*sings* Im dreaming of Broome for Christmas....

Broome is pretty cool. I like it here...Theres not a massive amount to do, especially over xmas, but its been fun.

Busking picked up. On thursday night I went between the one pub, and the one nightclub, and sat there for a few hours, and came back with $308, which was good. I did have a drunk aboriginie try and steal my guitar though, but luckily defused the situation..Fighting isnt on my list of things to do in Australia, im crap at it. :)

Ive also been saved, and am apparantly a 'born again christian', having been saved by this Crazy lady. An actual quote she used in everyday conversation was "You dont believe any of this rubbish about us evolving from apes do you??" (Ermm..well, okay. I suppose its possible to believe a bolt came from the sky and a fully formed human just appeared if you take Enough drugs, but Im with the consensus of everyone born after 1850 that yes, we did in fact evolve. In fact its pretty obvious really..). Another good one was "Just read the bible. When you get stuff into your head, all this kaka, from every day. You know. How does this work? What is this? Just read the Bible, and remember thats the only thing thats true". Which I suppose is a fair viewpoint, if you just choose to ignore the last 2000 years, and you dont mind the odd contradiction or 600. So yes. That was eventful.

Then we hit Chritmas. Well, Friday we just went down the beach, had a few beers with some friends, which was good. Saturday I had a few drinks in the hostel, and then had a barbeque on Town Beach, which was awesome. Played a bit of guitar..Jacob, a german guy. Good bloke, ended up coming down for the last hour after work, and getting so wasted in an hour, we had to carry him back (a dead weight) to the hostel, then he was drunk for the WHOLE of Christmas just on what hed had that night....Good bloody effort, thats what I say!

Then Christmas was pretty fun as well. We had an all you can eat barbeque in the hostel, and after the meal, they gave us a load of presents. In fact, ill set the scene. You have a bar, and a load of tables, and 2m after the tables, you have a massive swimming pool. So yes, we got Floating pool toys, bubble makers, and the best? A load of water cannons. It was awesome. Everyone just had a massive water fight, which was loads of fun (and cooled us down a bit too!)

Also, Ive managed to sell my car for $3000, which is bloody good. Although it has thrown out ALL of my plans, but never mind! Its good to have a bit of money again, especially because I (unfortunately) need to book my plane ticket home..I dont know. Im kind of sad to see the car go. Maybe ill get another cheap one, and carry on travelling with that...

ROAD TRIP 2 - Karratha and Dampier - Broome

So yes, my trip is nearly over. The 1st part anyways.

My next stop was Karratha, which is a mining town, and ridiculously expensive to stay in. The cheap room at the Motel (there arent any backpackers anymore) was $220 PER NIGHT. And it was a pretty average hotel. So yes, I drove on to Dampier, which is 20ks outside. Still pretty industrial, but its got a nice beach which is out the way, and the campsite was pretty cool. Also cheap and $20 per night...

I busked in Karratha outside of Centro (It was the weekend, so noone had a chance to tell me I couldnt do it, because the centre management wernt in!)

Yeah, I made about $220 per day (2 hours) in the shopping centre, which was good...It also gave me time to explore, so I found these ancient aboriginal Rock carvings down some dirt track. they arent on any maps, or signposted. Purely local knowledge from the lady at the campsite...they were awesome!

Then I ended up stopping over night on 80 mile beach, watching the stars and the turtles try and climb the beach, then its onto Broome. I drove into Port Headland and straight out again. That place looked horrible..

So yes, now im in Broome, at the YHA there...

Theres a really good group of people there. And although its pretty shite for busking now, theres loads of work. Ill probably stick around for a bit longer here. Apart from that theres a pool right next to the bar, so you can have a few beers, and jump in. Some hot women walking around, and loads of real cool people.

Last night we went down to the beach. Well, swam a bit, THEN went down to the beach, had a few beers, and came back. Its getting into the cyclone season though, so gotta keep an eye on when those cat 5s are going to start coming through... :) The last thing I need is an ocean liner being picked up from the dock and landing on my car! :)

Oh, and some bastards stolen my camera again :( F*** sake. Bet that'll make somone a nice xmas present! :)

ROAD TRIP 2 - Exmouth

Then im back in exmouth again. Now, the plan was to do a bit of busking here, because I know the moneys alright for a small town, and that there arent any problems with rangers etc.

Ha, exccept they just changed the rules, so now Im not allowed to busk. I got in a bit on the 1st afternoon, and got about $40 for an hour, which payed for my washing and a nights rent. Then the next day it all goes tits up, as Dave the Nazi Jobsworth is now our friendly local Ranger. So yes. He comes up straight away the next day, and tells me I cant busk.

I explain to him that I have no money whatsover, but if he walks away for an hour id have enough money to get out of here. He says no, he cant do that. Thats against the council code, and its a hundred dollar fine. I ask him what the fine is for sleeping on the street, because ive only got $2.50, and hes not letting me work. Even if I got a permit (which was the wrong type). It was for an actual business, and I would have needed public Liability insurance, and 10 days to apply.

So then he says theres nothing I can do. I tell him that really, if he just showed a bit of compasion, or maybe a touch of christmas spirit, then id be gone in an hour. Nope. Hes having none of it. He even told the police. At this point I mentioned to him that not only has he wasted an hour of his time, hes also wasting police time, when really, all he has to do was walk around the corner and let me play. Idiot. Still, what can you do?

 I go around, there isnt any work. Pretty boned. Actually had to ring up the bank of Mum and Dad and get a sub, because it was the only way of doing it. Not that happy about it, but what can you do? So yes. anyways. I get some money off of them, which is petrol out of there..

It all worked out though, because the next day, some bloke drove by in a jeep and starts beeping and waving. I had no idea who he was, but he was beeping and waving, so I stopped. Turned out he was from the DEC (They run the national parks in WA) and hed seen me play guitar on the beach in Coral Bay, last time I was there. Also, hed seen me busking when I got to Exmouth, and wanted me to play the xmas party.

So yes. I definately took that. Got $100 for it too, which was good. And free beer, and a feed at the BBQ. They were a really really cool bunch of people actually, and told me that If I was back down that way theyd sort me out a few nights free rent at one of the campsites, and free snorkel hire, and a trip up the river...It was really good. So yes, things worked out in the end!

ROAD TRIP 2 - Carnarvon & Coral Bay

By now it was the 9th December, so time is ticking on...Id left myself short of money after visiting denham, so I stopped in Carnarvon. I was going to try and do some work, but. Pah. Sod that.

It is THE s***est town in the world. Full of the worst excuses for human beings in the world. Terrible place. Nowhere to busk either. I managed to get just about enough cash for a tank of petrol, and got out of there as soon as possible...

I mean, there were some cool guys at the hostel, and I saw the Total Eclipse of the moon there, which was good! And it had some pretty good sunsets, but yes. Couldnt wait to leave...

So yes. My next stop in Coral Bay again, which I rock up into with no petrol, and not much hope. It was pretty cool though in the end. I sat down to do a bit of busking, where my mate Max (who I met when I was driving up the coast on my last road trip) walks by and says 'Chris? Hey, How you doing?'. So after busking and making a bit of money for petrol, I go and see him and his mates.

Turns out its one of thier birthdays (A bloke called Martin), and one of the guys said 'sing him a random birthday song! Go on, do it! Then we'll buy you some pizza or something. Well, A fat man never says no to pizza, so I sing this birthday song to him. THEN we end up going down the beach and having a few beers, which is all good...


THEN after that a bunch of Aussies who are over on a fishing holiday come over because they hear the guitar etc, and we all end up getting on it back at thier place, where they have crates of beer etc..I ended up sleeping on thier sofa, and Id love to know how they got on in the end. They were going fishing the next day, and by god they were absolutely plastered when they went to bed (1hr before they wanted to get up! :P)

ROADTRIP 2 Geraldton - Denham (Monkey Mia) - Hutt River Province

After that I drove up to Denham, which is up past Kalbarri. It was a really nice little place actually, and there were some stunning beaches and views on the way back down to the main road.

I mean, It doesnt really translate well when I write it down, but you can check out the photos on my facebook for more of an idea on what was going on. I was only there overnight anyways.

After that I headed out of Australia to the Hutt River Province, where some mental bloke back in 1970 didnt like the fact that the Govt were meddling in his grain quota (It would have reduced itsself from 100'000 tonnes per year to 1000) so he declaired war on Australia.

Because its (a) Australia, and (b) the weekend, and (c) because the Govener to the Queen wrote back to the 'administrator of the Hutt River Provicnce', therefore making it 'legally ratified by the queen', and the place was born. He made himself a Prince later to get out of some legal wranglings.

He was pretty eccentric, but pretty cool!

ROADTRIP 2 Perth - Geraldton

Like I said, I had an impulsive moment, jumped in the car, and fecked off. Probably not the smartest move ive ever had, but it was all mine, so I took it! :)

So yes, my first real stop was Geraldton. I was going to stop off on the way, but it was peeing it down with rain for most of the journey, so I just jumped on the highway and drove straight up. It was pretty sad leaving all my previous victims in Freo, I came to travel, so I was pretty happy to be on the road again!

Geraldton was a really awesome little city. Well, I dont know. The people loved thier music, busking was really good there, and the hostel was pretty damn awesome. The city itsself was probably a little average, and Ive got the feeling its got a bit of drug problem. Mates mates were coming to the hostel, and talking about smoking crack like youd grab a glass of water from the kitchen, so I was never going to spend alot of time there (What was it Scissor sisters wrote. "What once was an emerald city is now a crystal town". Its only a matter of time..), but I would have liked to spend a few more days..

