Making Do

November 8, 2001-Whinging

We had dinner at the Oriental Gourmet, Alice Springs. The meal was good & there was more energy in that restaurant than in the whole town. It was run by three people. There was the cook whom we never saw, but who hustled to feed a packed place. The two owners waited tables, bussed, acted as hosts, & handled carryout orders. Alice, & the Center in general, is known for its laid back nature. This restaurant was an anomaly.

And now for a review of the bathrooms at the Alice Springs airport: They were not bad & had the first public showers I’ve seen at an airport. On the back of the stall door was posted information on how to Play it Safe in Australia. It wasn’t about sunscreen & hats. It was how to avoid HIV-AIDS. Good on them.

My seat companion on the 3-hour flight was another story. He came on board drunk at 11 AM. He smelled of alcohol & cigarettes & the mint gum he chewed didn’t mitigate the odor. Fortunately he fell asleep after lunch. He told me he was on a 2-week leave from a job on an oil rig 180 miles from Alice. They work two weeks on & two weeks off. I guess they’d go nuts out there without a break.

The in-flight movie was One Night at McCool’s with Liv Tyler, Matt Damon, Paul Reiser, & Michael Douglas. It was a silly movie, but I found myself laughing out loud at the end. I thought David was watching it, but he thought it was awful & turned it off. I didn’t know our taste in movies could be that different. Also learned a little tidbit from the Qantas magazine. Did you know the reason pigs are so enthusiastic about rooting out truffles? It seems that truffles smell like potential mates. Think of that when you eat them ( either pigs or truffles). Escapees When we arrived at the airport in Sydney I realized we’d made a clean escape from Alice. I couldn’t stand it if we had to stay another night. The whole town was grungy. Even the nicer restaurants were unappealing. We did find one for lunch & one for dinner yesterday that were fine. I think we both got a stomach reaction from the water. It wasn’t bad, just different enough to upset us for a day until we figured it out. And we were drinking bottled water.

David (whose cleanliness standards are lower than mine) & I had a discussion about my aversion this morning. The hostel/hotel cost $A 80, so that’s $US 40. I maintained that budget doesn’t have to mean dirt. Paint is cheap as is soap & water. They could pay some of those backpacking kids who stay there to do the work. The Red Roof Inn in Akron has rooms for $39.95 & I can’t imagine they’re anywhere like the place we stayed. In fact, I’ve been in those rooms & they’re nice. David just sat down next to me & said, “You’re still bitchin’ about that? Get over it.” This is the end of my diatribe.

November 10, 2001-Homecoming

When we landed at the Gold Coast Airport in Coolangatta, I was struck once again by the beauty of the place. As we deplaned, the mountains were looming to one side & the sea to the other. You’ll be happy to hear that the weather has become very rainy & dismal, although warm. It’s spring now & the start of their rainy season. In fact, this summer is predicted to be very stormy with a large possibility of cyclones. Lucky us.

As we got out of the taxi at our apartment building, the kookaburras were warbling their welcome. I wonder how they knew it was us? There was a message on the answering machine from Syd & Janet Bruce asking if we wanted to meet them at the Thai restaurant. Of course we did. It was so nice to come home to friends. We left our luggage & laundry & decided we could grocery shop the next day.

Friday was busy with all we hadn’t done on Thursday plus I decided the apartment needed cleaning. We managed to get it all done, but had no down time before services. As we were pulling out of the garage, we heard a thumping sound from the rear of the car. The trunk is hard to close & I thought it might be flapping. David got out to investigate & found a flat tire. We called the Temple to let them know why we’d be late, &, oddly enough the man (Jack Capkin) who answered the phone, didn’t think to offer to pick us up. Instead, he suggested we skip services & that he would conduct them. David told him we would take a taxi & we did. Odd that! We later found out he thought of picking us up after he’d hung up but didn’t know how to reach us.

Toby