Catching Up
6:55 PM
Wallaby
Kangaroo & Joey
Emu
So back to when I first headed for Rocky. On the train, sitting next to a fat, little Aborigine kid who smelled bad. Saw lots of cows, shacks, junked cars, and my first wallabies, kangaroos, and emu. Finally. And that was about it for the train ride. Got into Rocky, and saw my first tropical sunset. Beautiful.
Last night’s sunset: beautiful. Tonight’s, when I was ready with my camera? Not so much. So anyhow, I get to the modest YHA in quiet little Rockhampton and I have no food. So I walk down the street to find something to eat. I walk and walk, it’s dark, I’m hungry, and i can’t find a single thing that looks even remotely decent. So I finally decide that the next place I see, I’m eating at. The next place is Cactus Jack’s Mexican, 9,000 miles away from Mexico? And a
Jose Wales
picture of Jose Wales w/a Dirty Harry pun (go ahead, make my margarita)? I should have turned back to the Red Rooster. But I went in, ordered a Haun (thumbs down) & the “chile”. It had rice, lettuce, and sour cream. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. It just wasn’t chile. And the “side of suicide”? Please.
So that was my first night here in Rocky. Can’t imagine why I didn’t record it sooner. Last night was better. Bought some food at Woolies, had some dinner, and spoke with Lincoln from the UK. Cool guy. PhD in engineering, studied in Bethlehem, PA, traveling with his lady. Really cool. Then I went into the TV room: met two girls from the US studying in Brisbane. Tamar, from Austin, and What’s-her-name, from West Palm Beach. Chatted with them for a while, then this other British guy came in & joined in. Kind of annoying. He asked us about the US, guns came up again, Hah Hah Hah. I went to bed.
So now to today. Hopped the bus from the cultural center, and rode it into town. Milled about the strip for a bit, then into the Jungle Bar. After all, I still had over 5 hours until my train was leaving. The bar was full of half drunk (and completely pissed) locals. You should have seen the looks I got! But it was all good. Finally, FINALLY, I got the experience that I had been wanting.
XXXX Beer
I sat down and ordered a schooner. Don’t have schooners, the barmaid told me. So I got a “pot” of XXXX. Next to me sat this old man, brown leathery skin, silver hair tucked beneath a black cowboy hat. “Schooner?” he muttered through a thick beard, “You sound like you’re from New South Wales.” “That’s where I’ve been,” I told him.
From there he proceeds to ask me about my travels. Asked if I was going to “Never, Never Land” — the Outback. “Alas, I’m not” I replied. “That’s the real Australia.” The man knew what he spoke of. He drove cattle between QLD [Editor: Queensland] and Darwin. This was an Aussie. I tried to carry on an intelligible conversation with him, but between the beard and the beer, it wasn’t working. Then Paul comes up next to me and strikes up a conversation. Oh, we talked about everything. Cairns, rivers, the US, Australia, Septic Tanks, WWII, and on and on. He even bought me a beer. Wonderful. What I’ve been waiting for. So eventually time caught up with me and I hoofed it towards the bridge. On the way I stopped at an Arcade for an onion, cheese, and potato ball, a doughnut, and half an episode of Gilligan’s Island.
I eventually made it back to the YHM and into the kitchen. Had some food to eat before I left. There I met Kim, a red-head from Toronto. Nice girl. A bit pretentious, but nice. I told her about bushwalking on Fraser (she was going to skip it). So we bull shitted a while over dinner. Too bad I had a train to catch. Oh, the Japanese guy’s map! He had a great idea. He wanted people to write their name on the map and draw a line to their home town. I was his first American. But here’s the funny part: the map had Columbus & Cincinnati switched! I’ll be sending them an email.
KC