Seth Rogen

I'm not back to blogging.

But I HAD to come here to say that 34 year old Edmund Barton looks very much like Seth Rogen.

At least I think so. 





Okay.

Now I shall return to my non-blogging life. 

Good-bye

I think I'm going to quit blogging.

I feel bad, since I'm in the middle of the big pretend trip project, but I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about the project.

I won't go into details about that. It's too hard to explain, really.

Just in general, I'm tired of having a public life.  

I want to just LIVE and not think, Will I blog about this?  And how should I talk about it?

I want to be free.

This decision came to me, all of a sudden, during dinner.   But I think I've been leading up to it since November.  I've been in a state of discontent.

I can't say this decision is easy for me. Of course I'm crying right now. A lot. 

I feel like I'm losing a huge part of myself.  But I feel like it's a part of myself that I need to lose. As they said in Lost.  I need to let go.

I think the thing that scares me is that I'll lose Australia. Because instead of getting my wish of moving there, I got this blog.  I worry that, without this blog, that part of my life will fade.

I don't want to lose it. I'm afraid to lose it.  

Yet sometimes I've worried that the reason I continue to love Australia is so that I can have a reason to continue my blog.

I think I need to figure all this out.  

Instead of figuring out if I'm a man or a Muppet; I need to figure out if I'm a person who blogs because she loves Australia, or a person who loves Australia so she can blog.   

Maybe by next week, without the blog, I won't care about Australia anymore.

OR....

Maybe letting go of the stresses and insecurities of blogging will give me a chance to relax and love Australia even more.

I don't want to be the weird American who's obsessed with Australia anymore. I just want to be Dina...who loves Australia, but doesn't need to write about it all the time.

I am REALLY scared right now.

But I think I'm going to be okay.

Thank you for reading.



P.S-If anyone is curious/interested and wants to keep up with our lives....I have a bunch of stuff on the blog sidebar (Flickr, Shelfari, YouTube, Jack's video game blog, etc).   That should give some idea what's going on in our lives; and you won't need to worry that we've dropped off the face of the earth.




Read my online novel: The Dead are Online  

Our Pretend Australia Trip Day 26 Yanakie

Today was a total nightmare, but now it's okay.

Now we're all very happy.

What happened is we were hanging out this morning before going to the beach.  Then Jack complained that his stomach hurt.  I mean he called out to me.   I was outside reading.

That worried me immediately.  The kid has stomachaches, but not the kind that would make him seek my help and comfort.  It's usually more like, Do you want to eat lunch?  

Not right now. My stomach hurts.

Or, Do you want to ride bikes?

Not right now.  My stomach hurts. 

He wanted to lie on the bed.  I stayed with him and gave him as much comfort as possible.   He was in a lot of pain.  He kept moving around trying to get comfortable. Nothing would help.  There was nothing that made him feel better.  He couldn't concentrate on his computer or video games.  He was miserable.

Stomach aches scare me.   First of all, I hate vomit.   But that wasn't my concern at this point.  I was picturing emergency surgery scenarios.  And I wasn't alone. Tim became very worried too.

Now, I will say, that we looked up appendicitis; and the symptoms didn't match.  Still...I was paranoid about it.  I figure not everyone has the same symptoms.  I worried that maybe he was an anomaly.

And I was worried it could be something else serious, like an intestinal obstruction.   Those scare me a lot.   

We decided to take Jack to the medical centre in Foster. 

If it weren't for me feeling horribly worried, and having to watch Jack look miserable during the car ride,  I would probably have appreciated the chance to personally check out Australia's medical system.

But...

Yeah.

So, we saw the doctor.   He asked Jack lots of questions about the pain.  He had Jack jump up and down which is a test for appendicitis.   Apparently if you have it, the jumping makes you scream in horrible pain.  Diagnosis by torture.

The doctor joked around a lot.  He asked Jack if he had eaten any crocodile eggs for breakfast.  Jack joked back and said yes. The doctor said he's never had a patient admit to that.  

He touched Jack's abdomen in various places. Jack didn't cry in pain.  He laughed from being ticklish. Then Jack announced he felt better and jumped a few more times.

I joked that the tickling cured him.  But later I started thinking, maybe it's not a joke.   Maybe the doctor has healing hands.

Anyway....

We're all GREAT now.

Jack is having a post-pain high.   I can relate.  I've had it before.

I'm in a major post-worrying high. They often result in me breaking down crying, but I've managed not to do that....yet.

I feel a little stupid for dragging Jack to the doctor and wasting the doctor's time. And we'll have a bill to pay.  But I'd rather be safe than sorry.   And I'm usually NOT the type of person to drag my child or myself to the doctor. I'm usually a wait and see type person. Certain things scare me, though.  

* * *

We all decided we feel good enough to NOT miss out on our beach plans. So we're going to drive down to Squeaky Beach.  We're going to pack some sandwiches in our cooler, plus some cookies.

I am SO glad that we're doing a beach afternoon rather than a hospital afternoon.

I'm incredibly grateful and I feel we're very lucky.

It's so nice to see Jack happy and running around.

It's horrible seeing your child in pain.  

* * *

Squeaky Beach really squeaks. I thought they were just being figurative, or that it was named after a guy named Squeaky.

But no.  It squeaks. It makes a crazy noise when you walk.

Jack loved it.   It gave me a bit of a headache.  I didn't complain, though, because what was I supposed to say, Stop walking?

Jack and Tim swam a bit.

I didn't, because I don't swim with my period, especially not in an ocean. I don't want a shark visit on my conscience.




NOTE:  This trip journal is fictional.   We are not really in Australia.  Some stuff in these posts are based on research.  Some stuff is based on my reality.  Some stuff is based on past experiences. And some stuff is based on fantasy.   

The non-trip journal posts ARE true and real…except for my dreams (which are written in purple). 
Oh...and also....my 2009 trip reports are about a real trip to Australia.  That's all true too.

Crocodiles, Reverse Bucket Lists, Elephants, and the Olympics

1. Saw elements of the Power of Attraction in Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land: a story of Australian life

Bridget writes to her friend.

To-day I mean to concentrate on wealth-one of my professor's theories is that if you concentrate regularly on a thing you are bound in the long run to get what you set your mind upon.....

I don't know why "today" was written in that way.

Anyway...

The TV show Happy Endings had a funny episode about the Power of Attraction recently.

2. Decided against trying to explain what happened on Happy Endings.  

Instead I'll once again give my opinion on the Law of Attraction.

My feeling is the universe already KNOWS what we want and need.  We don't need to tell it. We don't need to make image boards.

The universe will sometimes give us what we want and/or need. Sometimes, though, the universe will be in a nasty mood and give us what we really don't want or need.

