06.03.10

Yesterday we slept in the best we could. Lets just say that it will take some time to get used to sleeping on the hard ground all the time.
We woke up and took the bus back into the city. We just walked around and ended up running into a small farmers market. It was wonderful because there were all these fresh products and produce, and almost every single stand was giving out samples! We munched on muesli, peanuts, every kind of fruit you can think of, pates, popcorn, and even a variety of brownies. We ended up buying some fruit and kept on walking.
Turns out, the farmers market was attached to a large shopping district. I ended up grabbing a cheap pair of flip-flops and we ran into the grocery store for some items we could take back to the tent. We headed back to the campground just before dark, munched on a few pears, and then took the train back into the city to see Sex and the City 2.
The movie was excellent, so dont listen to the reviews! Unfortunately, we got out of the movie too late and missed the last buses and trains back home. We had to spend 30 bucks on a taxi, for fear we would never find our way back if we walked. That and it was one in the morning. We got back safely though, and went straight to sleep.
We had to be up early to check out of the camping park. Our plans for tonight were lined up for our first couch-surfing experience.
Couchsurfing.com is a massive backpacking community. It was put together a while ago as a way for other backpackers to stay in communication while traveling, and for them to offer their spare couch, or bed room to other travelers when they werent on the road.
Its funny when we see other backpackers now. It seems as though you click with them immediately on some strange medium that other people dont understand. Its like a secret club we are apart of, and we are all different people, from different places from around the world, all brought together by the same crazy idea. Its pretty neat!
Well, Tonight we had arranged to stay at our first couch surfing experience. The girl we had originally been talking to, ended up getting sick and had to cancel. Luckily we had some other people that we had talked to a few days earlier, and on our walk back to the train station, we get a call from Tony. He says that he has had a cancellation for the night and that we could stay with him if we wanted! Strange how things work out.
We had read his profile and all the referrals of backpackers that had stayed with him prior to us. How can you ever be completely comfortable though? I guess its all apart of the adaptation.
Anyways, on the way to his home, he told us all about how he likes to show people the real Aussie way of life. Having stayed with Len and Jen for so long, we figured that we had a pretty good idea of the Aussie life. But according to Tony, we were totally wrong!
You could tell he loved music from the minute you walked in. He had posters of his favorite bands all over the walls, along with piles of CDs and records. The first thing he did was bring us a beer and we started chatting. We were either calls for celebration or this was his nightly routine, but a few neighbors came by and helped Tony take down a bottle of rum and more beers. John and I only drank the first beer and insisted on sobriety for the rest of the night.
I hate being a stick in the mud, but everyone was smoking in the house and it was making my eyes so itchy. Not to mention that I couldnt breath. John can handle it, but I cant. I just shuffled off to bed instead. John stayed up with everyone for a while and they must have been having a good time because I could hear them laughing all night long.
I cant lie though, I was scared at first. Who wouldnt be? Unfortunately, everyone is a bad guy when you are traveling like we are. You cant help but be on your guard, and assume everyone is out to get-ya. We cant afford to loose any of the few possessions we have. But as the night went on, we came to realize that Tony and his friends were totally awesome. Tony is the father of 5 handsome boys, has two insanely adorable dogs, and a rather chatty cockatoo. He is a real cool dude and had a lot of great things to offer as far as advice for traveling, life stories, and past experiences. We hope to stay in touch with him and his neighbors as we move forward.
We both curled up in our sleeping bags and past out. The mattress was far from amazing, but man was it better then sleeping on the ground! We are thankful for that, and thankful that we made it through our first couch surfing experience! Thanks Tony.youre the man!
Not knowing exactly how to get back to the train station, we just started to walk. On our way, we got offered a ride by a local Aussie-Asian. Now, we wouldnt normally except rides from strangers, but for some reason, we excepted. He said that he is just trying to do some good in the world and cant stand seeing people (like us) walk. He told us about how he breeds fish, and has a lazy-labor gene because all he has are two girlsno boys. It was interested in hear him talk about how living in a freedom country makes it hard to control your kids. He said its a good thing because you are free, but it is bad because you cant keep your kids in line. The things we take for granted! He is a happy man who was even more happy to have given us a lift. The best part of the ride was that this man, by at least my standards, had the most stereotypical Australian accent I have heard yet! Everyone else sounds more British, or they are so Bogan that they use slang that you cant understand anyways. But this man; his accent sounds like it does when you think of Australia. He had the accent that they use in all the American movies with Aussies in it and he was Asian! I loved it!
We dropped us off at the train station that would have taken us an hour (or more) to walk to. We gave him a card, and thanked him for the ride.
While we waited for the train, I admitted to John that I was kind a scared, but John said something so important We need to start realizing that there is more good in this world then not....and he is right.