Happy New Year!

It’s been a long long time since my last post... and I’m still in Australia. Even if my visa has expired. Technically I’m an illegal alien, for almost one month already. And I still keep moving around. Since the last post I’ve been to Soth Australia, first in Bordertown, quite the desert. Did some fencing and sheep herding.

For a week I went to Adelaide and stayed in a fantastic hostel, Sunny’s Backpackers. A bit ran down but presentably clean and, most important, with great staff. Can’t even compare it to the posh looking Melbourne Backpackers that was the worst place I stayed in the past years. I actually stayed in a dirtier place in the Philippines, but there was no pretention and I got what I paid for. In Melbourne I was probably charged for the luxurious looking reception but decrepit rooms, unfriendly and lazy staff, dirty toilets, broken showers, small fridges and the ban of drinking anywhere in the hostel – with the exception of booze from their bar, which was, clearly, insanely priced.
If you stay in Adelaide, go to Sunny’s! It’s just 100m from the bus station.

Back to Victoria! By hitch hike, mostly. On the first day I ended in Murrayville, it was around 3 PM and it was hot. And there was no traffic. Seriously. Before dark 3 (three) cars passed by, without stopping. I slept by the road, woke up early and lifted my thumb. In the next 4 (four) hours, 1 (one) car passed by. Without stopping. I admitted my defeat and went back into town, just a short walk, to the pub. At 11 AM it was still closed but the owner was there so I could get some information, at least. Yes, there is a bus service, once a day, around 1 PM, from Adelaide to Sydney. I just wanted to leave that place and I hoped the bus won’t be full. It wasn’t. In late afternoon I was in Swanhill. Two evenings later I came to Benalla, close to my destination, Mt. Samaria. The botanical gardens looked inviting, with soft grass to unroll my sleeping bag... and sprinklers that went on in the middle of the night. I hadn’t had a shower in past few days, so I can hardly complain. In the morning I was tempted to visit the Ned Kelly Museum, but it was still closed and I preferred to hit the road before the temperatures boiled my brains.
For the past 6 weeks I stayed on the Samaria farm, where I finally found my calling. Well, not really, but people started calling me with job offers. After seeing the wood fired pizza oven I built for Al here.

And some woodwork, when it was raining.

Besides getting drunk with Al on a daily basis I have to cope with another addiction. I watched and rewatched all the anime I have on my drive and no downloads. The Ozzie internet curse. Al, like most Ozzies, has a limited connection. If I was to download just the ongoing anime I missed, I would exeed his monthly usage in two days. So I ended on “bad dope” - the telly. I was always sure I can’t watch dubbed anime but what a joy, oh what a joy, when I found that on Saturdays I can watch K-ON! And one day Kiki’s Delivery Service was aired and another time Laputa.... dubbed in English, but beggars can’t be choosers.

And the Lunar New Year is just around the corner!