“Life In The So-Called Space Age”
Tomorrow I’m going here…
I’m meeting Bernard and were going to boulevarde around for a while, seeing the sights, goggling at the madness and gambling away our inheritances!
Of course our trip is not just Vegas. Stay tuned on this very blog for all the details…
I was digging through an old box of stuff when I found a stash of photos. Hundreds actually, and since I had essentially forgotten they all existed, I’ve never scanned or blogged them before. It was a very weird selection, spanning years both before and after I left Australia. I assume some of them were sent to KLS by me years ago, but I’m not sure how others ended up in the box. Here’s a selection:
I’m almost positive Bernard took the above, at school, in 1988 (so I was 16). That’s SFX in the background and I’m in the school uniform. The photo was not professionally printed (it’s clearly cut from a sheet of photographic paper) so I’m guessing he took and developed it himself.
Taken in 1989 on my high-school end-of-year retreat in Bowral. Although it wasn’t my cigarette, I’ll admit to being the clown that gave it to Jesus and taking the photo. This photo was displayed in my room up until I left Australia…
This one is a real mystery. I don’t recognize the background, but I speculate it was taken (by SMC) in 1991 or 1992. I think I look pretty good in this shot!
KLS and myself during her stay in 1992. We’re all dressed up for a night out I reckon, possibly to see The Hanged Man. She’ll probably kill me for posting this shot 🙂
A late 1992 shot. This was part of a series of photos taken by SMC at Blackbutt, to send to KLS since she mentioned she had almost no photos of me. This wasn’t surprising, since my family didn’t own a camera!!!
Two shots taken at my going away party in 1992, which was held at SMCs house (and I particularly love her smile in the top shot). I’m sure some of you reading this may remember that night! The girl in the second shot (ER) was a good friend of mine in those days.
Taken on the steps of my house the day I left Australia. I had to remove these exact clothes when I was strip-searched by the LAPD at the airport upon arriving in the USA!
This one is a bit of a mystery. I have theories, but foremost is that it was taken in Buffalo (where KLS lived when I moved here) shortly after arriving. I was in America a few months before I cut off my long hair. It’s also possible Bernard took this. He may remember better than I 🙂
One day I’m going to drive around Australia. And I don’t just mean here and there, I mean drive all around Australia. As in this:
It’s a trip of almost 20,000 km, or over 200 straight hours of driving at 60 mph. That’s 40 days of driving 5 hours a day, which means this would be lengthy and expensive. But what a trip it would be!
I’d do the reverse route from the map above, starting in Sydney and heading north through Newcastle, Brisbane and all the way up to Cairns. That’s a few days right there, with many stops and things to see on the way. The beaches and coastal roads, especially as you get more and more north, would be beautiful.
And then a several-day trip to Darwin through the outback. Hundreds and hundreds of dry empty miles with not even a radio station on the radio. That would be quite an adventure!
The Darwin to Perth leg may take a week. It’s some of the least inhabited parts of Australia, but there are just enough small towns to make a daily stop possible. Accommodation on this leg may include a tent, or sleeping in the car! I may stay in a comfy hotel in Perth for a day or two to reset 🙂
Half the trip would now be complete and I’d be on the opposite side of the country. But the southern coasts are still to come, and some say these are the most beautiful roads in all of Australia.
It may take a week to get to Adelaide from Perth, stopping everywhere that looks interesting. Between the desert and the southern ocean there would certainly be a lot to see!
And then the windy roads along the Victorian coast would take me to the extreme southeast, at which I’d have to make a decision: Tasmania or no Tasmania? After 5 weeks on the road, who’s to say what I’d decide at that point?
Eventually the landscape would become vaguely familiar, as I drove into NSW and found myself within a few hours of Sydney. Six weeks after starting, I’d reach my destination: exactly where I started.
I’d have seen the entire country, and made enough memories to last me forever.
I’ll do this one day. I have to. Who wants to come with me?