Other times the universe is not in a nasty mood, but there's the fact that there's billions of other people who have wants and needs. Sometimes it's impossible for the universe to balance everything in a way that will make everyone happy.  

Now there IS a belief that there's an abundance of wonderfulness in the universe, that's there's enough for all of us.

It would be nice if that were true, but I doubt that it is.

3. Read article about a University of Tasmania scientist (David Bowman) who thinks there needs to be radical steps taken against bushfires.    

One of Bowman's ideas is to introduce elephants into Australia.  He seems doubtful that will happen, though.  

His reasoning behind the elephant idea is they eat lots of grass. I guess reducing grass stops bush fires?

Don't cows eat grass?

4. Saw that Bowman also has ideas for controlling feral animals.   I'm not sure if this is related to the bushfires, or not.  Do feral animals contribute to the bushfire threat?   Or is he just trying to protect the local ecology?  Maybe it's two separate issues?  

Anyway, his ideas for controlling feral animals are re-introducing dingos into the area, and he wants to encourage Aboriginal folks to hunt feral animals.

5. Looked at David Bowman's bio page at the University of Tasmania. His credentials seem fairly impressive. I mean it seems like he's definitely done his research.

Some of his ideas might be radical, but I don't think he's just shooting them out of his ass.

I'm not saying Australia should definitely implement his ideas. But I do think his ideas should be given careful consideration.

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?   


The Dead are Online  a novel by Dina Roberts 


6. Continued to be bored by The Drowner.

I don't get it.

I really liked the two other Robert Drewe books I've read.

The Drowner feels so different than the other two.  

7. Continued to enjoy the Lady Bridget book.  I feel a bit conflicted about it, because there's some racism in it.

It's all a bit awkward.

 But sometimes that's life.  It's like some people in my life. They're sometimes openly racist or bigoted, and that makes me feel uncomfortable.  But besides that character flaw, I like them

8. Read article about a freshwater crocodile found in Sydney. He was hiding behind a rubbage bin.

I'm saying rubbage even though it's not part of my native dialect. The Sydney Morning Herald says "garbage bin".   I didn't think Australians used the word garbage. Although in America, we usually say garbage can and not garbage bin.  

Anyway....

It's thought that the crocodile was an illegal pet.

I'm not a big crocodile fan.  They scare me.  But this one is a baby.  And I have to admit it. He's adorable.

The other thing is, he's not a saltwater crocodile.   Freshwater crocodiles are less menacing.  

9. Looked at photos of baby saltwater crocodiles on Google Images.  Some of them are cute.

There's some grown-up crocs mixed in there, though.  They're scary.

You know how some people have that bad feeling when they look at photos of spiders. I have it sometimes when I see crocodiles.

The picture that bothers me the most on Google Images is in the third set (page 3).  It's the last picture of the set—the adult croc with his mouth open.

Oh...and scrolling down, I see there are more scary pictures.

I used to not really mind alligators and crocodiles. Then I started having creepy bad dreams about them.  That influenced and changed my feelings.  

10. Learned from this blog that a crocodile was to blame for a plane crash in the Congo.

It escaped.  It scared people.  All the action and drama caused the disaster.  

Here's the article.

It looks like the crocodile was a baby.

At first it surprised me that a baby would scare people that much.  But then I remembered some people don't like reptiles in general.  Even small reptiles might scare some folks.

Sadly, there were only two survivors of the crash— one human and one crocodile. But then the crocodile was chopped up by a machete. Why? It wasn't his fault. 

I'm not a crocodile fan, but I don't think they need to be needlessly slaughtered.

I just want them to be far away from me.

11. Learned the term laryngoplasm from The Drowner.  

One of the characters says:

Back home in Connecticut, I've processed bodies with no water in the lungs that died from lack of oxygen. Businessmen choking on their morning coffee. Babies in the bath.

That's really scary.  Like most people, I sometimes choke when I drink. I didn't know people could die from that.

I guess it's really rare, though.

12. Consulted Lord Wiki.  From what he says, I get that it's not overly dangerous when it happens with drinking. He doesn't mention anyone dying while drinking their coffee.

He does say it can be very dangerous when the cause is anesthesia, especially in children.

13. Ended up reading about secondary drowning.  Now I'm totally freaked out.

There are different types of secondary drowning.  One is where someone has a near-drowning incident.  You think they're okay, but it ends up they have fluid in their lungs. Then several hours later, they die. 

That's why they say not to leave a baby unattended in the bath, not even for a second.

Even if you catch them, right after going under, they can get too much water in their lungs.

It's not always the case, though.  I know of a mother who turned around to grab a towel.  When she looked back her baby was under the water.   It's about nine years later now. The kid is fine.

Another time, I was at a pool with a friend.  We got too involved with chatting.  Her toddler went under.  The kid is fine.  

And how many times do we choke and gasp for air when we swallow a liquid the wrong way.

Most people survive that. Right?

I'm trying to make myself feel better here. 

14. Figured out that the Lady Bridget book may not be racist after all. I think I just misinterpreted things.

There's a racist character in the book.  He doesn't like the Aboriginal people.   Since he's one of the main characters, I took that to mean the author held his prejudices as well.  However, now I see that another main character (Bridget) has the exact opposite viewpoint.  She's very much on the left. She believes Australia was wrongfully stolen.

I'm really enjoying the book, and now maybe I can do so with a little less ambivalence.

15. Saw that my Australian of the day is Ellen Arnold.

She was a missionary.

She was born in England in 1858.  When she was about twenty-one, her family migrated to Adelaide.

They joined the Flinders Street Baptist Church.

The reverend at the church inspired Arnold to do missionary work.

She ended up doing work in India.

That lasted for about two years.  Then she got sick and came home for awhile.

Later she returned and did a lot more work in India.

16. Saw that Triple J's song #74 on their countdown is called "Bali Party".  It's by the hip hop singer Drapht.

Firefox didn't correct the spelling when I wrote that, which makes me think I've mentioned him before.

17. Searched through my blog and found that I wrote about Drapht in this post.     I listened to his song "Rapunzel". 

18. Started to listen to "Bali Party".



It's kind of fun.

19. Started to feel less bored by The Drowner.

I'm confused, though.  The characters and setting have changed.

The beginning of the book was about a irrigation worker and an actress, and they were in Bath, England.  Now the setting is Western Australia; and the main character is an undertaker who also does dead-people photography.   There's a woman in the story,  and I'm wondering if she's the same woman from the beginning of the book.

I didn't catch her name.  I went back and tried searching for it; but came up...lost.

I don't think the book is a novella collection. I'm thinking these people are going to connect to each other somehow.

I guess I'll read and find out.

20. Looked at song #71 on the Triple J countdown.   It's "Arnold" by Luke Million. And the picture has a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  So I guess that's what the song refers to.  

