The King

In the week since we last posted we've traveled south from Brisbane moving towards Sydney. The weather has been less then perfect, but we are making the best of it. Partly cloudy on the nice days and scattered rain on the bad days. It keeps the heat to a minimum which is nice. Apparently it can get to over 100 degrees this time of year. We still have managed to spend a bunch of time laying on the beach soaking up the sun. Even have some color and a little burn to show for it.

We are currently in the town of Forestner which is pronounced Forster. The only internet in town is inside a lawn bowling club. Its like a bolwing alley/ country club/ casino/ elks lodge/ black angus. Im not exactly sure what the rules of lawn bowling is but it looks similar to bocce ball. We are guests here \, you can tell who the members are they have a special suit or uniform on. I would say the average age of the membership of the club is 106.

We are heading into the hunter valley tomorrow for a couple days of wine tasting before we descend into Sydney for our last 5 days in Australia. Last night I had the pleasure of having a very large female and adolescent Kangaroo come right out of the bush next to our tent and come within maybe 10 feet of me as they bounced through the campground. Very neat. We are still on the lookout for a Koala.

The day before we left Brisbane we spent the afternoon with my cousin Lisa shopping at the local thrift stores. They call them op shops, short for oportunity I think. We were looking for cheap clothes to wear to Lisa's friends prom themed party. The tackier the outfit the better. Heather and Lisa both picked up almost matching shimmering golden colored dresses. I found a pair of never worn 70's era light blue polyester pants, tuxedo shirt and period correct ugly tie. The party was totally fun and great way to end our time in Brisbane.

I should mention that my cousin lives what may be classified by some as an "alternative lifestyle" and lives in the section of Brisbane called the West End. This section of town is similar to the Castro district in SF. So needless to say at the party most of the females were dressed in very tacky prom dresses and so were most of the guys. The party was held just like a regular prom. There was dancing, a photo area with proper backdrop, spiked punch and of course a prom king and queen. The title of queen went to 2 girls who's outfits were great. Totally 1980's. The prom king award went to none other then myself. Thats right I was the prom king at a lesbian/ gay prom party. I'm not exactly sure what to think about that. I guess I did rather enjoy dancing with the guys in drag......Clearly any future for me in politics is officially over since pictures of the event do exist.