Sunday, February 22, 2009

Oh Adelaide.

My 10 1/2 hour train ride from Melbourne to Adelaide proved to be very....boring. But it's about the experience, right?

Nah. Last time I'll be doing that.

I got to the train station with 20 minutes to spare, which was NOT a good idea with my hurt ankle. I had to hobble quite a bit and it didn't feel pretty. As I approached my seat, I found a cute guy sitting next to me.

SCORE.

Turns out he was from Switzerland and had no interest in talking with me. Or maybe I didn't feel like talking. Who knows.

The train was...an experience. The crew loved to get on that damn intercom to let us know about the approaching town. It was rather annoying, but I understood that the other passengers were excited about it. Or some gay stuff.

Oh. Did I mention the other passengers were all retirees? Yup. I felt like I was back in Florida. There was one couple from the States -- never got a chance to ask them where abouts, but they were asking all the Adelaide natives where to go. Cute.

About an hour into the ride, I got up to find a "powerpoint" -- i.e. a plug. I found several in the cafe area, but I quickly discovered that my power outlet is completely shot. Due to the stress of using an adapter, it's become worn and tired. Looks like I'll have to be buying a new one.

Go. Me.

So, I retired back to my seat and watched the farmlands fly by me.

I did see Giraffes from a zoo.

And the Murray Bridge.

The end.

Finally, the train ride was over. I called up my friend Nellie, remember her? She was in Adelaide for a few days in between WWOOFing experiences. She actually was able to go to Kangaroo Island and WWOOF there, but she said she felt trapped and the head guy was really quite the jerk. I think she was there a few days too long though. But, thus is life.

We were going to try to meet up, but I got in at 6:30pm and her bus left at 8pm. With my sprained ankle and tons of luggage, there just was no way we could see each other. Le sigh. But we vouched that we will run into each other, even if our lives depend on it.

Okay. Not that severe.

I hopped a smoked-infested taxi to my WWOOF arrangements.

Cost me a grand total of $22.60. WTF. Thanks for the ride, host.

But after arriving to her beach bungalow, which literally is on the beach, I forgot the money pains.

She happened to be coming outside, so we met on the veranda. Ha! I just had to use that word. Okay, the porch.

Guys. I couldn't even get onto the sidewalk without her help. How pathetic. The weight of the bag and my sprained ankle was just too much to handle. If I had done it on my own, I would've fallen over for sure.

Damn. That would've been a really good picture tho.

She welcomed me inside and her boyfriend/husband/lover/pimp took me on a tour of the hizzy. They showed me the "tv lounge" I'd be staying in. The toilet that was literally a toilet in a room. The shower that's located next to the kitchen and in the laundry room. And that was all I was allowed to see.

I also met their Japanese exchange student. Her name is A-yeah or at least pronounced that way. They call her Princess Ahya. I guess because of Princess Leia. Whatever. It don't matter. I feel like I'm sleeping next door to the grudge *shivers* She barely speaks English and apparently cried for the first week of being here. She tried an olive and made some really strange noises. Needless to say, she didn't like it.

Anyway. We had a few beers on the porch, watching the sun SET. Yes. I said set. On the water.

HELLO WEST COAST.

What a magical thing. I've always seen the sunrise over the ocean, but no -- sunset. Hardly. And this was no different. It was a spectacular view. Something I will always have etched in my mind. Gorgeous.

Then we went inside, had some spicy curry vegetarian dish (which I enjoyed a lot) and watched a crap movie called Silver City. I don't know. I thought it sucked.

The best part of the evening was meeting her daughter Scarlett. This kid hates her mom. It's really sad. But she's also 15, so I think it's an age thing. But the kicker. Being it was Saturday night, the boyfriend of Miss Scarlett was spending the night. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??!?

My parents would NEVER let my b/f spend the night at the age of 15. That was insane. But hey -- we're in Australia. Rules don't apply, obviously.

The next morning I arose around 9am. Whoa. Late sleeper. Barbara, the WWOOF host, had just gotten back from taking a walk on the beach and decided to go for a swim. When she came back, she showed me the linen closet and asked me to re-arrange everything. Sweet.

Once I was done with that, I was to clean....

The Bathroom.

BASTARDS! How nasty! Of course, I did a really good job, or so I thought and she came behind me and pointed out the spots I should..."go over again."

Why don't you just give me a toothbrush and ask me to scrub the grout on my knees?!?!

She did.

After that fiasco, she asked me to dust her bedroom and sweep, mop the floors. As I was cleaned her room of luxury, I noticed a picture on the wall. It was of a naked woman in a downward dog pose with a little naked kid right underneath her. I'm guessin this is Barbara and her daughter. It was bizarre and I looked away immediately.

Freaks.