21. Watched the video. It's bizarre, and quite fascinating.  



There's not much to the song, really.   It's instrumental with Arnold sound bytes.

It shows a lot of Arnold muscle.  I don't think extreme body building bodies are that attractive....personally.

According to this blog post, extreme body building is also unhealthy.   From what it says; it sounds like extreme body builder people are not much different from those who desire extreme thinness.  It's not about health.  It's about obsession, endurance, and superficial ideals.

This other blog post though sees body building as a good thing. (edited to add 11/5/114-removed link because company owning website asked me to. Sorry)

Like many things in life; there's a variety of interpretations and opinions.  (And some are held by website owners that are in trouble with Google Penguin)

22. LOVED Not a Ballerina's reverse bucket list post. 

I'm not a big bucket list fan, and neither is she.   It's not really that I'm against them in general.   It's more like, that's fine for you guys, but I don't want to join in the game.

When I first saw Not a Ballerina's post, I thought it was going to be about things she DOESN'T want to do during her life.  If I had to make that list, I'd be here for hours...maybe days.

But it turns out a reverse bucket list is about what you HAVE done rather than what you want to do.   I like it, because the emphasis is on appreciation rather than desire.

I'm going to write down some of my things.  I was thinking of adding the bad stuff, because although it was awful, I think that stuff helped me grow.   But that's probably getting too philosophical.

So I'll skip the bad......

* Lived in Manhattan  
* Lived in Los Angeles
*  Experienced snow....sledding and snowmen
* Lived in various states in the United States (Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Tennessee)
* Became a mom to a super wonderful human being.
* Visited San Francisco, Boston, and Philadelphia.
* Visited Disney World (many times)
* Visited London twice.
* Visited Australia twice
* Visited Rome, Malta, Sicily, Cannes, Paris
* Went on cruises and visited various islands
* Wrote 12 novels and many screenplays
* Found a partner and created a family. 
* Volunteered at a Cystic Fibrosis camp
* Had a cockatoo stand on my head.
* Fed parrots 
* Cuddled cats and dogs.
* Was gifted with adorable nieces and nephews.    
* Read a lot of wonderful books.
* Spent weekends at a lake house.
* Tried to do a past life regression hypnosis thing.
* Visited Hawaii
* Saw the taping of live TV shows.
* Experienced the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, and the first decade of the 21st century
* Spent time at a beach house with friends.
* Experienced the turn of a century AND the turn of a millennium
* Kept up a blog for more than 3 years.   
* Had many lucid dreams.   
* Went to college, graduate school, and a semester of film school
* Followed an American soap opera for more than 20 years.
* Watched many wonderful TV shows and movies.
* Had sex
* Did the Manly aquarium shark dive
* Had dragonflies and butterflies land on my arm.  
* Watched Lost   
* Climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge
* Climbed the waterfall thing in Jamaica
* Read the Harry Potter series
* Worked at a zoo
* Taught preschool
* Visited a supposedly haunted restaurant. 
* Found the courage to express my opinion, even at times when I knew my viewpoint might not be popular.
* Tasted food from many different ethnic groups
* Visited Japan
* Managed to enjoy a team sport experience.
* Visited Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Oregon, Mississippi, Alabama, Delaware, and Connecticut.
* Held a snake
* Had the courage to taste an insect.  
* Swam in the ocean 
* Swam in a lake 
* Stayed up all night and watched the sunrise
*Experienced a huge technological renaissance. 
* Fed a lion, tiger, and bear


Just for the record; these are definitely not in any order of importance.  

I think I've already had more than anyone could wish or ask for. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had.  Anything on top of all that is really just icing on the cake....or really, sprinkles on an already heavily frosted cake.

23. Dreamed that, I start wondering if maybe one of my recent ancestors might have been from Australia.  I start giving consideration to my paternal great-grandfather; but it seems unlikely that he was Australian.  

24.  Woke up with Crowded House's "Elephants" in my mind.

I think the song was also in my head when I went to bed. 



25.  Went to erase a spam comment I saw in my email last night.   But when I checked my blog, it wasn't there.  I found it in my Blogger spam folder.  They caught it for me. I'm grateful for that.

I'm not sure why they were able to catch that spam comment, but not the others.

Well....the difference might be that this commenter had a Blogger profile. It led to what he was advertising.    I think the other spam commenters were anonymous.  Maybe signing in anonymously is a way to circumvent spam blockers.

26. Saw that song #70 on the Triple J countdown is "She's like a Comet" by Jebediah.

Jebediah reminds me of a name that would be on Little House on the Prairie...or Children of the Corn

27. Saw that there WAS a Jebediah on Little House on the Prairie.   He was in an episode about a baseball game.  

28. Saw that Children of the Corn didn't have a Jebediah; but they did have a Jedediah.  

29. Learned from Lord Wiki that Jebediah is from Perth.   The group has 4 people and they got together in 1994.

30. Learned that Jebediah's most popular song was "Animal".   It as released in 1999 and reached #16 in the charts. Lord Wiki says the song was used in season 1 of McLeod's Daughters.  I didn't realize the show used any non-Rebecca Lavelle songs.

31. Started to listen to "Animal"



I don't remember it from McLeod's Daughters.  But it's been a few years since I've watched the show. 

32. Saw from this McLeod's Daughters site that "Animal" was played on the 11th episode of the first season.

That episode featured two other Jebediah songs, and the first episode also had a Jebediah song.  

33. Started to listen to "She's Like a Comet".



I like that song much more than "Animal".

34. Started looking at more of Fredweng's day Twenty-Two in Australia Flickr set

35. Thought it was interesting that people have their legs hanging out of the Puffing Billy Train.   Is that required?  Are the seats made for your feet to go that way?  

36. Consulted Lord Wiki.

He says it's a popular tradition to sit on the ledge of the open-carriage.

So....I guess it's a choice.

37.  Saw that Fredweng went to a vineyard called Fergusson Winery.

It looks like everything is pretty dead in the winter. 

38. Went to the Fergusson website  and found out they're located in the Yarra Valley.

39.  Found the winery on Google Maps.  

I'm trying to trace Fredweng's journey for day Twenty-Two.

40. Thought it was interesting that my iTunes DJ is now playing "Elephants".

I feel like I'm haunted by that song today.

41. Went back to looking at the map.

The Puffing Bill area (Belgrave) is about forty-five minutes from Melbourne. Then the winery is about forty-five minutes from Belgrave.

I'm guessing Fredweng took some type of tour.  One of the photos showed a tour bus.  

I think he takes a lot of tours. 

42. Found Fredweng's possible tour.    It goes to the train, Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, and lunch at the winery.

I just peaked ahead at Fredweng's later photos.  He does goes to Healesville.

It's probably the tour. Although there could be similar alternate ones.

