COPS: Aussie Style

As always, I’m have an awesome time in Australia.  I am extremely happy that I came here for Christmas.  I arrived on Xmas Eve day.  Karla’s side of the family came to her and Ken’s place for a couple of days.  I had only met them a couple of times before, but they treated me as though I was family. 

It’s always so relaxing to come here.  After I arrived, I was able to relax for the first time since going on holiday.  My time here is everything a holiday should be.  As with Bangkok, I have already seen all of the tourist attractions in the area so I pretty much just hung out and relaxed.  I spent a day at the harbor, which I always love doing.   Today I went with Granton for breakfast at The Rocks.  While we were there, there was a girl sitting at a table by herself, and I asked her to join us.  She declined until her food came, then she kept giving us sidewards glances so I again invited her; she accepted.  Turns out she’s an American from CA.  She took a leave of abscence from work and purchased an around the world plane ticket.  Her next stop is in Thailand, and she’ll be there when I’m back so I gave her my mobile so we can hang out there.  It’s a very small world with travelers.

I think I met the most people while backpacking in Australia for a period of six months about two years ago.  I still keep in contact with several of the friends I made while here.  I’ll occassionally get an email from them telling me of a new destination they are traveling to and can I join them.  It’s always nice to meet up with them again as the German friend and I will be doing in a week or so. 

One of my favorite people I met while traveling is named Tanya, who is from Canada.  We have twice missed linking up by a couple of days in the past.  We are planning a trip to South America next year.  She and I met in Cairns while on a dive trip.  We bonded and partied all night when the boat reached land.  Loads of fun.

I went to have lunch at King’s Cross in Sydney today.  The Cross is where all the backpackers, local druggies, and hookers hang out.  It’s always quite lively with loads of freak shows.  It’s also where American sailors go whenever they are in port.  I can only imagine the rate of HIV and Hepatitis there.  As I was walking down the sidewalk, one of the transient types suddenly fell over and cracked his melon on the walkway.  I couldn’t believe how quickly the blood flowed…it was quite a gash.  I thought he was dead initially.  I called 000, which is the Aussie version of 911, and informed them of the incident.  The dispatcher said, "I need you to go and apply pressure to the wound."  Suuuuure!  I’ll get right on that one!  I told her that I had no latex, and there was nooo way I’m touching someone at The Cross.  She began laughing, and said, "Oh…yeah…" 

I went into an internet cafe and was seated at a terminal when Granton sent me a text message:  Sadaam is dead.  I repeated the message aloud, and the girl next to me asked, "Who?"  I repeated myself, and everyone in the place began cheering.

I just returned from a police ride-along with Ken and Adam.   It was a bit boring, but I was very glad I was able to go.  Ken previously arranged for me to go on a police ride-along when I was in London previously as well.  Good times.  I kept telling them I want to see some Aussie police brutality, but it wasn’t to be.

I’m leaving here tomorrow evening.  That is going to be a very long day.  Ten hours of fly time, seven hours in the airport, a short hop to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and a day filled with tours of ancient ruins.

It’s unfortunate that this site now requires photos to be re-sized prior to posting, which means I’ll have to wait until I’m back at work before I can post any.