On the road again! This diary begins, sitting on
a train in Spencer Street Station, Melbourne, waiting for the 12.15 to
leave for Ballarat. It’s been a busy day so far ‘cos we had to get the
flat ready for vacancy. The job wasn’t made easier by the fact that
we went to ‘The Esplanade’ drinking with Andy and Tash last night.
The other two were suffering quite a bit. But Trish and I were fairly
OK.
The Esplanade was good , we should have gone there a bit more often. It has a good mix of lunatics and normal people and a bunch of super-efficient bar people who sneer if you mess up your drinks order. They had clever optics behind the bar, you didn’t have to hold the glass up to it until it drained, you just touch it and the correct measure pours out, tres tricky.
It is good to be on the road again. The Backpack’s a lot lighter than it was and the sun is shining, it feels like summer might be on its way. It’s amazing how St Kilda lights up when the sun comes out, the greys turn to blues and whites, the druggies hide themselves away and the kids come out, it’s almost like a real place when the sun shines.
So, we’ve had five months in Melbourne (the train has just pulled out). I wonder what I’ll remember about the place ? No doubt Myer will feature prominently in any memories, the guys in particular, Stevie, Dion, Sam, Albie, Mick Coolahan, and all the other sleazes, good guys, all of em !
I suppose I’ll remember the experience of living in, what was in truth, a red light area. The feeling of danger when you’re out at night. The pleasure of not shaving for a couple of days and going down to Safeways on your day off in your worst clothes and knowing you can not be distinguished from the regular down and outs, the joy of anonymity.
So this train is heading for Ballarat. An historic gold mining settlement. I guess I’ll know more about it tonight. The train is nice and old-fashioned with a corridor up one side and little enclosed booths all along the other, Tricia seems well pleased with it.
There’s two old dears sitting in our booth with us, nattering away twenty to the dozen. They sound like a pair of swingers with their "free n’easy" nights and passionate discussions about "The footie", particularly yesterdays defeat of Hawthorn (The Hawks) by Melbourne (The Demons). It’s a pity we’re going, I’m just getting the hang of all this "Footie" business.
It’s hard to describe the great feeling of anticipation and excitement you get on a day like today, we’re off. We worked for it, we’ve earned it and now it’s on! For the next eight weeks we won’t be stopping anywhere for more than a couple of nights, we’ll be hopping on and off buses daily with our worldly belongings strapped to our backs and we’ll be covering thousands and thousands of kilometres, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn and crossing back again. Trying to avoid snakes, spiders and even crocodiles and, after all that there’ll still be Thailand, London and Christmas in Ireland followed by new home and new job (please God !).
Today it feels like there’s a lot to look forward to and I do!
One of the old dears has got off leaving the other one to crunch her Minties and make cow-eyes over at us. I reckon it’s only a matter of time before she pokes in a conversation opener that’ll keep us listening to her for the rest of the trip.
Who knows, I could be wrong....