Travel Blog #10

Australia is BIG

As I approached the end of my time in Tasmania, I decided what I needed a bit more challenge and intrigue for my travels. And some cultural changes too for good measure. But I didn’t want to leave Australia yet. How does one do this? Well, the answer is quite obvious. Go to the mainland. More specifically, go spend time in proper cities on the mainland and travel between them by bus. For you Americans reading, Tasmania’s largest city, Hobart, has a population of about 200,000. Melbourne has a population of over 5,000,000. That’s a lot more zeros. It’s also quite a bit warmer in the mainland, which is difficult to deal with when you live in Tassie for a while. So that’s three culture differences: people, tall buildings, and hot weather. But to make the trip more memorable and adventurey (and by memorable and adventurey, I mean I found the cheapest way to get between all the cities I wanted to visit) I decided to ride the Greyhound between the cities. The entire trip ended up being about 2,800 miles total on 7 buses. 76 hours. 4 overnight buses. Memorable indeed.

This may or may not be obvious yet, but I’m a Type 2 Fun kind of guy. I consider myself a purveyor of Type 2 Fun experiences, though not everyone wants to buy what I’m selling. 2,800 miles on buses seemed like a sort of terrible and fun experience, and it was just that! It’s actually not as bad as you think, sitting on a bus for 17 hours. You get 30 minute meal breaks every 4 hours so you can walk and stretch and eat. And you get to watch the world pass by in the daytime. It’s much more enjoyable than long flights, in my opinion.

I figured it would be good to have a project of sorts while I traversed the Australian highways - it’s always good to keep the mind active to keep yourself from going insane. Or at least keep insanity at bay.

My project was to listen thought the catalogues of bands I really enjoy or have been meaningful to me. LPs only, not all the EPs or Singles or whatever. I had time but not THAT much time. These are the bands I listened to:

Coldplay, Dreamers’ Circus (they remain my go-to band for comfort and enjoyment in the last year or so. There are worse Danish coping mechanisms, I reckon. Danish pastries immediately comes to mind), Punch Brothers, Mumford and Sons, and Muse. I also listened to 2 audiobooks and “slept” a fair amount.

And to tell the truth, this was a pretty good approach! I felt like I had a thing to work towards so I didn’t feel quite as bored during the looonng hours. I did fall off the music pilgrimage wagon towards the end as I was completely shattered. That’s what we in the travel blogging world call foreshadowing (Do bloggers use foreshadowing? Probably not.. Should we use more literary devices to write better blogs? (This is how you know a human wrote this and not Claude or whatever by the way - I doubt an AI would use multi-parentheticals to convey the sense of getting side-tracked while you write (do I have ADHD?)))

This trip is characterized by poor sleep in uncomfortable hostels and buses, many, many kilometers walked/rucked, and a lot of wingeing about the heat. I really don’t handle heat well, so I apologize in advance. Also, friends from Alaska, strangely enough. Shoutout to Megan for all the helpful tips for exploring Aussie cities!

Adelaide

I misjudged the distance from the bus stop to my hostel so I got real sweaty carrying my 2 backpacks around Adelaide. Classic. The reception people looked at me like I was stupid for walking (fair enough) but when I told them I was just living in Tassie they understood that I couldn’t handle the heat so we moved past it. I spent my few days in Adelaide exploring the Fringe Festival festivities, seeing the city sights, the truly magnificent Botanic Gardens, and walking the parks that surround the CBD. I had planned on visiting my Aussie friend Joh who lives in Adelaide, but unfortunately our timing didn’t work out. I met Joh when she came to my gift shop looking for a bottle opener in Alaska and we’ve remained in touch since. She helped me plan my time in Australia and gave me lots of tips for how to enjoy Adelaide. You're a legend, Joh!

The highlight of my time in Adelaide was going to the Leaver and Son’s piano store. I visited the Hobart location a few times when I needed musical nourishment and they recommended I come to the Adelaide store where they have a larger selection of pianos and workshops. What a treat. They were so nice! I played an incredible Pleyel, which I had never played before, a lovely and familiar Steinway, a curiously colored and eager Bechstein, and a reserved but powerful Yamaha. The owner also gave me a tour of the workshops where they restore and work on pianos. I got to hear about their history, interesting stories about how he got to be involved with Pleyel, how some of the more unique pianos came to be. My favorite to play was the Pleyel, but my favorite to look at was the Australian made upright. It was made with Tasmanian Blackwood (this is what sold me) and it had a really interesting design. Sharp angles, no curves. It was made that way largely for practical purposes (practical = cheaper) but it actually looks futuristic and beautiful. I probably played the pianos for an hour and a half and towards the end, the lady that does their social media asked me if I would be okay with her posting a video of me playing to which I said, "no worries, mate." It’s on Instagram and was a really fun time. It’s so fun to meet piano people, especially people who work on and repair them.

