With the city of Adelaide in view, the five of us continued
our drive downtown. We had just driven
over 3000km over the past twelve days and we were anxious to get to our hostel.
The two Quebecois we had met before Curtin Springs were staying at the Blue
Gala hostel, so we had called ahead and booked a room there in the downtown.
But finding a parking spot was a horrendous task! We settled
for a parking garage near the hostel, and quickly emptied the van of our
belongings. We had the ‘Dude’ for one
more day and as the girls needed to catch an early morning flight to Cairns, we
would be able to drive them to the airport.
The Blue Gala hostel was nothing special. It was a small building tucked amongst other
shops along the city street and boasted a very small population at this
time. We had arrived in Adelaide during
the winter and it was not tourist season.
In order to save money, the three girls decided to sleep in
the camper van in the parking garage. We
weren’t sure it was the safest thing to do, but the bottom dollar is a powerful
source of motivation. After sorting that out, we all indulged in a nice warm
shower! It was our first wash in an
actual building since our departure from Darwin and was well received by all.
The rest of the day was spent winding down and swapping trip photos. Alex and Anne planned on finding work upon
reaching Cairns so we went through their resumes, tweaking them for the Australian
job market. It was here that I began
thinking about my next journey.
I knew I wanted to spend a few days in Adelaide in order to
visit family on my mum’s side that I had never met. I had been in contact with them since
arriving in Australia and had promised to drop by. I was excited to meet them so I put aside
time for that.
The south-eastern coast of Australia would be next in line
in terms of road access but it happened to be fairly cold down there and I
wanted it to be nice and warm when I toured through. Gal would be taking the Great Ocean Road to
Melbourne to meet up with a friend, and the three girls of course would be
flying to Cairns. I quickly looked up the
weather in Cairns: thirty degrees and sunny. Done! Cairns it would be! I used the remainder of the evening to look
up flights and booked myself a flight at the end of the week.
Marie (the Quebecois we met before the Curtin Springs
debaucle) found us later that evening and we spent the next few hours catching
up. It turned out that Marc (the other
Quebecois) had moved on.
Night quickly descended and we found ourselves exhausted
from the last twelve days. Gal and I
walked the girls to the van and transformed it into a bedroom for one last
night. I handed my flashlight to Anne
before saying goodnight and good luck!
Waking for 6:40am, Gal and I went to go meet the girls. They survived!
We began our last drive together and said our goodbyes in
front of the airport terminal. For Gal,
it would be the last time he would see them, but I was due to meet up with them
in only a few short days.
And then they were off.
This left Gal and I to clean the van and drop it off at the
Wicked depot. Luckily for us, the depot
was not too far away from our hostel and the van not too messy to clean.
We both used the day to collect our thoughts and take care
of some housekeeping. We hit up the
library and uploaded photos to facebook and took care of twelve days of
messaging. We later met up with Marie and a few others and checked out a small
night market and a 24 hour pancake kitchen.
The next day was Gal and I’s last full day together. We explored the sights and sounds of
Adelaide, discussing politics, philosophy and the recent tensions in the Middle
East. We were crossing a street when Gal
noticed a man walking towards us wearing an Israeli military t-shirt. He hailed this man by asking him a passing
question and he received a reply. Gal
sensed something was not right and continued talking to him, asking him if he
had been in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces).
It turns out that he had not; the shirt belonged to his girlfriend. In fact, this man was not even Israeli but
Iranian instead! He had fled Iran and
was in Australia illegally, his girlfriend currently in Canada and on her way
to meet him. We chatted with him for a
good amount of time, learning about his plight and the current state of affairs
in his country. It was a very
interesting conversation and had happened at an interesting time due to the
nature of the conversation Gal and I were having just before our encounter with
the Iranian.
After continuing our tour of the city, we decided to check
out the Great Gatsby at the nearest theatre. It was an excellent movie with
superb performance, but I couldn’t help but feel it was a bit too grandiose.
On the way back to our hostel, I surprisingly bumped into a
familiar face. “Marc!” she exclaimed
when she spotted me. It was Meghan, a
Canadian geologist I had met in Perth!
We had kept in contact and I knew she would be in Adelaide but our
schedules didn’t match up for a meet up.
And here she was! We started talking when she said she has someone for
me to meet. Someone that I had kind of
met already. Perplexed at her statement,
I shook the hand of the man walking with her.
His name was Marty and it turns out that I had had a phone interview
with him for a geologist role in Ireland!
This was in December when I had no idea what I was to do and hadn’t
received my role of field assistant yet.
It turns out Marty had left the project in Ireland and returned to
Australia and was now working with Meghan. The geology industry is indeed a
small world.
We later met up with Marie and her friends for drinks at a
bar called the Austral. It was to be our
last night together so we decided to make it memorable. I spent the night dancing with some amazing
people, thoroughly enjoying our night together.
During the past several days, I had been in contact with my
relatives I was soon to meet. Jim (my
mum’s cousin, and by extension my second cousin) was to pick me up in the city
the next morning and I was to spend two days with them.
But first I had to say goodbye to Gal. He had been an excellent travel mate and an
amazing conversationalist. His unique
view of the world gave me much perspective and insight to global events. He was off on his own adventure now and we
bid farewell with the promise to keep in touch.
And then I was off to meet Jim. He picked me up near the hostel, greeting me
with a firm handshake, a warm smile and a thick Scottish accent! We drove off
towards his house, stopping to pick up his wife Maree along the way. We talked the entire drive there, getting to
know one another and our families’ paths since the days when my mum and Jim
used to play together as kids. Jim
shared many stories of the good old days, including when my mum and my aunt
Angela (two London girls) visited him on the farm in Scotland!
Jim and Maree had been in Australia now for quite some time,
raising two children here; Jamie and Martin (21 & 26 years of age). We spend the evening talking to each other,
discovering seemingly endless stories to tell.
It turns out that I am the first relative that Jamie and Martin have
ever met! Having been born and raised in
Australia, the two of them are true Aussies.
I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet them. Another member of their family was their
small dog Lilly. Quite the little rascal
who couldn’t stop barking at me!
It turned out that Jim is a chef, and that they had prepared
a delicious stir fry for dinner. The
night carried on with great conversation over a few drinks.
By the time I woke the next morning, everyone had left for
work and I had the house to myself. I
decided I wanted to go for a hike so I walked over to Anstey Hill Recreation
Park. I made it to the top of the large
hill in the park and got an excellent view of the city far in the distance.
Once everyone was back for the evening, we decided to dine
at one of their favourite restaurants.
It was of the Asian influence and served amazing food. The night
progressed with much laughter and plenty of stories, and continued once we were
back in their home.
And that was my time with the Byrnes in Australia! Two days was not enough and I agreed to try
to make my way back to Adelaide later in my travels. Jim drove me the next morning to the airport
and I boarded my plane, ready for the heat that Northern Queensland would
bring!
Check out Australia Adventure: Phase I!
Australia Adventure: Phase II!
Australia Adventure: Phase III!
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 1
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 2
Australia Adventure: To the Top End!
Australia Adventure: Darwin and Kakadu National Park
Australia Adventure: Down the Track and to the Rock!
Australia Adventure: Onwards to Adelaide!
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