Long Journey Down a Short Road

ODO 100 000! Woo hoo!


Last writing was in Carnarvon, and in the scheme of things I'm just down the road. To get here, though, required an arduous journey, some serious problem solving and a return to 'civilisation' as I know it.

I'm in Geraldton at the moment, and it feels like I've popped back into civilisatiom from an extended soujourn in the wilderness. It's not the town itself as much as the area. My road atlas has stopped showing bowser symbols to indicate where fuel is available. Roads go up, over and around hills (yes, hills!), not just through them or past them. I haven't found any twisty roads yet, but I can tell they're here somewhere. I got to Northampton 50km to the north and realised I hadn't been in anything which felt like a 'country town' since leaving the East Coast. The place was hauntingly familiar. And the roads network all over the place - not just along straight lines built to get roadtrains between mines or cattle stations. So I can go touring again

Getting here involved leaving Carnarvon - easy enough, except my battery was dead. I knew why - I'd left the lap top on to charge too long. It was a hard thing to push start, and when I got there, I discovered a much bigger problem. The faint fuel aroma I'd been sensing wasn't my imagination, or fuel soacked into the paint of the tank. That aroma, moreover, had developed into a fountain of flammable liquid pouring out of gashes in my fuel hoses.

As it turns out then, Plan A (camp out back of town) fell through, in favour of Plan B (hostel). Carnarvon Backpackers - you can see what you mean when the visinfo centre says they "can't recommend it." But I have to say I liked the place. Not instantly, but it grew on me. It was small, and it really was like a family there - albeit a disgrunted and disfunctional one. More expensive than illegal camping, but it had its charms.

It also meant late Friday night a work opportunity popped up - for first thing Saturday. It meant I couldn't track down fuel hose, but bugger it - I might not get the chance to do any picking anywhere else, and it would pay for the extra time needed in town.

Just so you know, picking pumpkins with a bad back is a bad idea. Doing so without gloves is masochistic. The day wasn't actually that hard, thanks to an unexpectedly cool day (20-25! perfect!). My hands and body are still recovering, though.

The next day disappeared like a flash, due partly to residual tiredness and apathy and partly to a bit of noise polution (three snorers out of four roomates - what a ratio!). Which is probably all the better - Dani Pedrosa winning the Valencia GP didn't do my wallet any favours. A day, therefore, I'm glad to forget.

It somehow took most of Monday to pack up, prepare and fit some newly sourced fuel hoses (with a bit of re-routing ingenuity!), only to discover the 'real' problem wasn't the worst of it! The battery was dead, drop dead. Push starting failed dismally (the guy who offered to help had a burning desire to push it to the right... I was happy he offered to jump start it instead before we dropped it), and I thought the jump had done the trick. The battery might have been dead flat, but once running I was away. One little click, though... - the front brake lever turns on the brake lights, and the brake lights alone were too much for the battery.

By a long process (having discovered my multimeter was dead), I concluded the battery was cactus. The local bike shop couldn't replace it - not for two days, and at an absurd cost (dangerous goods express delivery... and of course, country pricing), but he suggested I rock up and he'd see what he could do. I think he was very optimistic in thinking the second hand battery could get me out of trouble (I didn't even know a 12V battery could be stable with such little juice!), but with my original on charge overnight there was hope yet. It charged fine, and in the end started the bike without much of an issue - that of course was the easy part. I still had at least 1 fuel stop until Geraldton. I did sit down to do what I really should have checked already (not that I had much chance), only to confirm that No, it was NOT charging properly!

So off I went, cactus battery, not charging properly - but dammit I was over Carnarvon. It was Gero or Bust.

Three kilometres down the road yet another problem raised its ugly head. The thing just wouldn't run right around cruising revs. Pulled over to check the obvious (a dodgy job meant brand new leaking fuel hoses), but no, we were dry. Just coughing and spluttering. 100m down the road though... problem solved! Perhaps.

At least, I thought to myself, the road between Carnarvon and Geraldton is straight - if there's a serious throttle problem I won't notice it (unless the bike stops running). And I sure as hell wasn't busted yet (please at least get out of Carnarvon!). So, off I went, again.