43. Thought the scenery in this photo was beautiful.   

44. Wished there were vineyard tours geared towards those who don't drink.

Maybe they could have ones where you get to just taste the grapes.

I'd love that.

45. Found an editorial about visiting wineries when you don't drink. It has some good advice. 

I'm not sure I'm into the suggestion of tasting and spitting.

First of all, I'd feel weird spitting in front of people.

Second, I don't really want to taste it. I don't like the taste of alcohol. 

I like some of the other ideas in the editorial, though.  You can pick wineries that also have food tastings.  You can enjoy the scenery and architecture. You can learn about the history and wine-making process.

It's probably less of a problem for someone like me, and more a problem for someone who is not supposed to drink alcohol.  Tim likes to drink, but is supposed to pretty much avoid it because of his medication. So going to a winery would probably be a little sad for him.

Or I guess he could do the spitting thing.

46. Thought this kangaroo looked very pathetic, but in a very cute way.  

47. Went to Funtrivia to take another Australia quiz.

This one is called Australian Salmagundi.

I don't know what Salmagundi is. 

48. Learned from Lord Wiki that Salmagundi is a salad from England.  It has meats, vegetables, flowers, and other stuff.

Maybe in this case Salmagundi refers to a mixture of things.

49. Got question #7 wrong on the quiz and learned that "Waltzing Matilda" and not "Advance Australia Fair" was chosen to play at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

But it wasn't played because Australia didn't win any gold medals.  

I guess you need a gold medal for your song to play? 

50.  Finished the quiz.  I got 9/10.  I'm happy with that.  

51. Consulted Lord Wiki about the 1976 Olympics. He says although Australia won no gold medals, they did win 1 silver and 4 bronze medals.

The Soviet Union won the most that year.  They won forty-nine gold medals.  

52. Looked at Lord Wiki's Olympic medal tables.

Australia did very well in 1956, the year the Olympics were in Melbourne.   They got a total of thirty-five medals.  I looked at the years prior, and in those years they earned much less medals.

I wonder why?  Was it just a coincidence?  Do Australians play better when they're close to home?

53. Saw that Australia also did very well in 1960.

So I'm thinking maybe they just hadn't yet discovered their very talented athletes.  Then in the 1950's, they started appearing.

54. Noticed that the United States and the Soviet Union come out on top a lot...when it comes to medals.  Are we very strong? Ultra-competitive?  

I think this was during the Cold War. I guess the war carried over to the Olympics?

It's probably a really good thing.  Maybe instead of bombing each other, the two countries fought it out with athletic contests.

55. Saw that the United States refused to participate in the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

Then in 1984 the Olympics were held in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union boycotted that.  

56. Started to get the idea that Americans and Russians are REALLY good with athletics.

Why didn't anyone pass some of those genes to me?

I'm probably one of the slowest able-bodied runners in the world.

57. Saw that Australia also did very well at the Sydney Olympics.

So I guess Australians have very good athletic skills as well...as long as they don't stray too far from the homeland.

Wait...

I see they also did quite well in Greece.

58. Saw that Norway does consistently well at the Winter Olympics.

Well...no.  They didn't seem to get much in 1988.

59. Went to the drugstore to pick up medication.   They had chocolate covered Australian licorice!   It's the first time I've seen it in Texas.   I think the only other place we've seen it is Chicago.   I was thinking, at first it was San Francisco. But we went to San Francisco BEFORE Australia.   I wouldn't have known about the chocolate licorice.   

60. Received more insight from Lord Wiki about Australians at the Olympics

Prior to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Australia had less than a hundred athletes competing.   So that would have reduced their chances of getting medals.

At the Melbourne Olympics, there were 314 Australians competing.   At the Sydney Olympics there were 630 Australians competing.

Then in other years (after 1956) the numbers range from 123-482.

61. Saw that swimming is the event that earns Australia most of it's Olympic medals.

That makes sense.

Australians have that whole mermaid thing going on. I think it's connected to their love of Vegemite.   Someone should do a scientific study on that.  

Our Pretend Australia Trip Day 25 Yanakie

I think I figured out why I'm not feeling very happy right now. 

Well, first of all, I have my period.  So there's the hormonal thing going on. Even minus the hormone fluctuations, I feel gross and blah when I have my period.  I know women are supposed to be stoic while menstruating— diving with skimpy white bikinis, running with tight jogging shorts, and dancing with tight jeans.  But I just want to hide my body behind frumpy clothes and give into my lethargic feelings.  

And then there's the email I got from my friend in the morning.

Or maybe I don't want to call her my friend anymore.

I'm being mean.

Yeah, but sometimes being mean is better than being sad.

Anyway...

She blabbed on and on about problems she's having with her brother.  Then she said, You're so lucky to have an easy and happy life. 

It made me angry when I read it, but I brushed those feelings under the rug.

I do that sometimes.

But I HATE when people make assumptions about my life.

Today's not the first time I've encountered the attitude.  

Some people are just so incredibly arrogant and self-centered.

You know what would be funny. If I said that in an email to my so-called friend.

Well, actually.   My life isn't perfectly happy and easy.  Why?  Well, one of the reasons is because some of my arrogant and self-centered friends make me incredibly miserable at times.   

* * *

I tried to go to sleep.

I can't because I started arguing with my friend...in my mind.

It's like I'm trying to prove her wrong by remembering all the bad times in my life.

I thought about all times I've been depressed.  I thought about huge fights I've had. I thought about times I've felt betrayed and used. I thought of all the times I've been rejected.

I thought about the medical catastrophes and tragedies that have affected those I love.

I thought about the time I believed I had a ton of wonderful special friends; then in one awful instant the illusion was shattered, and I felt completely alone in the world.   

I know there are people out there who have much worse problems than I do. I definitely recognize that.  But no.  My life isn't perfectly happy and easy.  

* * *

I still can't sleep. 

Now I'm even more mad.

Why?

Because I was thinking.  In the past, I've TOLD my friend about some of my problems.  So what does that mean?  Why would she say my life is happy and easy?

Has she not been listening all this time?  Does she think my problems are small in comparison to hers? If she does, that's ridiculous.  She's told me about her problems, and I don't think they're any worse than mine.

Why would she say something so stupid?

Well, forget her.

I'm not writing her back.

* * *

I finally fell asleep.  Thankfully.

I dreamed I was rollerskating with Rachel Griffiths.

I was actually pretty good at it.  But she kept falling.

I also had a dream about breakfast cereal made from edible flowers.

* * *

We ate cereal for breakfast but not one that's made from edible flowers.

* * *

I feel like a bad person for not writing back my friend.

In a way, I feel she doesn't deserve a response.  I may be a friend to her, but she's really not a friend to me.

But she IS going through a hard time right now.  What kind of person would I be if I just ignored her?

