Accidental Tourist

G’day from Oz

Well I’m actually in Tokyo now, but its the first chance I’ve had to send an email. Anyway…

I can now proudly say that I’m now officially 100% Aussie again. After being back in Australia for 5 weeks I’ve managed to successfully managed to remove any signs of becoming an Englishman. I’ve cast off any kind of accent I’d picked up and am now fully topped up on my g’days and no worries.

I’ve shed my English tan and developed an Australian one, i.e. I now actually have a tan. (As an entertaining side note I did feel like an pom when on my first day back I can managed to get myself badly burnt by forgetting the power of the Aussie sun and not wearing sunscreen).

In the last 5 weeks I’ve eaten enough bbq’d meat to see me through another English winter. And, I have now actually thown a shrimp on the barbie - something I’d never actually done before.

I’ve recovered my thirst for cold beer.

I’ve spent an afternoon watching cricket at the MCG.

I’ve been swimming outdoors on a regular basis.

Bascially I’ve spent the last few weeks remembering what it is to be an Aussie and realising just what a bloody great country we have and spent a lot of time windering what I’m doing in the northern hemisphere.

Here’s some of things in particular that I’ve realised I miss or have come to apreciate:

• First and foremost - the sun
• Being able to feel the warth of the sun
• Drinking cold beer in the sun
• Aussies beers: Carlton Draught, Melbourne Bitter, Cascade Premium & Light, Coopers Pale & Sparkling
• BBQs
• Twist tops
• Chicken parmas
• Barbeque & Pizza shapes and Aussie Cadburies chocolate
• Warm meat pies from an over not from a microwave
• The aussie accent. When back in the right context I’ve come to find it a beautiful thing
• Triple J
• Walking around in shorts and thongs and fitting in
• Aussie fashions for chicks, i.e. short skirts and brown legs
• Aussie chicks (also related to the Aussie accent thing)
• Real sand beaches
• Beaches that aren’t crammed full of pale white bodies
• Open spaces
• Dining on the sidewalk
• Tomato sauce, not Ketchup
• Bogans rather then Chavs
• Good coffee that doesn’t come from either Starfucks, Nero, Costa or Coffee Republic (not that they do good coffee anyway)
• A choice of cafes rather then just Pret, Eat, Benji’s, etc

These are but a few that stood out. Those of you that I’ve caught up while I’ve been back have had to put up with me crapping on about more.

While hanging around I did also manage to catch up with a whole lotta people, see half of the country, drive over 4000km, spend xmas with the family, see my eldest brother get married in a very small but enjoyable wedding, play cricket (badly), watch a whole lotta cricket on TV, get a tan, drink a whole lotta beer, and just generally have a great time of it. I should think about doing this on a permanent basis sometime…

Anyway, I’m now in Tokyo having a look around for a weeks stopover on my way back the the motherland. I’ll let you all know how it goes at some point once I’ve figured out what I’m actually doing while I’m here.

Bronzed Ben

The time has finally come. After being out and about for over a year and a half, it’s time for me to circumnavigate the globe and return to Oz.

Given that my brother Colin is going to go and get himself married during the Christmas period (29th Dec), I figured that it only prudent for me to be back there in time for it.

This is only a visit though mind you. I’m still not done globetrotting yet.

I’m returning on the 13th Dec and taking off again on the 15th Jan. The basic plan is to arrive in Sydney, where I’ll probably stay for a couple of days or a week, before returning back to Wodonda for xmas. After that I’ll be heading to Adelaide for the wedding and then back on to my spiritual homeland of Melbourne. However, I reserve the right to alter these plans without notice depending on what sounds like a good idea while at the pub.

So for those of you back in those parts of the world - keep an eye out, you might just run into me.