Melbourne

My time in Melbourne had 3 segments. In the first segment I stayed at a hostel right in the CBD. It was actually the nicest hostel I’ve stay in yet! Clean, a nice common area to hang out, privacy curtains on the bunk beds. I spent a few days wandering the city, meandering through the street art alleys, enjoying art and history in the many galleries and museums, marveling at the surprisingly impressive cathedrals, escaping from the busyness in the beautiful Botanic gardens, taking naps in the parks. I found the city to be a bit overwhelming so it was nice to find quiet places to escape for a while.

Melbourne is a cool city! It reminded me a bit of NYC, just Australian. It’s a fun city to wander and find hidden alleys with cute shops and amazing street art. The highlight for me was meeting a traveler from Japan named Gaku. He was on his first solo trip, exploring Melbourne and Sydney. He’s at University and absolutely loves making films. It was so fun to chat about my travels in Tasmania, life in Japan, film making, music making, and Christopher Nolan. Gaku is great - he’s very kind and has a brightness that is nice to be around. We’ll be meeting again in Tokyo soon, so you’ll hear more about our adventures soon!

For the second segment, I stayed with my friend Logan. I also met Logan in Alaska! The Denali Diaspora is truly amazing. We played music a lot together in Denali, Logan singing and me playing the piano. Logan has a fantastic voice and we got along very well, musically. Our styles of performance and improv fit together nicely and we had some really amazing moments playing at open mic nights and festivals. It was so fun to see her again! I stayed with her and her many Dutch roommates, all of whom were kind and welcoming. She lives in the suburbs and we would walk around the town centers, going into bookstores and record shops and markets, catching up and reminiscing. In the evenings I saw a few bands play, most notably a gypsy jazz group. I love Django Reinhardt and gypsy jazz so it was a true delight to see it live. If you haven’t heard of Django Reinhardt, look him up. He could do more on the guitar with 2 fingers than most of us could dream of with 5.

Friendship is one of the most magical things in this life. It never ceases to amaze me how relationships can remain alive, despite great time and distance. We should not take this for granted. You never know when someone you meet once becomes a friend for life. Speaking of which..

For the third segment, I stayed with a new friend named Caleb that I met camping in Tasmania. We were camping next to each other at Mount Field National Park. I was looking over my Tasmania map, reflecting on all the journeys I had been on in the past 4 months. We started chatting about my travels, his bike packing trip, and next thing you know we’re talking fantasy books and becoming fast friends. And now I was staying at his apartment in Melbourne! He has a hugely impressive book collection and his reading habits put mine to shame. We talked a LOT about books. But we also connected really well as people and spent literally a whole day talking deeply and richly. We have a lot in common and it was really nice to connect so quickly with a new friend. A magical subset of friendship is being around people with whom can be yourself authentically. I don’t understand why some people connect well and some don’t; it’s one of life’s great enigmas. Either way, I’m grateful for it. Besides talking all day, we also went hiking outside Melbourne with one of his friends and had a really enjoyable time discussing the finer differences of US American culture and Australian culture. The Aussies are so efficient in their speech: "goodonya" has a plethora of meanings based on context and enunciation that is totally lost on me. Goodonya, Australia.

In addition to all this friend time, I made it to an Australian Rules Football game. The Footy, if you will. It was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, one of the biggest stadiums in the world, and at least 90,000 people were in attendance. I promised some strangers at the gypsy jazz gig that I would support St. Kilda as I have masochistic tendencies - apparently St. Kilda is terrible. Turns out they are - they lost quite handily. It was a really fun time but also extremely confusing. I don’t understand the rules whatsoever. People would cheer at seemingly random moments, and then wouldn’t cheer when a team scored a point. But when they scored a 6 point goal everyone lost their mind. Very confusing, very entertaining. I had a great time!

Melbourne is a nice city, but what made my experience special was the time spent with my friends, new and old. Oh, also I had the single greatest cup of coffee I’ve ever had in my life. That was cool too.

