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5:52 p.m. - 2003-10-14 I escaped Cairns and the bad vibes going on there, and got a bus to Townsville, a long journey with absolutely no interesting scenery. Add to that the 80s �classic� movie Twins on the VCR (I think the tape has been in the player since 1989) and you have the most boring five hours in Australia so far. I arrived at 9.30pm at Townsville bus station with two phone numbers for campsites on Magnetic Island. I rang them both and they had vacancies. I think they were the same price so I had to choose one by instinct only. I had heard about Coconuts, it was the 'only place to be on the island' - they have the Full Moon Parties there and it is on the beach. I knew that it was an important decision because this is where fate plays its part. If I stay one place I will or will not meet people who may shape my future, even if it is just in the short term. Something made me choose Geoff's Place (a campground, not on a local Bogan's backyard). I had read that it was a friendly place and I didn't fancy the party crowd at Coconuts anyway. Too predictably backpacker-like. I made the long walk to the ferry terminal, struggling with my backpack and my new camping gear. Several times my sleeping matt slipped out of its fastenings. I just missed the 7.15pm crossing too, so I had to wait one and a half-hours until the next one. I was determined to wake up on Maggie Island. There was no way I was spending a night in shitty Townsville. I had to get a bus to the campsite after the 20-minute ferry journey and got off at Geoff's which was marked by coloured fairy lights. I signed in and paid for three nights to get a discount, although I wasn�t sure about the place. My first impressions weren't that positive. I was a little intimidated by the blokes playing pool in the bar who were staring at me (maybe that was my paranoia). It's never a good idea to arrive somewhere after dark. Anyway, I pitched my tent up in darkness, and noticed there weren't many other campers. I was hardly equipped for roughing it: I had a crappy penknife and I lost the tiny bulb in my Maglite after whacking it against my leg trying to get it to stay on. The whole thing just fell apart. I made a vain attempt at recovering the 1-cm long bulb which lay somewhere in the grass, within the surrounding square metre in which I was standing, by lighting several matches. A helpful old chap (who I later found out was literally nuts) came over to help and went to get his flashlight which was fortunately bigger than an ant, unlike mine. He came back 10 minutes later only to find that the battery had gone. So anyway, I managed to pitch up as my tent only had 4 pegs and went to bed feeling a bit depressed and lonely. I tried to tune into my favourite radio show, but the reception was rubbish. Annoyingly, Alistair, Stef and Andy were driving to Townsville the next day, on the way to Alice Springs, so I could have got a lift. They were too vague to tell me that until after I'd booked and paid $40 for my bus ticket. I was keen to get away from the madness anyway. I had a good few last days at Tropic Days though. A Dutch girl called Heidy turned up in her 1974 Kingswood, with 2 surfboards and 2 didgeridoos. She was cool, and she had a few mad stories. We were quite similar, both Tomboys at heart and she was very funny. We went out on the piss to an all day festival - Little Day Out - around the corner from the hostel. We went to have a look at lunchtime and it was certainly little. It turns out that it was an alcohol free event because it was a bloody 'youth' festival. We'd paid $20 and we couldn't even get a drink. There was loads of skater kids and shit like that. We got some free condoms though and said "sod this, let's get drunk." So we drove into town and bought some of our favourite Coopers beer. We'd seen there was a free BBQ at The Courthouse at 4pm, so we dropped the car off and walked back into town swigging our beers and dissing ex boyfriends. Well, Heidy did most of the dissing - I just listened. It was 5pm by the time we got back to The Courthouse and weren't sure whether the BBQ was finished or not. We sat on their nice lawn and drank our beer. At 5.45pm there were Sangers on the Barbie. We saw them, but at 6pm when we went up to get fed, they were all gone! Not that I would have eaten them anyway... We ended up going to the dreaded Woolshed and sharing Nacho's on Heidy's meal ticket. Then we went to the Kava Hut and had a few shots. Heidy started to lecture the owner about ambience and how he could make a cool place even cooler. He didn't take the advice well. She was right though, it is a great place, but it does look like a shop from the outside with strip lighting as well. We carried on up the road and popped into a pub with a grumpy barman. I can't really remember what happened in there, but we were giving each other a hard time over the bar. He acted like he didn't want to serve us. Eventually we ordered Tequila Gold and he served it with lime instead of orange. Heidy complained of course and we downed our shots and walked out, somehow with beers in our hands that we hadn't bought from the bar. I guess they were from earlier, but I don't remember. So then we run into a bouncer outside and he asks us if we bought the drinks in the pub, knowing full well that we didn't, because they don't sell Coopers. He's talking to us like we're 16 year olds. So we're all full of "Hey mister, don't talk to us like that, we're 25!" Must have sounded ridiculous. In the end we admitted the truth and walked off. We moaned about how patronising he'd been just because we're girls. So we stumble back to the festival, its 8.30pm by the time we get there and it was a party! The music was pretty good. I think we saw DJ Dexter from the Avalanches. We danced barefoot and I got caught smoking inside. I was trying to light the butt of my spliff from earlier. Fucking men and their power trips! So all in all it was a fun day. The next day I realised my bankcard was missing (again!) so I went to the bank to check if I'd left it in the ATM. I hadn't so I had to flippin' cancel it again. Luckily