Going Places

more than a month since my last entry, sorry for being so slack.
I know this blog seems a little out of the loop, but i think its more got to do with a lack of adventure than anything else.
So the hitching comp became a reality, and i set off again on the 4th of July.
I actually have part of a blog entry i wrote while away, maybe its more "authentic"?

"So, i've been itching for an adventure. Months of stable uni life (as far as "stable" uni life goes) had left me jaded, with a sense of loss where my new found post-Europe freedom had been.
I hated the feeling of loosing that, and as i sat, stuck with uni in newcastle, i searched for avenues to fill the void.
When i got back [from Europe] the first thing i searched for was "Australia" on hitchwiki.org and trashwiki.org.
After finding those websites invaluable in Europe, i was eager to see the australian content. Maybe it would help me touch base with like minded individuals (I was living in Cessnock at the time, and its not the most forward thinking place).
There was hardly any content."

I think at this point i got distracted by people, I remember while writing a later entry by the camp fire i totally lost my train of thought as a dreaded man chucked a whole shitload of kindling on the fire. Everyone was like "ohhh, come on, unnecessary!" (cause it was kinda sparking in their faces) and hes like "what? just keepin' it going."
My reply was "You like kindling, hey?" and hes like "i just like fire. I've been thrown out of a few states for lighting fires."
He said it completely straight faced, matter of fact.
I loved it, totally reinforced the idea that everyone has their stories, and if we only look a little bit deeper, its there for us to find.
That guy was crazy, but in the most fantastic, interesting, beautiful way.

Anyway, I hitched along the south coast of NSW and Victoria, from Dapto to Melbourne. It took 3 days, stopping one night in batemans bay, and another in an amazingly interesting location near Narooma that i wish i could tell you about (keepin it on the down low).
On the way down top rides included one off a greens forest activist from Mogo, who was a really really nice fellow.
Other top ride was from Lakes Enterance to Melbourne in a nice new BMW, with an ex psytrance dj who is a massive fan of Karivool and Cog.
I love hitch-hiking.

SoS was good, i probably didn't get as much out of it as others, but i suppose my focuses are just different.
I'm more interested in the human condition, the psychology of what's going on, working smart, not hard. It seems there was a big drive on direct action and environmentalism, which is cool, and i support it. But its not necessarily for me.
I think there are other, possibly more effective ways to be doing certain things which i would rather put my energy into.
This coupled with the fact that i didn't know any of these people and didn't want to start any confrontations with possible hard-core radicals meant that i kept my mouth shut about my disagreement for most of the week.

Overall it was good though, i met some truly fantastic individuals, learnt a bit about nomadic lifestyle, aboriginal solidarity, and saw some FUCKING AWESOME BANDS.
The bands were probably more interesting than anything else, absolutely INSANE.

So it was a good week and then on saturday morning we hitched home.

Took the Hume this time and got to a train station in Sydney 4 rides and 11 hours later. From there we caught the train to newcastle, 'cause screw trying to hitch through sydney at night.

It turned out smashingly, i'm home safe and sound with a few new ideas and concepts in my pocket.
My travel bug has subsided for the moment while i kick up my feet and enjoy the comforts of stable life.
A shower, a warm bed, one layer of clothes.

i'll leave it here, hopefully with more to write soon.

I'm glad to be back.

- Louisa


P.S. we put together a hitching Zine, contact me if you want a digital copy :)