Canberra

After Melbourne, I had a couple days in Canberra. It was also my first overnight bus experience, which isn’t as bad as you’d think. Canberra is a really cool town, albeit sort of strange. It’s clean, quiet, and very well organized. It’s so well designed it’s nice to look at on a map! And there is something like 4 million trees in the city. Maybe that's why it's so nice? I had a great time at the libraries, museums, art galleries, and botanic gardens - do you see a pattern to how I spend time in cities? I also ate some pretty amazing Italian pizza and found a brewery called Bentspoke with bike-themed beers! It would have fit in so well in Bozeman. My favorite was called Crankshaft - a hilarious name for a beer and also my Pokemon Go username. How about that!

There’s a really nice outdoor eatery called The Jetty that sits with the river on one side and the High Court of Australia, National Galleries, and other government buildings on the other. I reveled in the sunshine and nearly affordable food and drink while meandering in the parks around the government buildings for a luxurious and relaxing afternoon. It was a quick but very pleasant time in Canberra.

Sydney

I had a 8 hour pitstop in Sydney so I decided to do round 2 at the Opera House. This time I actually went inside for a tour. And that was worth the upcoming 17 hour bus ride. The Sydney Opera House is one of those places that I thought was amazing but never knew if it was worth all the hype. Sometimes the internet or tourism marketing builds up things to be bigger than they are. That is not the case here. The Sydney Opera House is outstanding. It’s a hugely impressive engineering feat with a remarkable history. It’s as gorgeous on the inside as it is outside. If you go to Australia, this is probably the most important thing to do in the cities. It’s so cool. I didn’t get to see a show unfortunately.. guess I’ll be going back someday :)

Brisbane

Brisbane had something Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra didn’t have: muggy weather. Also ferries for affordable public transportation. But mostly hot and humid weather. I suffer greatly.

Naturally, step one is find the nearest art galleries, museums, libraries, etc. Actually for this one, step one was finding strong coffee. I did get an amount of sleep on the bus, but not the 8 hours I needed or craved. Good thing there are cafes every 5 meters in Australia!

Brisbane actually surprised me. It has a really nice pathway that goes along the river that flows through the city that is amazing for walking and biking. It goes by a few universities, the Botanic Gardens (score!), bars and restaurants, all the good stuff you’d want to explore. And it’s quite a scenic walk with views of the beautiful buildings. The highlights for me were: 1) the shocking number of water dragons around the city. I found them cafes, walkways, picnic areas, parks, everywhere. It’s like the equivalent of squirrels back home, but lizards. Australia is amazing. 2) Irish music! I was perambulating around the city, following my feet, Megan’s recommendations, and good music. I absolutely love wandering cities with no real plan. Just ambling around, seeing what catches your eye or ear, you never know what you’ll end up finding. Sometimes nothing interesting. Sometimes, you find an Irish bar with an amazing band playing traditional tunes and covers. Then you remember that it’s Saint Patrick’s Day and you understand why everyone is absolutely losing (or has already lost) their minds in the Irish jigs. The band was really good! Accordion, guitar, banjo, violin, kick drum. High energy jigs interspersed with Ed Sheeran covers when the energy dies down, it was not their first rodeo (is there an Irish equivalent to a rodeo?). I talked to the accordion player for a while on their breaks (I’m an aspiring accordion player and love the instrument (I should have a footnote section like a Terry Pratchett novel for all these little tangents)). He was surprised to have someone ask technical music questions about his playing and the band. I guess there aren’t that many of us folk music nerds out there, how weird! When he realized I wanted to talk music, he completely opened up and we had a great time discussing the finer points of Irish folk music performance. He also has a music degree and is trying to figure out what to do with it. Education appears to be his route of choice, which seems to be my fate as well. The band is called Amaidí if you want to check them out!

Bundaberg

In all honesty, the main purpose of my trip on the mainland was to get to Bundaberg. Not that Bundy as a town is anything spectacular. It was actually my least favorite town yet. But it is also the access point for the southern most part of the Great Barrier Reef. That is why I came to the mainland. Fulfilling a childhood dream to live in Finding Nemo, my favorite Pixar movie. Before I get ahead of myself, a quick list of things I did in Bundaberg to pass the time: walking and exploring the town, going to the Mon Repos Turtle Center to learn about turtles, wandering the Botanic Gardens, evacuating my dorm at the hostel because there were bed bugs, being very thankful that I had no bites and there were no bedbugs found in my bunk or in my stuff when they cleaned the dorm. Okay now for the good stuff:

