Australian Dream

Australian Dream
From Darwin to Alice Springs.Seb was waiting for us at the Drawin airport. Good seeing him again after our last meeting four moths ago.He hugged me affecionately and did me good after that nasty mail I got from Marty in Cairns.But there was many more sufferings ahead for me,that's for sure.Especially now that the love story seems to have come to its end.And again through a song !We spent the first night in Darwin in the company of Seb and the following day we headed to the Lichtfield Park. We were supposed to go to the Kakadu Park instead, but the cyclone Monica had devasted it and it was closed.We enjoyed three beautiful days and gorgeous sceneries. We went to see wonderful falls and Seb was always very affectionate to me. funny, I thought he would be more interested in my sweet young girl...We run over a poor red kangaroo in our way to Katherine gorge where we saw many more of the.The sailing on the river was great too.But then we had to part and we left Seb driving back to Darwin at the bus station.The trip was a long way to Alice Springs.Not too many on board: three Aborigenes and a young English couple.Starting at 4 p.m we arrived in the Alice by early morning.The bus dropped us almost in front of the Bojangles and I could not help having a picture of me taken in front of that place.Bad surprise on arriving at the hotel. No room seemed to have been booked for us by Denise.She was to care for us for the next few days and it worried me,especially when I heard she was not in the Alice at that time.Happily I saw Anthony Ash,the boy at the reception I used to talk to when at Aurora Resort the previous year.He was glad to see me again. He loves watching the Tour de France.Finally Anthony came to our help. Denise had booked but one week at Aurora and we had to move to the Diplomat for the following week.We settled down and we phoned Diane at Emu Run Tours. She told us Denise had to go to Sydney on business and would go to meet her family in Brisbane before coming back to the Alice.She expected to be with us the second week of our stay.She wanted us to come to the motel in Undoolya Road and that's how I walked past your house,Marty on the day of your leaving for Sydney.I discovered Denise was not only running a bus company but that motel too.Diane,her employee,was doing the job for her as she was away.Denise had booked us on her bus for the next morning as planned.We headed for the second time to Ayers Rock. We stopped at Mt Ebenezer, a motel in the middle of nowhere as it is often the case in Australia; A small bus took us to the Kings Canyon.A very hard walk to the top! Pierre could not reach the top. Poor man!I was playing Priscilla,Queen of the Desert, dragging a gilded bag all along with me. That made Tony,the guide laugh.The following, the rock!We walked around it before having a BBQ with champagne: traditional. And guess who came with his glass of champagne? The English boy who travelled all the way from Katherine on the bus.This world is so small after all...The road back to Alice Springs was a hard one. Driving by night is so dangerous in Australia.I saw camels, herds of cows and, of course,kangaroos. But the driver was cautious not to run over any of them. I kept awake,talking with Tony. He called me his lovely. How nice of him!Diane told me on meeting that Peter had left the Alice to settle down in Mataranka.That was our first stop with the bus after leaving Katherine.Once more I was missing a loved one.Denise's bus took us the following day in a tour in the West Mc Donnell ranges.For the second time I was in Simpson Gap and Stanley Chasm,but the trip took us further west this time to the Red Ochre Pits and Glen Helen.Nice day again.I had been connected to Bo's since I left France, but now I was in the place.Anxiety at entering the bar.We walked past the dance floor to the restaurant. A waiter welcomed us and I asked him:"Have you ever heard of Mary from Montpellier?" He answered yes in surprise and I replied:"It's me!"He then looked at me and said: "Marty". I reassured him telling I knew Marty was away in Sydney.He seemed sorry for me.He added he liked the songs I requested.A very nice boy!Then Dan appeared in the room. I touched him lightly on his back. He turned around and I said:"Mary". "Oh,Mary!"followed by a big hug.For the first time I could dance on that floor I had been watching for so many days on the screen of my computer.He,too,told me about Marty being in Sydney,but he knew I knew.We spent the following day resting and walking about the town.We saw plenty of kangaroos on walking to the Telegraph Station: a wonderful experience for us,people from the other side of the world.On the evening we met Denise who had to come back earlier than planned. She was to fly to Brisbane the next week-end for her son's engagement party.The following day, we moved to the Diplomat. It is situated just behind the Bojangles!Sadly Laure was flying to Cairns in the afternoon,on her way back to France.The flight was 7h30 late on schedule.A big bother! Well, she left in the end and the two of us left took a taxi back to the town.Tje next days were made of rest,swimming,walking to the golf,the School of the Air,the bowling,lunches at the Red Ocher Gril,Aurora and a few nights at Bo's.Elsabeth.On having a computer I checked for Alice Springs News and even sent thel my comments on my first trip to Australia.One day,a few months later, I was surprised to see them printed.Later on I read an article by Elisabeth about a young cyclist, rival to Cal Britten.The Brittens hosted us while in Bayside and were very proud of their young champion hoping he would be champion of Australia.As the article was not published in full on the web ,I asked Elisabeth for more.She answered me very nicely wanting to know how a French lady could be interested in her newspaper and was willing to meet while in the Alice.I met her at her office before Laure left and we decided to have a drink at the Lane.In between we met Steve at Bo's. The man from Perth had just lost his best friend and was in a sad mood. He cared for a few drinks for us and said he was working as a spy for the Australian government,having been to Aghanistan.When I asked him about Marty, he said that man was evil and yhat I had to keep away from this man. What a blow! He said that man had a girl working at Bo's fired in a very nasty way.He said he was a bloody liar, especially when I told him,Marty did not drink.Well,all I could see on my screen was two very different DJs.Dan would refill his glass every two minutes and smoke heaps of cigarettes during the parties.He would play five songs or more in arow, not paying much attention to his listeners.Marty would drink water,not smoke and what a nice way to entertain the people at Bo's or on the web.I was stunned and I started to say to myself I did not that man after all,even if we had wonderful moments together. The mail I got in Cairns came back to my mind and I started to wonder if it was a good idea to carry on with the relationship.When with Elisabeth I asked her about the DJs, and she said she preferred Marty,that he was a good friend of hers and that they were used to go swimming together.Elisabeth is from England,living in Australia for two years. She swam across the Channel on her own.She is 26 and looked so fragile though.But what puzzled me was the fact that I had told Marty how I had come to know Elisabeth and how she was e-mailing me: he never mentioned he knew her.Most of all as the day of my coming was nearing;he started behaving in the queer way I mentioned earlier and stopped meeting with Elisabeth.Even Dan told me he was weird at the moment.The last we spent in the Alice eneded at Bo's in the company of Elisabeth and her parents who were visiting her those days.Sad to be hugged by Dan for the last time.The day before it was dinner with Denise at the Overlander's Steakhouse.We also spent the last afternoon in her company. She treated me with a book, a Robbie Williams album and an Aborigenal painting.And it is with tears in my eyes that I boarded a flight back to Cairns.On arriving home,I connected to Bo's first thing.Marty was at the console resuming his work there.I e-mailed him at once: "We could not have done better!"And then I had a big surprise: he answered me on a mail in my in-box.The beginning of a new way of being together and Hell was awaiting me.

