The day before we got to Nundle, one of the local sheep shearers (not
Mickey) had a heart attack and died in the middle of a demonstration for Oz
Experience.

Last night, we had a BBQ and a party at the house. It was wild. Graham
taught us a fun drinking game that uses playing cards, and in two hours
Steve was dancing around the house completely naked. I have pictures. For
a while I was putting the moves on Kari, but the girl has the personality of
a crowbar. Anat turned out to be a really cool girl. She's an athiestic,
non-Kosher Israeli who hates other Israeilis and loves U2 and good science
fiction. She also makes good pancakes. We got along real well.

This morning, we said goodbye to Carol and Kari and left our house in Byron
Bay. I got back on the Oz Experience bus with Kenny, Steve, and Neil this
morning and arrived in Surfer's Paradise this afternoon.

I was expecting a tiny town since you won't find Surfer's Paradise on most
maps of Australia, but this place is like a small city. It's a lot like
Miami Beach, without the old people and the Cubans. High-rise apartment
buildings, motels, malls, beaches. Just listen to track 8 on U2's Pop
album. Then listen to tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 'cuz they are cool.

After arriving, I stopped at one of the malls and bought some cushioned Nike
reef sandals. My synthetic cork-soled flip flops were not conducive to the
long walks that accompany an Oz Experience tour of Australia's east coast.
Then we went to get lunch at a beachside cafe and proceeded to have one of
the most disgusting meals ever. The place, if you're coming to Surfer's
Paradise and would like to avoid it, was called the Blue Sky Cafe. My steak
sandwich was rubbery and unchewable, Steve's chicken parmesan was uncooked
and had ham and egg on top, and Neil's lasagna was cremated beyond
recognition.

All my roomies this time are from England. With all these Brits, I'm
learning how to distinguish which part of England they are from just by
listening to their accents. The guy sleeping on the bunk above me looks
like Keifer Sutherland.

Tonight we went to a club called Cocktails & Dreams and had a great time.
The bars and clubs here are open until about 5am, which is nice. Everything
in Byron Bay shut down at midnight. At the club, I talked a lot with Lori,
who's from Toronto and looks a lot like Jennifer Aniston. We finally made
it back home at around 4am. Neil thought it would be funny to go to the
club in a dress and with make-up on. On the way home he got almost his ass
kicked by gay-bashers.

I'm here in Surfer's Paradise for two more days, then back on the bus and off
to Brisbane.

More Australian oddities:

-Since phones are so hard to come by and Telstra charges up the ass wherever
there are phones, most of the locals carry around mobile phones. Telstra
also charges up the ass for that. People making and receiving mobile calls
are both charged something like 80 cents a minute.

- Many doors open inward rather than out towards the street. You would
probably never really think about it unless you make a scene trying to get
into a travel agency like I did last week.

- If you need to use the toilet, you ask for the toilet. Not the bathroom,
not the washroom, not the lavatory.

- If you order a steak or chicken sandwich with salad, you will get a steak
or chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumber, and beetroot on
top, not a side salad.

- Australians are very proud of their celebrities, particularly Paul Hogan,
Natalie Imbruglia, and Men at Work. You see them mentioned on TV a lot and
in magazine articles everywhere.

No Regrets.

Jeff