Fireworks, fast cars and Fruit!

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G'day all you Sheilas and Bruce's!

Its been a month since my last blog and as i have a memory similar to that of a goldfish with alzheimer's i am having to consult my diary just to remember what ive been doing, so this could be a messy blog!

The last month has seen me watching the Commonwealth games closing ceremony, watching the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix and unfortunately finishing my travels in Melbourne (sob sob!) and now i find myself back in rural Australia picking fruit again. So heres the story so far:

At the end of the games i had the pleasure of watching the closing ceremony down on the Yarra River in Melbourne (where i watched the opening ceremony aswell). I got a good seat right by a big screen where there was loads of people sitting around. I also had the river with all the glowing fish on in sight and the MCG so it was pretty mint. The show itself was good as there was loads of music and a few half decent bands playing, but the fireworks at the end were phenomenal, even better than the opening ceremony. They were coming out of every nook and cranny that i could see around the river and half the time i didnt even know where to look to see the best ones.

The next day i met up with two girls that i had met in the lift a couple of days before (i seem to meet a lot of people in lifts!) and we strolled to Melbourne zoo. The zoo was being refurbed so a few animals were missing and they hadnt quite got all the enclosures finished but it was still a really good day out. I saw all the typical aussie animals and after about half a year trying to find the platypus in its tank he finally decided to jump out from behind its log and grace us with its presence. I also saw loadsa Roo's (although i think ive seen more lying dead by the side of the road), a couple of Koalas and various bush animals. That evening about 10 of us went out to an Irish bar called Pugg Mahone's as it was backpacker night (codeword for very cheap booze!) and they also had a live band on. We left the Irish gaff at about 2am (im told) and then me and two others went down to the 'Roobar' (the hostels bar in the basement) and continued with our antics. The rest of the night is a mystery to me and i woke up asleep on a leather sofa in the foyer with a newspaper on my lap! The next morning started with a hangover that could have floored the BFG and took me out of action for a good few days!

Five days and about 3 boxes of nurofen later when my headache had finally disappeared it was Sunday April 2nd and that meant only one thing......Formula 1 time! Me and a lad called Scott had bought tickets a couple of days before hand and hopped on a tram headed for Albert Park. We got there at about 10:30 so we were just in time for the start of the action. we saw V8 supercars and all other sorts of fast and very loud cars whizzing around the track until we spotted a nice little spot right on a chicane and in easy reach of all the "important" amenities (bar, fast food and toilets), after all as it was called the Australian Fosters F1 Grand Prix it would almost be rude not to get into the spirit of things and indulge in a few tinnies. I didnt really know what to expect from the grand prix as sometimes on TV they can be a bit boring and you kind of expect a few cars to go past every couple of minutes, but i couldnt have been more wrong. I saw knocks and bumps, the cars are ridiculously loud, bloody fast and there was a crash right in front of me (Cristian Kleins car) which self disintegrated and carbon fibre went everywhere, and i bet not many people can say that they got a small piece of formula 1 car stuck in their eye! It was a very enjoyable day and im sure in this lifetime i'll go and see another race and i'd reccomend it to anyone.

In the evening the hostel had put on a 'need for speed' night in the Roobar. Me and Micha (a dutch lad) went down to the bar to play some pool and found out that it was Micha's mate that was DJ-ing and had organised the night. They had a load of games on the stage, one that i seem to remember quite well was the dirty dancing, as i ended up on the stage doing it! Now anyone that knows me is well aware that im no dancer and need not far short of a keg to persuade me to get on the dancefloor and shake my thang! So god knows how i managed to get persuaded by the DJ to do it infront of the whole bar after drinking nothing but a pint of water. Now im quite a fan of the finger click and the foot tap but dirty dancing isnt really my forte, and i'm certainly no Patrick Swayze when it comes the the Rumba! I managed to string out a performance worthy of third place (although im gonna pretend there was more than 3 people up on the stage) and i was gifted with a jug of lager for my efforts, so in my eyes i actually won!

