A Taste of the Modern...

It's funny how places can suck you in and it's a fight for life to get out, like quicksand. Well, Sydney Harbour Tallships is one of those places, in the best and worst of ways. There are some absolutely awesome people I had the privilege of knowing, but also some not so nice people, but mostly people who didn't live in reality. I will leave it at that; it took me five months to survive and escape.

So with many goodbyes and a feeling of new-found independence, I caught my last heaving line on Campbell's Cove wharf, strapped on my backpack and caught the train up to Newcastle. The first part of my traveling adventures began in Bulahdelah with some really fantastic friends in what I can only describe as being very similar to a Swiss Family Robinson sort of home. Ruby the cattledog wasn't as good at herding cattle as she was at chasing Antechinus, and as the rainy season was approaching I met many hungry leeches as well. I also had the privilege of being a roady for the local rock-n-roll band, Brew Ha-ha, when they did a grand gig in Forster, which was a really good time. 

Further adventures brought me through Bellingen, a lovely place full of rivers and pastures, to catch up with some shipmates, and then I decided it might be worthwhile to see the big red rock. It is big, it is very, very red, and it truly is out in the middle of nowhere. There are, in fact, two big red rocks out there. But there is an interesting feeling about the place, it's very peaceful and quiet and the sheer massiveness of Kata Tjuta and Uluru remind you that you truly are a tiny speck in the vast universe. Interestingly, the rocks go for quite a ways underground too, making them the two largest rocks on the face of the earth. 

Next was my brilliant fumble in scheduling, and thinking a 20hr bus ride wouldn't be too bad. It was from Alice Springs to Adelaide... And it was pretty long. Buses are not my favourite anymore. 

Onwards to the mystical Whitsunday Islands, where I spent Easter aboard a boat that sailed through a few of the islands. Situated at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef, there is some fantastic diving and the whitest sand beach you will ever find. Ninety-nine-point-something percent pure silica. 

The newest development is crewing as a third person on a passage from Brisbane to New Caledonia aboard a new Corsair 50 catamaran. After months of fat lines, belaying pins and gaffs, it is indeed strange to be using electric winches and roller furling. It's also a bit of an infamous passage to be making, strong headwinds and tails of tropical storms often garnish the course to Nouméa. But we are watching the weather and hoping for a good trip.