I had a really good time at everyone at the hostel, and Like i say, it would have been nice to build up a bit of cash, but the lady booked out my bed to someone else, so that was it. Onwards and upwards.

The Last of Fremantle (for now! :P)

After that I got back, there was nowhere to stay, so I ended up staying round my friend Lauras house for nearly a week. It was pretty cool of her actually. Then I went back to the hostel, and ended up having to sleep on the sofa for a bit, because my bed was double booked, then back to Lauras. Got a bit of cash, and buggered off!

Highlights were a carnaval which came though the high street, and was really good to watch. Had the fortune of seeing the whole thing with a nice cold Carlton Draught in my hand, pretty damn good! Then after that, Passenger played at Mojos, which was awesome!

Mike is a really good singer songwriter from sunny england, but keeps coming over here, and busking and playing a few gigs. Does it whilst its cold in winter in England, then goes back to sunny UK over summer. Perhaps I could take a leaf out his book. Never dipping below 20c sounds like a pretty good plan to me! :) Anyways, saw his gig. I didnt have a ticket, because theyd all sold out, and I didnt have a card to buy one online (because id lost it in Margaret river), so I turned up early before the venue properly opened, and was going to buy one, but actually ran into him, and had a little chat. He put me on the guest list in the end, which was good. Amazing gig. though. The support was pretty good too.. There was this lady called Georgina something, and she was outstanding. Cant think of her name though which is a shame!

Then thats it. Rusen came over to Freo, and It was really good to see her again, then I had an impulsive moment, coupled by the fact they had a massive thunderstorm and it was 19c, and jumped in my car and drove off!

Road Trip 1 - Exmouth

Exmouth is a pretty cool place, I mean, the busking there was pretty good overall. I also met a really cool group of people, Mikeal, Lizzie, and Gina, who were travelling down. (saw them again just before they left oz too which was pretty cool! )

So yes, I had a couple of beers with them back at the campsite, played a bit of guitar, woke everyone up, then went to sleep. It sounds pretty same old, but I had a really good night! The next day I made about $80 for 3 hours busking, which payed for my rent. Then that night Me, Diego, and the girls had a BBQ, which was awesome. I love barbies! There was so much food though. I wasnt hungry for about a day afterwards! :)

Then after a bit more busking, we all went off into the National Park. It was pretty cool there. EVeryone else just lazed around on Turquoise bay all day, but I cant sit still for too long, so I ended up driving down the coast, and having a bit of a look in the rest of the beaches / walks etc. There were some really nice spots, although I did manage to get my Automatic stuck in the sand, which was almost a bit hair raising. Stupid bloody thing decided there wasnt any traction, so it was just going to run the clutch, and not turn the wheels. Intellingent Electronic Torque Control my left buttock. Got it out in the end, by slamming it in reverse, then straight into forwards, and digging a hole around the wheels, I got a tiny bit of traction, and managed to get myself out. Phew!

I mean, I wasnt that bothered. It was a pretty cool place to be stuck, but I dont think Sarah, Diego, and Tina would have been very happy! :) Saw a few Emus, then the next day drove back (10 hours) to Fremantle!

ROADTRIP 1 - CORAL BAY

So, after my last post, Id just got up to Coral bay with Ze Germans, and Diego. It was dark though, so I didnt really get a good look at it. I didnt check into the hostel, because I thought 'sod it! Ill sleep in my car, save a bit of cash'.

Turns out there was nowhere for me to sleep without paying though, and by the time I realised this, everywhere was shut. Oh well, Ill just sleep in the carpark by the beach anyways. If the Ranger comes around, he can sod off. Ill tell him exactly where to stick it, he doesnt scare me! (etc etc)

...so yes, 630am, theres a knock on the window, wakes me up. Outside, there is only what I can possibly describe as a Human Mountain. This bloke is fecking huuuuge. Hes 7 ft tall, and about 5ft wide, and pretty angry. Yeah. I kinda folded. ('please sir, yessir, ill move sir, pleasesir please anything. sorrysorrysorry'). And moved on.

It did make me massively grumpy though (The furthur before 10am I wake up, the more massively annoyed at everything I am), so im going to skip past the page long rant about absolutely everything (from the sun being too bright, to a strap getting stuck in the boot of my car, to the colour red. These are just some of EVERYTHING that was annoying me for the 1st 3 hours of my day! :P)

I did concede in my four hour ranting marathon though, that this place did have a  Stunning bay, with pristene, clear, turquoise waters, perfect for swimming and snorkelling. I even saw a few sting rays in the sand, a turtle, and loads of snapper fish. It was pretty awesome. Theres some pictures up on facebook. In fact ive seen loads of turtles recently. Its thier breeding season, so theres turtle porn everywhere!

Busking wise it was pretty average, because theres only 200 people in town. still, I was pulling home $35-40 a day, which was enough for rent and a bit of food. Also, worth mentioning, not that anyone back home, who hasnt experienced it first hand, will understand, but the flies are ridiculous. They fly in your mouth, your eyes, your ears, they swarm around. Definately the worst thing about outback WA! :)

I also went to this shark sanctuary and saw my 1st shark, although I didnt have a camera to take a picture! I also played in the hostel on the 2nd night I was there, and the lady who runs the place was so impressed she gave me a free nights rent, which was good. Came in handy! I met some really cool people there actually. Defiantely one of my favorite places in Australia!

ROAD TRIP MARGARET RIVER - PERTH - EXMOUTH

Its been a while, but im going to throw up a quick blog of my journey over the last few months. This is from 9 / 11 / 11

Basically, my plan here was I was going to go around Margaret River for a few weeks, then drive up north to Broome, then Darwin. You know, busk, chill out, see the area, etc. This is what actually happened..

MARGARET RIVER - Fri 10/11/11

Me, Diego, Flo, and Ze Germans, Sarah, Otto, Tina, Mario, Otto, and Stephan all rocked up to this hostel around 8pm. Well, they were staying in the hostel. We wanted to (a) save money, and (b) save a bit of cash, so we slept in the car. Which did mean that technically we wernt allowed to be in the hostel past 8pm. Erm. Well, that sort of happened. Not!

The first night we played drinking games. It was a bloody good night, but I did manage to lose my wallet though. I also managed to pass out on the sofa, which matey wasnt very happy about when he rocked up to his hostel at 8am. Oops! Oh well!

Then we went out, drove into town, and had a look around, then went to this awesome cave which was45m deep, and 2ks big. Well, the whole system went for 18k's. Pretty damn amazing. It had some really cool Stalagtites, mites, straws, etc.  There was also some pretty spectacular forests (Which burnt down about 2 days after we visisted. Nothing to do with me, I promise! :P Well, I hope! :)), then we ended up in Augusta, rocked out on the beach there for a bit, then we all had a barbie on the beach, and went back and went to sleep (well, via the rest of the beer we'd brought the day before! :P)

SUNDAY

Today we went to a chocolate factory, which wasnt actually factorying. It was also massively over priced, but they did do a Chocolate Liquor, which was bloody amazing! Then, stopping off at a few beaches on the way, we went back to freo, where I did a bit of last minuite busking, and ended up sleeping on the Sofa at the hostel, because they were fully booked!

MONDAY (FREO - EXMOUTH)

So now im back in Freo. Sarah said though, that If I drive them up to Exmouth, then they would pay for me to eat, and for the petrol. Well, I couldnt say no. Good Company, and a free trip up north? Hell yeah! So yes, It was Italian Diego, Sarah, and Tina who came with me on this trip...

Monday we drove up to Kalbarri. It was an awesome drive. A really nice stretch of coast. We stopped off at the Pinnacles, which are rocks jutting out f the sand in the desert. Much cooler than it sounds written down!  Then we carried on to Kalbarri which had some of the most spectacular coastal scenery I think ive ever seen. Specially at sunset (which we got there just in time for!). Beautiful!

Then at the hostel we ran into my mate Dan from Freo. It was cool, so we had a few beers (which he brought), then ended up going to another party, and drinking and chatting more, then a local guy called Graham (who was the most stereotypical Aussie ive ever met. Youtube the australian monty python sketch and youve got him!) for even more beers. Really nice peopple. had a good time!

It was good, although the next day the others got a tour around the national park, but I couldnt go because I didnt have the right shoes (some bastard stole them!). Never mind. Anyways, Ive only got 3 mins of internet left, so im going to have to sign off and come back to this.

Tune in for part two, where I go up to Coral Bay, then Exmouth, then back!

Got my Wheels!

After my last post, I had another week of Solid Busking, and finally got my car paid off, before realising that the Roadworthy certificate (I needed to get the car put onto WA plates) ran out a week later, so I needed to do even MORE busking, but finally, as of monday, I got the bloody thing on the road.

As a celebration of not actually having to sing every spare hour of the evening (6-9pm weekdays), then I ended up meeting up with Gary, a mate from melbourne, who has moved to the outskirts of perth, with my other mate Christo (who also knew him / me from melbourne originally). Then me and Christo ended up driving to Scarborough beach, because it was 32c (yes!), for a dip in the ocean.

Scarborough beach is really cool, but I did, FINALLY, after all I threw at it, break my phone. In true me fashion, I was holding my Flip Flops in one hand, then thought, hang on, I dont want my phone getting wet, so I took it out of my back pocket, and held it with my flip flops while I was walking down the beach..