* * *

I decided to write her back.

The question is, do I address what she said about my life?  Or should I just ignore it?

If I do bring it up, what should I say?

* * *

Jack and I took a walk, so we could say good morning to the cows.

On our way back to the cottage, we saw some Black Cockatoos.

That was nice, although I feel I'd enjoy it more if I didn't have that gross feeling of leaking bodily fluids.

It's so unpleasant.

And I still can't get the annoying email out of my mind. 

* * *

I wrote back to my friend.  I decided not to bring up the issue. I worry that her response will make me more angry.  I don't want to be angry on my holiday.

One thing I did, though, is give her less than I usually give.  I usually write long and thoughtful responses to her venting.  But this time, I wrote a rushed response.

I'm sorry things are hard on you right now.  I hope things get better.    

It's not mean; but it's not full of my usual TLC, encouragement, support, etc.

* * *

I changed my mind.  I don't know. I started to think that it's stupid not for me to call her on this issue.

So I wrote a second email and said:

By the way, my life ISN'T perfect and happy all the time. It hurts my feelings to know you don't take my problems as seriously as I take yours.

I guess I shall have to wait and see how she responds.

I hate waiting for those types of responses.  It puts me so much on edge.

* * *

We're going to go to the park now.

I'm a little worried that I'll have to use the toilet.

I hate using public toilets when I have my period.

Well, I never like using public toilets.

And I really don't like using ANY toilet when I have my period.

So using a public toilet with my period is double awful. 

* * *

We're back!

We did the Lilly Pilly Gully walk.  

It was fantastic in terms of seeing Aussie fauna and flora. We saw kangaroos.  We saw many different types of parrots.

We saw emus.

We saw some mammal I couldn't identify.

We saw beautiful trees

At times, I felt like we were in a fairytale or one of my adventurous lucid dreams.

I can't say the outing was perfect though.

I felt gross and I spent too much time thinking about the email I sent.  I was distracted, and I hate being distracted.

I ended up having to use the toilet, and that wasn't fun.

Worse yet....we weren't properly prepared.

I didn't expect to be gone that long.  I kind of pictured us taking a 15-20 minute walk.  And I thought the drive would be really short. The park is really close to the cottage.

Well, it turns out the entrance to the park is close to us.  But Wilson's Promontory is HUGE.   It took us 30 minutes to get to the Tidal River area.  

Then the walk itself was over two hours.

After about an hour I started having that low blood sugar feeling.   Then just as I was thinking I should probably eat the Carman bar I packed, Tim asked me if I had any food.   He was having that low blood sugar feeling as well.

We had to split the bar.  Jack wasn't having issues, but we didn't want to eat in front of him.   So we had to split the bar three ways.  The little bit of food didn't really decrease the shakiness and weakness.

We did have enough water.   I'll give us credit for that.  We had two bottles— one reusable and one disposable.   It wasn't too hot today, so that was enough.   I think if we hadn't eaten the Carman bar; we probably wouldn't have desired a drink at all.  

So yeah.

The first hour of the walk was pretty nice.  The second hour wasn't so great.

At one point we saw other tourists pointing up at a tree. A koala!   I didn't really care. I just wanted to get through the walk so we could get some food.

Fortunately the Tidal River area has a general store.  We bought some snacks and felt much better as we headed back to our cottage.    

Now Tim is warming up the pizza from yesterday.  We're going to have that for lunch.

I have no idea what we're going to do for dinner.

There's no restaurants nearby, and it's not like there are tons of groceries at the general store.

* * *

We drove out of Yanakie to get some groceries.

We went up north to a town called Foster. 

We got lots of food.  AND we bought a cooler, so we can transport some of the cold stuff to Melbourne. 

That way we don't have to throw out the things like butter and start all over again. 

We should have done that before.

Oh well.

Live and learn.

It's not like we've thrown a lot of stuff out, really.   It's more like we've sometimes avoided buying things because we knew we wouldn't use enough of it.  

We made the exception a few times, like Parmesan cheese; and yesterday we bought butter.  

The only problem with the cooler is we're going on a plane in a few weeks.  We don't want to have to take that with us.  But we remembered we're leaving from Melbourne.   Our friends live there.   They can babysit our cooler.  Or actually they can adopt it, since we're not coming back after that.

* * *

We had another argument.

It started because Tim asked me what part of Wilson's Promontory do I want to go tomorrow. 

Jack heard and started whining. He doesn't want to do another hike.

We started arguing.  That's why we're here...for the park.  What else is there to do?

We started lecturing him on how we're not here to sit around playing Minecraft.

Then I started thinking that maybe we're being too harsh.

This is not a week vacation where you can manage the energy to be action-packed.   We're here for six months.

We DO need to have plenty of do-nothing days.  

Jack also argued that he doesn't sit around all day playing Minecraft.  And that's true. When we're at the cottage,  he does go outside a fair amount.

So we've come up with a compromise.  We're going to hang out here tomorrow.   We'll read, watch TV,  play video games, visit the cows, hang out with the birds, etc. 

Then on Sunday we'll do another Wilson's Promontory Walk.

* * *

Well, we had to change our brilliant plans.

Tim looked at the weather.  Sunday is going to be hot and rainy, not the best for walking.

We got Jack to agree to doing another (short) walk tomorrow.  Then on Sunday, we'll rest.   That's probably a good idea because on Monday we'll be in Melbourne.  I have a feeling the city is going to keep us very busy.

* * *

We just finished dinner.

Tim and I had veggie burgers.   Jack had macaroni and cheese.  Well, and I had some mac and cheese too.

Now I'm going to take another walk.  I need a lot of exercise to make up for all this eating.  

* * *

I just checked my email.  There's nothing back from my so-called friend.

I did get an email from my Melbourne friend, though.   That was nice.   She invited us to their house for dinner during the week.   And they've booked a hotel in the city for the weekend.   That way we can be closer and have more time together. Their house is in the suburbs, and it's a bit of a commute. 




 NOTE:  This trip journal is fictional.   We are not really in Australia.  Some stuff in these posts are based on research.  Some stuff is based on my reality.  Some stuff is based on past experiences. And some stuff is based on fantasy.   

The non-trip journal posts ARE true and real…except for my dreams (which are written in purple). 
Oh...and also....my 2009 trip reports are about a real trip to Australia.  That's all true too.


What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there 
was life after death, and 
we could easily talk to our 
dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 


Our Pretend Australia Trip Day 24 Yanakie

We're now in Yanakie, Victoria. 

It's right near Wilson's Promontory.

We stopped in Sale on the way there.  We got some Indian food,  and also hung out a bit on a street with lots of shops. We went to a bookstore, a toy store, a pet store, a game store, an electronic store, and a discount store.

Jack bought one of his cousins a little kangaroo stuffed animal.