The Great Barrier Reef. I didn't get many photos so I'll do my best to use words and excitement to convey what it's like to be there. It was a 2 hour boat ride out to the reef. I thankfully took seasickness medication beforehand, because at least 6 people around me got sick. Apparently it happens all the time. Marine biologists and master divers hilariously turn into nurses that hand out and collect sick bags from passengers for two hours. It’s hilarious when you’re not the one throwing up at least. I shouldn’t be so smug.. Anyway! We got to the reef and I was absolutely gobsmacked at how blue the water is. It’s so blue. It’s more blue than Aaron Paul’s eyes! I was the only one who signed up for the Marine Biologist experience - nerd alert - and it was actually really fun. I got to snorkel around the reef with a Marine Biologist that showed me the differences between all the fish and coral, how to identify them, and how they monitor the reef. I learned quite a bit and it was really nice to have a guide point out all of the cool fish! I can’t remember all of the names, but there were parrot fish (the ones that eat bits of coral and then poops out sand), sea anemones and clown fish (cousins of Nemo, my new biologist friend informed me), sea cucumbers (they eat algae and poop out sand too (apparently this is good for regenerating the ocean floor and keeping the ocean healthy but what’s the deal with pooping sand)), fish like Gill from Finding Nemo, a beautiful octopus, and joy of joys, TURTLES. I sat for about 60 hours on buses just so I could see these buoyant, beshelled beauties. I swam with a green turtle and a hawksbill. Literally the best day of my life. Awe and wonder abound. We were snorkeling on “turtle cleaning stations,” places on reefs where turtles relax on coral as fish come and eat the barnacles and algae off their shells. We didn’t get to see that, but it’s on Blue Planet and you should check it out. I absolutely treasure turtles and was so delighted to finally see them in person. By the way, this was my first time snorkeling so everything was new and amazing to me. Who knew it was so fun to snorkel?! I don’t know why I spent all my time looking at trees when I could have been looking at turtles! I digress. The Great Barrier Reef is as good as you’ve heard, as good as you’ve seen on TV. It’s the best. The highlight of my entire trip in Australia. If you do anything in Australia, go here. Then see the big beautiful trees in Tassie. Then go to the Sydney Opera House. And enjoy some meat pies and sausage rolls on the way.

Brisbane Part 2

I had a quick stop in Brissy for a day before bussing down to Sydney. I went to EatStreet and had some tasty food and great people watching and a thoroughly enjoyable ferry ride. I love ferries.

Sydney Airport

I made it! All those miles, all those albums, all those fast food burgers at rest stops, all those sleepless nights. What an adventure. I genuinely felt physically drained after the whole ordeal. I underestimated how exhausting it would be to explore the mainland cities via bus and foot for 4 weeks. Sometimes the great idea in your head is a little less great in reality. But honestly, it was worth it. I got to swim with turtles, I had great times with friends, I saw a lot of the country, and I tunneled a bit deeper into my pain cave and expanded the perimeters of what I'm capable of. I’m constantly astounded at we can handle. It's always more than we think.

One of the things I didn’t mention in this trip was that I spent a lot of time chatting with friends back home. Lots of phone calls, FaceTimes, messaging. I don’t want to belabor this, though I don’t really think I can express this enough. I am so grateful for my friends and family. I’m so fortunate to have a strong support system behind me while I travel. You’re the best.

Up next is Japan. 2 months. Reuniting with an old friend and meeting up with two friends from Helena. Shrines, temples, ramen. Bullet trains, overnight buses, sushi. My feet and stomach cannot wait to explore that country.

Quote

"To enjoy life, the adventurous state of mind must be grasped and maintained. The essential feature of adventure is that it is a going forward into unknown territory."

 - Agnes Martin

Courage,

Trevor

"Fill your life with meaning. Life is precious. Do not waste a single second."

- Rog Bennett

P.S. I have to acknowledge Matt Ballinger for starting me on my journey of becoming a birder. He introduced me to the birding documentary "Listers" on Youtube that you should absolutely check out. It's amazing. Matt gave me the push I needed - a reminder to download Merlin and Ebird and start tracking all the birds I see. I can't believe I didn't do this in Tasmania. Australia is a haven for cool and cooky birds and birding is the best pastime ever. I write this so you have a fuller picture of my time on the mainland. I did all the things above, while also pulling out my phone whenever I heard or saw a bird so I could identify it. It's the best. Go download Merlin and start finding the birds around you. You'll start to notice all the other amazing things you're surrounded by too. You can thank me (and Matt) later.