I didn't notice much, thankfully, for the 200 odd kms to the roadhouse. Neither trees, nor animals, nor flowers, nor bike issues. No news, was good news - and I was well on the way.

I did notice though, that the bike's engine breaking was reduced... and idle speed was 500rpm higher? But she was charging - like a one legged bull - and would have enough to keep going.

So what did I do? Took a detour to Denham!

Too much straight stuff here, and after all I was here to look around.

Through a stroke of genius, from Denham I managed to get a second hand regulator posted from Perth, to Geraldton. Now I really had no excuse not to take my time - it would be in tomorrow.

The next day I was still going (and still starting - just!), when I talked myself into the turnoff to Kalbarri - it was only one more stop, after all! And well worth the detour - some absolutely fantastic flowers, though past their peak, beautiful scenery, and a fabulous little seaside tourist town down by the ocean - and you know what, they actually have surf here! Big turqoise waves rolling in off the Indian Ocean and crashing onto the shore! I really can't remember when I last saw those - I think it might even be NSW.

A bit of a coastal meander (a pleasantly chilly sea breeze too!), and all of a sudden I was in Northampton, wondering how I'd gotten back to NSW without seeing the SA border. I didn't dare stop, and rolled into Geraldton not too long after that. Mail was in - and soon enough so was my new regulator, with a bit of creatively dodgy rewiring.

And you knwo what? The bike wouldn't start : )

Hell of a lot of pushing later and we had a purring engine once more - and, it seemed, one that was charging the battery as well!

May the rest be history.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com

News - Onto the Long Way Down

I look back and think off all the things that I've done and it seems I have a lot to talk about - but at the same time I don't feel that I have anything to say. So, generic news it is!

I'm in Katherine at the moment - my rear tyre is finally being changed, way-way overdue. I was in Kath around two weeks ago, from which I headed north to Darwin. Darwin didn't offer that much charm, not that I could pick up... the hostels were exxy, and there isn't much to do that doesn't involve spending money. Frankly, Darwin feels like Sydney, but slow and tiny. Too tiny to offer any of Sydney's advantages. Oh, and hot, of course, don't forget the build-up weather!

I wandered down through Kakadu, quite a nice area - and once again quiet. I think everyone is waiting for the rain to hit! Saw some birds, and some interesting rock formations at Ubirr. The free park-ranger talks at various sites were pretty good, and offered a good extra level of experience to the sites, and a window into the Aboriginal history of the area. Aboriginal/Nat Parks collaboration in the NT works really well.

I had picked up a commitment to return to Darwin for the next Monday to do that volunteer work - I ended up shelving plans to hang around Daly river and returned to Darwin for the weekend, primarily to catch the MotoGP. My justification for the expense of returning to town was the opportunity to earn a few dollars wagering on the GP, and that I duly did (after a disasterous qualifying result, and race nerve-wracking if not otherwise exciting).

The week of volunteer work was good, though it didn't necessarily tick the boxes I had hoped. It was mid-way between a good week's work and an eco-tour, but without offering the full benefits of either. It was a good week's relaxing, and the good company of the rest of the crew was a bonus, it was also really good to get the work done and have something to stand back and look at. But it was much too relaxed to offer the busy occupation of a working week, nor the constant activity of a tour. A good holiday week (in luxury I'm not used to), except - I'm on a five month holiday as it is, and normally doing nothing is free!

So arriving at the weekend I don't need to kick back and relax - quite the opposite. I'm weighing up the various 'cultural' tours as they pop up, and thinking about where down the road I might be able to line up some work (I'll give Broome a shot). Once in Broome I can scale back the pace of travel another step - while Broome isn't out of range of the wet, as long as I have tarred road ahead of me I'm not that scared of the prospect.

Next time I'm hit with something worth writing about I promise I will.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com

Work update: 'Expression of Interest'

I have news!

Firstly, I will be leaving Sydney next Thursday - it has gotten to the point where I may as well hang around in Sydney till my sister gets back from overseas.

I have also been offered a job with the Victorian Auditor General's Office (VAGO), as a Performance Audit officer/analyst. Their GRAD Scheme starts in February next year, in Melbourne of course. I haven't said yes, but I will, so as long as my second reference doesn't stab me in the back I will have a job to start in the new year. Huzzah for that!

