continue to Darwin the next day. I thanked them and walked to the end of town, which took all of three minutes.


I kept walking still, but a car stopped right away to give me a ride, a middle aged man who said he worked at the truck stop by this junction I was aiming for. We went down to a park first where he said he had to meet a guy about car parts. The guy never came after 15 minutes or so he said he'd give him another five minutes and then we'd go.


I was interested in how he passed the time out in the middle of all this, I doubted the odd beautiful outback girls had any interest in him and the only bar in town seemed sad at best. He said it got lonely at times, but when he really wanted to help could take a trip up to Darwin when his boss allowed. He told me once he went up there and asked people where to go, they pointed him to a beach, so he went and wandered down not seeing much of anybody until he walked to his left and while, at which point he saw everyone and everyone was naked. He said this was a thrill and kept him going back to Darwin. I asked if the girls were beautiful, but he corrected my assumption saying that there were only guys at the beach.


We started cruising out of the park again, no one with car parts came for him. Some small talk ensued and during one gap in conversation he just blurt out, "Yup, I gotta go to Darwin and find me some Sex!", and the way he said it was funny, getting louder as he said it as if finding the confidence as he spoke.

Clear to me he was fishing, I kept to talk of kangaroos and other outback talk. Once at the junction, he said he'd take me a little further as we made the right turn. I noticed the sign with places down the road, the next rest area was more than 100 kilometers, just a rest area and still worth the signage. As we drove along few minutes not even really saying much, I asked, "So are we going to a petrol station or something up here?".


We kept driving for what seemed like longer than the 10 minutes that it actually was, slowing down and pulling over he said, "I thought there would be more to see in this direction. I'll turn back here". I hopped out of the car, essentially in the middle of nowhere again, really desert, not a petrol station even for at least 10 minutes behind me by car and who knows how far into front of me. As I grabbed my backpack from the backseat he said something about a blowjob, figures, I thanked him for the ride, shut the door and started walking. I heard him start driving again, spin around back to where we'd come from, then heard the car stop and the door open. I looked back a second later half expecting him to be grabbing a shotgun from a backseat, too perfect, but he was only taking a piss and looking back at me. I kept walking, soon hearing the door close and the car drives back towards the junction. 

Traffic was sparse. I sang songs of the road, getting through multiple tunes between seeing cars in the distance. This was a particularly long and straight stretch of road, in fact if it was any longer it wouldn't have even been detectable. My shadow started getting longer as well until the shadow of the earth itself engulfed it, leaving me with the fading orange pink light reflected off the clouds against the blue backdrop of sky above.


Given the frequency of cars and trucks coming my way, I guessed I'd have just one more shot at getting a ride or else I'd be camping the night off the road here. Soon it came, far in the distance, I got ready for them.  A pickup truck towing a boat I saw as it came closer. As it came closer still my thumb extended, they didn't slow down, passing me at regular speed I saw a man posing with a goofy grin and his thumb up, I was mocked as a closer to the night. I had a sense of change in the very last moment as he passed me though, and suddenly he slowed and stopped and I had to run just a bit up to the truck, he was getting out and met me next to the boat, showing me where I could put my bag in the back and asking what I was doing out there.


I hopped in and we got to riding, he was heading all the way to the east coast with plans of stopping the night at Barkley's Homestead which was just another hour or so up the road. Maybe I'd imagined his mocking look, or more likely he'd thought I was some sort of other type of crazy person and seen something in my eyes as he drove past that told him otherwise.


The guy was in the army, spending much time around Darwin, but off to see some family now with some time off. We stopped at the homestead and pulled around back to the camping area, he set up his tent and me my bivvy sack nearby. "Come on, I'll shout you dinner, you could use a good meal", and great thing to hear.


We went inside and had a big meal, chicken burgers with the works. It had been a great day I thought as I ate, covering lots of kilometers and twice eating a proper meal due to the generosity of the road. I slept well on soft ground for a change, a full belly and knowing I had a ride first thing in the morning.