..THEN I thought, 'hey! Im going to use this bit of string to tie my keys onto, because I can!'. Tied my keys on, then like a dawning sun, my stupidity was illuminated, as I realised that Id bloody dropped my phone in the ocean about 10 yards back to tie my keys. What a tit! :)

Apart from that ive been getting a few things sorted on my car (as well as shed loads of parking tickets) so I can begin my roadtrip. Im going to go down south, around margaret river, then along to esperance. I also want to have a look at the Timber County, where they loads of huge forests, etc. Its going to be cool. Then after that, ive got a Gig at The Indi bar, Scarborough, on the 17th November, so ill be back for that, probably smash another weekend busking in Freo, then thats it. Haul my Ass up the West Coast to Broome, then darwin. Its gonna be good! (But bloody hot!)

Anyways, thats my plan!

Woohoo! Finally got some money paid off on my car! :p

I had a pretty eventful weekend this week.! It was pretty cool...

Well, apart from the usual in the week, Friday I ended up going busking in Subiaco again. It was a really really quiet night, but I ended up making $250 in the end, which was pretty cool...

Then Saturday I caught up with my mate Laura...I was aiming to catch up on a beach, but because (great a woman as she is) she's terrible at sticking to a plan, I ended up in the city centre, watching an air show on the lake in the centre, before coming back to the hostel with her, having a few more beers, and then busking again. I was in a really bad spot, the wrong time, and my battery didnt last, so I only made $150, but went back, and my mate Christo was busking, so just chilled with him for a few hours before getting an early night at 4am! :P

Then sunday, a bunch of us in the hostel had a barbeque, which was pretty good. I ate shed loads of food, then ended up passing out and falling asleep on the couch for most of the afternoon, before going busking again. It was a really good session. Everyone really enjoyed my music, some bloke said he'd call me to book me in for a private party or something, and I ended up making $260.

So yes, thats my weekend. Ive still got this bloody cold. Well, actually, the cold is nearly better, but Ive got one hell of a sore throat at the moment, which hopefully will p*** off soon. Anyways. Ive paid $250 off my car, leaving a mere $360 left. So soon Ill have my wheels! :) ..Hopefully!

MY BIRTHDAY!!

I cant believe its been a bloody month since I last posted on this...not a massive amount has happened really.

Ive had a series of unlucky busking incidents, so im still in Freo. That mike lasted 2 outings before some p***head broke the mic cable, then my battery died, then someone stole my other spare battery. Finally got it all sorted though, just on track to get some decent money, and now it feels like im coming down with a bloody cold. Grrrreat! Still, we'll see..

Apart from that ive been going down the beach alot as per usual, watching sunsets, having a few beers with mates, before suddenly being thrust into full blown parties. My mate Christo has come over from Melbourne, and ive been hanging around with him and his mates (Katy, Mai, and Aiden) a fair bit, Jamming on the guitars etc...

Then sunday (My birthday. Greatest day in the world!) I basically got up after trying Subiaco out for busking on the saturday night around 12pm, hit the beers, went and watched NZ hammer Argentina for the rugby, then a load of us went down the beach with a couple of bottles of champagne. Well, Cava, a crate of beer, and numerous bottles of wine.

It was really cool...After going for a bit of a swim etc, then realising that it was probably a bad idea as now i was freezing my tits off, and possibly even getting close to starting to sober up. we went down the bottle shop, and did another stock up on wine before heading to this cannon on top of a cliff by the roundhouse..

Then I remember I came back to the hostel and was doing wine shots. Just.

Then Apparantly I fell over loads. I still dont remmeber this.

Then I wake up at 5am still drunk on the sofa in front of the hostel, with most of my stuff intact, EXCEPT somewhere Ive lost one of my flip flops, so I now have 2 left ones. One which is a size 10, one which is a girls flip flop, at about 1/3 of the size...ggggrrreat! Ive spoken to everyone out that night, and noones got two right ones....god knows how I manage it! :P

Anyways, thats about it. Weathers really starting to warm up here now, its going to be 30c here on saturday. at last! Woohoo...

Aoilike Felcheng....

I suppose I REALLY ought to stop drinking. Went out to do a bit of busking last night, couldnt find my mic ANYWHERE. I was thinking back, trying to work out where the hell I could have put it. I mean, I hadnt used it since saturday night, and its been locked away in my room...

...Then I had a bit of a drunken flashback.

Whilst I was sitting on the steps of the railway station on sunday morning, with the scots lads, there was also a massively gay aborigine (I mean, seriously, this guy was gay as christmas!) He had a tight fitting pink top on, and was mincing around singing madonna's like a virgin to pass the time! Now, in my post-drunken-ridiculously-tired state, I thought this bloke was hilarious, and gave him my Mic to sing into, so he could really pretend that he was on stage...

....then, in true pissed me fashion, a pigeon on the road or something caught my attention, that was the end of it. My train of thought was heading down a completely different track, without brakes, and so I completely forgot about the mic, gay aborigines, and quite possibly my own name, I was that tired, and walked off as everything faded to black....

...Then the drunken flashback ended.

This story does have a happy ending though (well, massively immature, which in my books is exactly the same thing!). I Bought a mic today with my busking money (well, ill need one for this weekend), and managed to get an Aoilike Felcheng mic.

Suffice to say I misread it a few times, and now thats it. I think ive found clearly the best mic money can buy. I think me and this mic are going to have alot of fun together, this is the mic for me!

...and any other dodgy puns you can fit into the thing's cheap packaging.  Ha. an I Like Felching mic. God bless the chinese! :)

Walk on the wild....oh, alright. Seaside

Again, its been pretty much the usual around here. Had quite a shite weekend busking...only made $80 on friday, and my mate Ciaron (met him and his gf whilst doing farmworking in Red Cliffs Prison) had a barbieque on the saturday afternoon, so I went to that, had an amazing time, got massively drunk, and then tried busking. Got a bit of money, especially considering that I was almost too drunk to hold the guitar the right way up for the first few hours...then the battery ran out. I missed the train back, so i made a little bit more, then walked to Macdonalds, and had a coffee, then met and chilled with a group of cool people who'd done the same thing. Cool people, cant for the life of my remember thier names.

Anyways, got back and into bed at 8am, so that was sunday pretty much written off sleeping / chilling out on the sofa, trying to ignore this whole real world thing for a bit! :)

Then, feeling a bit guilty, I decided that monday (also, the first day it got to 24-25c in a few months) I was going to do something. So I ended up getting a bus up to Scarborough beach (Its a really nice beach, about 20k north) then, after a bit of lazing around, I walked back.

Well, I walked from Scarborough to City beach (5k) along the cycle patch, which weaved along the coastline. Then I walked along the beach back to cottesloe (7.5k), nearly finding myself on an army firing range on the beach, which I had to go around! Then I got the train to north fremantle (2 stops), went to this really cool venue, Mojos, and watched thier open mic night for a bit, then walked the other 2k home. So yes, alot of walking...

I also got hit on by a massively scary 50 y/o lady, which was pretty much the only reason I left the place. After walking 9miles, I didnt really feel like talking to crazy old ladies, and she wouldnt take the hint and leave me alone....oh well! :P Its what you get when you're as good looking as I am! :) Least its not 80 year olds, like in the good old days at Lloyds Chemists! :)

Anyways, thats it. More busking planned this weekend. I NEED to get some money to pay for this bloody car. Or at least some of it. Bloody thing. (ADVICE: If you come travelling, dont buy a car. You dont need it. Its nothing but trouble. If you want to get around, there are plenty of people who DO have cars, that CAN drive you, and you dont end up spending ridiculous money on nothing).

Its also a friends housewarming on saturday, which I might go to, but again, I need to make money for said stupid bloody car, so i cant really go. Still, on the upside, ive got another friend from farmworking hitting perth on sunday, and a mate from melbourne hitting perth next week, and ANOTHER mate coming here soonish, so that should be cool.

I just should have been up to darwin and coming back by now. Argh. Seriously. If you come travelling. Dont buy a sodding car! *walks off grumbling*

Wow, its been quite a while since ive updated this hasnt it? Its basically because for most of the month, ive been doing the usual. Busking, paying off the car, drinking on the beach with my mates, drinking in the park with my mates, busking some more, sleeping...

Its been really good fun, but you cant really fill a blog with it! Ive made some good money busking - $420 in one night was the best so far. Looked to better it last weekend, when I made $85 in 2 songs, but then the stupid battery ran out. So that was it for the night! :)

Anyways...Ive finally got something to write about. Monday and tuesday were pretty uneventful. Wednesday I went to see my friend play at the Sail and Anchor up the road. It was a pretty good gig. There was this woman with an amazing voice singing after him, and 3 hot women who, and christ knows why, were well into me too. In fact, im heading back there this coming wednesday to meet up with one of them.

I also met the drunkest woman in the world, in a club, so yes. An eventful night. Didnt think Id better it...

....until the next day, when I got up at the crack of noon, and came downstairs to see my mate Jimmy, who asked me If I wanted a job for a day or two. Just to move a few things over to his bosses place. Well, I agreed, because his boss couldnt live more than a couple of hours away, hey? :) How little I knew...

The job was to pick up, and then drive, 2 pool tables and 100 metres of cable to this town called Newman, which is 1300k's north from Perth. Also, they had to be there before 10am because a building inspector was coming to the site. Wow. Okay.

