First week

Hello all! Theres been a few wee stories to update you with. Mainly, I found myself in one of those stupid situations I've been promising. It wasn't on a night out though which was an unexpected change from the norm. I'll fill you in shortly but for now I'll let you know the plan for the upcoming weeks.

At the moment I'm on a train from Sydney up to a little town called Moree. It's  on the map (apparently) and surrounded by what looks to be a bit of a desert. Right in the middle of nowt. The reason I'm heading into the wilderness is one of my good mates ventured into this area about 16 months ago, and hasn't been seen since. I'm off to find him. The rescue party consists of myself, and the small army of Asian people on this train. Cèsuo zài nali! (Chinese War-Cry)

Yep, I'm off to meet the one known as JingleLad. He's insistent that there's alot of work going in this area he's at, and that I'd get a job in seconds up there. So with a small degree of trepidation, I've dived into a 9 hour train journey to test his theory. 
In the land of the kangaroos, a job is a complete necessity. This is because everything costs about 3 times as much as it should. My suspicions were first aroused upon ordering a pint, the barman donned a mask before he asked for the $8. Infact, it wasn't even a pint! 
But in retrospect the wages here are upped up massively from what we get at home, so once employed that issue should fade away into bleary-eyed oblivion.

The trip to the capital city of Canberra turned into a good wee night out. The 21st was class and much merriment was had by all. Towards the later hours, we boosted into the city centre to partake in some discotheque with the local populace. Thanks to TopCat's cousin, we were on the guest list for one of the bigger nightclubs and stumbled on in. If I may, allow me to regale you with a delightful conversation I had with one of Canberra's local girls in said nightclub: (Bear in mind, I had been drinking for quite some time and this was towards the end of the night...)

Attractive girl: "Oooo, your wearing a kilt, are you from Scotland?"

Andy :"WHAAARAAAAY HEN! Scholannnd ayee min! Heegarrrish mouzzzic!" (Hello there, nice to meet you. Yes I am indeed from Scotland, are you enjoying the music?)

Girl: "What did you say? I couldn't really hear you?" 

Andy: Drrrrrriiikkkkssshhhh! Abilibol idyls shoo meeeeya! (Ah, my apologies. Can I buy you a drink and we can have a social chat?)

Girl: "Are you okay?" 

Andy: "WHA'S IN CHERGE HERE!?" (Swinging drink about the air)

Pissed-off girl with drink on her face: "Your an idoit."

There indeed lie the dangers of getting a wee-bit too merry. However, it was a fun experience for all involved. Apologies to the next lad in a kilt who tries to chat up that girl, you've got your work cut out for you. 
Despite not representing our homeland too well in that particular instance, I did hold the door open for an elderly lady the very next day. So I now feel we're even Australia. It's 1-1 after the first leg.

Now for the situation I was on about earlier. As I might have said in earlier chapters, TopCat and I were giving surfing a go. We decided once day to head to a more scenic beach, one which was rumored to be more beginner friendly. This ladies and gentlemen, was the biggest misconception since people thought Hitler was 'just a wee bit mental'.

We were out in the waves, TopCat surfing successfully and me getting tossed about like a cat in a tumble dryer. That is pretty much the norm when we go surfing. The problems started when I went to put my feet down onto the sand and instead felt a bit of rock. Okay, no danger there we were still a fair bit away from the rocks, I'll just start swimming over the other direction. So swim I did.

And move I did not.

We were caught firmly in a 'ripcurrent' (I had few other words for the force dragging me towards sharp rocks) and heading straight into trouble. So I flapped about unsuccessfully for a few minutes and realised there was nothing for it, I was going into those rocks like it or not. As the stupidity of my predicament dawned on me, I started laughing away like an idoit. Happily upon impact, there was no real damage apart from a few scrapes and bumps  (moan the wetsuits) and we got out intact. Once back on the beach I was proudly telling TopCat how I had protected his board, and it didn't get a scratch. Wrong. Snapped fin and a good few bumps and dents.

 His experience wasn't too great either, he got dragged along the top of the rocks via his rear-end. Alls well as ends well though, and we live to fight another day.

And that, is about it for now. I'll drop another update from the metropolis of Moree (assuming they have Internet) in a few days and we'll see what this town has to offer. Movember has officially began as well, and in keeping with the rules TopCat and I had the final shave on 31st October. Now begins my feeble attempt to grow some facial hair.