I'd taken out a few hundred dollars on Saturday, which is a very rare thing for me to do (it's as if somehow I knew). Monday night was the Tropic Days BBQ. That night Heidy taught me the basics of didge playing, I haven't yet mastered the circular breathing it's impossible. You�re supposed to breathe out of your mouth and in through your nose at the same time! She asked me to join her on the rest of her trip; she would be perfect to travel with: really adventurous, which is a rare quality to find in most girls. Even those travelling. Some people are so sensible. However, she had to stay in Cairns to work and I had to move on. So here I am on Maggie Island. There is lots of wildlife around, which is what I love about this campsite. So many birds - they are really noisy at night. This morning I was eating a Pink Lady apple for breakfast and I sat down outside the bar. Two Rainbow Lorikeets flew down onto the table beside me, then hopped onto my leg and up to my hand and helped themselves to my apple. I couldn't believe my eyes! They devoured the whole apple. Bloody cheek. There are loads of possums here too. There is a peacock called Andrew (after the Australian politician Andrew Peacock) and Curlews - really strange birds that walk like flamingos and then freeze in self-defence. It's bloody hot here, I have to get out of my tent by 8am, otherwise the sun cooks me inside. The kitchen here is gross, so I can't really cook anything. Luckily I'm not too hungry, just thirsty all the time. I went for a walk on my first day here, to the gorgeous secluded bays. I couldn�t go to all five because I had only taken 750ml of water with me and I should have taken at least three. On my way back to Geoff�s I felt like I was in hell rather than heaven. It was so HOT! All I could think of was getting my hands on a cold can of Lilt. Everything around me was so dry. I don�t know how people can live here in the summer: it reaches 99% humidity. Give me rainy England over that any day. I�m feeling a little homesick and lonely again. Australia seems to be full of couple�s travelling together in Campers. I�m waiting for a ride South; I�ve put up a few notices but no one has called me. Everyone I talk to is getting the bus. I need to be somewhere where I�m not spending any money until I get my bankcard. On my second night here I smoked a spliff and went to the bar alone. It�s so hard being a single female traveller sometimes. I saw tables of groups of people talking that I didn�t want to attempt to penetrate. I walked to the other side of the bar and spotted two guys; an easy number. I ordered a VB and caught the eye of the cute one. I overheard them and they sounded French, so I asked if they were. They were Swiss. Luckily Andrew (cute) was the English speaking half of the pair. He had to translate to his friend Eve. Eventually Eve left us alone and I was having a good time. Andrew was funny. We went to Noodies On the Beach for Mexican. He showed me his photos of the wild koalas he�d seen on the Koala Walk. After dinner we went to The Marlin Bar where Eve was. A Curlew kept walking in and the barman had to keep chasing him out. I invited the boy�s back to my tent for smoke. I told Eve to skin up while I took my contact lenses out. I returned to find the biggest cone ready to be sparked up. I hadn�t seen one that big since I was 16. "Shit man, how much weed did you use?" I wasn�t too bothered, what goes around comes around and at least I was gonna get a good nights sleep on that hard ground. Andrew had a bad cough and the joint was harsh. Every time he took a drag he�d cough his lungs up and say in his Swiss-German accent "I think I�m dying". He said this after every cough. It was late by now and I didn�t want us to wake the other campers. Then my neighbours came back pissed and they were Swiss also! So of course they came over and started talking loudly to Andrew and Eve. Then they got into their Moke (open top buggy, island transport type thing) and proceeded to flash the headlights on and off onto the Motor home in front. Then they started beeping the horn and were pissing themselves with laughter. When they started the engine, I was a little bit worried that they might take it for a spin around the campsite and run me over. I did sleep through that night and the next morning I met another neighbour: Marijuana Mick, an Aussie. He was working as a groundsman on the site and had been at Geoff�s for a few weeks already. He was on a long holiday and took the job so he�d have something to do. He invited me to Florence Bay along with two Bearded Belgium�s; Kris and Martijn. They've been cycling around Oz (insane) and have also been around a while. We went snorkelling and Mick and I were followed by a huge friendly fish the whole time we were in the water. Mick has a huge tattoo of a fish down one side of his body. I was shocked when I saw it because he didn�t seem like type to have a tattoo, let alone a huge one like that. He is a funny chap. He�s incredibly slow and considered in all his movements and smokes SO much. He even talks in slow motion and has a very soft voice. He looks young but his mannerisms are that of a 70-year-old. I guessed his age at 44 because of this. It�s weird. I think he is just so laid back he�s almost stopped completely. Anyway, he was offended when I said that as he�s actually just turned 40. 26th September Steph arrived here a few days ago. She and Andy have split up and she drove from Alice Springs in a potential record breaking 32 hours. I couldn�t believe my eyes when I saw her. I knew she was coming, but man, was she quick! She is really flirting with the boys. Boogie, who works at Geoff�s as a gardener/handyman, fancies her rotten. He�s horrible. He�s 43 with three missing front teeth (lost in a fight) and always wears a bandanna to hide his baldness. He looks like a pirate. He is constantly on the beer too. As soon as he finishes work he�s drinking until bedtime, when he usually crashes on the sofa in the TV room. He�s harmless though and surprisingly is quite successful with the ladies. Must be his roguish charm.
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