Un Autre Monsieur de Boissons ? (Partie Deux)
My second trip to Anglesea, I would say, topped my first trip down. Knowing everyone, and knowing the surroundings, gave me such an advantage at settling in the second time around. The drive was fantastic, albeit bumper to bumper from Melbourne to Geelong because of the Australia Day long weekend. Having forged a greater obsession with Dreamgirls, and Diana Ross, the entire trip was me screaming to 'Steppin' To The Bad Side', 'One Night Only' and 'Touch Me In The Morning' a la Grace (Will & Grace).
Arriving to Allen Street at around 3:30, a jubilant Paulina greeted me in the driveway, her frustration with needing a cigarette evident from her crazy-off-my-head facial expressions she was giving me... Either she was craving a fag, or she could hear her fag blaring Dreamgirls throughout Anglesea...
We decided to chill out and sunbake on the porch, which was great. Paulina and I lying there in our swimwear, reading Vogue & GQ, talking about boys and the sun. The boys arrived home from a day of surfing in Lorne, and before I knew it, my GQ (okay I lie, it was Vogue) had been replaced with a beer (complete with stubby holder) and the boy talk had ended. No matter though, as we continued to drink and carry on. After a few beers and some rounds of Uno, a suggestion was made to collect some Jagermeister for the nights drinking. Paulina and I offered to go. Joel and Mooch volunteered to come too... They wanted to place a bet at the pub.
So all four of us headed down towards the local pub and shopping strip. I didn't really realise we were going into the pub, so any reservations I would normally have about going into one, let alone an Australian beach town pub... on Australia Day Eve, weren't apparent what-so-ever. That is, until we got in there. Everything was fine and normal to begin with. We settled around one of the pool tables, and decided to play a game while we waited for the races to run. While waiting for my turn, I looked up towards the bar to see the bartender staring at me. And not in the exciting way. He nodded and smiled.
me: Paulina, the bartender just smiled and nodded at me...
paulina: *laughing* Dean, he's welcoming you to Australia...
me: *mumbling* Fuck that for a joke...
paulina: Isn't it funny, we always get ourselves in bizarre situations...
me: Yeah. Anglesea Pub. Playing pool. Betting on dogs...
After a few more rounds, Paulina and I noticed a few more people looking at us, as we were the only non-anglo people in the pub. Paulina was a bit more aggressive. Every time someone would stare at her, she'd stare straight back, giving her Filipino death stare, which lead to Joel pulling her aside and asking her to calm down. There was a group of mid-late 40yo guys sitting around a table playing a board game with a mechanical hand positioned in the middle of the table that would move to make rude gestures as it was instructed. I felt like Brook Vandenburg from Frontline, when she went out into the country to film a story on a man who made statues made out of horse shit.
At one point, I looked up and the entire table of men were staring at me, again, not in the good way. I couldn't help but face the wall and laugh. We finished our game, and Paulina and I laughed our way out, remembering that it was an experience we survived, and we're better for it. We headed out to buy some Jager and Red Bull, and headed home. We spent the night eating Pizza we had ordered, and totally trashed. We had something like 4 Jager shots in 30 min. It wasn't pretty an hour later. It turns out, Mooch knows how to play the guitar. And he had it with him. And so we sang. And he played...
And then I played...
After which, much was a blur. The boys went down to the pub for some more drinks and to meet Mooch's brother.. Paulina and I had a great deep and meaningful about past loves, future loves, past, current and future issues, and life in general. How much we love each other, how much we both know where we're coming from. The only other thing I remember was Joel yanking my doona cover straight off me while I was sleeping in the middle of the night. I kind of mumbled nonchalantly. I heard Paulina grab the doona off him and yell 'don't be stupid' before throwing it back over me. At which point I fell back asleep to the thoughts of 'thank God I wasn't naked'.
The next day, I awoke to Amanda reading on the porch. I sat and drank tea while I smoked, trying to delay the need to read trashy magazines, and awaiting the rise of Paulina. Once everyone surfaced (including Mooch's questionable, very-hot brother) we made our way down to the beach. Australia Day in Anglesea. It was packed. But good fun. The boys went in to check out the conditions before deciding to head to Lorne for some better waves. We continued tanning and took a short dip in the water.
Airey's Inlet was our next stop, on recommendation from Amanda that it was a great place for fish and chips. We stopped by a little cluster of shops, and snacked on food. Meanwhile, a tourist bus arrived, with Japanese tourists, fully optioned with Dior bags and killer heels. Paulina made me try to get onto the bus, in the hope that they wouldn't know the difference. Instead, I just ran after the bus as it pulled away, screaming that they had forgotten me. Good times.
I headed back to Melbourne after dropping the girls home. Trying desperately not to fall asleep over the West Gate Bridge.
I made plans with Shaun to catch up and go for a movie at the Moonlight Cinema, where Jindabyne was showing. I'd always kinda wanted to see it... Kinda not. But it was a beautiful night, so I didn't want to see the fresh air go to waste. We settled down in the crowd which was really quite packed. Around 20 minutes into the movie, this happened...
