(this happened on) Saturday 25th April 2009

The Gap Year Gang Find An Internet Cafe, Laze on The Beach, Play Pokies and Don’t Watch The F1GP

Stefan and I needed Internet access, and guess what Mackay was our nearest option some 50kms away as far as we could tell. So leaving Sofia and Basty in bed we went off alone into Mackay. Once we got there the whole town looked deserted, Today is Anzac Day and I guess 90% of everything was closed. I was actually convinced it was Sunday and that Sofia had told me the wrong day. We walked through deserted streets but luckily found an internet place in a shop selling all sorts of holiday makers tat and silly slogan t-shirts. The lovely chinese lady running the place was kind enough to stay open an hour longer till 2:00pm, because without her we would have been stuffed. The whole town resembled a ghost town.

Afterwards we called into the KFC for some food to take back to the others, the young chap serving us was an absolute tool, I have rarely seen a less motivated more slovenly, less able dick wad ever in my life, I asked for hot wings we got normal chicken, he tried again and this time tried to give us all our food without the drinks we had ordered, he moved with the speed of a slug, his hair was curly unkempt and frankly probably an unpleasant health risk in a food establishment as he had no useful hair cover to speak of. I guess he was indicative of the whole branches attitude as the majority of tables still had the remains of past meals sitting on them and nobody was bothering to clean them up. The KFC I have had so far in Oz had been far superior to any from UK outlets but in one foul swoop this placed dragged the average down about 5 points.

Back at Sarina after eating the below par KFC we all went off to the beach, this was literally across the road from the motel and like almost all Aussie beaches we have seen was a mixture of golden sand, quietly crashing waves and almost deserted except for the brilliant Aussie Beach Surf Lifesavers who always seem to be so alert. They are not just poseurs these guys, they are the real deal. Sofia happily watched them, as they wear skin tight unitards that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, I guess it’s fair as I certainly would look at sexy ladies on the beach.

Sofia had a nice swim along the beach, I wandered and relaxed reading my book and Stefan and Sabastion were off climbing rocks and generally being boys! On the beach Sofia found a little Yabbie and some hermit crabs. The hermit crabs had made wonderful art all over the beach, flowers, birds, stars and abstracts all in little pellets deposited by the crabs as they dug.

For the evening Sofia booked us a table at the Sarina Surf Life Saving Club, Australia may have very few pubs like those we get in England but they have lots of these type of clubs. Most of them advertise Pokies and Tats, and they provide good drink and food.

Pokies are basically fruit machines, unfortunately not as you would expect Video Poker machines and in our experience they are a quick and easy way for the clubs to separate you from your money.nTats I think is short for Tattershalls who run the betting operations, so you can drink while betting on all the sports live, we would not be allowed to do that in the UK, but I think it’s good for those that want to gamble. The great thing about these places is that a large portion of the money taken is to be spent for the benefit of the local area, so it’s a lot fairer than the UK lottery system where only those organisations willing and organised enough to jump through hoops get any money and mostly it’s the local marxist lesbian muslim penis knitting groups or some organisation that a very small percentage of the population ever visit and very little of it gets to the provinces into useful things like the local sports clubs. The Aussie way is that the local people get the benefit of the money they lose, it’s like a local entertainment tax that they get the benefit of.

The food was pretty good and the pokies were pretty hungry!

Back at the motel I sat and waited for the F1 qualifying that I had seen advertised but of course this being Oz it did not turn up, complete bullshit, is England the only country that actually cares about F1 and does not treat it like a minority sport?

Again Sadly No Pictures Were Taken Today, Below Is A Picture From Somewhere Nicer In Oz, In Fact One Of My Favorite Cities In The World, Sydney.

Sydney One of My Favorite Cities