So after alot of faffing around (oh dear. thats the 7th time ive used that word in conversation now. Im DEFINATELY turning into my dad! :P), I finally left perth, via a "shortcut" at 6pm. The "Shortcut" wasnt helped by some retard putting the name of the intersecting street on the main street before a junction in this suburb. So I drive for ages in completely the wrong direction...before turning around, going back, trying another few wrong turns because if you go one way, its the right street, if you go the other, its a different street name..bloody nightmare!

Anyways, after that I put my pedal to the metal, burnt it up north, averaging 140k + 1 monster energy drink per hour. Stopped off in Mikatharra for a bit of a power nap, that didnt really work, drove up and had an hours rest in a rest stop on the road, then carried on, getting to Newman at 8am. Well early!

So yes, I drop the stuff off, have a wonder around, drive up to a few view points. It was a nice place, but there wasnt alot to do. Its purely a mining town...well, region! Theres nothing but desert and mines for miles! They have had an above average amount of rain in the past though, so the desert is bursting with coulour, which was pretty cool!

Then I leave at 10am, and start the drive back. Obviously, having no sleep, Im STILL on the energy drinks. Also, im pulling over every so often for a 20min sleep again. I ended up having so much caffiene that I started hallucinating. Well, sort of. I knew it was hallucinating, and could switch mental gears and not hallucinate at will, but it was pretty cool, so I carried on. I thought:
*The road was a rollercoaster at one point, and it was going up and down.
* I was driving through an opressive forest, with trees that went up to the sky, and were trying to box me in.
* The trees I did pass turned into either comedy faces, or hands as I passed, and tried to grab the van,
* the Lorry in front of me suddenly developed a face (where the number plate was, sort of like when the front of a car sometimes looks like a face if you look at it at the right angle), then a Wig appeared around it, THEN it was surrounded in blue flames...

Suffice to say, I took this as a delecate hint that I PROBABLY didnt need any more caffiene, and replaced with with water, and slowly but surely my hallucinations dissapeared. They sound like they were quite scary, but It was cool. A bit like when you're only just dreaming, and can control what happens in your dream, I could see stuff at will, and was more awake than ive ever been, thanks to being 200 times over the legal caffiene limit! :P  I did wake up at 3am convinced that someone was trying to cut my hair and there was a monkey sitting opposite my bed though, which turned out not to be real. Its a shame. I could do with a hair cut... :)

Finally got back at midnight, after (acording to the odometer) 2517k's, in 27 hours of practically solid driving, and decided that it was high time I went to bed (even though I was still buzzing from the caffiene!).

The journey itsself was pretty cool, although I wouldnt have done it if I wasnt getting paid. Its cool to see the trees and fields turn into Red Desert as you head furthur up. The stars out in the middle of the desert were phenomenal, and there were some nice towns I passed through. Theres nothing to do though...a few nice dried up old rivers, and thats about it!

Anyways, that'll do for me now...In the immortal words of the poet, keep on rocking in the free world! :)

Testing out my amp!

Its been quite a productive weekend! I finally got (nearly) everything I need for my amp. I borrowed a battery, and an inverter from my mate Josh, but otherwise set myself up.

Made $185 on friday night (but I stopped a bit early because I was tired) and I made about $290 yesterday, which was good. I also got invited back to a party, to play guitar to everyone for $100, which was cool. So I got a free Kebab, Free Beer, and $100.

After playing Buckeroo with some poor bloke who passed out on the sofa, and this dude making up songs about tim tam chocolate balls (bloody funny. Pissed people and guitars = win!) I finally got to bed at 630am, and was rudely awaken by someone calling me at 830am, and couldnt get back to sleep. So im knackered today, which has stuffed up my busking.

I really dont have the energy, but I DO have enough money to register the Car, so thats pretty good! Ill just have to head out tommorrow. I also need to get into the basement to borrow the hostels heat gun to get the tints off the windows. I was itching to do it this weekend, but some -insert expletive here- has managed to lose the key. So I cant get in until bloody 11am tommorrow when the sodding handyman arrives! *sigh* Such a waste of time. I jsut want to get this damn car on the road....

But yes. Its been a pretty productive weekend!

....I think I spoke too soon!

Right after I wrote the last blog, I went to see a band play at this really cool bar called Mojos. Matt Gresham. He was sort of good, but got a bit boring after a while. Also, when I went up to speak to him, he didnt give me the time of day, so that was it. Hes got a black mark in my book, and when im a world famous musician, im going to hire someone to Pee into his letterbox... :P

So yes, went to that. Got incredibly drunk, and spent Friday recovering. Mostly. I also got a new set of glasses (the lense kept falling out my old ones, and the arm had fallen off months ago, so it was High Time I got another pair!). $510 altogether the bloody glasses cost. Thats after getting $60 back for the eye test on Medicare! Bloody expensive! Still, it needed to be done. I also got some new clothes.

Now, after that, my plan was to rest. I was pretty hungover, but it was my friend Carla's leaving BBQ at 6pm, so I thought id go to that, have a few beers, walk back, do a bit of busking. Job done.

Ha. That didnt happen. Word of advice: NEVER party with the Irish...at 1am on Sunday, after 2 hours sleep, I FINALLY stopped drinking, and went home. Utterly demolished. It was a really good party though...and Carlas flatmates are awesome! The slight up/downside is I also sort of ended up with a car, which I wasnt after, but its pretty good...I also had the worst Cough Cold ive had in years, stopping me from busking which sucked..luckily I had some cash from the tax back to fall back on, although I would rather have been making it!

Anyways, Basically, because Carla is leaving (well, has left!), and she couldnt sell her car, she gave it over to me, and said that I could either Do it up and sell it, giving her the cash for it, minus whatever Ive spent on it, OR I could pay her the money for the car (she wanted $1k) as and when I had it.. It needs to be re-registered, but ive got the test tommorrow, and all it needs on it now is one Tyre, and the boot lock putting back on (I think it just needs a bit of brute force and ignorance, on closer inspection!). So yes, this baby is my ticket to Darwin. Or at least Broome,,

Then, last weekend, there was Christmas in July at the hostel, where for $10 we got free beer and goon (3 crates of beer, and 5 boxes of goon!), and a massive roast dinner, between about 10 of us. It was really good! Any excuse for a roast dinner is alright by me! :P

So yes, been quite an eventfull few weeks. My voice is back now, so im back to busking. Ive also got my amp through the post, and the rest of the stuff is hopefully following. Annoyingly, an Amp arrived from america before a bloody inverter / converter / battery charger that I ordered from sodding Melbourne! Which is annoying, because Josh has been working lately, so I havent been able to use his amp....

Still, i'll get there eventually. So yes. thats it! Lets see what the future brings!

Its Freo-zing! (see what I did there??)

Hey, just a quick update! Again, I havent been up to a huge amount. Ive been battling coughs and colds for the last 2 weeks. It'll come, stick around for a week, go, then come back again. Last friday I couldnt even busk because I just couldnt sing...

The winery thing never happened in the end either because I needed an amp (and obviously a pickup, mic etc for my guitar). Which is exactly why I cant book myself into all the local coffee shops / restaurants. Which is annoying..

Because of this ive applied for my tax back ($4500), and have been looking at the best amps to buy. Ive got advice off of a couple of friends, and have decided (not that any of you will care, but im going to write it anyways) an AER compact 60 amp, which is expensive, but sounds great, will hold its value, and also is small and light enough so it comes with a shoulder / gig bag to carry around. Which is great for my travelling... Ill probably also get a K&K Pickup for my guitar, because its come highly reccomended! Altogether, it'll come to around $1300, but considering its going to earn me a shed load (I will be able to busk more, because I wont have to wait until Josh is free with his amp, i can take mine out...) it'll be worth it...

Apart from that, ive done a few more open mic nights, had a few parties on the beach, around a campfire. Stuff like that, but its been pretty cold here, and most of the days are wet now. Its been good fun though...

On more exciting news though, it looks like ill soon be on the move! A couple of mates from the hostel are buying a car, and are driving up north next week, so i think ill jump in the car with them! Darwin is my ultimate goal, and because its the height of the dry season, the busking up there will be incredible!

So yes, not a hugely exciting blog, because its died down around here, but I thought id let you all know how I was getting on!

Freo

Just a quick update. Ive been carrying on with the busking, which is still going pretty well. Its getting a bit cold down here, so im saving up money to go north with, towards Darwin via broome, but still clearing $3-400 thurs-sun. By saving money, i mean i have $10 towards it.. :P

In the meantime though, im getting a few actual gigs sorted out. The week before last I played a gig at this pub called The Swan, which was alright, but the bloke organising it was really disorganised, even by MY standards, and considering id given up a friday night busking, I only got a Jug and a half of beer for it. Still, it was pretty cool, and a good chance to play my own songs. It also meant I knew how to get across the bridge into North Freo..

Then, last monday I spent all day at Cottesloe beach, which was really really nice. It was a beautiful day, and the beach was stunning. I relaxed and read a book for a bit (yeah, i know, rock n roll!), then grabbed a beer on the beachfront resteraunt and watched the sun go down..which was pretty awesome!

