We hit the road early in order to find our camping spot for Christmas. After spending the last 3 Christmases on the go, this one wouldn't be much different. Call me the grinch, but I never really enjoyed the holiday season, so being on the road doesn't bother me too much. Anyways, I jumped in the front seat and Joana took the wheel. She had a fantastic Christmas spirit as she was already wearing a Santa hat and had prepared an 18 Christmas song playlist. Both English and German. And if anyone knows me well, they would know that I despise Christmas music. I wouldn't mind it, except for the fact that in the U.S., as soon as Halloween ends, every store and most radio stations start playing it. 2 months of the same 20 songs on repeat. There is only so much Mariah Carey someone can take before "all anyone wants for Christmas" is to invent a time machine, go back in time, and physically prevent her from ever being born. In light of my new company, I put my ill mannered Christmas spirit away, and placed a pair of red felt antlers on my head.
Looking in the mirror at what a "dashing" reindeer I looked like (pun intended), I saw something moving across the right antler. I took them off and inspected the movement. It was a small black spider with a red mark across its abdomen. I showed Joana and in a shrill tone she yelled, "That's a red back spider, it's super poisonous, get rid of it!" In a bit of panic the antlers and the spider were hurled out the window. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign.
Further down the track, "Give Me One Good Reason" by Tracy Chapman came on. Joana explained how Tracy was her favorite. I didn't know she had such a huge following in Germany, but Joana had even seen her a few times in concert. Tracy's bluesy voice was fantastic compared to the xmas stuff. Song after song we listened to. Besides sounding like she had a sex change, she was amazing. We listened to her all the way to Narooma, NSW. There we found our campsite and a bbq. We made lemon grass marinated chicken, a greek salad, baked feta and mushrooms, and a nice glass of scotch to wash it all down.
After dinner came presents. Since I had just met these guys, I didn't get presents for them and I didn't think they would get any for me. I was wrong. They had all purchased each other gifts to remind them of their travels together and to my surprise, they got me gifts as well. From our conversations in the car they had remembered that I liked dinosaurs and gummy worms. I got a 3D dinosaur puzzle and gummy worms. This simple act of giving and caring really hit me. Again it made me realize how awesome traveling is. Making friends while traveling is very similar to speed dating. You skip all the bullshit and get to the real stuff. It's all about getting to know each other as fast as possible so you can spend as much time with each other before you head off in separate directions. It's amazing how fast you can become friends. In the case of Joana, Aki, and Svenja, we had become friends.
Another glass of scotch, some imitation eggnog, and a beautiful sunset, I went to bed feeling great. Satisfied with the day and my new friends, I fell asleep. Until I was woken up by the all too familiar sound of rodents fighting outside my rooftop tent. The nasty screeching stopped and it was quiet again. I was dozing back off to sleep when I heard tiny little nails scratching their way around my tent. I could see possum shadows outside my tent. PTSD set in as I remembered previous battles with rodents and small animals. From hand biting gerbils, 2 flying squirrel attacks, and an epic battle with a mischievous monkey, I was well versed. I flicked my headlamp on to see a tiny arm and paw reaching in through hole in my tent. Like a horror film, I half expected it to rip open the rest of the tent yelling "here's Johnny" as it chewed both my legs off. I through my pillow at the wall and the hole only to hear a screech and the pitter patter of padded hands fleeing the vehicle. Merry Christmas to me, I survived another attack!
Looking in the mirror at what a "dashing" reindeer I looked like (pun intended), I saw something moving across the right antler. I took them off and inspected the movement. It was a small black spider with a red mark across its abdomen. I showed Joana and in a shrill tone she yelled, "That's a red back spider, it's super poisonous, get rid of it!" In a bit of panic the antlers and the spider were hurled out the window. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign.
Further down the track, "Give Me One Good Reason" by Tracy Chapman came on. Joana explained how Tracy was her favorite. I didn't know she had such a huge following in Germany, but Joana had even seen her a few times in concert. Tracy's bluesy voice was fantastic compared to the xmas stuff. Song after song we listened to. Besides sounding like she had a sex change, she was amazing. We listened to her all the way to Narooma, NSW. There we found our campsite and a bbq. We made lemon grass marinated chicken, a greek salad, baked feta and mushrooms, and a nice glass of scotch to wash it all down.
After dinner came presents. Since I had just met these guys, I didn't get presents for them and I didn't think they would get any for me. I was wrong. They had all purchased each other gifts to remind them of their travels together and to my surprise, they got me gifts as well. From our conversations in the car they had remembered that I liked dinosaurs and gummy worms. I got a 3D dinosaur puzzle and gummy worms. This simple act of giving and caring really hit me. Again it made me realize how awesome traveling is. Making friends while traveling is very similar to speed dating. You skip all the bullshit and get to the real stuff. It's all about getting to know each other as fast as possible so you can spend as much time with each other before you head off in separate directions. It's amazing how fast you can become friends. In the case of Joana, Aki, and Svenja, we had become friends.
Another glass of scotch, some imitation eggnog, and a beautiful sunset, I went to bed feeling great. Satisfied with the day and my new friends, I fell asleep. Until I was woken up by the all too familiar sound of rodents fighting outside my rooftop tent. The nasty screeching stopped and it was quiet again. I was dozing back off to sleep when I heard tiny little nails scratching their way around my tent. I could see possum shadows outside my tent. PTSD set in as I remembered previous battles with rodents and small animals. From hand biting gerbils, 2 flying squirrel attacks, and an epic battle with a mischievous monkey, I was well versed. I flicked my headlamp on to see a tiny arm and paw reaching in through hole in my tent. Like a horror film, I half expected it to rip open the rest of the tent yelling "here's Johnny" as it chewed both my legs off. I through my pillow at the wall and the hole only to hear a screech and the pitter patter of padded hands fleeing the vehicle. Merry Christmas to me, I survived another attack!
Trying to talk with you. Saw your response. Dont have a twitter account.
ReplyDeleteTrying to sign up for one. Not succesful yet.
Very cold here. Hope you are safe and warm. Beautiful sunset tonight. Deep pinks, with paler pinks and light violet. So vivid it looks like brush strokes of water color on canvas.
ReplyDeleteYour story about your squirrell like visitors reminds me of my tortured midnight visits from the flying squirels on my bed in not one residence but two. Glad to see they are leaving me alone and found another family member to torment.
ReplyDelete