Sent: Mon 10/14/2002 7:51 PM
Australian Vampires!
Hey there all!
You have to love it when you spend an hour or so on the computer and it crashes erasing all of it! Aaarrg!
Anyways, I do believe that I left you in Apollo Bay. We had a beautiful drive to Otway National Park. On our way in we spotted a funny sign that stated " Dogs, Cats and Firearms prohibited" I thought that was quite an eclectic combination!
The park was beautiful. Jeffrey called it the Australian Redwood Forest. No Redwoods just Rainforest. We drove out to the Otway Lighthouse and along the way saw bunches of Koalas including a momma and her baby. They are so chubby and healthy looking compared to the ones we have seen so far.
From the park we drove to Torquay which is known world wide for its excellent surf spots including Bell's Beach! Quicksilver and Ripcurl both started up in this town. There were a couple of conventions in the area, probably another Baked Bean Gargling contest or something, so we drove further up the coast to a town called Geelong for the night.
The next day we drove on to Melbourne. It was good to be in the city again. We booked a hostel for several days so that we could stay in one spot for a while. We didn't do much in Melbourne besides relax but one of the highlights was coming out of the theatre one night and looking up into the spotlit night sky and seeing thousands of white birds flying around in circles. Breathtaking! Jeffrey gave me a little tickle under the chin and said he was petting me like a kitty. Which made me think of Wizard. I miss him so! I wished that I was laying on the Establishment deck in the sun with that stinky kitty purring on my belly!
Like I said previously, we hadn't the energy to do much in Melbourne and on our last night there we still weren't planning on doing anything special. We went out intending to get some take away for dinner but instead stumbled into a place called "Dracula's". Anyone that knows me a bit also knows that this is right up my alley, so we started nosing around reading plaques, posters, etc. I had just finished reading an especially gruesome one about the very building being the site of a tragic accident where the owner's daughter, nine, fell into a vat of molten metal and all that was left of her was the impression left in the press of her screaming and then how her ghost still haunts the building to this day. Anyways, suddenly the dungeon door creeks open and this pierced up freak comes out and I nearly wet myself!
We found out it was called "the Theatre of the Vampyres" and it was a dinner theatre. So this red haired punk rocker slave of the devil lured us in off the street and closes the dungeon door and begins to tell us about the place. I am looking around the room at the best haunted house I have ever seen and thinking this is how it always happens in the movies! Rebecca, Remember the rules of every horror movie...1. Never go anywhere alone 2. Never take a shower. 3. Never be a girl, alone, naked under any circumstances! We were shown to the ghost train ride which I just crouched, huddled up to Jeffrey and closed my eyes throuh. Then we passed through a creepy bar and into the main hall. Photographs coming alive and bidding you to turn back the whole way.
Believe it or not, I got an excellent vegan dinner. They teased the hell out of me being a veggie, they were vampires afterall and wanted to know if I would explode if I had any dairy products. I said Yes! They were thrilled and said it would add to thier show! When I didn't they said I was selfish and only thinking of myself! Gruesome comedy, lots of vinyl and goth and all the heavy metal I could want. Yum! At one point Lucifer himself showed up to our table and we got a shot taken with him. I gave him a little kitty tickle under the chin too! They ragged the hell out of the only two Americans in the house, calling us filthy hippies, vegetarians, tree huggers and commenting on all the armpit hair or something - They were pretty on target actually! Excellent night!
The next night we had to catch another overnight bus ride to Canberra. We weren't looking forward to it and in fact had thought that these long night rides were in the past! Jeffrey swears that he will never set foot on a bus again!
So that brings us to Canberra, the nation's capital. Everyone we spoke to about going to Canberra immediately asked us why? But it is supposed to be great from a planning perspective. We hiked to the Parliment and took a tour. It is a beautiful building with lots of meaning, set up as a central point of the city with axial views radiating out away from it, very powerful. Too bad the whole city was destined to be redesigned in the seventies!
Afterwards, we hiked back into the city and into a large protest against the Prime Minister's support of George W's political choices. Made us feel a bit squirrely but we could relate.
The next day, we hiked back to the Botanical Gardens Floriade Festival. Absolutely stunning plantings. The ground is literally painted with fresh spring flowers, tulips, freesia, pansies, iris, poppies, hiacyanth. Amazing colour and all the more breathtaking because thes acres of flowers will only be at thier peak for a few weeks tops!
Later we went on a huge trek to the War Memorial. It was a tremendous trek up a monstrous promenade, one of the axis off of the Parliment. Along it tribute is paid to each war and the Australians who fought in them. The memorial itself was amazing though I have mixed feelings about it. No Aboriginals were represented in any photographs and all paintings represented blonde men. There were huge walls of names of those lost, lovely red poppies stuck in the great wall next to loved ones. So many people. Of course, I blubbered and Jeffrey had to settle me down. I am far to sensitive, But then I wonder if everyone else is just so detached. The best part of the monument was a lovely old woman that smiled at me as we entered, she was knitting something white.
From there we hiked further to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Jackson Pollack Exhibit. Then on to feed two adult swans and thier three not so small babies a bit of bread that Jeffrey had wrestled from another poor bird! That night we went back to our hotel, one that Jeffrey has been referring to as the place where Politicians bring hookers to. When we got there he looked at me wide eyed and pointed behind himand the ladies of the night were hanging out in reception waiting! I couldn't believe he was right and we eagerly awaited our bus out of Canberra in the morning!
We caught a bus back to Sydney, 3 1/2 hours and our loop has been completed! It was so good to recognize the city, it almost feels like coming home. This is a truly great city, perhaps one of the best we have ever experienced. We hustle, bustled with our huge packs by bus, to train, to bus again till we got to Bondi Beach on the outskirts of Sydney. Our hotel, the one we will stay in till our leave, has the best view over the rugged coastline of cliffs and the ocean. It is good to smell the salt air again! We hiked down to the famous Bondi Beach and along the way we came upon another of Sydney's public pools. This one is right on the edge of the ocean and is a salt water swimming pool, the ocean waves crash up and into it! We hiked around the main promenade a bit more but got chased home by a thunderstorm! Yum! Gotta love the smell of that! Chased that day down with a great dinner and a few drinks and a smooth funk band! Such a full tum!
Okay, gotta close for now, out of time again! Time is running out for the travelers in Australia. As most of you know by now, I will be making a guest appearance in California from the 17th to the 28th. So grab your smooches while you can, this offer won't be around for long! Then, I look forward to seeing all you folks on the east coast soon thereafter!
Love you all and someone please make Wizzy do the Stevie Wonder thing for me!
Rebecca