First thing in the morning came just before sunrise, he was ready to go. We hit the road and he tossed me a drink and breakfast sandwich he'd snagged before going, life was good. Sometime before noon we hit the town of Mount Isa, this was a proper big town, bigger anyway, with grocery stores and more than just one block with a petrol station and perhaps a bar - we were getting closer to mainstream civilization again.


I parted ways with him there, and couchsurfer lived there that my friend stayed with and it was possible he was around and would be able to host me for a night. Had I stayed with the army man it would have only been for another hour until he took the road that edged further south towards Brisbane when I was to take the road towards Cairns further north.


I found some internet, the reason for McDonalds, but it seemed this couchsurfer was out of town. I wandered the streets a bit to get a sense of the town and soon decided that I'd stick to the road and keep on going.


I walked to the edge of town and kept walking until finally someone picked me up, a psychiatrist from Rockhampton. We carried on great talking about travels and his work until he hit the turn off he was going down, the same one the army man would have taken. He wrote his number on a map he gave me saying if I was ever to pass through town I could look him up.

This was about 3pm, I know because I looked, and I walked a good long ways after standing by the junction became a bore. Traffic was low, when I was still at the junction 3 out of 4 cars and trucks were heading the Rockhampton way, as I walked there were less and less cars to be seen, and eventually night came on. I had to camp, no one would pick me up in the darkness, no one would see me.


Morning came and I kept to my walking. Road trains passed me without hesitation, too difficult for them to stop anyway. White work trucks passed every so often, not hesitation there either. It wasn't long until I'd taken my last sip of water, and soon after that I was a zombie hauling an increasingly heavier backpack through the desert, holding a map that suggested I was hundreds of kilometers from anything, even a pile of dirt a meter high - just road.


Although my water situation wasn't looking good, I knew I wasn't without hope, if need be I could jump out in the middle of the road like a lost maniac forcing a car to stop and begging for a sip of water. I wasn't yet this desperate and I knew I wouldn't have to be. To prove this, a car coming heading the opposite direction, heading back towards Mount Isa, slowed to a stop next to me, "Are you ok?", a German couple on holiday.


"Yup, I'm just hitchhiking towards Cairns, kinda slow right now... you wouldn't happen to have any extra water would you?"


They smiled and hopped out going into their trunk where they pulled out a giant bottle of cool water and making me incredibly happy. "If you see a biker up the road coming this way", they told me, "Tell him hi! We just gave him some water too, really cool guy". I thanked them up and down and they drove off as I chugged half the bottle.


I felt incredible suddenly, my backpack weighed nothing, colors were brighter and life was perfect. Five minutes later a car came my direction and stopped for me, a guy my age on his way to Port Douglas for a new job, he'd be passing through Cairns, all was sweet.


We cruised through the desert swapping travel stories and the like, a lot about Ireland and other great places he'd been. We stopped short of Cairns come night and had a big pasta meal in a restaurant area. I drifted off to sleep under the stars, the great stars I enjoyed throughout Australia just about every night.


In the morning we kept to the road and soon he'd be dropping me off in Cairns and continuing north himself. I was back in a big town, back to the east coast, out of the outback.Off I went into the city to see what I could get into, more good times ahead.


Also from this trip:

Mullum to Melbourne Orange Pill - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 1)

Cruising Sand Dunes and Kissed Properly - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 2)

Through Adelaide Towards the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 3)

Into the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 4)

Into the Outback - Australian Hitchhiking Loop (Part 4)

I woke up south of Port Augusta, "where the desert meets the sea". It had been a warm night in my sleeping bag, just off the road about 5km or more from the last gas station I'd walked from the night before.

I had a dream about two backpackers who'd waken me up after discovering my spot and wanted to camp themselves. I falsely woke up twice to discover they were really there, finally waking up through all the layers of dream to determine no one was there, just myself laying in the hard pack sand.

I got sorted and on my feet, on the road again. A security van picked me up, a guy transporting things like cigarettes in South Australia. He rode me up to Port Augusta where I stopped into a library. I checked and sent out some last minute messages to friends and couchsurfers, assuming I wouldn't be able to tap into the internet for a good while after.

