my first leap

O genki desu ka? (How are you, in Japanese)

Sydney CBD is quite magnificent at night, though from the other side of the ferry port, the Sydney Opera House and residential block near it can look a little dark and almost in hiding. All yesterday, Jimmy accompanied me walking my last 8 hours or so around Sydney CBD, doing the tourist thing. In the middle of it all, having played the wild card of ‘oh, can you meet me today as I’m leaving today’ I luckily (I’m a lucky person) got to meet up with Nate, making this the fourth continent for us to meet in, which is pretty cool especially if you’re into travelling the world and meeting people you know at the same time. Roads as wide as those in Auckland and your usual shops galore, with the only surprising thing, the congregation of Oriental people everywhere; it was only when the moon shone and Sydney Harbour lit up in unison that the splendour of Sydney came out.

When I told people I’m going to Canberra, they look at me as though I’m delirious and in need of psychiatric care. So before I arrived, I didn’t have great expectations, and I had resigned to the fact that I’m here to see Adam. Even Adam thought I was crazy to come and see him in No Man’s Land. He said if I wanted to stay longer, he’d not speak to me again. That’s how people feel about Canberra.

Having worried about how I was going to occupy myself on the 3 hours and 45 mins journey to Canberra; I boarded the Greyhound at 8pm at Sydney Central; and found myself nodding off til I got there. I surprised Adam the night before telling him I was on my way and he said he’d wait for me at the other end. When I got off, he was there. I haven’t seen him for almost 4 years.

We walked back to the Australian National University where Adam is studying. We were meant to meet in Pittwater, Sydney, a famous sailing area near the Northern Beaches (where Home and Away is shot) where he lives on an island and home is a cabin-lit hut-like homely place. But he couldn’t get away so here we are in Canberra instead. I would have liked to see the island but where I find myself now, I find more interesting.

The student block he lives in is called Burton and Garran Hall. Every room has the student’s name on it with pictures. It reminds me of kindergarten. I notice Adam has Disney characters from Eldorado – as I’m shown his cubicle-like bedroom, big enough to fit a single bed and a table, a small sectioned-off area where he can pile his clothes which is opposite a titchy sink. This is Adam’s room.

Adam is 33 years old, looks like Tom Cruise. And having seen photos of his family; his brother looks like Josh Hartlet and his sister, Liv Tyler. A good-looking family. His mother is Australian, his father American; he was born in London with Scots and German background and a dash of Native American (from the Ottowa tribe – the bad guys in the film ‘Last of the Mohicans’). Also, single. Oh, Cullen is 28 years old – someone asked, so I’m answering.

Anyway, Adam tells me he’s a night person so we talk til the early hours catching up. Also, he can’t sleep, he’s a bit weirded out because he has not seen anyone from UK since he left how many years ago and he can’t believe I’m actually there in front of him (what he’s saying is he can’t believe I came to Canberra of all places) – I’m his first ever visitor. Then he tells me he’s procured Alvin’s bedroom keys (most people have gone home) so I have his bed and he’ll sleep in Alvin’s. I’m shown the communal showers and toilets – which I later find out are shared by guys and girls (it’s weird sharing loo space with guys; later on, I had to wait until Adam came out before I would even enter the area, it’s just weird otherwise). He advised me to wear my flip flops while showering. I take his advice. His room is kind of cosy, minimal, every item spaced out neatly. I wonder if he’s going to freak out at the tiny mess of my stuff I’ve already created by his desk.

In the morning, Adam knocks on his door at the late hour of 10am. We decide to get some breakfast at a cafe nearby and walk up Black Mountain (he calls it a hill but coming from London, I would call it a small mountain). Instead we found a Botanic Garden so decided to walk through that. Here, we found a patch of grass called ‘Section 56’. Who calls a bit of grass ‘Section 56’?! We came up with a theory, a government conspiracy: everyone knows Canberra is designed as never-ending roundabouts and Adam believes that it’s the layout of an underground military network of genetic labs where mutations are explored and habitants of Canberra are specimens. He tells me that he can wander about for a whole day without clapping eyes on another living soul, that this is Twin Peaks renamed as Canberra. Last night was a Friday night, tonight is a Saturday night. Not in Canberra. It was so quiet, you can scare yourself with the sound of your own breathing. Adam offers to cook tonight; and I offered to cook tomorrow night. Having never lived on campus, the student kitchen area is something out of this world – for me anyway. It’s a large room with stations of eye-shaped area of 6 hobs together in a space where students can cook and watch each other cook at the same time; this space is separated by work desks and then to the side are tables where you can sit and eat. On the outside are small cupboards and small sections of fridge for storing food – with locks. It’s crazy but I like it because it’s all very new.
So we believe Section 57 is where transplantations of new brain membranes take place so that people leave here thinking that Canberra is the best place on earth but the process is faulty. The people experimented on are unleashed back on the streets of Canberra, as Adam says, mistaken for revellers but are really the undead. Section 14C and 15, we are still investigating and I will keep you updated.

So after talking about government conspiracies, I wanted to know about the pot and the porn, what Canberra is famous for. To my disappointment, Adam, proclaims he is now a monk so pot is bad, porn is bad. He tells me that fireworks are legal here whereas it isn’t in other parts of Australia. Fireworks?! It just doesn’t have the same dangerous kinky ring to it. He tells me he hasn’t any fireworks either. But he tries to cheer me up with the explicit information that on campus, there is a secret download folder where students download and share porn – it’s called the ‘Strong DC’ or DC++. I ask him if I can have a peek. He reminds me he is now monk-like, like a monk. He entices me a little with the snippet of information; that Fyshwick suburb nearby is famous for the ladies of the night. So, I find that Canberra is quite dark and deep, so dark and deep, I can’t see anything but I’m told it’s all happening somewhere in the shadows. Hey, what can I say? All new, all exciting. The aim is to find some pot, see some porn and go underground to find the labs. Achievable in 2 days? Mission Impossible. In 5 seconds, this transmission will self destruct. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Backow!
***

To Seb: mai nichi, kirei ni nateiru to omoimasu.

To Nick: kimi wa atama ga ookikute, saru mitai to omoimasu.

To Everyone: Arigato gozaimasu!

***

The sentiment of justice is so natural, and so universally acquired by all mankind, that it seems to be independent of all law, all party, all religion. – Voltaire. French Philosopher and Writer. One of the greatest of all French authors, 1694–1778

Tags: Canberra, Government, Sydney, Travel

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 24th, 2006 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.