Australian Dream

From Darwin to Alice Springs.
Seb was waiting for us at the Drawin airport. Good seeing him again after our last meeting four moths ago.He hugged me affecionately and did me good after that nasty mail I got from Marty in Cairns.But there was many more sufferings ahead for me,that's for sure.Especially now that the love story seems to have come to its end.And again through a song !
We spent the first night in Darwin in the company of Seb and the following day we headed to the Lichtfield Park. We were supposed to go to the Kakadu Park instead, but the cyclone Monica had devasted it and it was closed.
We enjoyed three beautiful days and gorgeous sceneries. We went to see wonderful falls and Seb was always very affectionate to me. funny, I thought he would be more interested in my sweet young girl...
We run over a poor red kangaroo in our way to Katherine gorge where we saw many more of the.The sailing on the river was great too.
But then we had to part and we left Seb driving back to Darwin at the bus station.
The trip was a long way to Alice Springs.Not too many on board: three Aborigenes and a young English couple.Starting at 4 p.m we arrived in the Alice by early morning.
The bus dropped us almost in front of the Bojangles and I could not help having a picture of me taken in front of that place.
Bad surprise on arriving at the hotel. No room seemed to have been booked for us by Denise.She was to care for us for the next few days and it worried me,especially when I heard she was not in the Alice at that time.
Happily I saw Anthony Ash,the boy at the reception I used to talk to when at Aurora Resort the previous year.He was glad to see me again. He loves watching the Tour de France.
Finally Anthony came to our help. Denise had booked but one week at Aurora and we had to move to the Diplomat for the following week.
We settled down and we phoned Diane at Emu Run Tours. She told us Denise had to go to Sydney on business and would go to meet her family in Brisbane before coming back to the Alice.She expected to be with us the second week of our stay.She wanted us to come to the motel in Undoolya Road and that's how I walked past your house,Marty on the day of your leaving for Sydney.
I discovered Denise was not only running a bus company but that motel too.Diane,her employee,was doing the job for her as she was away.Denise had booked us on her bus for the next morning as planned.
We headed for the second time to Ayers Rock. We stopped at Mt Ebenezer, a motel in the middle of nowhere as it is often the case in Australia; A small bus took us to the Kings Canyon.A very hard walk to the top! Pierre could not reach the top. Poor man!
I was playing Priscilla,Queen of the Desert, dragging a gilded bag all along with me. That made Tony,the guide laugh.
The following, the rock!
We walked around it before having a BBQ with champagne: traditional. And guess who came with his glass of champagne? The English boy who travelled all the way from Katherine on the bus.This world is so small after all...
The road back to Alice Springs was a hard one. Driving by night is so dangerous in Australia.I saw camels, herds of cows and, of course,kangaroos. But the driver was cautious not to run over any of them. I kept awake,talking with Tony. He called me his lovely. How nice of him!
Diane told me on meeting that Peter had left the Alice to settle down in Mataranka.That was our first stop with the bus after leaving Katherine.Once more I was missing a loved one.
Denise's bus took us the following day in a tour in the West Mc Donnell ranges.
For the second time I was in Simpson Gap and Stanley Chasm,but the trip took us further west this time to the Red Ochre Pits and Glen Helen.Nice day again.
I had been connected to Bo's since I left France, but now I was in the place.
Anxiety at entering the bar.
We walked past the dance floor to the restaurant. A waiter welcomed us and I asked him:"Have you ever heard of Mary from Montpellier?" He answered yes in surprise and I replied:"It's me!"
He then looked at me and said: "Marty". I reassured him telling I knew Marty was away in Sydney.He seemed sorry for me.He added he liked the songs I requested.A very nice boy!
Then Dan appeared in the room. I touched him lightly on his back. He turned around and I said:"Mary". "Oh,Mary!"followed by a big hug.
For the first time I could dance on that floor I had been watching for so many days on the screen of my computer.He,too,told me about Marty being in Sydney,but he knew I knew.
We spent the following day resting and walking about the town.
We saw plenty of kangaroos on walking to the Telegraph Station: a wonderful experience for us,people from the other side of the world.
On the evening we met Denise who had to come back earlier than planned. She was to fly to Brisbane the next week-end for her son's engagement party.
The following day, we moved to the Diplomat. It is situated just behind the Bojangles!
Sadly Laure was flying to Cairns in the afternoon,on her way back to France.
The flight was 7h30 late on schedule.A big bother! Well, she left in the end and the two of us left took a taxi back to the town.
Tje next days were made of rest,swimming,walking to the golf,the School of the Air,the bowling,lunches at the Red Ocher Gril,Aurora and a few nights at Bo's.