I walked over a bridge and past one last fork in the road and parked myself in front of a sign with towns and distances on it, the furthest being Alice Springs, 1221 kilometers - the middle of Australia. That's where I was headed, among other places and places beyond it.

I got tired of watching cars pass me, many of which seemed local, I decided I'd walk a ways down the road and get past what whatever turn offs these locals may be going to. After a long good while I was out into it, the true beginning of the outback, I knew there was nothing much between me and anything else, and there weren't many cars passing me now.

At last, while standing in the shade of a speed limit sign, a car stopped for me, a grandpa going to see his daughter and grand daughter in a small town some hundred or more kilometers up. He gave me some organic apples he'd grown when he dropped me off that good way, as I stood in the sun waiting for my next ride I munched them both down. I'd passed a lot of desert, he said it was greener than normal, usually all red dirt and rock, but recent rare rains had changed things. It was by no means lush, but the hint of green was nice.

A white van came rolling, my thumb out, eventually making out two girls in the driver and passenger seat, they slowed and stopped just past me. I ran up seeing the colorful side of the van, "hippy camper".


The girls were from Switzerland, around 20 years old give or take, all smiles, they'd been living in Byron Bay for a good while, six months or more, now were roaming around the country getting some travel in. Jojo & Tines, their names on the road as written in sharpie in the back of the van where I was sitting. Jojo rolled and lit a cigarette, her feet up on the dashboard, brushing her brown hair back while switching around the music from the passenger seat. They said their plan was to head to Coober Pedy where they'd then catch a flight out to the west coast, then eventually back to the outback, then back to Byron Bay.


Up the road a ways we hit the next "town", a gas station and some accomodation. They decided they'd stay there the night, there was still some daylight left and I said goodbyes and thanks and headed back to the road in hopes of catching another lift.


I didn't wait far too long until they came cruising up and stopping alongside me again, they'd decided to keep trucking down the road after hearing from people at the station that there were little pull out rest stops a little ways up they could park free and spend the night.


I missioned forward with them, arriving at a rest area right around sunset, decidedly spending my night there and continuning with them to Coober Pedy in the morning.


We started getting sorted for dinner, they had all the means to cook and plenty of food, "too much!" they said. I joked about setting up a table in the middle of the rest area lot and drinking champagne like royalty. This joke became reality, they had a table and a bottle of champagne they'd meant to dirnk the night before and never got to.


I paced around while they got things sorted for dinner. Jojo set up a camera on a timer to take a picture of us hanging off the van, I noticed then the Tines matched the van perfectly, wearing a purple dress and big yellow glasses slipping behind her ears and blonde hair. The flies cruised all around us, a pesky and definite part of the outback experience. "I wonder, do they sleep or do they die?", Tines pondered regarding their disapearance and replacement with mosquitoes come sunset, this became our running joke.


Dinner was ready, loads of chicken and salad and some noodles I added at the end from my pack. We feasted as the sun finsihed setting and the night came on exposing more and more stars. We sipped champagne and eventually smoked a joint from the tail end of their stash. We talked nonsense, travel, philosophy, stars and likening the passing road trains to Cocacola commercials - the massive trucks with sometimes four trailers more than half the length of football fields.


Come morning the flies either woke up or were born again, flying all over us, up noses, ears, on our faces and covering our backs - this way their way, I'd see it get more intense later.


We rolled down the road with minimal conversation and reaggae music, after some hours we got to Coober Pedy. The line on the town was that everything was underground, an opal mining town where they'd dig holes to mine, then once done would sometimes build structures in them, which also made for cooler living in the hot desert.


The girls went to an underground hostel where they'd stay the night, this is where we parted ways. To me it looked like a regular building with a heap of dirt on the roof.


The place seemed like a dusty town from the storied old American Wild West, accept instead of cowboys and shop keepers the streets were mostly populated by Aboriginals, families sitting in patyches of shadows in the dirt, a guy hauling a case of beer on his shoulder across the road, an argument near a phone booth.