So this trip, really is a departure - my return home won't be to the home I am departing. And it really is a holiday! Not just an extension of an uncertain future.


Curl Curl - there are upsides to the home I am departing, like the location I am writing this entry from...








The blog, I might add, I am thinking will change a little bit (but who knows exactly what the future will hold). I will present here many more stories of the motorcycling aspect of the journey - an aspect which previously had been largely removed from other activities, but on the road with just the bike will be integral, rather than additional. So, you'll be missing out on much less by not following the motoblog, and have a much more exciting and complete picture here.

I love being the bearer of good news!

Over and out.


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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
www.jsbaxter.com.au

Another buoy on the waves of time

Hello there fellow travellers on the changing seas of the wide wild world,

I am here to report that nothing has changed - or in other words, that everything is changing (as usual). And as yet, no epiphany.

A few small insights, though. I had considered quite seriously looking at using my free time in the last half of the year to take up distance education. I thought long and hard about this proposterous possibility before realising that my desire to ruin my holiday with 'productivity' was just Sydney seeping back into my pores - or perhaps my relationship with her, rather than the town itself. Thinking about it, the misguided productivity urge is doing a lot of bad even now... but that's a long story in time and motivation management that I won't bore you with.

The employment situation is coming along a bit. Final round interviews with Willis weren't enough to get me past the hurdle of my relative inexperience. It was a touch sad that an initial-screening aspect to my candidature lost out over otherwise exemplary feedback on my application.

But that's okay. I've just had four final-round interviews with employers all more appealing. Quantium in Sydney want immediate start analysts (insurance and marketing). I was a little intimidated by the backgrounds and experience of the actuaries (statistical and financial mathematics postgrad students too) in my group interview on Friday - and surprised by the strength of the people and talking skills they all showed. But that's okay - I was there for a reason, and I am not one to judge my relative value. It would be a very positive endorsement for me to be offered a position.

A few Victorian Government departments also wanted to speak to me earlier in the week. There was room for improvement in all the interviews (I think I addressed a point or two on Friday), but nevertheless they went well, and every position sounds like a good opportunity so far.

Looking forward, I expect that securing one of the latter three would mean travelling this year, VPS GRAD Scheme next year, then (probably) postgrad study in a technical discipline (e.g. applied or financial stats) and on-the-job training in stats work (SPSS or SAS) for a couple more years. That would mean a strong background to provide a broad range of options and a good timeframe after which be able to make a change and pursue one of those.

There are still many questions to answer, but proceedings are positive.

It was good to need to pop down to Melbourne for a few days for the interviews. Be reaquainted with the old town and a friend or two. It is perhaps a little odd that I never get homesick - but that I do feel a touch of away-from-homesick for Melbourne. There may be extenuating factors... but it still seems strange.

In other timespans of future orientation, I'm on the cusp of departing Sydney for the final leg of my Australian travels. I should have told you at least the basics - which is all there is yet to know. Depart here soon, with the bike, and whatever seems necessary. Head North for QLD and the NT - pickup some work if it presents, like fruitpicking. Travel the top end (detour to Alice), continue to Perth. Visit relatives in WA, and return via the long stretch to Adelaide. If permitted, Tasmania over summer.

2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com has a few details about the paintwork I've been doing - both bikes are now an affective shade of green (http://tiny.cc/GreJes http://tiny.cc/GreJill). As earlier, the motoblog will host some of the more motorcycle-oriented aspects of the trip (though I am considering condensing).

Right now I'm planning a going-away for Tuesday. You should come along.

Til then.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com

Coming Home: A temporary excercise in remembrance

Back in Sydney now: the good, the bad, the ugly - and all of it lovely.  I do like Melbourne's charms, but not as much as I love Sydney's lack of them.  I am home! (For now.)

It has been a while - so pull up a chair, make yourself a cup of tea (order another Yemen)...

Melbourne

It has been quite a while, I know, so I should tell you a bit about the rest of my time at Sydney's pretty sibling.

Work continued more-or-les s without incident, with my barista skills gradually increasing - along with my passion for a good coffee.  I can now pour a very impressive cappucino, with reasonable consistency, and can point you in the direction of some seriously good coffee wherever you are in Melbourne.  The first book in a while I have considered buying is about coffee, which I think is indicative.

