Donut -- Mission Wolffuxoring & Sheepmongrelling, April 2nd to April 20th, 2006

I plan to hop over to Sydney then either fly/train to Melbourne, then back. I'm probably going to do that first... perhaps just hours after I arrive in Auckland.

I mean um err..

moley have you ever met Trayce?

This better not involve pikes ;P

In any case, I might end up making the Australia leg the END of the entire trip for all I know. It depends on what types of events might be happening when/where, etc. It's too early to tell right now.. but obviously I want to finalize everything by February at the absolute latest.

Maybe I can convince Crudderz to come down, and we can finally record the Pisscutter followup album with Andrew!

Plane tickets can be cheaper than train tickets, too, if booked at the right time.

*dodges sharp objects from Canberra pridists*

Also, Perth is ace!

DING DING DING we have a winner.

I went to Adelaide once: it was closed.

These are true stories.

Donut, read Bill Bryson's Down Under before you come.

(Also, my family is from Geelong so STEP OFF DUDERS)

But the best place in Australia is Frankston!

It's fucking freezing </Miss Kittin>

http://www.iclebyte.com/images/coke.jpg

Hey. I should steal the key to my grandparents beach house so we can have an FAP in the beachside bushland. That'd ROOL.

Doing the Cable Car and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary trips tomorrow.

Off to Dunedin on Friday for Easter Weekend.

The trip down from Auckland to Wellington on the train was... something

*repeat rolling green hills, water falls, viaducts, rainbows, and sheep running away from passing train for 10 hours*

:-D Isn't that place marvellous? I'm so pleased you made it out there! And jealous you get to be movie viewing with Di! Give everyone my best.

Auckland on Tuesday.

Back home in Seattle on Thursday.

Now in Christchurch... Man, Easter really paralyzes the country in a way I never expected. (If I didn't have to purchase bandages for my foot from a chemist, I wouldn't care, but they've all been closed all weekend... grrrr.)

ok I have to leave ILX and either go back to my room or leave this hallway... STOOPIT AMERIKUNS RUINING NEW ZEALAND TRIP FOR AMERIKUN!

ahh lyttelton. so purty.

DONUT VS. DROOPY USA! ONE MORNING ONLY! IN A B&B IN CHRISTCHURCH NEAR YOU!

I come down for the hour of free breakfast between 8 and 9am, table service and everything. Very American couple is sitting around the table from me. Very American Husband, who I will call Droopy from here on out, notices my often-worn Easy Street Records Seattle hoodie. (I overhear their previous conversation enough, words like "Scottsdale" and "Mesa" to induce they live in Phoenix, AZ btw.. I could be wrong though, not that this matters anyway.)

Droopy notices my hoodie. He bellows out, "So I see you live in Stalinist Seattle! HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW!"

I was just dumbfounded with this guy's idiocy. I think the rest of the room was too. Maybe it was the decent french roast coffee I was spoiling myself to (as I've vowed to never drink coffee except on special occasions. This B&B, the Croydon House, is posh but deserves props for living up to its coziness. Highly recommended, especially after 10 days in hostels.), but I retorted in a fake Russian accent back in a somewhat loud manner "HAHA YES I CAN NOT WAIT TO FLY BACK ON STALINIST BOEING AIRPLANE TO GO BACK TO WORK FOR STALINIST MIKROSOFT, WHERE I CAN GO AND GET MY COFFEE FROM THE STALINIST STARBUKKS, ACQUIRE MY CASH FROM STALINIST WASHINGTON MUTUAL, AND ALSO ACQUIRE STALINIST MUSIK ONLINE FROM STALINIST AMAZON DOT KOM! HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW!"

Droopy pauses and slams his coffee on his table, with his wife IMMEDIATELY trying to calm him down. Thankfully, this all ended right at 8:30am, where the cuckoo clock in the room made a noise that made everyone's heads turn, just enough of a distraction for Droopy's wife to just tell him to give up and pat him on his back a bit more.

A french couple across from me are giggling after all of this. Very American couple leave for upstairs. A family, who I overhear are from Utah take their table. Family wonders why everyone is giggling, especially the father. Waitresses gives me a good natured ribbing about being from "STALINIST SEATTLE" and laughs. "Stalinist Seattle???" says the father of the Utah family. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." and laughs.

I go up to my room, and Droopy is using the computer terminal as I pass. Droopy apologizes to me. I don't exactly apologize but make sure "it's all good dude; no biggie :D" and I explain I was in a silly mood, and was a bit tired this morning..(the latter of which is a polite lie as I got a GREAT night's sleep, actually, and felt very awake and great. Foot's feeling MUCH better now, in fact.)

...

Now I'm at the Lyttelton library. Di, you deserved a gold mine for telling me to go here. I dropped a piece of headphone equipment inside the port area, and I embarrassingly asked the gatekeeper if I could get permission to retrieve it, and a guy DROVE me to the corner of the huge slagheap to get it, and DROVE ME BACK INTO TOWN! That is fucking super nice and cool, and I'll be spreading the goodness of Lyttelton to all forever and ever for this.

Furthermore, I had a rather cornerstone moment on my trip just a few minutes ago. I had a brief but emotional state-of-the-world-today conversation with an amazing ex-German (moved to Chch from Berlin in 1981) who runs a bar here called Wunderbar, where i was taking photos, and he cordially invited me inside well before opening hours. The place is just fucking amazing. It's an all-in-one club. Rock n' roll, show tunes, burlesque.. it hosts all. Literally an oasis in an oasis in greater Christchurch. You won't believe it until you see the pictures... it's apparently where huge bands play unannounced low-key shows as a way to relax and enjoy NZ when they're down here.