Then, that evening, I went down the pub for a $15 steak with my friend valarie, and met up with Jordan and Jordan, who I met doing my farmwork, grabbed a few beers, and ended up at this really cool rock bar called Mojo's. It was really cool. In fact, its one of Australias main gig venues I think. Anyways. it was an open mic night, so i booked myself in. Luckily the bloke told me to write it down...ha, it was 2 days later, when i had a drunken flashback, and suddenly thought 'Hang on...do i remember booking a gig for myself? Let me check my phone...oh. Monday, at 8 eh? :P'

So yeah, that was tonight...It was really good. A great audience, everyone liked me, and on top of that, ive got to ring up on wednesday to get myself a slot at Houghton Wineries, up in Swan Valley. Ive had a quick look at the website, and it looks a nice place. Ill probably get twitches as I get closer, and maybe the odd flashback to my sodding farmwork, and i DID promise myself id never look at a bloody grape again, but I think i might forget all of that, for a proper paid gig. And i suppose grapes arent SO bad when you're drinking them as opposed to picking, packing, and pruning the things.. :)

Anyways, thats it really. Im coming down with the man flu this week, so the futures looking bleak. Im not sure ill make it to the next blog...its all going grey...*thud* :P

Busking : The Story continues..

Hey, just doing a quick update. Havent done a massive amount really. Ive been mainly busking for money still, and getting my practice in...its working though. Last week, I made $450 thu-sat (plus $30-40 per day before that for rent etc),

This week just gone its been a bit slow, Thursday I only made about $20, but theres a Sexpo on, and it was the cheap ticket day, so probably everyone was at that..Friday was a bit better. I probably made $80-90 bucks altogether, which isnt amazing. But I didnt feel great, and also I ran into a couple of mates from when I was doing my farmwork, which was really cool. They arent staying too far away either..I also got this really weird indian pencil thing, which after getting it, I ran into a really hot girl on the train, whod seen me busking a few times, and wanted to meet up for drinks, I got kissed on the cheek by another hot woman when I was busking, and then got my naked topless lapdance (see below). So i think its some kind of magic charm, which Im NEVER letting go of! :P

Yesterday night (sat) was pretty good. Not only did I make around the $230+ busking, I got a topless lapdance (can I get a hell yeah!), a pair of comedy glasses, and a cookie voucher! It was also this french girl called Carine's leaving party, so I went to the Sail and Anchor (a really cool pub that sells loads of homebrew ales etc) and stuck around there for a few hours. It was a really good night actually.

Today I was going to go to Cottesloe beach, but the weather heard me. earlier 26c, unbroken sunshine. AS SOON as I said I was going to the beach, 21c and it looks like its going to chuck it down with rain. Great. Thank you weather. :) Still, its pretty good. Ill probably grab a few beers, watch some TV and try my hand at more busking later. See what happens! Ill also go around a few of the pubs and get some gigs booked. Ive got one next friday at this pub called the swan..

Oh, also. Amazing bluegrass band called The Seals. Shit name, good band. I came across them (double bass, mandolin, gweetarr, and banjo) busking acoustic on the street. Theyre playing wed / thurs so ill check em out there!)

Stuff!

Wait. How much did i get tonight busking? $150? Whats that? Thats as much as id get paid in a real job...oh, but what? I wouldn't have all those amazingly fit women dancing on me in a real job? Only when i fell asleep on the toilet? Ah, how true conscience. How true... :P

*sings* LAAAAST NIGHT..Well. This week. :)

Hello! Another quick update. This week im still busking, but im getting better and better. It started off a few weeks ago, where Id just scrape enough together for rent. Now im getting more and more money. Not millions yet, but getting there. $45 on monday, and $37ish tuesday and wednesday, Which is pretty good! Ive also got a gig booked for Saturday, so yes. Things are looking up!

On other news, it was my mate Ben's Birthday yesterday, so after busking and getting a bottle of Sparkling wine for him, and a bottle of wine for me (AND food, AND rent. So I must have earnt more than $37). We started drinking at the hostel. Two of the girls, Nancy and Shannon baked a cake for him in the shape of two breasts, and yes. Then we started drinking.

After half the night, the woman who works at the hostel poured away half my wine, because im not supposed to drink my own stuff in the hostel, and whereas most of the people got thiers put in the fridge, I got mine tipped away, because I jokingly said (forgetting that Aussies bizarrely dont get Sarcasm either) 'Aaawwwww...Mum! Your evil! pah!' and she took it to heart. Went to grab it later, and she was like 'Well! Im just showing you how evil I can be' I was like 'what?? Seriously? I didnt actually mean...oh, forget it!'. Bit annoying because probably 25mins of my heart and soul went into that glass. I didnt particularly care about the wine because theres plenty of people I could borrow some off. Im thinking of getting my $27 rent today, and getting it changed into 5c peices at the bank, just because I think it would be quite funny. Maybe I wont though. Anything for an easy life! :P


So anyways, apart from that little incident we all went to the old Roundhouse, overlooking the sea, and I was playing gweetar and chatting. It was really good. Ha, took a turn for the worse when all the sprinklers turned on about Midnight and SOAKED everyone. It was quite funny. I dont think ive ever seen a bunch of people move so fast in my life. So we moved round the corner anyways, and carried on with the guitar and chatting etc. It was a pretty good night!

I also met my first Norwegian women ever, and learnt my 1st phrases.

Ha, one is Postman Pat. Postman Pat. Med sin lille catt. Lever-e sin-e brev han (x3).

The other is Du e itj saa vaerst du - Which I think translates to something like You arent that bad, you.

Anyways, that was last night. Im just off out to try and busk again, and see where the world takes me! Ill keep you posted!

Busking

Just a quick update! After spending the last few days trying to scrape by, since the worlds most crazy night on wednesday, I went out with Josh, another fellow busker and all round good bloke from the hostel earlier, and borrowed his guitar and amp for a bit of busking...

We went into Northridge again, this time avoiding all evil guitar stealing types, and sat down, taking it in turns to do a few songs each. WHILST millions of the worlds most stunning women passed by, dressed in practically nothing. I managed to make $80, a bag of chips and a waffle in 2hrs. Bringing todays total up to $100. Which gets me up to date on the rent, AND with a bit of money left over for some sort of debauchery (ie. A new phone because i lost mine).

So yeah, not bad! The only fail is that I didnt capitize on a dirty KFC at the end of the night! :)

Random update...

...I havent actually got anything to say, apart from keep clicking those ads! Ive got $7.60 so far. Its up to you people to make me rich! :P

(god i love selling my soul for advertising)

What. The. F***?!!?

Okay, im writing this hot off the press (still pretty drunk / mostly shell shocked!).

Basically, today I went busking this afternoon, got a bus to perth, which was randomly free, because a Ship crashed into the railway bridge, and went to see my friends Grez and Reece from Red Cliffs, which was cool...

Whilst there, i met one of the two 'Fucking German Girls' who id met in Melbourne in September, and mostly forgotton about, but who hadnt forgotton about me. So i slide in with a few of my german chat up lines...."Deine Mutter Arbeitet auf den Fishmarkt. Als Gestank" (Your mother works down the fishmarket, as the smell). and Deine Mutter Schwetze Mayo. (Your mother Sweats mayo").

Then I told her she needs to teach me some good german, because I only know the BAD stuff, and she says "No. I LOVE the bad stuff. Ill teach you how to say "I want your ....... Across" Okay, theres kids reading. Suffice to say, it was a massive come-on, but i didnt have any money to go out, so I half ignored it, and then the rest of the guys got me far far FAR too wasted on their beer for me playing a few songs over and over on guitar.

So Long story Shorter, I dont know who the random number is who goes on about some real fun, but random stuff on my phone. Sorry, who is this, im fairly drunk. Dont get you. "Who was talking to you earlier, who likes talking dirty". STILL no idea, because im proper f**ked. "GERMAN GIRL????? LIKES TALKING DIRTY?????? MET LAST YEAR!!!!".

Yes. As an utter retard, and massively properly drunk I STILL have no idea, although after several hours of not drinking I missed out on the opportunity. Which properly sucks. Im such a Gimp.

Because of that, I miss my last train home, and get myself pretty disorientated. But im in some park nearby the train station, where I can wait the few hours until the trains start running again.

THEN a bunch of abbos come along, one old bloke, who was really cool, and pretty good at the guitar, playing it upside down, Hendrix Stylee. And a load of his family (he was the uncle) who were idiots. So this bloke has my guitar, and is playing it pretty well, but the rest were idiots, but drinking their stuff, and were talking, so everythings cool...

...then this irish bloke called Patrick comes up, and starts chatting too. Then I need a piss, and patrick wants to get some Buckfast, which he has loads off, as some crazy business deal to sell back to people at a profit, so we sort of combine efforts, and I stupidly leave my guitar with the abbos, and Patrick leaves.

I go for a piss, then realise that leaving my guitar with them is a stupid idea. So go back, and the guitars gone. Patrick gets 2 bottles of buckfast. By the time we've come back, theres no sign of my guitar or ANYTHING. which royally sucks, because thats my only source of income at the moment. So Patrick decedides to help, and we start going up a street to see if we can find the people. Then two of the "family" pop out of the woodwork. Patrick is a bit ahead anyways, and im behind thinking "okay, this could be dodgy, whats happening here". Next thing I know Patrick gets bottled on the side of his head, and these two t*****s run off,because i was too far back to be of any help. By this time we've drank a bottle and a half of buckfast, which didnt really help. But tasted nice. And was pretty much the only trade off for my guitar. I say nice. By nice i mean 'like death'. :)

So there this Patrick bloke is bleeding, there I am, not knowing whats going on. So we walk back, and then a few people who knew patrick walked past, and come to help us. At which time I realise all my stuff is in the guitar case (money phone, etc), so i now have NO money. AT ALL. And then amassive bouncer type members of the family come out of the woodwork, and start shadowing us.