I almost bought a 2012 Australian wall calendar that was on sale.  But I didn't.

I wasn't really in the mood to buy anything.

We arrived at our cottage around 3:00.

We checked in.

We unpacked.

Now I'm writing.

It seems a bit isolated here.

There's lots of trees, cows, and grass in the area....not much else.

It seems very rural.

* * *

I don't know if I'm in a rural mood.

My luck, I'll be in a rural mood next week, when we're in Melbourne.

* * *

We went and bought a few food things at the Yanakie General Store.

We got a package of Arnott's Assorted Creams, milk, butter, cheese, and tomato sauce.

Now we can have toast with butter.

And Tim might make pizza.

* * *

I forgot.

We also shared a lime ice-cream thing.  

That was pretty nice.  

* * *

I'm bored.

I feel trapped.

It's too quiet around here.

* * *

Now I'm happier.

I decided to sit outside alone and read my book.

My book wasn't too exciting.

But then a parrot came on the porch.

I think it was a Crimson Rosella.

* * *

Jack and I took a walk together around the property.

We saw lots of cows. That was cool.

We also saw a bunch of Galahs in a tree. 

I liked that.

* * *

We took another walk with Tim.

We saw the owners of the property and chatted with them a bit.  They told us that the 2009 fires were really hard for them.  Parts of Wilson's Promontory were closed, and that affected tourism.

They've had it rough for awhile.

Oh, and then there were storms last March that closed parts of the park.

Some parts are still closed, so we'll have to work around that.  

* * *

I was thinking....

In my next life I'd like to be an Australian bird.

* * *

Wait...let me clarify.

I want to be a FREE Australian bird in Australia.

I would hate to be an Australian bird stuck in an American zoo.

That would be a tragedy.

* * *

We had our pizza and cookies.

We argued a bit about eating outside or inside.

Tim wanted to eat outside.

Jack wanted to eat inside.

I felt caught in the middle.

Jack got mad at me...because I'm an annoying mother.

We ended up compromising.

We ate pizza inside, and we ate cookies outside.

It wasn't really as nice as it should have been.

* * *

Tim and Jack are asleep.

I'm still awake.

I'm wondering if there are Dementors hovering above, because I'm suddenly in a really dark mood.

I don't know why.

I had a bad feeling about things, and then I had this feeling of....

I don't know. 

It's hard to explain.

It started with me losing my happiness about being here.  I just suddenly didn't care. I didn't even care about the birds.

Then I lost my happiness about being in Australia period.

Yet I'm not happy about the thought of going home.

* * *

You know what it's like....

It's the same feeling I get when I watch a really dark and depressing horror movie like The Ring.

I really have no idea why I'm upset.

Maybe it's the feeling of isolation here?

Maybe the arguing got to me?

* * *

I went outside and sat on the porch.   I looked at the stars and had a good cry.

The crying didn't really make me feel better.

But the stars were lovely.

I think tomorrow I will probably feel better.

Night can be depressing for me sometimes.  But usually the morning sunlight makes things seem much better.



NOTE:  This trip journal is fictional.   We are not really in Australia.  Some stuff in these posts are based on research.  Some stuff is based on my reality.  Some stuff is based on past experiences. And some stuff is based on fantasy.   

The non-trip journal posts ARE true and real…except for my dreams (which are written in purple). 
Oh...and also....my 2009 trip reports are about a real trip to Australia.  That's all true too. 

Friendship, Hugh Knyvett, Bridget, and the Dandenong Ranges

1. Saw that it's raining in a lot of Australian cities right now.

By right now, I mean 4:30 PM Texas time. It's mid-morning in Australia...on Tuesday.  

2. Saw that it hasn't rained in South Australia in the last two hours.  It's rained in only one town in Western Australia.

It seems to me that Tasmania and New South Wales are getting the most rain.

There's also heavy rain in Darwin and Canberra.  

3. Saw that song #80 on the Triple J countdown is "The Truth" by Pnau.

Lord Wiki says Pnau is a dance band. They did an apprenticeship under Elton John.

That's cool.

4. Started to listen to "The Truth".



It sounds like a 1980's song to me.

I kind of like it.   

5. Learned from Lord Wiki that Nick Littlemore from Pnau worked as the music director for a Cirque du Soleil show called Zarkana.

6. Went to bed and had dreams.  In one dream, Fruitcake tells me I'm not her friend. She doesn't mean it in a hurtful or offensive way, like I'm not good enough to be her friend. It's more like she takes the word "friendship" very seriously, and we're not at that point yet.    

Later I'm in the car with Happyorganist.  Happyorganist is driving.  I talk to her about the friend thing. I feel weird opening up to Happyorganist, because she's usually the one who does the opening-up in our communications.  She's very sweet and listens well. I still feel nervous about it, though.   

7. Saw that my Australian of the day is Thomas Arndell.  

Arndell was one of the surgeons on the First Fleet.

He was born 1753.  So that means he was around thirty-five when the fleet sailed to Australia.

8. Read more carefully and saw that Arndell was actually a surgeon's assistant on the First Fleet.

9. Learned that Arndell was on the Friendship ship.  

Lord Wiki says the Friendship was one of the smaller First Fleet ships.  It had seventy-six male convicts and twenty-one female convicts.

When the ship reached South Africa, the women were transferred to other ships so there'd be room for livestock animals.

10. Learned that Arndell did hospital work in Parramatta.   It turned out he preferred farming work, though.  So if I'm reading this right, he gave up the surgeon work and put his effort into the land.

He ended up doing work for the government as well, though, and at one point went back to surgeon work.   

I think his life was quite busy and somewhat stressful.  

11. Found a First Fleet website with a page about Thomas Arndell. I find it somewhat more readable than the Australian Dictionary of Biography.  

Oh...never mind.  This one is confusing to me too.

I'm getting, though, that Arndell had a wife back in England. Her name was Susanna.  Together they had seven children but only two survived.

12. Confused...very confused.

Wait...now I get it.

I got lost for a moment.

It turns out four months after Arndell and his wife had their sixth baby, another woman gave birth to his baby.

Wow.

Then I guess he left both women behind when he went off on The First Fleet. When he got to New South Wales, he romanced a convict. They ended up having seven children together.  Before the last was born, the two got married.

13. Learned that Arndell lost a lot of his home and land in a fire.

If I'm understanding this right, the government gave him some jobs to help supplement his pension.   I'm not sure if they did it because they needed his work or if they were trying to give him a boost to get over his difficulties.

Arndell did surgeon work.  He was Justice of the Peace, and he had the responsibility of reporting on the feelings, grievances and happenings of the locals.

14. Learned that Arndell organized flood relief for the community in 1806.

15. Thought these quotes from "Over There" with the Australians were interesting.   

The observation of men in many circumstances of peril has quite convinced me that it is those who are most afraid that do the bravest deeds. 

