Koalamania

Reporting from the super awesome city of Melbourne, Victoria. Apparently there are quite a few people here with swine flu so we're dodging that as best we can.... Since I last wrote we have been pretty busy. We spent a week working for Leon, a crazy racist nevernude. Like most old Aussie men, Leon wears incredibly short jean shorts. To their credit, they have pretty nice legs, but its still awkward. Two other peeps worked with us - Teresa and Laszlo from Germany who we got on with really well. Leon took us on two sailing trips, one to Dunk Island and one to Kimana. They're both really small. Dunk has a resort and we had a great time shell hunting and swinging from palm trees. Kimana only has one resident. We caught crab illegally and ate it right in the water, dipping it in the ocean for saltiness. Fresh and delicious! I was very stoked being somewhere no one I know has been. While in Hull Heads we saw wallabies and the very poisonous taipan, which I touched, not knowing they can twist around and strike 2x the length of their body. So that was stupid, and I'm happy I'm still alive.
The four of us drove up to Cairns, a beautiful tropical town in the north. Me and Koos visited Laura and Charlie, buddies from the Fraser Island trip. Laura's Jamaican roomie Trudy has a stripper pole in the living room. It's a great way to pre-game, but I got really really sore in the armpit region. Went out dancing and spent the whole next day snorkeling irie. Saw turtles, huge parrot fish, giant clams and amazing coral reefs. My fave was the bubbles from the scuba divers. They're like mercury jellyfish and its really trippy when they break over your face mask. An unforgettable adventure. Laura took us to a party where you couldn't wear clothes, so I wore a dress made out of balloons. A guy popped about half of them and the rest fell off. Good times.
Had one last beach day in Port Douglas before driving inland and south. Passed through many towns I don't care to remember. The weather dropped about a million degrees, ice on the tent in the morning, painful to breathe etc. Squatted at a place with hot mineral baths which was heaven. We both have back pain from driving so much.
Spent 2 weeks in Torquay, a cute surf town not unlike home. Went to Bell's Beach where they filmed Point Break. Alas, Keanu and Patrick Swayze were not there :( Got a sweet wwoof gig house sitting for a lady. Had to feed the cat and do a little yard work. Heaven is having a fireplace, fridge, bed and video rental card. It had been a long time. Rented our faves - The Office, Dexter, SVU and so on. Sold our car to our new Danish buddy Allan. Our last drive was along the Great Ocean Road. The coastline is like Big Sur. Saw the 12 Apostles, huge rocks in the ocean. Best of all, saw about 20 koalas in the wild! We have been waiting months for this. They were chillin in the trees, napping and munching leaves, and pooping frequently. Allan told us they are the stoners of the animal world. Eucalyptus leaves get them high and they sometimes fall our of their trees while sleeping it off. More people here die from a falling koala than lightning. Amazing. Went out dancing, sooo sick of techno music, but I met a cute 1/2 Papua New Guinean boy with green eyes and an afro who spoke Spanish. Nice.
Got some sad news from Laura that Charlie died. He hit his head rock climbing and drowned. He was a really funny guy and we have good memories, especially of exploring and partying on Fraser. Makes me want to be very safe so I make it home to my framily. Thinking about Charlie a lot these days.
Now we are in our last week of Oz. Its freezing and we're almost out of money, so we can't wait for Tahiti, espcially since Belle and Serena are meeting us there. And I just heard my cousin AJ and his girlfriend Renee had their baby girl Amelie and I want to hug her! Missing you all and sending love.
Stayed at the Ferg, a house full of funny 18 year old boys who chain smoke and eat a lot of junk. They were kind enough to take us in and befriend us, plus they had a gnome. It was meant to be. Koos and me walked around the city a lot, taking pictures of graffiti, centaur statues and people with swine flu face masks on. Met up with our old friend Mareen from the Lemon Tree Cafe and had the blingest sushi dinner ever. Thanks Australia, its been real :)