Our looping around looking for the hostel and my walk back towards the main road was enough of the town for me I figured, a guy saw me walking and gave me a one kilometer lift to the sparsely trafficed road.

I began walking down the road, the road that spanned the thousands of kilometers south to north through the country, thumbing cars as they passed infrequently, many of them clearly mining trucks that wouldn't be going more than a few kilometers. On both sides of me were piles in the distance all over, places were they'd been mining for opals, the reason for this place's existence in the middle of the outback. It reminded me of the movie "Boy" I'd seen in New Zealand where a guy had buried money in a field and couldn't remember where, so spent ages digging hole after hole in the field trying to find it.


As I walked I accumulated flies, more flies, and more still. It got out of hand, they swarmed and covered me, a thick cloud of them as I walked more than an hour. Whenever I spinning to walk backwards and thumb oncoming cars, they got agitated and swarmed more, causing me to wave one hand in front of my face to get them off, I'm sure I appeared like a maniac to the people in these cars. At one point, a few points, I booked off running as fast as I could trying to shake them. They chased me down without a problem. I threw my backpack off and ran around in circles causing quite the commotion, from a distance I probably looked like someone off their meds.


At last a car slowed and pulled over, I slapped my bag around releasing as many flies as possible and chucked it in the back, then hopped in the car and closed the door quickly. We had to ride with the windows down for a bit to truly shake the flies, but we'd never get rid of all of them, just a couple remained though.


This guys name was Brian, a road grader, he'd worked all over the outback and was known by many people, he knew the area really well. Accoridng to him he was pretty well respected for his hard and good work, he'd been doing it a long time. Straight off he handed me a cold cocacola can from a cooler in the backseat next to his dog, it seems the magic trucks from the night before had delivered. We stopped once along the way for some chicken he had in the back as well.


Further down the road we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road, tilted to one side, a big truck pulled over on the other side of the road. We stopped to see what was up, the same as the trucker had done. They'd diagnosed a flat tire, but Brian took a look and saw that the wheel had popped right through the bottom and into the trailer, it was shot. The two older woman were in good spirits considering, one was from Aussie and the other from the UK being shown a good trip.


The trucker took off and the women drove ahead Brian and I pretty slow, luckily we were just 20 kilometers or so to the next petrol station, which was conveniant considering how few and far between everything is in the outback.

We made it all the way and the women discussed what they may do with it, Brian was joking and flirting with the Aussie a bit. Eventually someone hanging around the petrol station, a local perhaps in this isolated place, offered to take it from them, or rather they offered and he accepted. He reckoned he could fix it up or salvage some parts at the least.


They took some time to remove their belongings from the busted trailer while Brian stayed at the flirting. The woman's 50th birthday was coming up, Brian offered up his place as a venue and gave her his information.


We drove off and Brian realized he didn't know her name. He pondered this for a moment and we then u-turned it back. He rolled up alongside and handed the woman a piece of paper and a pen, she wrote down her name and number, all was good.


We drove off in the post sunset light heading towards the center of the giant Australia. We thought we saw a kangaroo in the distance, but could have been a wallaby.


We got to the center where he would continue north, the was a petrol station and nearby a little pull out with some high bush that I could camp behind, so that was my spot under the stars for the night.

In the morning I caught a ride from a council manager for an aboriginal community of 200. He dropped me off at the petrol station up the road which also had a small museum showing local artwork as well as touristy trinkets, shirts and the like.


I waited in the sun for my next ride, tow french guys passed me, then changed their minds and stopped, I ran up to the car where they were already getting out to shuffle things around and make room for me, they were both about my age. They'd been touring around the country, sleeping in their old small car and telling me about staying in campsite or streets and driving off in early mornings to avoid paying fees or dealing with police or rangers.

Up the road a ways, heading towards the big famous rock (Uluru or Ayers Rock depending on who you ask) we came to a lookout point of the false rock, a big rock in the distance called Mount Conner. We stopped there and climbed a sand dune to get a better look and stretch our legs a bit, some other tourists were about there as well.