Im Bricking it, because my phones gone too. (I found the Sim Card in the gutter but not the phone), because were blatently about to get killed. We dont, because. I dont know why. I think it might be because ive got a photo of the Abbo family, and one of them gave the address so i could send it all to the police. When i get my phone fixed. so ive got enough information to incriminate a few of them. but they all get in real close, and then fuck off. Im still bricking it.

Then after going down to the end of this side street we were sort of forced down with some people from the original hostel, they fuck off. But this blokes back where he started with my guitar, going 'here it is. I was just looking after it for you'. Which slightly restored my faith in humanity. My moneys gone, and so is my phone, so ive got to work double hard today to pay the rent.

I get my train stop wondering if it was really necessery to have such a massive dump of karma for missing out on some obvious sex. I mean, i deserved it, but WTF??!!!

What. A. Fecking. Night.

Im going to bed. Ill worry about now having to busk 2 days money in -3 hours later. Because I can.

फुक्क माय यार. थिस थिंग व्रितेस इन हिंदी.

OR F*** my ear, this thing writes in Hindi.

Anyways, after that revelation, Im just doing a quick update for the past few days. After working late nights (8am-1030pm) the last few nights i decided to take a few days off from reality, and after chilling out down the beach on saturday, and meeting a cool group of people down there, I came back and got pretty damn pissed. A load of people from the hostel went to this Lookout place with a Cannon on it, looking out over the ocean (Which some crazy tramp reliably informed us that the thing was put there to fend off a Russian attack in the cold war. One cannon. Russia. Riiight. I THINK that he may have had one too many shots of meths personally). It was pretty cool I had a bag of goon, which i managed to polish most of it off, before trying to (and failing) start a dance-off. On recollection I should have pulled out some of my finest moves, like the worm, or the aeroplane. But alas, i was far too wasted for that and just flopped around like an idiot instead! :P

Then yesterday I spent alot of the day recovering, before going down to the beach again with a couple of mates (paul and james) from the hostel for a bit of a jamming session on the ol' gweetar. That was pretty sweet. Came back, watched a film then passed out! :P

Then today, to add a bit of culture to my trip over here, I went for a walk around the central park today (the largest inner city park in the world no less...woooo!) which was nice. Then I went around the Art Gallery, and the Museum. The art Gallery was pretty good. There was a section which the Year 12 art classes from the city did, with some stunning art in which was really good. The museum was fairly cool, with a really good ACDC section, with some really interesting stuff like letters that Bon Scott, and Angus Young had sent to thier girlfriends / family members etc.

So yes, that was cool. Then tonight im probably going to do a bit more busking, then. well, then i dont know. See where the world takes me....

Sell out

Oh, I sold out and put this ad thing on Google so Id get some more money. So yes, when all these links pop up, if you see something you like, click it (or just click it and have a look anyways!)). I get money, and you get something you really dont want / need! :P EVERYONES happy, and Lord knows I need all the money I can get at the moment!

Living the dream, Living the dream!

Its been quite an eventful few days! My room was booked last saturday, so i had to spend the night on the sofa for $10, which worked out really really well, because it meant I (A) had enough spare money to get some food / toothpaste etc, I also saw a job add before anyone else, and managed to get a few days work which is pretty cool!

Ive been helping this bloke renovate his house, doing a bit of plastering, sanding, etc. Tommorrow im sanding the floor, and doing a bit of painting! Ive also kept up at the busking, and made a whole $55 in one day the other day. Ive discovered that if you put only gold coins in the hat (well, guitar case!) people keep throwing them in, so i had loads of people walk past and chuck in $2 a go. Freakin' Awesome!

I also managed to get a free ticket to see Lior and Neil Finn from Crowded house play over here in Perth, although it went tits up, because I had to work a bit later, so i didnt make it to the pub in time for the shuttle bus to leave. In turn this meant I had to use Public Transport, on a public holiday that seems to be going on forever (Thu-Tue!). So i eventually find a bloke whos actually working, and he says that its going to take me over two hours, IF i can get a connecting bus. BASICALLY, i would have had to go to the end of the trainline. Then get a bus, THEN walk to the suburb.

It wasnt going to happen, although i was massively gutted about it. When I got back, Micheal, one of my mates from the hostel offered me his car, but id been wondering around perth exploring for too long, so id missed my chance. Which was a shame.

Still, I switched to plan B, which was play the open mic (well, okay, i was coerced into it, but it was pretty good fun in the end!) and get horrendously drunk. People kept buying me free alcahol etc, and it went down really well. So that was good!

Now today, a couple of guys from the hostel caught a Stingray, which Micheal, the Legend Chef, is currently cooking! Ive never had stingray before, which is pretty damn awesome. Im all up for trying new things to increase my waist size! :P

So yes, I can hand on heart say that im doing things that Steve Irwin only dreamed of! :P

So yes, things are looking up. I really like Freo...Its an amazing place. Im having such a good time, which is what i needed after 3 months working on farms in the hell hole that is Red Cliffs, Victoria!

Perth

Not alot to update really, but theres free internet here, so I thought that I would do it anyways. Ive been doing much of the same recently. I went round and handed in a load of CVs the other day, which hopefully will get me something back.

Ive also made a sign for my guitar, that says 'IF YOU'RE FED UP OF ME PLAYING THE SAME SIX DEPRESSING SONGS, OVER AND OVER, THEN IM AFTER WORK. CALL ME!' which hopefully will work! Its been the easter weekend, so things have been a bit slow.

Yesterday there was a street performer festival thing, which was pretty cool. Lots of cool acts, although it meant that I couldnt busk because there was too much amplified music. Well, I did find one spot which was pretty good, but then this complete arse with an amplified guitar and a drumkit set up about 2m from me, and drowned me out. After me telling him that this was my spot, and him basically telling me to p*** off, its a free festival, I walked away before I hit the bloke, and went back to the hostel for a swim and played a bit of makeshift volley ball. Well, I was absymal at it, but its the thought that counts!

Other than that ive (like I said) been busking for my rent / food etc each day. I may even have enough by the end of today for some cheap Goon as well, we'll see. Seems a shame to waste the money on alcohol though, so i probably wont. Oh, and I did an open mic night at this pub around the corner called the orient. They do free food on a Thursday, then have an open mic night, so i was well happy!

Dont know what Im up to today yet. Busking obviously, then who knows? Ill keep you posted!

A Stottys tale - There and back again

So whats been happening the last few weeks?

Well, one or two things. Red Cliffs was pretty uneventful, (for a change!). A new couple turned up, who were pretty cool, erm. That was about it really. We all went bowling, which was pretty good fun.

I was beggining to think that I was never going to get out of there though, but then a Knight came to rescue me on a Silver Steed. The Knight being my mate Jordan, and the Silver Steed being a Apollo Camper relocation deal. Basically, I got a text one boring tuesday, because all the work had dried up going 'Do you want to go to perth?'. I asked how much it would cost, because I was terminally skint, and he said $50 bucks.

Now, I couldnt turn down the chance of a $50 road trip to perth could i?! So yes, I jumped at the opportunity, and here I am. I had written all this out in my diary, to copy out, but thats up two flights of stairs, so Ill do it by memory I think!

So here we go, DAY 1 - At last, Ive escaped!

We left well late on this day, due to a couple of the guys working. It was also bloody cramped, because we had 4 people in a 3 person camper, which wasnt incredibly comfortable.

Apart from a frizbee stop at the South Australia border crossing (where they stop you and check / conviscate all fruit and veg), it was a pretty uneventful journey. We saw a few kangaroos, that was about it! Oh, and i also inadvertantly smuggled an onion over the border

We drove to this place called Renmark, about 3-400ks away, and stopped on top of this scenic lookout that looked over the Murray river. That place was awesome...It had a view that looked out over unbroken hills to the north, east, and west, and on the south there was the tree lined murray river. Beautiful. We then cracked out the goon, and had a bit of a party, celebrating our escape from 'the cliffs!'

It was a bit of a nightmare sleeping wise. There were 4 of us in a 3 person camper, so basically It was well cramped if you drove with the seats up, and sleeping. Well, this night I tried sleeping across the front bench seat, which didnt work. The only way i could slightly do it was if i put my head on the Door handle thing, and slept with my legs bent, which was pretty damn hard, even for a seasoned sleep veteran such as myself (ive slept in an airing cupboard at a party once.. :P). But as a result, I was up well early, to get on with:

DAY 2 -

This started with me driving, and everyone else staying in the back sleeping, which was the formula for the next few days. We were aiming for this place called Bulla (i think). We finally got there after me driving for 6 hours solidly. Lol, its a good job we didnt press on the night before! It was quite a nice little town. We had some lunch there, and I grabbed a pot in the local before 'using the facilities' for a shave and a wash etc..

Then after that, It was just more driving really. The thing about this journey is the distances. You have hundreds of miles of exactly the same, but at the same time, its also pretty awe inspiring..Hence there not being many pictures up on my facebook. We stopped off for an obligitary photo shoot at this place that was half way across australia, in South Australia, then drove on a little further, again stopping to play frizbee at this truck stop place. We also drove passed a few really cool looking rock formations, that were basically the same phenomenon as Ayers rock (are they called Ghees or something? I dont know..) where you have a massive mountain just rising up out of the desert..in fact, I think the biggest one was actually 2nd in size to Ayers rock!