After that debacle, I took a shower and then contemplated the rest of my day. As I finished getting dressed, the PIMP daddy handed me a sudoku puzzle and told me to figure it out. Then left to go to the pub to get a beer.

Nice one. I, of course, took one look at the puzzle, finished one square then thought F this..I'm out. Hobble and all.

I hobbled myself up to the square where I found a ton of restaurants/bars waiting to feed me alcohol. I walked into one pub and quickly walked out. There was a live band (sweet), but it was filled with old people who were dressed like they were 17. One lady even had a wig -- a long blond wig -- and she had to be 70 years old. Frightening.

I went over to a place called Evida, which overlooked the ocean and got a nice glass of house Riesling. It was $3.90. Um. Yes, please.

I sat there for quite sometime thinking about the day's activities. There was a family next to me eating dinner who must've had a foreign exchange student living with them. I noticed the 10 year old daughter just hugging on her dad.

That didn't make me feel very good. It actually really broke my heart in more than one way. Not the time to go into it, but a tear was shed, for sure.

Moving on. I met this guy named Peter who offered to take me to some cool places in Adelaide. I figured, why the hell not, so we hopped in his car (after shaking hands to not murder one another) and before I knew it, we were in Glenelg -- a famous beach in Adelaide.

Glenelg's Old Townhall.

And by famous, I mean well-known or the beach to go to. We sat and had coffee on the ocean as we chatted about life's little mishaps. As we chatted, I noticed the sun was about to set again and of course, being the neurotic girl that I am, I asked if we could go watch it as it fell. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted to do so.

Spectacular or what?

Afterwards, we hobbled our way through the massive groups of people and went to see a great sight. The whole city of Adelaide.

How awesome, eh?

It was about 9pm at this time and I was starving. So we stopped at this truck stop to get some infamous meat pies.

EW.

I actually had a chicken pie, which was just like a chicken pot pie. And the factory that makes all of these, is attached to the restaurant. Couldn't get 'em any fresher. That was an experience to say the least.

He dropped me off at my WWOOF host's house and I found them finishing off that terrible movie. We hadn't finished it before because there was an awful noise coming from the television. Everyone went to bed and I tried to fall asleep with the light on.

Two things. Their cat was meowing it's head off from outside wanting in. So, of course I left her in and she just purred and purred rubbing herself against me.

Awwww. Made me miss my Charcoaly. Turns out in the morning, the hosts found half a dead mouse on the porch. She was trying to show them her prize. I told Barbara that she was meowing away last night and she thanked me for not letting her in. Whoops. Haha.

Second thing. There was a HUGE Huntsman spider on the ceiling that threatened to kill me while I slept. When I awoke in the morning, he was nowhere to be found.

Perfect. Just perfect.

This morning SUCKED worse than yesterday. Host lady had me sweep the front porch, the pathway to the backyard (which was FILLED with leaves), weed her garden, vacuum the floors, mop the floors, clean the kitchen cabinets and fridge and I was supposed to dust, but HA! I fooled her!

See. I can pretend to be happy.

As I was sweeping the pathway, listening to my ipod, rocking out, I looked up and found a MASSIVE spider just chillin.

And by looked up, I mean we were face to face. Eye to eyes. And I wasn't a happy camper. I stopped my job right there. They can clean up the rest, damnit.

After all of that, I literally did nothing. I sat in their hammock in the front of their house, watching the waves crash ferociously into the sand. It was crazy windy and quite the sight.

I took a shower and here I am now. Writing this blog. Took me awhile too. I had a lot to cover for such a boring, little town.

I leave hella early in the am. Hella early. 6:30am to be exact. I have to get another damn cab, which will be at the house at 5:15. The airport is literally right up the road, so that's nice. Other than that -- that sucks. I'll be calling my mom since I'll have nothing better to do in the airport.

Off to Perth, everybody. And to meet Danny Lietz's good friend, George. Before you know it, you'll be reading a post about me meeting my "Grandfather."

WTF.

Goodbye, my little Adelaide. I actually enjoyed this city. Everyone says it's boring, but I had a good time. Like they say -- it's all about the people you're with. Those hosts can bugger off.

4 comments:

SamG said...

Probably leaving the cleanest toilet in town. I'm really enjoying your adventures.

XX
Sam

kaymasen said...

boyfriend/husband/lover/pimp

HILARIOUS. SRSLY. apparently he's pimping out the daughter, too. How LAX is that? and the downward dog naked daughter baby stuff? EW. just EW. hopefully seeing your grandpappy will make those moments a little less... hmmm. i don't know. But I am looking forward to your Perth adventures!

RJ said...

i'll be honest imma little confused right now...why are you somebodys servant again. and why did you make friends with a banana spider?? beach looks nice. hey i forgot and my email on this stupid thing isnt workin . when you comin back?

RJ said...

ok so i take it back i can get emails now to my phone girl so hit a crack up !!!