"Commune holiday" "Melbourne Life - by Fi (Melbourne, Australia)

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From the Web 1.0 days I bring you The Forum. To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

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10th May, 2001

Hi all!

When I left you last, I was off to commune with nature at my friend Rebekah's place in the country. Rebekah and her partner Dharma don't like to refer to the place they live in as a "commune", even though that is exactly what it is. About 15 adults and a handful of children cohabitate in a collection of buildings (what was once a dairy factory makes up the main area) near a place called Colac, south-east of Melbourne. Rebekah's description of the saltwater lake at the rear of the property had prompted me to bring my bikini ... I had visions of myself floating Dead Sea style, sipping cocktails and working on my tan. Upon arrival, Bek, Dharma, Mac and I packed a picnic lunch and trundled down to the "lake". Puddle. Grotty puddle. Used to be a dump, apparently. Any hopes of therapeutic paddlings were dashed as soon as we spotted a cow's carcass decomposing on the shore. The picnic was nice, though, and I saw some interesting spiders with red stripes on their backs.

We spent the remainder of the weekend relaxing in the commune courtyard, eating, drinking, and talking about babies ... (Rebekah is soon to give birth to one ..). Enjoyed some country hospitality at a barbeque/party, where Mac delighted the country folk by fixing their computers, woke up to torrential rain on Sunday and headed back to the city.

My strict savings regime (tickets to San Fran/London are booked and deposit paid) appears to lend itself to many comfortable hours in front of the telly. I have found myself very much wrapped up in Survivor II, and, more recently, Big Brother. For the uninitiated, the latter of the two places 6 guys and 6 gals in a fully camera-fied extremely secure house somewhere in Queensland where they must eat, swim, shower, and sleep together for 12 weeks in the hope of winning $10,000 .... all in full view of a national television and international web audience. Appalling concept ... but somehow I find myself drawn almost magnetically to the telly at 7pm each weeknight. It sure ain't Shortland Street, but here's something interesting .. I actually KNOW one of the contestants, and so do some of you. Peter Timbs ... ex RDU volunteer, lover of all things punk and ska, wine enthusiast and barman extraodinnaire at the Mythai and Lick'er Lounge. These days he's verrry busy getting his end away on national television with a young ballerina chick. I always knew he'd go far ...

Anyways, managed to drag myself away from the telly long enough to spend Easter well ensconsed at Amanda's house, indulging in more eating and much vodka. I did my famous seal-dance at Mateo and Matos Easter Saturday (Lily Star! It was going off!!) Went on a brilliant looong cycle ride on ANZAC day, and attended a fantastic "Boogie Nights" party last weekend. Lou is here this weekend .. yay! .. so we've hired a rental car and are planning a trip down the Great Ocean Road or to Wilson's Prom ... depending on weather and mood ...

Very little else of interest to report .. haven't even had any interesting tram incidences, really ... Oh, I've just thought of one. Was coming back on the tram from Richmond the other day when spotted ex-fling-type of many years ago (was very brief and uneventful ... no need for any details) gazing out of window. I hopped up and went over .. "Hello !" I said excitedly "What on earth are you doing in Melbourne?". "I'm on my honeymoon" replied Fling-ee .... and promptly introduced me to his absolutely flawless wife.

And on that note, I will eject myself from this Internet caf and go to work. More news as it comes to hand.

Take care, y'all.

xF

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