Further down in the paragraph, R. Hugh Knyvett says

I have ever found that the best scouts, men who must generally work alone in the dark, are those of highly strung nervous temperaments. 

It goes along well with other stuff I've heard and read— that it's not the lack of fear that makes people brave.  It's the confrontation of fears.

16.  Saw that Australia had their first AACTA Awards.  It's for film and television.

Red Dog won for best movie.

Hugo Weaving won an award for Oranges and Sunshine. That's the one where the British kids are tricked into being sent to Australia.

The Slap and Cloudstreet won some TV awards. 

17. Tried to understand the AACTA awards. I consulted Lord Wiki. I'm pretty sure he's saying that the AACTA awards are replacing the AFI awards.  But the AFI is involved with the AACTA.

Okay...yeah.  I see in Lord Wiki's little sidebar.  AFI is AACTA's parent organization.  

18. Went to the AACTA website to see the full list of awards. 

A movie called Snowtown won for best directing, screenplay, editing, and sound.  

19. Started to watch the trailer for Snowtown.



It all seem vaguely familiar to me, but I'm probably thinking of something else.

20. Searched through my blog and found I watched the trailer for Snowtown on May 13, 2011.   

So this time my feeling of familiarity wasn't imagined or confused.

21.  Saw that Offspring was nominated for best television drama, but they lost to East West 101. I think that's the show with Nina's season one boyfriend.  I forgot his name.  

22. Found his name.

It's Don Hany. 

23. Reminded of George W. Bush when I read this part from "Over There" with the Australians.

Every one now knows what Germany stands for and the menace she is to the future of the world if her power is not destroyed, and everyone who does not help to defeat her is an ally of the Kaiser and helping him to win the war.  

There's probably a lot of stuff in Knyvett's book that George W. Bush would agree with. It has his type of belief system.  There's a strong thick line between good and bad, and you're either on the right side or the wrong side.

24. Finished reading "Over There" with the Australians. 

My next Kindle book is Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land: A story of Australian Life

Hopefully I'll like it.

25. Started to read another Robert Drewe book.

This one is called The Drowner.

So far I've just read the prologue.  And like most prologues, I didn't really understand it.

All I know is it has something to do with schizophrenia. 

I'm sure I'll find out more as I read the book.

26. Saw from Amazon.com that The Drowner is a romance involving irrigation.

Interesting.....

27. Read more of The Drowner.

So far I'm bored.

I hope it gets better. 

28. Enjoyed reading the beginning of the Lady Bridget book.

The first few pages were not too exciting except for the description of a property that had a great variety of fruit plants.

Then the woman on the property received a letter.  She started reading the letter which was from Bridget.  The letter is entertaining to me.

I wonder if the whole book will be the letter with the fruit lady's reactions.

That would be interesting.

I'm still relatively bored by The Drowner, but it's getting slightly more interesting.   

29. Intrigued by what is said about the Bridget book's author on Amazon.com.

Australian authoress Rosa Campbell Praed wrote during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She started her writing career by fervently observing the life around her. She also wrote on occult subjects as well as on spirituality.

The Bridget book alludes to the possibility of reincarnation. That surprised me a bit.

I know the belief in reincarnation is very old.  It's not something New Age folks invented. I know spiritualism was big in the last few centuries.  But I'm not really used to seeing non-Christian spirituality mentioned in older novels like this.  

30. Saw that the Bridget book is available to read online, if anyone's interested that doesn't have a Kindle.  

Now I see that the book is divided into three parts. The first part is through the eyes of the fruit lady (Mrs. Gildea), but I guess that also includes the viewpoint of Bridget via her letter.

The second part is told from the point of Bridget.

The third part is told from the point of view of someone named Colin, plus some other people.

31. Noticed that the book was published in 1915.

I associate that period with the Titanic. Although I can't remember the exact year of the sinking.   Maybe it was 1914?

32. Consulted Lord Wiki.  He reminded me that the ship sank in 1912.

He also reminded me that World War I began in 1914.

So the book was published during that whole time—after Titanic and during the war.

33. Looked up Leichardt Town because that's where the Bridget book takes place.

I pictured the book taking place in Queensland probably because of all the fruit.

When I looked up Leichardt, though, I got New South Wales.  Sydney. And now that I think of it, I've seen Leichardt in that context.

There's also a suburb in Ipswitch Queensland called Leichardt.

Maybe I'll learn more as I read more of the book.

Knowing me the book has already indicated the location of Leichardt, and I missed it.

34. Reread some bits.

There's mention of the Leichardt River. According to this government website, that's in north-west Queensland.  

Then Emu Point is mentioned. I Googled that and found one in Western Australia and also one in Queensland.  But it's in South-east Queensland.  

35. Decided I will give up  the geography for now.

Maybe later I'll be less lost.

36. Loved this article about the owner of a Melbourne bus company.

Ken Gendra sold his business for four million. Then he shared some of that money with his two thousand employees.

The man based the bonus amount on each staff member's length of service.

He gave some workers more than $100,000.

That's really cool.

I wonder if they'll keep working for the bus company.  It will have different owners now.  Hopefully, they'll be nice.  

37. Went back to the Triple J countdown.  Song #78 is "History's Door" by Husky.

According to their Triple J Unearthed Page; Husky is a Melbourne band. 

38. Started to watch the video.  



I think it's relatively pleasant; but it doesn't excite me too much at this point.

39. Enjoyed reading part 1 of Diane B's teen years memoirs.   

I highly suggest Diane B's blog to anyone who's a fan of Australia or the 1950's.

She's a great writer and has fabulous photos.

For those who love Australia, but are more interested in modern times than past times, she also has frequent blog posts about her more recent adventures.   

40.  Started to look at Fredweng's day Twenty-Two in Australia Flickr set.

It's a long set, so I'll look at a little today, and then I'll look at more later. 

41. I think this is a neat building. What is it?

The previous photos were from Federation Square, so maybe this is too?

I'm thinking maybe it's a theatre? 

42. Saw that Fredweng went to the Dandenong Ranges National Park.  

How far is that from Melbourne?

43. Looked on Google Maps.   Dandenong Ranges National Park is about an hour east of the Melbourne CBD.    I'm guessing the park might be part of Melbourne. It seems to still be in the city....or really, the suburbs. 

44. Consulted Lord Wiki.  He doesn't see the park as being part of Melbourne.

He says the park has a huge problem with feral cats. They're eating the birds.

Speaking of invasive species....

The other day there was a story about Florida on the Sydney Morning Herald  iGoogle widget. 

Apparently pythons have taken over the Everglades.  How did they get there?   People get pythons as pets; they get tired of them and then release them into the wild. Now there's been a great reduction in wildlife.  The pythons are eating deer, rabbits, foxes, raccoons, etc. They've even eaten alligators.

