then they all ran away and left me on my own to face the necromancer...

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start of a new year. 2009. i shall be 30 this year.

so, yes, i woke up on new year's day in plenty of time to catch a cab to the sydney airport. when i got up a few of the boys were still awake from nye. impressive right? matty b, smealy, kade, and justin bid me farewell as i burst out the door.

i successfully left my camera case, memory cards, tiny tripod, extra batteries, sun hat, vans, sundress, and snacks at kade's parents. well done jenny. i also misjudged my time since i was so worried about not catching my early flight and arrived at the airport an entire hour before i needed to be there. the cab took about 50 minutes and cost $90. ouch.

once i get there, check in, and plop down with a bit of breaky i start to realize i'm completely on my own for the next 2 weeks. not hermit style alone, but the only friends i'll be seeing will be gina and jon when i get to christchurch on january 13. ok then. my flight is set to take me from sydney to brisbane. then brisbane to mackay. so, i people watch for 2 hours at the airport then board the plane. i end up next to a handsome boy on the flight and we chat but he’s busy reading his law material and i am a bit exhausted and kinda want to nap instead. besides, if he's anything like the lawyers i know, he'll only want to talk about himself anyway.

short flight to brissy but once i get into the terminal i hear my name (as well as 4 others) called over the loud speaker. please hurry up, you egocentric american sloth, the plane won't wait for you. not my fault- the plane took off late from sydney. so i run to the plane and find my seat and there’s my law school boy. i go to sleep. we get to mackay very quickly and i'm thinking, ok time to run to the baggage carousel and grab my pack and sprint to the greyhound terminal so i can be on time for my 12:20pm pickup to get to airlie beach. yeah. mackay airport is the size of a happy meal box. there's no issue with picking up my bag and moving anywhere in a hurry since the carousel is 4 feet from the door and the door is the bus terminal.

the disembarking straight from the plane onto the tarmac and walking to the airport without tunnels isn’t as typical in america- at least not on any of the flights i've taken around home. i did it in germany but i think the blizzard distracted me from the private plane feeling. anyway. it was surreal to climb down the stairs and be looking at a giant christmas tree beside palm trees and be in 85 degree weather. the air smells like sugar cane here.

so after i get my pack and realize i'm already at the bus terminal i walk over to get some lunch. a boy came up to me while i was paying for my wedges with sweet chili and sour cream (brian) and asked if i was going to airlie beach. apparently he was too and was wondering if i'd pre-booked my greyhound ticket. said yes. apparently this was reassuring to him since the bus only stops if there is a pre-scheduled passenger to pick up. so i walk back to the seats outside and sit with him and the other boy who's going to airlie as well. it's the law school boy, of course.

since i'm on time for the bus, it'll be late. the boys eat the rest of my lunch- russell, the aussie, had just gotten in from working a bar on nye and looks a bit like week old roadkill so i felt compelled to mother him and give him my food. russ is the typical aussie and doesn’t need any encouragement toward extroversion. he grew up in mackay so he's full of local knowledge and a desire to impart all of it onto strangers. there's sugar cane all over mackay. and they used to burn it off when they were done with the crop. as a kid, he remembers black sugar cane ash raining on him. candyland version of pompeii.

we get on the bus about 15 minutes late. the law boy is vegard, from norway. i tell him my pal just stayed there for a good little while (david, that’s you. you were a point of discussion for me in oz. thanks for letting me use you). vegard had a wicked cool slash across his cheek. turns out it was from surfing. oh look at that, i already like him more. i gave him a gel tab of vitamin e to put on the scar cause he seemed a bit fussed over it. this gesture thoroughly pleased him. go figure.

both boys were superb company and kept me entertained during the trip. russ fancies himself a photographer and stole my camera for a while. made me listen to john butler trio and lior on his ipod. he also informed me about drop bears and hoop snakes. thankfully, the blonde hair is not representative of my iq but it's funny all the same. for those of you know don't know about drop bears: they're similar to koalas. live in gum trees. but you need to beware. they'll drop out of the trees onto your head and tear you up. cruel, feisty creatures. hoop snakes: another dangerous aussie beast. they bite their tail and curl into a hoop and launch themselves after you, rolling and rolling until they get you.

i’m the only one with set plans about where i'm staying and the boat i’m traveling on over the next few days. the boys are gonna play it by ear. vegard was counting on grabbing a standby spot the day before a trip and getting a better price. since i only have 4 days in queensland i pre-booked everything.

bus takes about 2 hours and we part ways with a vague suggestion of meeting later for drinks. i get to my backpackers via the gentleman driving the van who is from saskatchewan. he’s less than thrilled about his job. which clearly is better than anything he could be doing in saskatchewan, right? anyway. i pay for my room, drop my bags and run into town to check it out. unfortunately, i'm distracted by a family run opal shop. bastards. i (seriously) gaze at the “unique” aboriginal opals (which are no longer allowed to be mined on abo territory) for about 1.5 hours. i also try on nearly every opal in the shop. it’s owned by mom, pop, and son. son is gorgeous and charming. mom has painted on eyebrows and lipstick on her teeth. he gave me "way too much of a deal" on the stones and i had decided on one… walked to the atm… got out the cash… then freaked out and didn’t go back. i hate spending money. couldn't justify buying myself a rock that expensive. oh well. i found some pretty seashells on the beach during my walk.

couldn’t go in the water since the deadly jellies are in season. and by deadly jellies, i mean stingers: box jellyfish and irukandji … which apparently, actually can kill you. i thought it was an exaggerated description to ward me away from a nasty burn. nope. the captain of my boat described a sting as: having your spine removed through your kidneys, lava poured on your skin, mind numbing cramps in your legs, the worst hangover of your life, and a heart attack all at once. right, so it hurts then. you have to wear a stinger suit in the water- which is just a full wetty. although, your hands, feet, and face aren't covered. anyway, i go check in with prosail (the sailing company taking me to the whitsundays tomorrow) and get straight with my boat. i’m on the hammer. 2 days, 1 night. so so so excited.

get home after shopping for opals and just looking around town and spending some time at the lagoon… (lots of places along the coast have lagoons... which are just faux beaches beside the beach but with no jellies). decide to go to bed. i’m in a dorm room with 3 girls from brissy. luckily they’re going to bed too since they had a wild night out the evening before. read my book a bit (and yes, bowens, i found a copy of the hobbit in airlie)... i’d been having an urge to re-read it … for the 234th time… since i was in la with jenny and jeff. the used book store held my attention just as long as the opals. such a sucker.

airlie beach is lovely. but it's all tourists. the main strip is loaded with souvenir shops and travel companies. it's alright though. the beach was quite pretty and the marina had heaps of gorgeous boats.

getting on a sailboat at 7am tomorrow!!!!!

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