Countdown to kiwis

Almost done in this crazy place. I have been shuffled off to housekeeping again while they train the new people. I have mixed feelings about this because I will be getting less hours, but I also don't have to deal with all the bullshit that you have to put up with being on front counter. Creepy truckies, bitchy customers, staff drama... etc etc. In housekeeping, as long as I don't leave laundry in the washers overnight and know how to do a decent hospital corner, then I am set. If I didn't have to get to New Zealand before winter set in, then I might even consider staying for another week or two. I may just be able to say that because I am leaving though. The extra money would be nice but the damage to my psyche may not be worth the effort.

I have been busing myself with planning my New Zealand trip. I haven't really planned a trip thoroughly before, usually going by the seat of my pants, as they say. I thought an itinerary might be a fun change. I decided I am going to spend a full month there. 20 days on the south island and 10 days on the north island starting April 15 after I drive the paltry 7000km from the Pilbara to Sydney. Gotta love a good adventure.

-A.

Soothing Cruising

On Wednesday I had several beers and then on Thursday I got the day off so I decided I would go for a drive. Being much too far away to attend the funeral I figured this would be a good alternative. Originally I had planned to go just as far as Port Hedland (2.5 hours away) and watch the ocean for a bit, but it was bucketing rain there so I kept going up the coast, trying to escape the weather.

Further north, with the Great Sandy Desert on my right and the ocean on my left, there isn't any towns for about 600km and by the end of 8.5 hours of driving I had ended up in Broome, which is a beach town in the far west of the Kimberly region. The weather was absolutely beautiful- 26 degrees and calm. I went to the town beach where the water was that creamy light blue that you always see in vacation ads for the Caribbean and flat as bathtub water. I randomly happened to have my bathing suit in my car so I went for a swim and then got some dinner from the surprisingly swank McDonalds in town. It was really funny because unbeknown st to me Broome is known for it's pearls and pearl diving industry so many of the businesses had "Pearl" in their name, which also happens to be my recently passed auntie's name. My friend Bronwyn says that that means that I was supposed to go there that day.

After checking out the famous Cable Beach where all the tourists go, I got in the car and headed back south. As I was leaving I saw my fourth rainbow of the day- you could see the full arch of it plus the faded secondary rainbow- very cool. I had to be at work at 1:30pm the next day so I had to make tracks that night to make it back in time on Friday. Driving in the dark in Australia is much less daunting than in Canada because the biggest thing you are going to hit is a kangaroo and the local species is small enough that you are unlikely to do more than dent a bumper if you hit one, though I almost ran over an 8ft python along the way. He was haning out on the highway enjoying the remnant heat of the ashphalt, but I managed to swerve out of his way in time.

By 11pm I had made it to within 4 hours of Auski and needed both fuel and sleep so I pulled off the road near the Pardoo Roadhouse for a rest. I noticed on the map that there was a small side road that looked like it led to the beach, which would be a much quieter place to sleep than in a roadhouse parking lot so I drove down this washboard, dirt road for about 15 minutes and was rewarded with what, in the dark, looked like a big hill and a sandy field. Too tired to care, I shut off the engine and climbed in the back seat for a well needed sleep (I also just happened to have my sleeping bag in my car so I was relatively comfortable). In the morning I woke up to waves crashing and climbed over the small hill to find the Indian Ocean. The place was deserted except for an empty holiday trailer about 200m down the beach and a mob of about 20 kangaroos in the field behind me. I left at 6:30am as the sun rose and made it back to Auski with two hours to spare. That was probably the best road trip I have ever had.

-A.

Thoughts

My Auntie Pearl died of cancer today.  She was one of the coolest people I know.  Give a thought to the coolest person you know today. 

-A.

Give someone a hug today.

I don't know what the international coverage is like, but the only thing on the news out here is the bushfires in the state of Victoria. They were showing some footage from the areas affected- these towns are literally in view of downtown Melbourne. The fires moved so fast that folks in the community of Kingslake had 2 mintues notice from when the smoke moved in to when fire was licking at their doors. Many people got caught in their cars trying to escape and others in their homes. It seems like such an awful way to go. The chef here at Auski told me that his girlfriend's parents, grandparents, and auntie's houses all are gone. It certainly puts things in perspective- all my little petty issues and complaints pale in comparison.

-A.

Fire and Water

This has been the worst year for bush fires on record in Australia- north of Melbourne, entire towns have been wiped out. I work with a fellow from Melbourne here at Auski; his family rang today to tell him that his house was safe but the shed he built 4 months ago had burned up. Definitely lucky. Then in a complete opposite scenario, in far north Queensland (the pointy bit of Australia on the map) they have been getting successive tropical cyclones and half a dozen towns are completely flooded. People cleaned up from the first flood only to be inundated again when the next cyclone came through. Along with the recession coverage, watching the news makes you think that Australia is on the brink of armageddon. At least I have a car if I end up having to flee- if I gun the engine, maybe I can make it to New Zealand before I flood the exhaust.

-A.

Adventures in Housekeeping

In the past couple weeks I have had to chase the following creatures out of motel rooms and the roadhouse:

Blue-tongued lizard
Gecko
Goanna
Various other unidentifiable lizards
Spiders (poisonous? don't know!)
4 inch Moths and grasshoppers the size of my hand (does that make them locusts?)

And my co-worker Bronwyn saw a baby python on the sidewalk.

Not exactly the High Prairie Inn around here, eh?

Tomorrow I take my new vroom-vroom for a trip to Tom Price to get some ownership paperwork. I feel like I am getting parole or something- Freedom!

-A.

Vroom Vroom!

I have been having some serious car withdrawal lately so I decided to buy a new one! Well it wasn't quite that clean cut- a couple who works here at Auski wanted to sell their car and I was interested from the start but this other girl who has worked here longer than me said so first, so I figured the polite thing to do was to back out gracefully. Well she changed her mind so the next day I made an offer. I am now the proud owner of a 1997 Nissan Pulsar hatchback. It has a lot of get up and go and the best part is I can lay down in the back seat (essential for my hobo lifestyle). It was only $2000 and is in very good condition- they needed to sell it because they are taking off for a trip around the world so will have little need for it in the next several months. To compensate for excess fuel costs, I have signed up for an extra week here, so my final departure will be March 27. I figure that things will be a little more bearable now that I can actually leave the premesis on my days off and can stop singing "Folsum Prison Blues" in my head all the time. Current potential names for the new baby include: Zippy, Mini-Bullet (it is the same colour and shape as my mom's minivan, Bullet), or my personal favorite, the Recession-Mobile. What do you think?

-A.