I do like snakes. But I also really like rabbits.

I'll be sad if there's no more rabbits at Disney World.

Or maybe there'll be MORE rabbits because the rabbits will use Disney World as their place to hide from the snakes.

Until....the snakes follow them there.    

45. Saw that Fredweng went to Sherbrooke Forest, which is in the Dandenong Ranges.

It has a lot of parrots.

That's very cool.

46. Felt envious of the girl in this picture.

That's a beautiful parrot.  

47. Liked this forest photo.  

48. Went to Funtrivia to take another Australia Quiz.  This one is called The Road Less Traveled.

49.  Got question #1 wrong and learned that Australia is the 6th largest country in the world.

My guess was 4th.

Oops.

50.  Learned from Lord Wiki that the 4th largest country is China and the United States.

They're tied.

51. Got question #6 wrong and learned the Pilbera is up north.

I had heard it before. It felt familiar.  I associated it with the west, but the west wasn't a choice.

Then I consulted Lord Wiki, and he said it's part of Western Australia.

So, I think it's a tiny bit unfair that I got the question wrong.

Although if I really knew a lot about the Pilbera, I would have chosen north, because I would have known it was in northern Western Australia.

52. Answered question #7 wrong and learned the north part of Australia, the one near the Gulf of Carpentaria, is called Gulf Country.

53. Saw that song #76 on the triple J countdown is from a Melbourne group Redcoats.

The song is "Dream Shaker".

54. Started watching the video.



I don't really like it.  

Our Pretend Trip to Australia Day 23 Lakes Entrance

Good morning!

Tim and Jack are still sleeping.

I'm trying to decide if I want to take a walk.

Maybe I will...after I write.

I had a funny weird dream last night.

I was walking on the Esplanade.  I think Tim and Jack were there at first.   But then we split up for some reason.    I saw this very cute building.  It was very inviting to me.   I felt compelled to go inside. I had a really good feeling about it.  

It ended up being a preschooler art gallery. I was so excited for some reason. Well, maybe because I love children's art.

Anyway...

The children who made the art were all in the gallery. A lot of them were standing near their art.  Other kids were playing around. They were all very cute.  

I walked around and was thrilled with the work. For some reason, I thought it was so incredibly wonderful.  And I loved that they had this gallery.  I wondered why no other people were visiting. 

I gave compliments to some of the kids about their drawings and paintings. A few of them thanked me.  Others just smiled shyly, but looked happy.

Then after awhile, I wanted to leave.   I wanted to find Jack and Tim. But then suddenly I couldn't find the exit.  I didn't want to ask any of the kids about the exit because I was afraid I'd hurt their feelings.  I was worried that, if I left, they'd think I didn't like their art.

At one point I tripped and fell.  Stuff spilled out of my backpack.  I struggled to get up, but in typical dream fashion I felt like I was in slow motion.  Some of the kids stared at me.  Others completely ignored me.

One kid picked her nose and started wiping the boogers on her forehead. 

I finally got up.  I looked around for an exit.  I couldn't find one, but I didn't panic. I figured I'd find a way out eventually.

I decided to do more painting admiring.   I went up to one little girl who was standing next to a painting of a drawing of a dingo.  I thought it was quite an advanced drawing for someone her age.   I said something like, I see you've made a dingo.

The little girl glared at me with intense anger. Then she started screaming at me and crying.   She cried, It's not a dingo.  It's a dog!

She then jumped in front of the drawing and blocked my view of it.  She said, Don't look at my picture!  Don't look at any of my pictures.  You're a liar!

I averted my eyes from her picture and then saw what I had been looking for before....an exit.

I waved good-bye to the other kids.  They didn't wave back.

I went outside.   Then I saw Charlie from Lost.   He was buskering.  But instead of playing his guitar; he was playing "Xanadu" with a pan flute.  When he finished I went up to him and told him I liked the peanut butter scene.

He smiled and said he had no peanut butter for me; but he did have some jam.  He reached into his bag.  I expected an empty jar, but it wasn't. It was real jam.

* * *

Now I have a taste for jam.

We still have some of the Finger Lime Marmalade.

Maybe I'll have toast today instead of cereal.

* * *

I just remembered that we don't have butter or margarine.

Oh well.  That's fine.

I'll just have the marmalade.

I'm not going to eat now, though. I'll wait for Tim and Jack.

I'm going to take a walk.

* * *

I changed my mind about the walk.

It's cold.

I think I'll stay inside.

* * *

I changed my mind about staying inside.

It's not THAT cold.

I grabbed a jacket and went out.

I'm glad I did.

I heard a Kookaburra!

That was fun.

I didn't go far.

I just walked around the holiday park.

I didn't see anyone else.

I was kind of glad. I wasn't in the mood to be friendly.  I mean I'm not in a bad mood or a snobby mood.  I'm just a in a solitary mood.

* * *

I fell back asleep and dreamed that Sims 3 added an expansion pack that had the Sydney Opera House in it.  It was pretty cool.

* * *

Tim and Jack are sleeping still.

I think I'll go for another walk.    

* * *

I walked to the footbridge that leads to the beach.  But I didn't walk across the footbridge.

I was tired of walking alone and figured we'd do a lot of walking together today.

When I got back to the room, Tim and Jack were both awake.

We all ate toast with marmalade.

Jack is playing Mario Kart on his Nintendo 3DS.

Tim is watching a cooking thing on TV.  They're making something with goat cheese, tomatoes, eggs, and other stuff.

* * *

We walked to the beach.

It was nice walking across the footbridge.

The area's not that crowded because the holidays are over.

We didn't swim because it's kind of too cold.

Tim and Jack built a sandcastle together.

I read my book while walking on the sand.

We put our feet in the water.

For some reason I kept having the urge to sing the suitcase song from Evita.

And, well, I gave into that urge.

Now we're back in the cabin eating leftover stir fry.

It's raining.

When it stops, we might go get some ice-cream.

For dinner we're going to eat some frozen meals that we bought. We're leaving tomorrow, so if we don't eat them tonight, they'll go to waste.

* * *

The day is done...almost.

There's not much to report really.

We ate.

We walked around.

We watched TV.

We went on the internet.

We relaxed.

It was pretty low key.  

* * *

I totally wouldn't mind living in an Australia beach town.




 NOTE:  This trip journal is fictional.   We are not really in Australia.  Some stuff in these posts are based on research.  Some stuff is based on my reality.  Some stuff is based on past experiences. And some stuff is based on fantasy.   

The non-trip journal posts ARE true and real…except for my dreams (which are written in purple). 
Oh...and also....my 2009 trip reports are about a real trip to Australia.  That's all true too.