peephole INTO people

Alright, I stuck my hand inside a Kangaroo's pouch thing. And a Wallaby's (like a kangaroo but smaller) pouch as well. I'm not sure if that breaks a law, violates animal rights, or simply goes against a standard of decency- ask me about it later if you want details. The picture here is me feeding/hugging one of the many "roos" at an animal conservatory park on Phillip Island off the coast near Melbourne. We were able to see Kangaroos, Wallabies, Taz Devils, Dingoes, Wombats, snakes, birds, and other random local beasts. The night before we were audience to little fairy penguins coming in from the ocean and walking up the beach to their nests. Goofy little buggers they are. For the next few days we will head up through the mountains towards Sydney. Looking forward to meeting up with our buddy Andy Cochran on the 10th!


about people: Sometime after midnight about 20 people gathered from around the globe- from Israel to Ireland to Korea sitting on the side of the street on milkcrates drinking somehting squeezed out of a bladder in a blox, smoking and singing along with two guitar players trying to collect money in a hat from people walking by. You might find this at a University, Church, or Company event; what separates this group is that they are all backpackers staying at the Melbourne Travelers Hostel on King St. (similar to OBT in O-town or Phillips Hwy in J-ville).

They all have a similar interest for a certain kind of travel. I've seen it within the culture of surfers, people of faith, and probably astronauts. There is instant credibility between backpacker travelers and everyone looks out for each other. They live for the moments- singing old songs on the street, losing stuff, going somewhere without directions, trading stories about cars not starting up, and the big moments when they know they have arrived at something beautiful - walking around the corner to see the perfect beach, the top of some big rock. Its about the moments: good, bad, fun, sad - when the sum of all these in past present and future are worth whatever they had to do to get there. That's what every backpacker knows and respects when they meet another on the same journey.