Lunchtime Quickie

Just a quick blurb to update you on what I'm doing and where I am. I started my tour on Monday, bright and early at 7am. Staying five doors down from the hostel was a brilliant idea and I'm glad I did it. I quickly earned a new nickname, Cracky, from my tour guide for the first three days, as I commented on the Red Bull he was having for breakfast as being crack water....from there on out I became Cracky. He was without a doubt the most hilarious tour guide, not to mention it was the first time that I got to listen to an Aussie accent for an extended period. *Closes eyes and grins* We discovered that I was a couch potato during his driving game with the same name, and I won a bottle of wine for dinner, which quickly led to five butterscotch schnapps shots, a few beers, and we'll just leave the rest as being history. Unfortunately Wilsons Prom burnt down, so he had to create some alternative activities for us. We did a bit of wine tasting, went to the beach for a bit, and I then embraced some girlie drinks followed by a bottle of So Co (yes, Wes, it has been quite some time since I had So Co, but I polished it off quite nicely). We had to wake at 6am the next day and we were on our way for the final day with Stinger (his nickname). He took us to see a seal colony and to a marine education site, which was indeed quite educatioal since the original plan was foiled due to the existing conditions. We were only a small group of ten (we started out 12, but they dipped after Parliament House in Canberra). Canberra is not a very entertaining city, despite it being Australia's capitol, but I still enjoyed hearing about the history and politics. On a side note, it was an American who actually won a contest in his design plan for the city, and it has a very American feel to it compared to the rest of the country. The weather was not kind to us on this portion of the trip (the first three days), but it was still a quite an entertaining time.

I began the Melbourne (pronounced Melbin) to Adelaide leg of my tour yesterday, and really wish I'd been to stay in Melbourne for a few extra days. It is quite a nice place, and actually seemed more inviting in things to do than Sydney. *sigh* I'll just have to come back to this part of the world! We just completed the Great Ocean Road leg of this portion of my tour, and it was absolutely spectacular! Despite it being cloudy and rainy (we are at the end of summer and start of autumn now), they were absolutely fantastic sights to say the least. I have my ticket lined up for Perth, but might leave a bit early to meet up with a guy I met on my surf tour, Xavier (a Maori who lives Port Douglas and has a security company which has served major actors and stars to presidents). This means only three days in Perth and a day early for my Cairns tour, so we shall see if it works out. Anyhow, that is what I will be doing, not what I am doing. I have to say that I'm glad I kept a few warm things as it's kind of cold here. Last night we saw the Twelve Apostles (absolutely phenomenal, even in the rain--I think it made it better, actually) it it was quite windy and cold. Well, that's just a quick schpeal on what I've been doing. I must go now as I've only a few minutes before we depart for the Grampians.