It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. It was a stunning sight, one that will stay with me. To have spent the day at the beach in Anglesea, had fish and chips for lunch, gone to the Moonlight Cinema to see an Australian film, featuring an actor by the name of John Howard, only to be surprised by the Australia Day fireworks, I couldn't have felt anymore Australian. It was great. Bless.
Arriving to Allen Street at around 3:30, a jubilant Paulina greeted me in the driveway, her frustration with needing a cigarette evident from her crazy-off-my-head facial expressions she was giving me... Either she was craving a fag, or she could hear her fag blaring Dreamgirls throughout Anglesea...
We decided to chill out and sunbake on the porch, which was great. Paulina and I lying there in our swimwear, reading Vogue & GQ, talking about boys and the sun. The boys arrived home from a day of surfing in Lorne, and before I knew it, my GQ (okay I lie, it was Vogue) had been replaced with a beer (complete with stubby holder) and the boy talk had ended. No matter though, as we continued to drink and carry on. After a few beers and some rounds of Uno, a suggestion was made to collect some Jagermeister for the nights drinking. Paulina and I offered to go. Joel and Mooch volunteered to come too... They wanted to place a bet at the pub.
So all four of us headed down towards the local pub and shopping strip. I didn't really realise we were going into the pub, so any reservations I would normally have about going into one, let alone an Australian beach town pub... on Australia Day Eve, weren't apparent what-so-ever. That is, until we got in there. Everything was fine and normal to begin with. We settled around one of the pool tables, and decided to play a game while we waited for the races to run. While waiting for my turn, I looked up towards the bar to see the bartender staring at me. And not in the exciting way. He nodded and smiled.
me: Paulina, the bartender just smiled and nodded at me...
paulina: *laughing* Dean, he's welcoming you to Australia...
me: *mumbling* Fuck that for a joke...
paulina: Isn't it funny, we always get ourselves in bizarre situations...
me: Yeah. Anglesea Pub. Playing pool. Betting on dogs...
After a few more rounds, Paulina and I noticed a few more people looking at us, as we were the only non-anglo people in the pub. Paulina was a bit more aggressive. Every time someone would stare at her, she'd stare straight back, giving her Filipino death stare, which lead to Joel pulling her aside and asking her to calm down. There was a group of mid-late 40yo guys sitting around a table playing a board game with a mechanical hand positioned in the middle of the table that would move to make rude gestures as it was instructed. I felt like Brook Vandenburg from Frontline, when she went out into the country to film a story on a man who made statues made out of horse shit.
At one point, I looked up and the entire table of men were staring at me, again, not in the good way. I couldn't help but face the wall and laugh. We finished our game, and Paulina and I laughed our way out, remembering that it was an experience we survived, and we're better for it. We headed out to buy some Jager and Red Bull, and headed home. We spent the night eating Pizza we had ordered, and totally trashed. We had something like 4 Jager shots in 30 min. It wasn't pretty an hour later. It turns out, Mooch knows how to play the guitar. And he had it with him. And so we sang. And he played...
And then I played...
After which, much was a blur. The boys went down to the pub for some more drinks and to meet Mooch's brother.. Paulina and I had a great deep and meaningful about past loves, future loves, past, current and future issues, and life in general. How much we love each other, how much we both know where we're coming from. The only other thing I remember was Joel yanking my doona cover straight off me while I was sleeping in the middle of the night. I kind of mumbled nonchalantly. I heard Paulina grab the doona off him and yell 'don't be stupid' before throwing it back over me. At which point I fell back asleep to the thoughts of 'thank God I wasn't naked'.
The next day, I awoke to Amanda reading on the porch. I sat and drank tea while I smoked, trying to delay the need to read trashy magazines, and awaiting the rise of Paulina. Once everyone surfaced (including Mooch's questionable, very-hot brother) we made our way down to the beach. Australia Day in Anglesea. It was packed. But good fun. The boys went in to check out the conditions before deciding to head to Lorne for some better waves. We continued tanning and took a short dip in the water.
Airey's Inlet was our next stop, on recommendation from Amanda that it was a great place for fish and chips. We stopped by a little cluster of shops, and snacked on food. Meanwhile, a tourist bus arrived, with Japanese tourists, fully optioned with Dior bags and killer heels. Paulina made me try to get onto the bus, in the hope that they wouldn't know the difference. Instead, I just ran after the bus as it pulled away, screaming that they had forgotten me. Good times.
I headed back to Melbourne after dropping the girls home. Trying desperately not to fall asleep over the West Gate Bridge.
I made plans with Shaun to catch up and go for a movie at the Moonlight Cinema, where Jindabyne was showing. I'd always kinda wanted to see it... Kinda not. But it was a beautiful night, so I didn't want to see the fresh air go to waste. We settled down in the crowd which was really quite packed. Around 20 minutes into the movie, this happened...
It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. It was a stunning sight, one that will stay with me. To have spent the day at the beach in Anglesea, had fish and chips for lunch, gone to the Moonlight Cinema to see an Australian film, featuring an actor by the name of John Howard, only to be surprised by the Australia Day fireworks, I couldn't have felt anymore Australian. It was great. Bless.
posted by Christopher at 11:57 PM
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