April 18th, 1998

Once again, time has slipped through my fingers - and as a result, my duties to this homepage have been sorely neglected. My only excuse is that I've been away from home and hearth for the past week. Part of my atonement has been to return and find 56 email messages waiting in the recess of my computer; and another part is to be, by my own imposition, a brief account of what transpired during that eventful week.

The plan was simple: to take a Toyota Landcruiser and head out across the vast stretch of land occupying the eastern coast of Australia. Looking back on it all, I estimate we must have travelled an excess of 3000km and guzzled down close to $200 worth of diesel. Was it worth it? The answer lies in the immortal Cressy Man's favorite saying - 'absolutely'.

Along with Bruno's friend, Andrew, our little triumvirate headed out from Newcastle on Easter Sunday. We spent a large part of the next few days admiring the scenic beauty of farmland Australia, held in check only by the looming threat of heavy rain, gusty winds and thunderclouds. Along the way, we stopped by to see Andrew's grandfather, an extremely spry and charismatic war veteran. Just in the two hours that we spent in his company, I must have reaped enough knowledge to keep me suitably in awe for the next couple of months.

Once we reached Noosa Heads (just north of Brisbane), things really started to heat up. We traded in the sparse interiors of the Mud Sub for luxurious bedrooms in Bruno's resort apartment. Between stretches of 4Wdriving, I managed to catch brief glimpses of wild foxes and other exotic animals... but the best part came when we encountered a pack of kangaroos. At first, I could only make out two of them, peering back at us in the vague darkness; yet as they bounded away from the landcruiser, more and more of them emerged from the brush. I must have counted at least eight or ten of them, sleek bundles of fur racing through the woods like quicksilver. If anything, Queensland's sloping hills are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. There's nothing quite like coasting forward along forest trails while veiled in a soft mist.

We also had enough time to do more of the traditional beach-type stuff. Andrew had the good fortune of witnessing an electrical storm while wandering alone across the early morning sand. We spent a couple of hours getting thrown about by waves easily half again as tall as Bruno (six-foot-seven at last count), then made our way back to the rooms in order to enjoy finely-barbequed steak and wine. We finished by arguing philosophy well into the wee hours of the night, riffing on everything from the meaning of life to contemporary music.

On Friday afternoon, we pulled away from Noosa for the last time, determined to make it all the way through to Newcastle by early Saturday - and succeed, we did. The ivory of the moon had faded from full to half, allowing us a spectacular view of the stars. As we pulled into Newcastle at 3am, I watched a shooting star gleam far above... perhaps a portent of things to come?