From the sea of parties to the desert

One long party. There are no days, only nights. They start at noon here in St Kilda. It’s fun. If it gets too loud or nasty somewhere, there are plenty of other places. The Esplanade Hotel is the mother of all live pubs. There are 30 concerts every day at the weekend. I went to 5, the crowds went wild. And yesterday was Labour Day, so it was a very long weekend.

Time flies by. There is so much to do in Melbourne. Culture, lots of work, long nights, hardly any sleep. Good people, even if it’s a bit of a blur. Or even incomprehensible. A dinner, a concert by a house band in a club with €5 for a small Becks. Important questions and the starry southern sky.

The Botanic Gardens, the National Gallery and a scavenger hunt through the whole of Melbourne: Ride-share offers posted in all hostels. 37 degrees tinkering with the march to Canossa. Google isn’t God either: My ride-share offer on the blog goes to number one within 5 hours. Still doesn’t help.

A whole week right on the beach, not a single day of wind. Which means it came yesterday. The beach was packed in the afternoon, the wind was offshore and gusty. Back to the hostel to work. In the evening, the wind chopped side-onshore onto the empty beach at a nice 25 knots. As soon as the kite is ready, the wind is gone. How do I know that?

I need something else. I still want to see Ayers Rock. Yesterday the car was fully booked, three Germans from the hostel wanted to come along. By this morning they had all cancelled. While I’m still thinking about how much I love German values such as reliability, I call Thrifty. Within three days they couldn’t tell me the surcharge for the Northern Territory. After 10 minutes on the hotline, I know it: zero. Or to put it another way: not allowed.

Last afternoon in St Kilda: the wind is blowing. Not even enough to go upwind, but at least I get out on the water to kite once in Melbourne.

I have to book off the car within 12 hours. Find a new hostel, mine is fully booked from tomorrow. Find a flight to Alice Springs and a tour to Ayers Rock. I’ll have everything done by the evening. Travelling is more of everything. Right now: simply far too much.

My laptop is being repaired while I’m in the outback. No emails, no work. Just some peace and quiet. Customers: please don’t email again until 19 March.