Where The Fuc Is Juc

2/8/10
Jo pulled up to the bus station in Geelong and immediately greeted me with a big hug, giant smile, and the most welcoming eyes. We chatted on the way to her house about my journey so far, what I wanted to do while with her, and made the necessary stop at the drive thru bottle shop to get a “traveler” for the rest of the ride to Jan Juc, her town. After a quick tour of the town and the nearby beaches we pulled into her house to drop my bags, get situated, and then it was off to the park next door to play fetch with her two energetic, and slightly spastic dogs, Tilly and Indie, and the “old man”, Gordon Brown. He’s is the third dog who is quite old, a bit slow, and vomits a lot. He doesn’t play fetch. After hanging in the park for a bit tiring the dogs, or at least trying to, getting hit in the head by a ball that was wildly thrown by a friendly neighbor, and sipping a beer, it was back to the house to get some laundry done and meet Theresa, Jo’s friend from Redondo. Laundry in the washer, beer in hand, and a beautiful deck to relax on. Life was good. Theresa had dinner plans with a friend and Jo and I sat on the deck talking story for hours. We chatted about life, travels, losing loved ones, and most importantly, living life. We sorted our plans for our trip to Tasmania , and before we knew it, it was close to one am and time to go to bed. Jo was off to work at the fire station early in the morning and let me move in to her bed when she left. A queen size bed! I had forgotten what it was like to sleep so comfortably, not that I minded the sleeping bag on the floor in the dining room that much. Spent Friday just relaxing and getting caught up. Emails, facebook, and skype for most of the day then down to the beach at Jan Juc to enjoy the sun and take some photos. The beach there was absolutely stunning. Everything from beach to reef to amazing cliffs. Walking down the stairs to the beach I looked out on blue water, low tide exposed reef, and layered cliffs on each side.




I walked for an hour or so just snapping pictures and taking in the beauty of Australia, a beauty that I knew existed here, but had failed to find in that fateful first week in Woolongong and Newcastle. Friday night Jo picked me up on her way home from work and we met her housemate, Beck and Theresa down at the local pub, Growlers. Theresa had been there for a while after a fun day of shopping and was sharing an appetizer plate with Beck. We shared a bottle of wine then it was off to the next pub, Left Off The Rocks.


Theresa headed back to the house with Beck, as they had a head start on Jo and I. After a couple of beers there, it was back to the house and back on the deck for more conversation into the morning hours. Up at around five thirty the next morning, Theresa, jo, and I headed into Melbourne to spend the day and wait for Jo to finish work.



Staying at the station was really cool. I was pretty exhausted so after eating breakfast with the fire crew I laid down for a nap and Theresa headed off to the city to do some shopping and meet up with a friend. After my nap, I headed into the city to see what I could stumble into. First stop, the casino.


I found a a blackjack table that looked inviting, bought in for $75. Fifteen minutes later I was on my to the atm to get some more money. Now armed with $100 I found another table and bought in. One hour later I was walking out of the casino with $325 dollars and a bounce in my step.


Walked along the river as I passed beautiful buildings, trees, crossed numerous bridges, eventually reaching federation Square.




Relaxing for a minute to watch some of the doubles finals from the Australian Open, then it was back to the station to shower and get ready to head out with Jo after work. We met up with Jo’s friends Anna and Mick for a burger in the park and then back to their house to enjoy the perfect evening weather and a few beers on the deck. It was so nice to spend the evening with Anna and Mick. They immediately made me feel very welcome, inviting me into their home and sharing hours of conversation, including me and making sure I understood what they were saying every step of the way. I really appreciated and enjoyed the evening and the wonderful people in it. Into bed fairly early that night as we were waking with the sun to get on a ferry and make our eight hour voyage to Tasmania.