Then we stopped off at this free truck stop / campsite in a tiny village. It was pretty cool, and Sam'll be glad to know his fire stick and paraffin squares, as well as his fire training helped bring around a stunning example of a fire! It was awesome, I played a bit of guitar in front of it, and as a testimony to earning manpoints for starting a fire from scratch, got pretty damn drunk again.

The tent that we were supposed to use as well as the camper was knackered though, so i had to sleep in a tiny bed crammed in between two blokes (top and toeing meant i was the lucky bastard who got the feet this night. Not the most amazing set up, and not one id probably ever do again, unless I was travelling with two girls, in which id probably grin and bare it! :P

DAY 3

This day we got up early again (well, i didnt, Jordan did. I slept in the back) and stopped off for breakfast in this place called Cerebin ( i think!) IT was basically the last big town I got to for the next million miles. By big town i meant it had 10 shops and a cafe.. :P

So yes, had a breakfast there, and then hit the Nullanboor plane. We stopped off at this Whale viewing station, and although it was out of season for the whales, the scenary there was absolutely stunning. Second only to some of the amazing coastlines down the Ocean road. They had a beach there with sand dunes that had been pushed back to the size of cliffs, which was insane to look at! They charged us $5 to get in, but it was so worth it!

Then we drove on, stopping for dinner at this amazing lookout on the South Australia / Western Australia border, and carried on into the sunset. The scenary remained pretty much unchanged, but that was the beauty of it.

We ended up stopping off at this pretty nice free campsite, and tried making another fire. But that was an epic fail, so we all went to bed instead!

DAY 4

Basically here it was just drive drive drive. We saw a few really cool signs, filled up with more $2 petrol (eek!!), and drove down the longest stretch of straight road in Oz. It was 90 miles (130k) long. Bloody long way to go to just drive straight, with nothing in front or behind you! We saw some camels on this trip though, which was pretty cool. The pictures i took are really blurry, but they were clear enough in real life!

Then we stopped about 100ks outside of perth on this lookout on top of a mountain. The town was called norton i think. The lookout was incredible though. It looked out over this small town, which looked like it was in some sort of crater from maybe an old asteroid or something, and at night with all the lights on, White ones glittering above the yellow streetlamps like falling snow, was bloody amazing.

We played a few drinking games, then went to bed.

Now im in perth, in a really cool hostel called Sundancer hostel. Its got free internet, a pool, a ping pong table. Its down in Fremantle as well, which is an amazing town. Full of the hottest women ever, with stunning beaches nearby, a strong thriving music scene, with some really old buildings (for Australia) and...well, just a nice vibe!

I arrived with 6c to my name, after buying a few days at the hostel, so have been heavily busking again. Ive pretty much got tommorrows rent now, and then only have to get 25 bucks for the day after...

Also, met this pretty amazing girl called Carla last night. She was a properly nice person, and pretty damn good looking too! Went back to hers, but made too much noise and woke up one of the flatmates who came onto the front porch where we were, spitting fire!

Bit of an arse, because she was like 'well, normally id ask you to stay, but i think in the circumstances, you better not..'

Im thinking of a word here that rhymes with Boar locks.. :P

Today after busking I went down to the south beach with a group of mates after busking, and had a few beers and watched the sun go down. That was pretty good...ill put the photos up soon.

Who knows what the future has in store, or if ill get the visa. I dont know. Despite everything stacking a bit against me moneywise at the moment, Ive got a good feeling about this place. And even if i dont get the visa and HAVE to leave, then at least ive been here and done it!

Theyre really into thier homebrew which is probably what really endears me to this town on top of everything else. When I do (and when i can afford) a proper beer, it'll be coming out of my ears! :P Also, its warm. YES!

Another year over! (I cant bloody belive it!)

Wow....2 more days until my visa offically expires!

Ive been working pretty hard the last few weeks too....Went back to helping the guy with his fence, and a bit of digging around the house again, which was cool. Kept me occupied!

Then I went onto a Sultana Harvest for a few days, where I was on the trailer behind the harvester, pulling all the big branches out of the bins etc. It was a little bit monotomous, but it'll be pretty good money when the farmer finally gets a bit of time off to come and pay me! I also had my 1st near death experience! :) Well, it wasnt that bad, but one of the tractors had a really vicious clutch, and most of the time i remembered to have a hold onto the back of the trailor so i didnt fall over.

This time id gotten too involved in pulling out twigs etc, so when the tractor started, I fell off, scraped my entire side down the bin, nearly had my ankle go under the wheels, but held myself up. The farmer didnt bloody stop for me! Then as I dragged myself up, cursing and swearing, a bloody vine came along and nearly launched my glasses into the vines! Suffice to say, the air turned a bit blue!

Then after that ive done a few days sultana picking, which was alright. An extra bit of pocket money. Now ive applied for my visa, which is pretty cool. We'll have to see how it goes. I cant get hold of a few of the farmers ive done work for, so I couldnt put down all my days, but never mind! Whats there should do the trick! Theres enough anyhows...

Other than that a new couple of people have come into the hostel, who seem pretty cool! One of them is almost as music mad as i am, which is pretty good! Although she has gone around all of the locals trying to set me up writing music, and playing. Well, im supposed to do a christening on sunday. 2 hours, happy / oldish music. I dont really have time, well. not until I know whats happening about my visa...

It should be fine, but id rather have it in writing! Then I can concentrate on my music again. Also, If a farm job comes up, I cant really skip in and out of it for all these gigs. But we'll see. If one doesnt I suppose ive got a few extra dollars and a bit of beer on the sunday!

So yes. Thats the Red Cliffs update!

Wow....nearly a year!

Wow...Two weeks tommorrow, and ill have successfully have blagged my way through a whole year outside of england!

Im still in Red Cliffs, just about scraping by on farmwork, although the last few weeks have been fairly good workwise.. I spent all of last week working for a plumber, putting up a roof (yes. you heard me. A roof. Thats probably why they all leak over here, they think they OUGHT to have water pouring through them!), and possibly the easiest job ive EVER done, which is grading and packing mangos. Which was the work equivilent of basically staying in bed for 2-3 days and getting paid for it!

Its a good job i got the work last week actually. I got paid after a few days, and thought that id pay off the 2 weeks rent that I owed to the hostel. Only to find out that Id somehow not paid since the start of Feburary, and they didnt mention it, because they knew id pay eventually! I was like 'well, of course ill pay, but if you dont tell me that I owe you money, then i cant bloody pay can i?'

So yes. Earnt a shed load. Paid it all to the hostel. Bugger. The mango picking helped too...that was good pay, but Rusen, the german girl im currently travelling around with is too bloody efficient, has all her days on her visa, and therefore organised the place, and shot through the work in 1.5 days instead of 3, because she was annoyed they were doing things so slowly! Bloody Germans! i was like 'Dont go fast! Theyre disorganised! I can get at least an extra day out of this place! If not 2! At $180 per day!'
'Ah, well, its too slow!' THATS THE POINT!! DRAG IT OUT!! (*sighs*). I Hate german efficicency.

So yes, am looking for a job again. Ive got 4 days in which to do it, although im done with farmwork! 2 weeks! Cant bloody wait..

On top of that, Neil went the other day. I think hes been getting quite homesick, so after a bottle of whisky, he decided to quit his job, and apply for his visa a month early, by backdating it on the form. Which is never a good idea. So we'll see if he gets that or not. They're checking the visas pretty thoroughly though, so it looks like he might be back in Ireland before long...

Erm, Canadian Jordan left the hostel too, Rusen and Emily are leaving next wednesday and thursday to do some more travelling, which leaves about 5 people left. All of them working. So daytime is pretty shite at the moment.

I just need another few days work, and ill have the funds to move on. Maurie, the plumber said he might have some landscaping work for me to do next weekend, and the farmer whom I picked the mangos with said hed probably need me for a day or two next week to do another 3 trees worth, which wernt ripe enough yesterday..then my main plan is to "make like a tree, and get the flock out of here (its leave you dumbass! <--Back to the Future)"

So yes. Good times! We'll see what happens. If i dont get work in the next 4 days, then i may even be coming home to sunny england, although i hope not! (no offence guys! :P)

Phil Pethybridge...

Is a pissed, soppy bastard.


that is all i am going to say.. :P

Happy Stag do motherf***er!

Soundwave Festival! For those about to RAAAWWWKK!

Which brings me up to last weekend! Which was really really awesome...

I was bloody lucky. Neil had a spare ticket to Soundwave festival in Adelaide, that he wanted to get rid of, so he gave it to me. So i just had to sort out a $37 bus ride, and that was that. So i thought sod it. Ill go. Ive wanted to go to an Australian festival, and its not often you get an $150 ticket for nothing..

It was so much fun. We got there, and some of Neils Aussie mates from Melbourne, who actually lived in Adelaide, invited us to a BBQ, so we went over there, after a few beers in town, and ended up having a great time. The food was excellent, there was more free booze than you could shake a stick at, and they were all such a good group of people. They also let us crash out in the lounge on the sofas, so we didnt even need to pay for a hostel!

So yes, went to bed at 4am, woke up at 9am. Went to this pub, which was owned by one of the girls at the bbq, who were also going to the festival's parents, and had a $5 bacon and eggs. Then went to the festival, which was a rock festival with possibly the worlds best lineup!