We eventually got to the park and rolled up to the ticket booth. They asked how much the ticket was, the woman replied "$25 each, so $50 for the two of you". There was a sun shade in the backseat and she hadn't seen me, I stayed still and they paid, then we drove off into the park, free and easy.


We drove right up to the rock with the thought of driving around it, a big red orange mound that was pretty impressive. We saw people climbing towards the base and decided we'd give it a go. I filled up my water at the base, they did the same and we got to climbing. Right away the frenchmen started breathing heavy about 50 meters into the first steep bit. A father and his two daughters were huddled there taking a break as well, that's where on of the guys decided he'd stay as well.


The other guy and me started climbing, there were chain links all the way up the first bit that didn't seem entirely needed for most people, perhaps just a safety and scare factor. We got to the top of that after some rests, realizing that the climb went much higher. We kept at it, at one point the other guy considered going back since his friend was waiting, but we'd gone too far to just turnaround.

After some time we were at the top where we could see 100 kilometers in every direction, just incredible vastness with some other formations here and there - Mount Conner, the Olgas and smaller rocks. On our way down we ran into the other frenchmen, he was with an old man and had decided to go for it. We sat with a nice view and waited for him to reach the top and get back down to us, then climbed the rest of the way down. Except for one of the french guys, who didn't think he could make the climb and slid down on his ass ripping a giant hole in the back of his shorts, earning plenty of laughs from tourists below.


We headed to the resort afterwards where did some investigating as to whether they could sneakily car camp in one place or another. Getting back to the car, the battery had died and some tourists gave us a jump, then we headed back into the park to see the Olgas, the other rock formation, and caught a dull sunset at Uluru itself.

Back at the resort we found a shower and it was good to get washed up a bit. Coming out they saw a Swedish girl and one of them said hi to her and we all got to talking. She was touring around in style, actually staying at the resort, we agreed to meet at the pub/restaurant area in a little while.


The frenchmen got to washing their clothes as well, we got some beers and got into a jumping night. There was some live music that got us all moving and everyone was in good spirits. The royal wedding was on the TV and tourists were taking picture of the screen. The guys paid for a buffet then snuck me a salad plate to go up and have a go, I filled up as much as I could.


Towards the end of the night and the music thoughts switched to where to sleep and the day tomorrow. The guys were heading to Alice Springs, same as me, but asked if I was ok with hitching another ride with someone else over concerns about my extra weight costing in gas, and I had no cash to chip the difference. I was fine with this, and got my pack and wandered into the darkness looking for my own stealth camping spot, found outside the entrance 50 meters down the road behind some trees.

It didn't take long to hitch a ride in the morning, a father driving his son around their country for his first road trip. We stopped and he got us a big breakfast at a place that had an emu wandering around, following an old woman cleaning the side of a house. The guy driving me asked for a cappuccino and she laughed at him, coffee instead.


Him and his son went to Kings Canyon, a turn off up the way a bit, I stood waiting for the next car to come. AN older couple from Tasman picked me up heading to Alice Springs, perfect. We stopped for a coffee and they told me about their travels and the island and such, just a happy couple loving life.


They dropped me off in the middle of Alice where I got to looking for a library to see if I could get online and get in touch with a couchsurfer I'd contacted earlier. The library was closed, public holdiay of some kind, McDonalds' wifi was down and eventually I settled for an internet cafe where I was able to get his number and give a ring that resulted in an answering machine.


I was in go mode and I didn't see much to the city, although the surrounding scenery was pretty amazing, but I figured it may not be worth waiting around to call the guy again, he'd mentioned in an early message he may have been going to a festival.


I took the walk out of town, occasionally showing my face and thumb to traffic in stretches I thought they could pull over. A woman stuck half her body out the window, "Where you going bro?!", her middle finger a blaze and an ugly laughing look on her face.


I at last got to what seemed like the end of town where there was a great place to pull over and posted up there, singing to myself as I waited for a ride. A lot of time went by and few cars, none of which looked like they were going all that far or would have any interest in picking me up. My rambling intentions eased with the sun and I decided I'd stay put in Alice, at least for the night. I got to walking back to town.