Getting back to Sydney has highlighted the differences in weather between the cities - Melbourne always seems those few degrees cooler in the forecasts, and being back here I can feel the relative warmth.  My arrival back in Sydney was marked with a downpour - the gusty crackle of heavy drops on the van roof was a welcome homecoming present.

My last few weeks in Melbourne saw me taking advantage of many of the local attractions.  I have heard average things about Geelong - only from Melbourne's Easterners - but my time there was pleasant, and I can confirm a variety of places worthy of visit on a Saturday night.  (It's too bad the Cats thumped the Swans that afternoon - though it was good to be there for it.)  The Sunday after I followed that road out of town, out towards the 'Twelve' Apostles.  Deviating up through the forest was well worth it, as was a brief look around Colac, though the emptiness of the lake it was built upon does leave something of a sad impression.  Riding back along the Great Ocean Road was a treat - a few of the twisty bits were excellent, and the afternoon light really brought out the seaside beauty.

A couple of weeks later I toured the areas East of Melbourne and was no less impressed.  South Gippsland (a largely dairy area) must be the greenest area of Australia, and the cattle-spotted rolling mountains make for a unique backdrop - at least as far as Australia is concerned.  The Mornington Peninsula was probably the highlight of the trip, with spectacular rocky mountains - and a good mountain road or two - rising out of the Bass Straight.  Day two included both very typical and very atypical Melbourne riders' roads: the mountains North East of Melbourne are as famous for riding as they are for the bushfires that swept through here three months ago.  I started off following what my map said was a semi-major dirt road - after some deleriously fun (but slippery) twisties, it ended up a single-lane forrest mud track, with a grader halfway along. Very dodgy riding, but the only real downside is that it would keep less adventerous riders away from finding the beautiful mountain spots that I did.  Only later did I get into the bushfire territory, which was a very positive experience.  Yes the trees are black, but the grass was green, and sprouts and foliage are sprouting up out of the ashes.  Yes people died - and I'm glad I did not need to confront that - but environmentally bushfires are essential, and everything is thriving through them.  Bare trees also made lines of sight much better, which makes it safer to go faster, and I'm not going to complain about that, am I?

Healesville, by the way, is a misspelling of Hicksville; don't be confused by the up-market tourist-oriented shopfronts.

One can't, of course, wrap up a trip to Melbourne without talking about the footy.  AFL in Melbourne is big - big in the way NRL is here, but much broader as well.  AFL is the game in Melbourne - virtually the only game in Melbourne, not just the biggest.  If you don't follow AFL, you don't follow sport.  This has the great side-effect that you don't need to be a meat-headed bogan to follow it, so for the first time in my life I will happily call myself a footy fan.  I even - in true Melbourne spirit (as much about the weather as the footy) - got myself a Swannies scarf, which is imbued with an interesting mix of emotions... I'm following your game, but my team.  A good compromise to being a temporary Melbournian, I think!

There were a string of decent festivals on over my time in Melbourne.  The Comedy was first up, and involved a few good shows, fortunately without much outlay.  Randy was a definite highlight - it is oddly acceptable for a puppet to go overboard with 'c***', and the dry, dark, often intellegent wit was both unsettling and hilarious.  The International Jazz Festival was up next - from memory I didn't attend anything.  International Festival meant International gig costs.  Googling the MIJF I was lucky enough, however, to come across the Melbourne Fringe Jazz Festival: a week and a half showcasing Melbourne's local talent, at all the hottest venues, at a fraction (typically 1/2 or 1/3) of their international alternative.  There were a few average experiences, but a some very good ones as well, which made for a very positive week.  It's bloody awesome being on holiday - I'd been to one jazz gig in Sydney in four years of uni (despite four years' cheap/free tickets with Jazz Soc), and all of a sudden I can go out every night.

One last thing before I leave Melbourne, is a comment about how cultured the city is.  It's something people ask me: do I find Melbourne more cultured?

Frankly, if you think it is you're a douche, and I make no apologies for the problems surrounding your birth.