I saw Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stoneage, Slash, Primus (Who were outstanding!), Slayer, Monster Magnet, Devil Driver, some of Stone Sour, and Feeder. Pretty damn good!

Less than jake, Mad Caddies, and Third Eye Blind were playing too, but i missed them. Went through the day basically topping myself up on beer (I have no money still. Farmworking sucks for money, although apparantly if i do it again, i want to sign up for vintage at the start of the season, and get 800-1000k a week!), then went back to this rock club, which was pretty cool, although crammed..

A Load of the bands were down there chilling out too, which was good, but i didnt take advantage of it, because Id just ordered a whole Maccy D's family box to myself (I hadnt eaten all day, and was more hungry than id ever been in my life!), managing one and 2/3 of the 2 big macs, a cheeseburger, 6 nuggets, 2 chips, and a two cokes before dying of a heart attack. This made me feel a bit sick for some reason...AND also, seeing as id been up the front for the bands all day, I was so tired. I went back, hit the pillow and thats it. Bam. Gone! Asleep!

So worth it though. I nearly didnt go, because I didnt have the money, but hell. Free Ticket, Free house. It was the cheapest festival id ever been to, and such a good weekend. Adelaide is SUCH a good city!

So yes. the grape harvest here is fecked, so ive lost my job again now, because there arent any grapes for me to stack, so im going to get a few dollars together and get the hell out of dodge i think. Maybe head over to Adelaide to find some farmwork, as the apocalypse hasnt hit there yet! :P

Dream

Not alots happened. Here there are two things to do. Work and drink. So its all pretty so so on that front. Eveeryones leaving. As of the 3/2/11, Kiwi Matt, (whos actually a proper nice bloke, although still absolutely nuts!) has gone, leaving the place alot quieter, and wholesome. The Two Canadian Jordans have gone, leaving us with one left.

So im going to put up some of my dreams, because they are pretty random here. I think its because the beds are so damn uncomfortable, I cant get into a deep sleep.

They have included:

* Paul Mccartney lived in the hostel toilets, and watched everyone pee. Which was quite disconcerting. I always thought there was something funny about that bloke! :P

* I dreamt that a grandma, or maybe an aunt of great aunt. Noone real anyways, had given me about £2million, but the only way I could claim it was to start a resteraunt just like them. So I did, and it was a huge place, with three massive waterslides. Two that went down the side of the building, with people going stupid speeds down them, and one which started at the top of a big tree, had a right angle turn that people only just made it around, then went away and skimmed them into the sea, past some old hut type building.

* I was living in a house at university, near to a library, with a dodgy wall. There was this really nice woman who was my roommate, but also a really miserable girl down the block, whod been living there the longest, and was sort of in charge. I told her that she wanted to get someone to fix it, but she didnt listen. So i go and get a travel book because im leaving in a month, slam the door, and the entire front wall of this massive building falls down like dominos. At which the miserable woman throws the book at me, and says i have one week to get out, with me protesting that Id TOLD her to get the landlord to sort it! :P

Thats all, from now until last weekend. Had a few barbeques. some of the other residents had a few dramas, had a few beers, and tried to save a bit of money...

Barbie in the Hood!

I had a pretty cool barbeque on saturday...Id helped organised it because I was bored, and it was probably one of the peaks of red cliffs. Basically everyone in the hostel put in $15 and that paid for food and beer for EVERYONE!

Everyone in the hostel, and a load of mates mates from Mildura came down, and it was one massive pi..i mean, knees up from start to finish. My memories are a bit hazy...best to check out some of the photos from facebook!

Things I DONT remember are:

* Anything past 10pm
* Anything before 10pm
* How I got up / made it through work the next morning at 4am
* Getting on Big Lizzie, the traction engine, for a picture.

Things I DO remember are:

* Why I dont drink a crate of beer when i have to work the next day.

Isnt hindsight a wonderful thing?

It was the night before Australia day....

....and all through the house, everyone was drinking, even the mouse..

Except me. Because I needed to bloody well be up at Four-Sodding-AM! :)

Not a massive amount has happened in the last few weeks. Ive got another job shifting boxes of grapes from 430am. Its not as bad as it sounds, the hardest bit is getting out of bed, although its easier to get up at this time, than it is to get up at 630ish or whatever. In my opinion anyways!

Apart from that I got kept awake by neil and rory drunkenly jumping on me, banging pans the other night because i needed to get Grez out of bed because hed fallen asleep the other night at 3am to get up at 4. Thanks Guys! :P

I got up in the end, and then tried using a REALLY inappropriate german joke as a chatup line, which really didnt work. and that was that!

Somewhere over the grapevine....

Its sometime around the 11th or 12th. We've been here a week anyhow!

Ha. We move in, and they put up signs for the guests (Yes, thats plural now!) to keep quiet after 11pm. (The hostel had about 4 people in it for months before we arrive!)

Yesterday was pretty cool. Work got rained off around 1030am, then it continued to hammer it down for the next 12 hours...there were rivers flowing through the town / the celing. In fact, it was so bad, the other hostels celing was about to cave in, or catch alight. so we made a hasty retreat, watching Waynes World, and Team America on DVD.

Its also not common knowledge that the Fire alarms here in Australia arent set off by flames / heat, but actually water. They were going off constantly, so we turned them off at the mains, which worked for 2 hours, then the emergency power kicked in, and they started up again ALL SODDING NIGHT!

Who needs sleep anyways?? :)

FARM WORKING ACROSS THE UNIVERSE pt2

8/1/11 - Sewing the seeds of love. Well. Actually, pruning the vines of grapes, which is entirely unrelated. But nevermind.

Just a quick update, as I said before, not alot happens here. You can walk from one side of the town to the other in about 5mins. Its well small.

Anyways, we worked the last few days at this farm, pruning grapes. Its easy work, although my hands are covered in blisters from the Secateurs. Getting along okay at it, although the farmer seems to do about 3 rows to every one of our single one. Im sure hes some sort of robot! :)

We've got another few days work next week, then we get our first pay cheque on friday! Woohoo!

It got spent on a $10 box of goon, and then had a few drinks with Neil, Rusen, and this other Irish guy called Rory. We then went over to the other side of town, where another hostel was having a party. It was okay, but we got kicked out by this drunk crazy kiwi guy, so went back to our hostel. Played a few games of pool..

It was quite funny. This Canadian guy from the hostel called Jordagn ended up passing out on the pool table. Ha, then Rusen tried falling asleep, so we MAY have stolen her blanket and pillow, with a VERY pissed neil going 'Come on! Sure you're not going to bed! You're up drinking with the irish!', before promptly passing out on the floor of the room. Then a VERY SOBER me thinking 'Ill just listen to some bruce springstein on the laptop before i go to bed, because im STILL not drunk'. Then waking up 6 hours later with the worst goaonover ever. Sober my A**e! :)

(BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN : RADIO NOWHERE - Offical 2011 Redcliffs Anthem)

FARM WORKING ACROSS THE UNIVERSE pt1

Hello! Its been ages since ive done this, apologies to all...im just out in the middle of sodding nowhere, where they havent invented internet yet, and they eat letters. A bit like the Aussie version of the deep south! :P

Anyways, Ive stolen my friends laptop, and am going to bash out everything ive been writing down for the past 2 months, so bare with me!

5/1/2011 - Torn away from melbourne, one hot, sunny, overall pleasant morning on a whim, and a stupid governments insistence that I have to work in an industy thats ravaged by the weather, and entirely unproductive!


The last few entries have been written out by hand, because there is nowhere in this town that has the internet. You dont actually need to know this, but the laptop is being gay, and wont switch off the BOLD type. So im writing this down so as to confuse it. I hate technology.

Ive moved to Red Cliffs, a town of 6000 people 16ks away from Mildura, on the Victoria / NSW border to start some farmwork...

Actually, the journey down was quite random...I book a ticket to go to mildura to get some work out of the way. Well, i nearly do, then my Friend Neil Dalton, who i knew from Habitat HQ in Melbourne rings me up. He'd spent $150 on a ticket to Queensland to do some farmwork (With the apocalypse up there, good bloody job he didnt!), then spent his last day in melbourne utterly wrecked, missed his flight because hed passed out (Elaine, another friend was slapping him pouring cold water on him, banging pans near his head, screaming. Nothing...lol, sound familiar dave? :P I think youve finally found your sleeping twin!). So I get a call, because he knows im heading off to do the farmwork too, and he ends up coming along with me. Whereas 1 hour later, id probably already be on the train...

So anyways, we book this place in Red Cliffs that was recommended by another mate, and head off. Then at the station, we run into our friend Rusen, who is also from Habitat, and had been travelling around Australia, and just randomly happened to be on the Same train, at the same place, in the same carriage (2 seats across from us!) to Mildura...

How f***ing random!

She was supposed to be going somewhere else in Mildura, but the guy didnt show up to give her a lift, and to be honest sounded a bit weird, so she came with us. Which was awesome!

So yes, now we're booked in. The town is REALLY quiet (anyone whos familar with Potton, its like that, but instead of some fairly interesting walks etc around, theres just grapes grapes and more grapes. And instead of a variety of pubs, theres one, which im staying in, and looks like something out of the Shinining. I keep expecting to see a kid on a bicycle running around any moment!

I was lucky with work, and got a job straight away pruning grape vines, with a 630am start. Eek!!