Anyway, Lyttelton is a highlight of this entire trip to me.. I'm eternally thankful for Di for stressing visiting here.

Before i see the application of the Timeball, I'll head back into town, hope to hit up Galaxy Records on High, the veggie restaurant on south Colombo St. that I saw (which I hope is open) and then grab my things at the Croydon and head over to Chch airport and off to Auckland tonight.

Can't wait to see Andrew, Elisabeth, and Steven (and hopefully others who I forgot, sorry.) and hit up K road, Queen st. and all the record store action along the way... will call you guys at the airport later this evening.

Lyttleton, eh...sounds like I must visit. :-)

oh great, you're going to galaxy records! i recommend penny lanes on the sydenham side of colombo street too, its full of great bargains. i'm so glad you got to see inside the wunderbar. its my favourite venue, ever.

JUAN VALDEZ IZ TEH CRYIN'!

Andrew, E., Steven... will email you or hopefully see in later in the day or evening!

I summitted Rangitoto! Not a huge feat, but wow, what a panoramic view of the Auckland bays and islands! On the ferry ride back, the sun went behind one of the big clouds over us, while shining on the rest of the city, the temperature went down to something very comfortable and cool, and the wind dried up all the sweat I accumulated exploring the island/volcano. I got goosebumps. I can't believe this is my last day on the trip. I am going to be so fucking depressed when I come back, and this is excluding any U.S. customs bullshit... which is why uploading the pics, and posting the links and stories here, there, and on 43 places will help distract me from my post-vacation depression.

Speaking of NZ and Australian customs.. contrary to others' stories, I had a very easy trivial time going through Australian customs. I paid for my ETA online and had my passport, hotel, and shit together.. I just got asked if my destination address was a hotel or a house, and I said the former, which it was, and they let me go. A total of 90 seconds.

NZ customs, on the other hand, gave me no less than three free-wandering customs officers wanting to random search my bags and ask me all sorts of questions about why I'm visiting, what I do for a living, where I'm staying, if I know anyone here, etc. They all let me go eventually, but the way they came from behind and from the side was really kinda unnerving... at least you can see the cop, I mean U.S. customs person ahead of you when arriving in the U.S. I've always heard vice versa from Oz/NZ customs experiences. Just so you know, always be prepared for being rustled in any country no matter which country it is. Also, don't expect to necessarily be rustled in countries you fear being rustled in, either.

We DID see a bit of the Australian Music Awards coverage. We tuned in right as The Darkness won some award. I presume they came down to play shows here in time to attend the ceremonies, since Australia seems to be their biggest audience. So they win, and the band all jump up like complete divas.. crying on each other shoulders... Justin was the biggest diva of them all, like 10 times Susan Lucci finally winning her All My Children emmy, or something. He even almost falsetto'ed during the acceptance speech, sounding overwhelmed in happiness in emotion.

What followed was the art of music looking down a barrel of a gun.

Some shitty shitty shit white pub soul rock performance... makes Hothouse Flowers sound like Joy Division.. makes The Commitments sound like The Gossip... most insipidly boring flaccid white music ever performed. The prissy lead singer aggravated it.

The singer?

Russell Crowe.

anyway, hope you manage to extricate yrself from real groovy & visit me at the bookstore - I'll head in that direction after work if I don't see you. k-looking forward to seeing you!

Don't forget the $25 leaving the country tax!

OK, Great FAP at Pizza & Kiwi Music on Q. AND AND AND the upshot of all of this.

DJ Lance Lockarm is guest DJ on "Let's Get Incredible" with Dancing Stevie from 11am to 1pm in Auckland and Wellington on FLEET FM.

http://www.fleetfm.co.nz

That's 4-6pm Wednesday for U.S West Coast, 7-9pm Wednesday for U.S. East Coast, etc. A bit too early in the morning/late at night for Europe unfortunately.

Many thanks to Dancing Steve of course. It will be very ad hoc.. some mash-ups, some other stuff..

Hahah very nicely put

I just flew back from Australia and New Zealand and boy are my balls tired!

(I have no idea what I'm typing... I've been in transit for about 16 hours now literally...)

Nice to be back in Seattle! Everyone was actually friendly and strangers were wanting to tell me their life stories on the buses and tell me about their screwed up friends and stuff!

I brought back kiwifruit shortbread cookies.

And looking around, everything's now so green yes I feel everything. I'm so green, I'm so green. Yes I feel everything you said. Yes I feel it's been said.

And grey too. Green and grey.. just like every good Black Sabbath song between Vol 4 and Sabotage.

I need to consume much pizza and bananas now.

(HOLY SHIT, I REALLY DO OWN ALL THOSE TALL DWARFS RECORDS NOW! AND THAT FIRST CELIBATE RIFLES ALBUM! IT'S ALL HITTING ME NOW! IN MY HOUSE!)

Hahahah shuddup moley ;P

Gregoire touts Washington in trip to Australia
'It is a completely untapped market'

By DAVID AMMONS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Christine Gregoire has her sales pad out as she zips through Australia and New Zealand this week.

The governor, in a conference call to home-state reporters Tuesday, Australian time, said the overtures to the friendly trading partner nations can be lucrative for both sides.

"It is a completely untapped market for us," Gregoire said.

...

*AHEM* What does she think I was doing for three weeks in April...? GET ONE NEW IDEA MISS GUV!

In the meantime, i'm still polishing off the Oz/NZ tour diary.. expect a melee of pic threads on Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch, and stuff in between in the coming week or so...!