Perhaps I shouldn't be so harsh.  There are differences between the cities - the other being Sydney of course - and I can see what people mean, but if Melbourne is characterised as 'cultured' I pity your sense of culture.  The Melbournians (and others) who praise the beauty of Sydney and its beaches and harbours obviously haven't gotten around town much.  So much of Sydney is somewhere between unpleasant and ghastly, in a way Melbourne is not.  So much of the way Sydney is built shows a complete disregard for aesthetics - or for that matter any ongoing use of public space.  Does nobody in Sydney ever think ahead?  Are we suffering problems with our eyesight?  It seems we are making efforts to address certain problems, but the wonder is how we ended up so horribly out of whack in the first place.  The tunnels we are haphazardly crossing our city with are like bandaids on short-sighted infrastructure planning, and potential projects to free up the city's waterfront areas (Darling Harbour and the Quay) are indicative of how little value we have given to the use of public space.

This is evident on a much more micro level in Melbourne as well - in various ways.  Bars/cafes (they are not so distinct down there) offer much more interesting spectacles - much more creative uses of space - than up here.  We tend to be cold up here, as if our time off needs to reflect our professionalism, if it reflects anything at all.  Streets there are so more ambulant - there are trees, there is space.  Laneways have things other than bins down them.  'Graffiti' is common - not vandalism, but spray-can paintings of public surfaces.  If there is a space in Melbourne, it is recognised as something people might spend time in - its social value is recognised.

I have already written about the pretty people of Melbourne - the trendy areas are very much so, and the CBD is far more residential (less corporate, more of a place to actually spend time) - who make for sights interesting in the same way the city's places are.

It's misleading, though, to characterise this as more 'culture' on their part.  Melbournians put up different facades, but it remains that they are facades.  The facades in Sydney's are every bit as stylised - and every bit as trivial - but more often corporate.  We have a beach culture to rival Fitzroy's classy bohemians (Sydney's 'bohemians' are more varied, and often genuinely grungy).  In Melbourne, the main result of their longer history of migrant populations is that Italian and Greek food is expensive ('kebabs' are called 'souvlaki' and you pay through the nose for the privelege of an inferior product).  They aren't as racist against muslims, wogs or boongs, but seem less tolerant of any variety of Asian. The vast majory of the population? - if you can pick a Melbournian from a Sydneysider you're doing a lot better than me.

Beyond the architecture, there doesn't seem much difference by way of art: Melbournians have been known to look up towards Sydney's Ballet/Jazz/music/art scene in the same way we have of theirs.  The city's widespread 'graffiti' is fundamentally devoid of social comment, and that's what gets to me - the cultural facades really are just pretty layerings over fundamentally similar social detachment.  I don't lament the commissioned nature of the city's street art like my German friend does, but at least tags are a social comment.  I hate tags as much as the next person, but with so much 'artwork' going on I had hoped to find evidence of the kinds of voices which are realised in illegal graffiti - all I found was space-monsters.

Sydney

The last of my time in Melbourne was spent mainly focussing on that time remaining - now that I'm back I need to work out what I'm doing here.

There will be a bit of 'grunt' work: motorbike maintenance, sorting out possesions, selling the van and the racebike.

I'll see what I can do as far as work is concerned - I might not be paying rent, but I can't live without a bit of cash.  I like working, don't forget, and it would be a sad to hang around for months without making a coffee.  It's really good, though, not to have any pressure to earn the cash to get by.  I'm even thinking about the kinds of places I can weisel my way into by offering myself for free (or for little). With a bit of luck I'll get myself into a medical trial which will pay quite handsomely - decreasing the financial importance of work, increasing my freedom to take advantage of the time I have, both in Sydney and for the remainder of the year.

It looks, at the moment, that I will be here about two months, possibly longer.  Longer if I get into a trial which keeps me back, or have work or something pressing to keep me around.  If not, two months will be long enough to complete my 'business' here at home.

If I can get work at the snow, that is next on the todo list.  But I will be a late arrival - I don't know how well that will go.  Either way, after that I think I will head north: to WA not via Adelaide, but via Queensland and the top end.  QLD was previously absent from my travel plans, but without feeling the need to pass through Victoria, it makes a lot of sense to head that way.  I'm still hoping to make it to Tassie next summer, but that's a long way down the track.