I only had a couple more days in melbourne left after this so i spent all my time wandering around and going places i hadn't already visited around the city. I had a farewell pint with all the folk i had met along the way and checked out the hostel on Wednesday morn and waited around for my night bus. Next Destination the rural town of Redcliffs.

The bus journey from Melbourne to Redcliffs took nine and a half hours and was about as interesting as any journey throughout Australia ever is. Lots of trees and fields except this time i could hardly even see them as it was pitch black. As per usual the bus was freezing, so cold that i think the bus driver must have had blubber for skin as i was shivering so hard i thought i was gonna dislocate something! He also seemed to need food every 30minutes and stopped off at what i can only imagine was every establishment with a light on that sold some kind of food. Im sure if we had gone past a farm he would have pulled over for a quick chomp on a bail of hay or a sneaky bite of a cow.

I got to Redcliffs at 6:30am and was greeted by the owner, Mick. Mick used to auction Cows and other farm animals around Rural Oz so you can imagine how fast he spoke, and he most certainly didnt make it easy for me to understand especially at 6:30! The hostel in Redcliffs is full of backpackers so its a bit more pleasant than Cobram and is quite a nice place which used to be a Hotel but it has now been converted to a backpackers joint. There isnt a lot to do other than sit around all day after work, and if you're not working then its very boring. Theres a TV room where we can watch DVD's but other than that, the only other room apart from your bedroom is the bar.

A couple of people i had met in Melbourne were already in the hostel so i already had a couple of friends, and they treated me to the sights and sounds of Redcliffs. I was treated with a trip to 'Big Lizzie', which much to my disappointment was a big black tractor! Worst of all is that this is one of Redcliffs biggest attractions, second only to the "famous" red cliffs themselves which i would refer to more as a sandy mound!

Ive now been in Redcliffs for nearly 4 weeks and have been picking Grapes and Oranges. Oranges was pretty good as you can earn some half decent money, but unfortunatley on grapes very little money is to be made - infact normally about 20 quid for 7 hours work! I should hopefully be moving onto Grapefruits on Wednesday where i should be able to make some good money again as i need to start saving so ive got enough money to move on to enjoy the moment when England lift the World Cup!

Anyway, ive made loads of friends in Redcliffs and i am quite enjoying myself here. I reckon i'll stay here for another 5weeks then head back to Melbourne or maybe along to Adelaide.

Hope your all doing alright in England and i suppose at least the sun will be thinking about sticking its head over the clouds soon!

Laters,
Dunc

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Photos

Formula 1
The view of the chicane where we were sitting

Car Show
One of the cars on show at the Grand Prix

Taipan
One of Aussies finest critters!

Koala
Everyones favourite Marsupial!

The Redcliffs Crew
St Georges day celebrations

The Redcliffs Crew Again
St Georges day celebrations (note the Scottsman on the right!)

Just too Cool!
Whos this extremely handsome man!

Comments

[Terri]

I wont forget St Georges Day
As I look at your photos I realise that I was running the London Marathon at the time! It was an amazing day and I got a pb - 6 minutes faster than my last marathon and in a time of 4.13 - very respectable. Now im addicted and want to do it all again next year. Take care hun. Look forward to your next inane ramblings .....x Im joking

[Fagin]

Nice
The games and F1 sound awesome. Im well impressed. Take it easy with lizzie

[moby]

once again nice to hear from you mate! also very good to have the pleasure of your company on tour, even if it was by phone! think we did you proud on tour with the quantity of alcohol consumed, and the worlds dumbest injury by me, i swear it was a big tree i jumped into, went straight through and did the ligaments and tendons in my hand! have fun mate and keep on the drink! moby

[Tim]

Out West
Hi Duncan, Your Dads old workmate here. Are you heading over this side of the countryat all. We're in Mandurah about an hours drive south of Perth. You can email us on [e-mail]. We've got 5 acres of bush here, should be some scorpions, huntsman spiders and tiger snakes around the place for company if you'd like to stay with us for a while. My young bloke Ben (27) lives not far from us, he'd be happy to hang out and do the cool things that us old farts are too old for with you. He also has lots of friends and contacts in Margaret River. All the best, Tim