Day 195 (Melbourne, Penshurst, Rainbow Serpent, Tasmania)

It’s 10 AM on a brisk Thursday morning in March. I sleepily pour a steaming hot cup of (instant) coffee and sit down at the table in the massive space that serves as our kitchen and common room. Staring out the floor-to-ceiling sized windows past the apartment’s impressive balcony, I take in the incredible panorama of inner city Melbourne from the 17th floor of number 8 Downie Street. This view will never ever get old! As the sun slowly breaks through the cloud cover and the distant sounds of speeding racecars from the Australian Grand Prix reaches me from somewhere far below, I attempt to rewind and recount what’s happened since my last ‘confession’.

Two months have passed between now and my last update, and it’s safe to say that the last 60 days have flown by faster than any other stretch of time since I started my journey last year. Not entirely surprising, as time does tend to fly when you’re having fun (also, working full time might have had a certain influence on my perception of the passage of time).

Three weeks into the job, I temporarily substituted my title as Fundraising Team Leader for Affinity Social Enterprise with a 4-day stint working at a first aid station at the infamous Rainbow Serpent Festival near Lexton - located in the spectacular Victorian bush a few hours west of Melbourne. After hitching a ride to the festival grounds with a topless, bald, lesbian, vagina-tattooed, crystal therapy-certified mushroom fetishist hippie, I knew instantly that I was in for a rare treat! I can best describe the festival vibe as an alternative, miniature version of Danish Roskilde; except with a lot more chakra healing, organic permaculture workshops, ten times the hardcore drugs and exclusively 24-hour a day nonstop psychedelic trance music. Needless to say, I had my hands full making sure no acid tripping hippies got lost in the bush or died from Ketamine overdoses, heat strokes, epileptic seizures, twisted ankles or blistered feet. In between shifts and cleaning wounds, calling ambulances and restraining rampaging ravers on multiday benders - armed with a couple of boxes of goon and a pathetic, dingy and highly makeshift tent - I did manage to take part in my own share of the somewhat surreal psytrance festivities. Clocking out after four days in the bush, I was more than ready for a proper bed and a desperately necessary shower!

Back in civilization and another week into my fundraising gig, February kicked off with a much needed reprieve from a schedule far removed from the pace of backpacker life to which I had become accustomed (addicted?) before reaching Melbs. As Sarah flew into town (back to traveling after wrapping stuff up in Boston for a few weeks) and Tom took over my cot at Kara’s, we partnered up and relocated to Heidelberg Heights for a couple of days of AirBnB accommodation at Casa Mo. An interesting experience altogether dominated by our host’s absolutely overpowering ego and incessant, one-sided monologue (‘the world according to Mo and other indisputable facts’) revolving around everything and (mostly) nothing at all. 

After a few days of catching up, and catching a glimpse of the city from a northern suburbs vantage point, Sarah and I ventured far into Western Victoria to spend a week with Bill, Viv, Black Cat and Jess the dachshund in absolutely idyllic Penshurst near Hamilton and Warnambool. We’d volunteered to help out at the charming Stonefield Estate vineyard, helping prepare the grapevines, watering plants, cutting hedges and looking after the animals (cows, geese, peacocks, cat and dog).

After a few days of pleasant household duties, awesome barbeques and gratuitous amounts of locally grown red and white (which, incidentally, doesn’t go well in hand with attempting to catch a gimp-legged goose), we were left to simply housesit the estate while Bill and Viv went on an annual festival trip to the Grampians. Miles and miles away from everything and everyone, it’s hard to imagine a more peaceful place (once a solid truce had been established with the swarm of resident huntsman spiders) or a more magnificent night sky. As icing on the cake, Viv left behind her classy 1990 Ford Capri Convertible for us to cruise the Great Ocean Road and visit Port Fairy when a change of scenery was needed.

Having shifted down a couple of gears at the vineyard, returning to Melbourne and full time work was a rude awakening. Some intensive job training over goon and a bit of bus ride pitch practice later, Sarah was somewhat prepared to test her mettle as a fundraising doorknocker (I’d say the training went well, as it only took her about a week to be outperforming everyone at the company, myself included). Subsequently, a couple of pints with the manager upon reaching the city set the both of us up for the next 4 weeks of work with a combined 3 days off in between. Bunking over at ever helpful (read: life saving) Shane and Cate’s, the first week went by in a blur. All of a sudden, we found ourselves on a company paid flight to Hobart, Tasmania, for two full weeks of nonstop fundraising on the road.

A 12-bed hostel room is an interesting HQ for any sort of business venture. And with ten-hour work shifts, recruitment in the evening, peculiar parking facilities that required me to move our rental car 5 times a day, Asian kids in animal onesies cooking cup noodles in the room at 3 AM and similar backpacker life shenanigans as a lively backdrop for the job, we were hardly short on dull moments in Tassie. Hobart is a very pretty city, and if not for the ongoing exodus of most of the population below the age of 40, the spectacular views and extraordinary housing prices would make it a rather appealing place to live. There might be something to be said for the standing joke in Australia that Tasmanians are two-headed inbreds, though, as many of the locals we came across were a little… odd. However, plenty of friendly people among them, an intriguing visit to MONA and the Tasmanian Supreme Court, some extremely successful fundraising work and several excellent nights out in Hobart made the trip very enjoyable, albeit a tad exhausting.

Upon our return to Melbourne, first on the agenda was finding a proper place to live. We stayed for two nights at the boss’ house before Jamie (an awesome ‘lonesome spaceman’ I met at Rainbow Serpent) hosted us for a few days while we went apartment hunting. With a sauna, swimming pool, gym, massive balcony, central downtown location, 17th floor view of the city, friendly Asian housemates and no more than a month’s required commitment, it didn’t take us more than half a day of scoping out places before we unanimously agreed on our new home! Finally unpacking my backpack for the first time in 6 months was a very special moment – and the fact that this apartment is easily the coolest place I have ever called home isn’t curbing my enthusiasm.

All moved in, a champagne glass in hand overlooking the city night sky from the balcony, we quickly decided that we’d paid our dues to charity for now (156.000 Australian dollars raised between the two of us to be exact!), and that for the moment, two and a half months of fulltime work is plenty of time taken out of my backpacking itinerary.

Thus refocused and accommodation situation sorted, we turn our attention to getting the most out of Melbourne and the surrounding area while we’re here (many activities have been inaccessible while working 10 AM to 9 PM shifts 6 days a week), and to planning the next leg of our journey.

The agenda for the coming months is still in production, but so far the idea is to stay put until April 5 when the lease on the apartment is up, and from there begin our road trip up north, with Cairns (and a detour into the outback proper) as our ultimate goal.

From there, the ideal next step is New Zealand – to be continued!

Pictures, Melbourne (continued): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152514046452262.1073741856.649632261&type=1&l=359e975fab

Pictures, Rainbow Serpent: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152514054767262.1073741857.649632261&type=1&l=be721453bb

Pictures, Penshurst: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152514059477262.1073741858.649632261&type=1&l=e94a8dc5af

Pictures, Tasmania: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152514065092262.1073741859.649632261&type=1&l=d4fef6398f