Have I mentioned I plan on doing all this by bike now?  Yes, I know I faffed around a lot buying the van, getting it ready (reregistering it...), but I am drawn to the inconveniences of taking just the bike, and frankly I'm happy to do away with much of the value of having a van.  The money, moreover, could be better directed: even if that merely means voluntary super contribution (150% upfront government contribution is a deal hard to beat!).

As always, I'm thinking about the future.  I have been becoming a little sceptical that the (grad) jobs I have been applying for will really work me towards what I want in the long-term.  Admittedly I don't have a firm grasp on what that is, but even my inclinations are plagued more than anything by the sense that I am not engaged in working out what I can do - now - to work towards that future.  'Year off > grad job > future' is no longer an acceptable excuse, and I am working on ways to move forward.  They often seem quite abstract - but then some of my most rewarding steps forward have been abstract work merely in concrete clothing.  (I just don't have anything concrete while I'm on holiday.)

If I have an epiphany you will be the first to know.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
jsbaxter.com.au (coming soon!)

Easter, looking forward

11/4/2009

Happy Easter!

It is so hard sometimes not to just look at tomorrow.

I'm sitting in a cafe at Traralgon (average coffee), enjoying a weekend, some time off.  With the Easter long weekend approaching my immediate thoughts were to find a country town or holiday place that would give me a few shifts and some accommodation for the weekend.  My main occupation currently is working, earning, getting by, and with a couple of short working weeks causing problems for the balance sheets it made some sense.  But thinking about it, what I was really looking to do was to extend the status quo - the day-to-day - to a long-weekend.  No, I decided, no, fuck that, I'm going to have an actual weekend.  I'm going to have some time off, get back in touch with my todo lists, and find other ways to be productive.  It is so easy when working a lot to measure productivity in terms of the job, but if I learnt anything being unemployed in Melbourne, it's that there are more ways to produce value than working for The Man. It might seem subtle, but it was quite striking having that realisation and deciding to do something else (beyond a tomorrow the same as today).

It just so happens, being a traveller - an explorer - getting out and about and seeing places is high up the priority list. The lucky bastard I am, going for a ride isn't an indulgence, it's an investment. Am I living the life, or what?

After a rather anulled Good Friday, today's SVDownunder ride was a no-brainer that I was well overdue for.  Having had a bit of wristy fun, discovered some absolutely fabulous places (Walhalla), I'm hanging out in Traralgon, pursuing another aspect of life's todo list, blogging. It's been a while, and while I'll be brief I'll let you know the situation.

Sydney

With the parents scheduled to depart Sydney for Europe in May I've settled on a Melbourne departure; sometime soon after Sunday 17th May. I'll head home to look after the house and dog, tie up a few loose ends, and hang out in Sydney a bit.

If I've learnt one thing about Sydney in my time away it's that I don't know it that well.  Just as this trip is to get aquainted with an Australian backyard I don't really know, it will also be about learning the front yard I've always lived in.  Being 'on holidays' provides an excellent opportunity to do just that, so when I get back I'll be exploring Sydney and surroudns as well.  I'm really looking forward to it - and to getting back in touch with everyone.

I'll be doing a lot of bike (and van) work as well - including possibly painting both bikes, maybe some hearty engine or suspension work.

I'm thinking very hard about selling both the racebike and the van... - yes the van I only just bought and spent forever messing around with.  The money could be directed so much better, and I'm not using the van a great deal.  I do also have a weird desire to live rough - just the bike and luggage - which I can see being a much more fulfilling way to travel.  A few of the drawcards of having a van haven't really come into play - the only real sacrifices would be not being able to carry a bicycle, and cutting down on clothing (it's hard enough getting through a full working week with four black t-shirts and two whites).  Part of the willingness to do away with these is the realisation that the money for the van - the rego alone! - would cover purchasing new things as needed.  The van isn't worth enough that it wouldn't be worth keeping it sitting around if it weren't for rego costs - and I'm not factoring in the insurance I am still putting off purchasing.

I think I just convinced myself - the only thing really left for the sales to hinge on is finding buyers.

Anyone want to buy a minivan or a racebike?

Melbourne

So, with limited time (a month!), I am trying to do Melbourne to a timeframe.  A few of the things I am looking forward to:

Comedy Festival: there's all sorts of stuff on, it's a great opportunity to get out and see what the town's about.

