I had a beach front apartment lined up. I had a natural building internship line up. It was a perfect set up for the traveller. But then I bailed! O man! What happened...
I have been in Australia for about 6 weeks and my experiences have been whimsical at best. I came here to "cash-up" my traveling account or so I told myself but I think some distorted notion of self-pride combined with an apathetic attitude towards work has made me indecisive. A trait that that is not helping the cash flow. It stems from fear. If you have ever related to Bob Dylan’s lyrics in the song “Like a Rolling Stone” then you may know how I feel. Perhaps I am going through my girly-teenage years now. I would like to tell you that I have a plan. A scheme of sorts for enrichment, but frankly I have no idea. While it is good to be on my own I think I let the last 6 weeks get to me and I haven't felt centered .
Sydney was fantastic! I spent a total of two weeks there. Uncle Michael and his wife showed me an awesome time. I was fortunate to peek into their glamorous lifestyle which they have both earned and I sure felt like the country-hick in the room a couple of times. I guess it has been about 5 years since I really lived in an URBAN area. It was a fortunate two weeks but I blew some cool opportunities because I couldn't roll with the flow.
Basically I did'nt know what I wanted to get out of my time there. To date I have been trying to "get something" out of each experience. I have'nt let loose in the typical "traveller's ethos" in Australia and I thin this is inhibiting my Chi. Sydney was a great chance to have some fun, do some casual work and be near the beach and be close to relatives. But I hesitated and I let the seed of doubt grow. So I lined up a back up plan doing an Internship with a Strawbale builder about 5 hours South West of Sydney, not quite the Outback but it would landed me back in the country. For one month of working and learning with the builder and his wife I would be provided free accommodation and fed with free access to a workshop.
The morning of my scheduled departure I got a call from the builder warning me that I was speeding towards record flooding in Ganmain (their home town) and that my sleeping quarters had been soaked with over 1 foot of water. As a traveller, I have learned to keep my expectations low. It helps to keep moral up and is key to survival on the road. So, the news of the flood did'nt bother me and once I arrived I was eager to help out. I started cleaning some dirt off of my former sleeping quarters and before long we were eating a nice roast for dinner.
The house the was flooded was an old converted Red Cross Hall that the builder's use to house their guests. Lots of eclectic recycled furniture a kitchen and two huge beds made from recycled wood. It was a cool experience and I was even able to get into the local press (see below). However, my choice to leave the city weighed on me. It felt like I was running away from something.
After two days of helping the builders’ Susan and John, who turned out to be amazing people btw worthy of an entire other blog post, I decided that building was not the experience that I needed at this time. I politely told Susie and John what had been on my mind and two hours later Susan drove me back to the train station. It felt good to finally make a decision but I still had no idea what I would be doing next. I had full intentions of going back to Sydney to give it another go but when I got back to the train station the next train that pulled in was headed for Melbourne. On a whim, I bought a ticket and got on-board. I knew fully well that Melbourne is the 8th most expensive city IN – THE- WORLD, that I didn't have a secure place to sleep line up, that I had absolutely no contacts to go to and I would be getting in close to dark. Yea! Another great decision Zack. 5 Days later I am still in Melbourne and still looking for work. I have found that it takes me about 3 days of aimless wandering and exploring to decode the public transportation system and to get a feel for the different areas in town. Any system with digital notifications like Melbourne has at key train stops has my vote for a good network.
I have cheap accommodation secured for the next week so if no affordable job drop I'll have to swing back to the country and start building! Or figure something else out.
One quick thing on Melbourne if your still with me. It is totally grunged-out and full of colorful characters. It is a bit like Boston in size. There's a big sports culture and the leaves are starting to turn (some New England nostalgia is kicking in hard). There is a HUGE hipster population here and I get the fashion thing behind being a hipster but could someone please explain to me “why? Why be a HIPSTER? Of course, I am the one blogging right now, true: a distinct HIPSTER characteristic but I still don’t get it! For example, I have seen plenty of attractive females walking around all perfectly attractive and they go and made themselves ugly by toting big square glasses, ratty old sweaters and ripped tights. Why baby? Why?
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| Huge and very unnatural Avacado's at the Victoria Market, Melbourne |
The job hunt continues - I have a pulse on some hospitality work in two nice boutique beer joints, but nothing full time until April.
Check out these cool video links from my trip to the Moving Images Museum Exhibit:
http://www.acmi.net.au/
http://www.acmi.net.au/