I guy picked me up on the way back which saved me the walk, an off duty cop.


"I got here five months ago, got a job as a copper".


"So how's... copping?", I asked.


"My first arrest was for a murder. It's mostly the ideginous, fighting amonst themselves. There's not enough of us here".


He dropped me off in town, I'd noticed earlier many aboriginals sitting on the street in the shadows, kicking around in parking lots with bottles of one thing or another. As I walked into town one guy came up to me mumbling something about a phone, but I couldn't make sense of it. Another guy was on the sidewalk pissing on the wall with his head spun around cackling with a wide drunken grin.


The vibe of it all made it seem like a temporary city that they were just abusing counting down until it's destruction, and in fact others told me that smaller villages that had cost millions built just for aboriginals had been destroyed in days. They stopped building with wood, because this became fire wood in some cases. Most of the people I spoke to on the trip through Aussie had pretty strict and broad biases against aboriginals, not liking them at all, I guess it was people like the ones I was witnessing here that gave them the bad name. Few others told me that on the whole they were good people, especially in the smaller villages, often casting off any bad apples who would come to more populated and exposed places like Alice Springs and give them all a bad name. Like many things, the bad news gets more attention.


I tired calling the couchsurfer one more time, no luck again. Back in rambling mode after some wandering, I figured I'd walk a little ways out of town to find a place to camp the night and hitch in the morning. I saw a Hungry Jacks on the walk back and remembered I hadn't eaten a good while, time to treat myself. I ordered a burger, it popped up on the counter and I walked back to sit down. At a table behind me were the two frenchmen from Uluru.


"You made it", I said, sitting down, they both looked pretty tired. They told me they'd found a place to park in a campsite by the resort and skipped out early before being detected, stopping at Kings Canyon on the way to Alice Springs, they'd only just arrived.


I finished my meal and said goodbyes again, then headed towards the end of town. A guy in a pickup truck picked me up, no thumb needed. He was from the States, now living in Alice Springs. He was pretty intuitive, knowing that I was on my way out looking for a place to camp and that I'd probably settle at the first dark point, which he said wasn't the best idea.


"Aboriginals have a pretty bad reputation... uh, they're not all bad, I don't think so anyway, but sometimes they get on the piss and wander this way to camp and uh... yeah I know a better spot a bit further out.", he told me, seeminly a bit a embarrassed to say anything about the aboriginal stereotype at all.


He dropped me off several kilometers out of town where he said no one would be. There was a path down to a river he told me. In my typical stealth camping principles, I don't generally camp anywhere I think anyone has ever been or will go, so I decided to wander off the path to find something a little more tucked away. There was plenty tucked away, but the ground was wildly rocky and uneven everywhere, on the path or otherwise. Eventually my nose lead me towards a clearing that I thought could be a better spot, I must have been right because I shined my light and saw a small tent set up there with a cooler outside. I heard a rustling and a grunt, a reaction to my light, I quickly and quietly turned around and headed back for the road.


I wandered down the road a few kilometers keen to get away from whoever was there, keeping my eye out for a better spot, encountering more rocky spots, but at last finding a small sliver of flat ground that was still rocky, but tolerable.


I got all settled into my sleeping bag when I heard footsteps coming my way, little steps that paused here and again. As they got closer I shouted out, "Hello!", no response. I felt around me for something to grab, bracing to hop out of the sleeping bag. I shined my light finally and saw a small dingo peering at me through the trees.


"Bah. Get outta here dude!", I through a stick at him. He circled around me curiously, I threw some more sticks at him, "I'm going to sleep, don't need you roaming about", I told him, he didn't seem like much of a problem though. Either way it was a night of light sleep, something was crawling around my bag and rustling off and on all night, maybe a rodent or something.


I'd made it to the middle of Australia, well into my loop around. The next day I'd be on the way out, getting that much closer to the east coast again, back to Mandies. Good times.