Motorcycling: there's a few general areas and a few must-dos, like the Great Ocean Road, South Gippsland (and the Strzeleckis), the bushfire-affected East, and the greater-Melbourne metro area.

AFL: I've done cricket at the MCG, but not AFL (anywhere).  I'd love to see the Swans play, but if I want to catch an MCG match I'll have to do someone else.

Bars, restaurants, coffee... there's a famous bar or two I need to try out, some hot tapas places, some famous espressos to try, and a few restaurants - particularly the Greek cuisine so famous here, unfortunately largely expensive eateries these days.

Melbourne Discourse: by which I mean the 'talk', art etc. about and characterising Melbourne. In particular, I want to borrow Radical Melbourne (2) and wander the streets with it.

Graduate work: I'm still working on getting a job for next year, and unfortunately it doesn't look as though any application processes will have finished within the month.  I'm not that worried about whether I can find something, I'd just like it finalised.

Property: the parents have more or less withdrawn support for me to get a property down here, and as much as I could work on that, don't I have better things to do?

Speaking of which

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
jsbaxter.com.au (coming soon!)

March Reconciliations

I haven't sat down today to write the news, but now that I'm here I'll pass you a few words.

Work and Busiment

I'm finally working a little: finished a short trial last week - cheque made to-cash;

worked all weekend at the Moomba festival;

worked all week at David's All'Angolo cafe;

except - Wednesday did a trial shift at Jimmy Watson's wine bar in Carlton, and attended Melbourne Uni's huge grad careers fair.

Next week I should be with David five days (including 6:30am Monday - lordy, lordy), and at Watson's three evenings - hopefully this is the first of many such weeks.

I also got around to doing that salsa class on Thursday which went well - I'm getting used to the steps and it's falling into place nicely.  Soon I'll have picked up a few more moves and a bit more technical competency and I can actually head out dancing.

The Situation Otherwise

I just realised, I've actually been in Melbourne two weeks longer than I was in Bright all up, and I still feel like I just arrived!

Applying for graduate work for next year - have only submitted one to Deloitte so far, but am making progress.

I have a new incentive to pick up a graduate contract sooner rather than later, or rather than becoming a 'hospitality professional', writer, freelancer or traveller: I didn't get the negative reception I expected when I floated to my parents the idea of borrowing with them guarantor to purchase a Melbourne property - only the understandable and expected reaction that they would want me to have some income security.

So, I'm back doing a bit of pre-consideration research this weekend, along with these applications, and hopefully by mid-year I'll have signed the contract on my first property, having a job and my own home (/investment property) to come back to next year.

All this stuff has, as you may have noticed, meant a little less blogging than I'd have liked.

Melbourne

I'm increasingly seeing Melbourne as a place I would love to live - I don't mean forever - necessarily - but the time I spend here I expect to enjoy. The city and surrounds are just really nice, interesting, engaging places to be, no matter what day or time it is that you're out and about.  The CBD doesn't die to the same extent Sydney does outside work/after work/Friday/Saturday, and there are worthwhile establishments in every area which can be relied upon at any time to help cure the soul.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
jsbaxter.com.au (coming soon!)

Success never paid so poorly

The Employment Predicament

I had three interviews today, all of which went quite well.  I think in each of them I spoke well, sold my skills, created a good impression and developed a positive relationship with the potential employer.  In two of the three cases it became apparent that the interviewers had quite high perceptions of me - indeed, surprisingly so!  If I was looking to settle down and make a career in hospitality I don't think I would have a problem.

But I'm not.  I want three (er... make that two now) months of solid work.  I'm willing (and able) to work hard, work well - be a model employee with extras.  Even skirting around this issue employers can smell temporarity on my breath.  The market is such that, for most places, I'm not even worth considering.

Tomorrow I'm doing a bit better than three interviews - I have two trials.  Trials are what you want because if you can do the job it makes it hard for someone not to give you work - even if they don't need you.

Other News

In other news, the aikido sessions I was hoping to get involved with have been moved to 7am - with my present sleeping habits I would be getting up little more than halfway through the night to make them.  If I can bring myself to it, though, I would really love to have the impetus to get up early three days a week.  We'll see how it goes.

