making up syllables: May 2014

it's been an interesting month. dad and jill have left and right on their heels went chris and jonny, my two housemates from stoke. i've been out of a job living in the 3 bedroom house by myself. most of the furniture is sold so i have to basically just sit in my room. there's not even a table to eat at. it's cold and lonely and i am quickly running out of money between the few freelance jobs i am managing to pull in.

but enough of all that melancholy. shit is bound to sort itself out. before the brothers stoke left melbourne for what they are hoping to be the greener pastures of sydney we all went on a little road trip down the peninsula to phillip island. chris had barely stepped outside of melbourne since being in australia and jonny had been here about a month so they wanted an authentic australian experience. you know, petting kangaroos and looking at sleepy koalas and the like. i'd already done that sort of thing but it seemed like a good send off for the lads so off we went.

it's not far to phillip island and i'm sure i would have enjoyed the open road a bit more had i not just been in tasmania for a week. i would classify the island as a natural amusement park and family destination. not including the wildlife opportunities there are mini-golf courses, go-karting tracks, boat rides, chocolate factories, and camping spots. but we were there for the wildlife.

the first creatures we got up close and personal with were some hungry pelicans. apparently there is a 12 o'clock feeding every day for these guys and they show up like clockwork. i've seen pelicans before but never have i seen them so close and active. their bills are far weirder and flexible than they seem they should be. they're also generally larger than they seem they should be.

next we hit up the kangaroo park which had all sorts of wildlife. this was the main attraction. kangaroos, emus, dingos, koalas, cassowary, wallabies...you name it. most of them just wandering around like they own the place. upon entry you get a satchel of feed and this is how you gain the favor of the animals within, whether you want to or not. wallabies and kangaroo are cute and fun. the emus that occupy the same place are not. they're ugly, vicious, and shit horrible streams of crap wherever and whenever. possibly while you're trying to feed a kangaroo next to them.

the rest of the trip we spent on the western coast trying to find penguins for free. there's a $25 show where you sit in seats and stuff but we had already seen the penguins in st. kilda so we weren't exactly looking for the premium service. the green hillside is riddled with little holes the penguins nest in and if you look in you can see them sleeping. we failed to see any walking around though.

and that was about it. soon enough we were back home and soon enough chris and jonny were on their way to sydney. its been a bit quiet since then and i've done my best to plow through what little savings i have. pretty soon you'll be reading another post similar to the ones when i first arrived in melbourne, but i guess thats all part of the struggle. photos...