Kersbrook Hostel Rest Day!

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Kiwi John, is pretty much the kiwi version of "I've been everywhere man". He has cycled, driven, hitched through most of Oz, on his working visa holiday. Over a real percolated coffee, (havn't had one of those in a long while) at the dinner table, (still getting used to sitting at a proper table with proper chairs) we told him our travel plans, to the Alice, via the Oodnadatta Track. "Yip, I bin there" he said in his sux dum sums en fush un chups, Kiwi iccent. He had worked on the Moomba gas fields project, in the Cooper Basin, in the far north east of S.A. before heading to the Alice, to bust a few pay checks. I suspect on large amounts of alcomohol, to wash out the intrusive red dust. "Dist, that bliddy dist gits into ivreething," He had just driven from the Red centre, and was holed up at the hostel, waiting for his next adventure. I mean man, this guy makes the Leyland brothers look like amateur's. Everyday he drives to Port Adelaide, to see if the yacht "Harlequin" had docked, as he is to take passage and join the crew as a deck hand, sailing to Esperance, W.A, for his next job. He was packing up, as he does everyday to drive to Adelaide, he invited us for a day trip to Adelaide. Why not" we said, so we jumped in for the ride to the "Beg Smuk", (still trying hard to understand his accent), he said "what accent, you guys have the weird accent!), I guess it is all relative, you say tomato, I say tomayto.

John told us about an upcoming inaugural mountain bike race across the Simpson Desert. (and I thought we were mad, going up the oodnatrack,) We didn't really believe it until we saw promotional posters advertising the race in the Adelaide Mall.

When we arrived at the "Big smoke", I checked out a bike shop for some new parts for the bike, in particular special batteries that go into my defunctional cyclometer. After much mucking around trying to reset it, I eventually got it to behave itself and work properly again. "Yay I fuxed it, I exclaimed to Coilin, still trying hard not to speak the language from across the ditch. And once again very soon, like moths to the flame we found ourselves perched at the bar, at a pub in Port Adelaide. John kindly slapped twenty bucks on the bar, for some farewell drinks as he phoned the dock to learn that the "Harlequin" had berthed. His ship had come in! We said our farewells and wished each other "happy trails" in our enthralling travels and adventure in the land of Oz. Soon after Colin and I headed for the bus terminal to catch a bus back to the hostel.

One checks out, another checks in, when we arrived back at the hostel, we met "Yankee Jim". Jim is an American exchange student from L.A, studying Australian politics in the 1920's to 1930's. We sure do meet some very interesting people on our travels. In our luxury kitchen full of electrical things that we could cook all sorts of stuff on, we hashed up a dinner combo between our two cultures. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a few bottles of wine followed us back from Adelaide, to the hostel on the bus. Over dinner and late into the evening we sat around the table, emptying the wine bottles and discussing many things. The conversation drifted from various codes of football, ( he didn't quite understand Aussie Rules), cricket, movies and of course politics, well into the wee hours. Delightfully drunk and bellies full of good tucker, we told Jim we were going to hit the sack. He is still having trouble understanding aussie slang, but like so many before him, we do our best to edumacate our foreign visitors with a full induction into "Strine". Colin and I have become quite the cultural ambassadors. Tomorrow its back in the saddle to the Barossa Valley, "Do you think there might be some picking work in the vineyards Colin?" I enquired, I have heard rumours, that there could be dazz! "Eureka Colin" I exclaimed, "No I don't, I have already showered dazz" Colin replied.

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Comments

[Colin]

Youth hostel
Hey Dazz you didn’t mention that when we arrived at the hostel the manager gave us a good looking up and down . I don’t think he liked the look of us at all . He may have thought that looking so weather beaten , un washed and a bit scruffy , we may have lowered the tone of his fine hostel . Well he did let us in and we did have a good wash .