The 'free salsa' classes are not as utterly free as hoped.  They are, however, pretty damn good regardless, and when I start earning enough not to be depleting my savings on groceries I'll hit them up for sure - $9 classes with a pretty cool teacher, a really positive class in funky establishments, with ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO CHARITY.  How hot is that?  You'll have to let me know if you're interested, AFAIK they are an SMS + mailing-list only organised affair. 

My 'daily occupations' list has grown beyond what could reasonably done in a day - it's great being able to keep myself busy, and I'm finally getting to the point of needing to prioritise and cut out (otherwise worthwhile) occupations.  Only problem is not getting paid for any of it.

I really am sounding like a broken record, aren't I.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
jsbaxter.com.au (coming soon!)

Melbourne - perhaps not as 'Sydney' as it first seemed

Today has been really the first time that I have started to pick up on distinct differences - in the people, and other things - between Melbourne and Sydney.

After a few days faffing around online, and some short shifts at Roberto's fine Italian restaurant, I was back out and about running around trying to give people my resumes.

One thing I can say, Melbourne is a shit town to be finding hospitality work in. Yes at the moment I think it is unusually tough, but in general it seems like a place very hard on its servicepeople. I was sitting at one prospective today, the manager looking over my experience and basically explaining that Melbourne is too particular about its coffee for my experience to qualify me. Then explaining, that while that particular establishment didn't offer rates like that, a good barista could be earning as much as $18-19 an hour.
In Sydney that is award wage! At the agency I worked for, they would apologise for offering me shifts as a standard waiter, which Only pays $18.50.
Today's most promising lead explained that the starting rate there is $11. No, that's not per half-hour, that's per hour! And you know what, I'm not in a position to complain. If I'm offered work there, I'm taking it.

With a bit of luck, one of my other leads will pull through, however. Wandering down Brunswick St this evening, a number of the pubs there are looking at hiring in the next few weeks - if not immediately - and if my previous employment is anything to go by I might actually earn reasonable wage behind the bar.

Don't think I am becoming disheartened, however. I mean, my current financial situation is on the lean side of undesirable, but I am enjoying wandering around Melbourne. I do have memories of jobsearching as overly unpleasant, but as often as I'm being turned away, wandering the streets and chatting to whoever I can find is quite an engaging way to pass a day.

I will get back to the point I started with: Fitzroy. It is a beautifully vibrant place, on first impression. I was walking the streets at 10:30pm, and there was as much traffic as there was at 6:30. Pubs were busy! Busy! On a Monday night - and not one, but many - probably about half of Brunswick St, and every 'trendy' pub, had a whole crowd. It was quite a shock, but really very cool. And the people...? I don't know what they would be like to live with, but great to get a taste of - SO trendy. You think in Sydney you know what 'trendy' is? Think again. Pick your average, young, semi-grungy fashinable Newtown type. Add money, and multiply by a few hundred, and you have the Bimbo Deluxe punterage on a Monday night - and this is not an average, but the rule. Everybody was young, and everybody done up an an effortful, moneyed-up grungy sort of way. I was wearing black trousers and a blue business shirt, and I was getting looks - the kind of looks Sydney people are too polite/scared to undertake in public. Not since wearing a trenchcoat to Manly in my teens have I really found myself an odd one out. I should be glad, I suppose, that I'm old enough not to care, which is good, because that made it quite an interesting experience.

And the CBD? It is not at all uniform like that, but there are still pockets of extreme trendiness. Melbourne is not like Sydney, with a CBD composed virtually entirely of suits. The city is pocked with laneways, which are oases of pretty people. A fabulous place to wander and oggle - it is not just attractive girls, but excessively fashionable, painstakingly pretty people, of each gender. Really quite a show, and really somewhere worth going to just hang out in a way that nowhere in Sydney really offers. (Pretty people are my favourite people after all.)

So Melbourne... I'm really enjoying hanging about, though my stay is yet to actually involve actually getting anything done. With a bit of luck my next post will be about how that is changing.

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@JohnSBaxter
2009-traveldiary.blogspot.com
2009-motorcyclist.blogspot.com
jsbaxter.com.au (coming soon!)