Elsabeth.
On having a computer I checked for Alice Springs News and even sent thel my comments on my first trip to Australia.One day,a few months later, I was surprised to see them printed.
Later on I read an article by Elisabeth about a young cyclist, rival to Cal Britten.
The Brittens hosted us while in Bayside and were very proud of their young champion hoping he would champion of Australia.
As the article was not published in full on the web ,I asked Elisabeth for more.
She answered me very nicely wanting to know how a French lady could be interested in her newspaper and was willing to meet while in the Alice.
I met her at her office before Laure left and we decided to have a drink at the Lane.
In between we met Steve at Bo's. The man from Perth had just lost his best friend and was in a sad mood. He cared for a few drinks for us and said he was working as a spy for the Australian government,having been to Aghanistan.
When I asked him about Marty, he said that man was evil and yhat I had to keep away from this man. What a blow! He said that man had a girl working at Bo's fired in a very nasty way.
He said he was a bloody liar, especially when I told him,Marty did not drink.
Well,all I could see on my screen was two very different DJs.
Dan would refill his glass every two minutes and smoke heaps of cigarettes during the parties.He would play five songs or more in arow, not paying much attention to his listeners.
Marty would drink water,not smoke and what a nice way to entertain the people at Bo's or on the web.
I was stunned and I started to say to myself I did not that man after all,even if we had wonderful moments together. The mail I got in Cairns came back to my mind and I started to wonder if it was a good idea to carry on with the relationship.
When with Elisabeth I asked her about the DJs, and she said she preferred Marty,that he was a good friend of hers and that they were used to go swimming together.
Elisabeth is from England,living in Australia for two years. She swam across the Channel on her own.She is 26 and looked so fragile though.
But what puzzled me was the fact that I had told Marty how I had come to know Elisabeth and how she was e-mailing me: he never mentioned he knew her.
Most of all as the day of my coming was nearing;he started behaving in the queer way I mentioned earlier and stopped meeting with Elisabeth.Even Dan told me he was weird at the moment.
The last we spent in the Alice eneded at Bo's in the company of Elisabeth and her parents who were visiting her those days.Sad to be hugged by Dan for the last time.
The day before it was dinner with Denise at the Overlander's Steakhouse.We also spent the last afternoon in her company. She treated me with a book, a Robbie Williams album and an Aborigenal painting.
And it is with tears in my eyes that I boarded a flight back to Cairns.
On arriving home,I connected to Bo's first thing.
Marty was at the console resuming his work there.
I e-mailed him at once: "We could not have done better!"
And then I had a big surprise: he answered me on a mail in my in-box.
The beginning of a new way of being together and Hell was awaiting me.

dimanche 12 novembre 2006

The day following St Martin's Day
All started when I discovered my town was sister city to Bayside,Melbourne and that a trip was under way. I joined the association in charge with linking the two cities and we took off for Australia March last year.Being used to sail or fly over the Atlantic ocean in my past days, a long-haul flight was not frightening me.I could not imagine it would take us three days to reach the world of DownUnder,leaving on a Thursday and landing in Melbourne the following Saturday.Most of all I was so happy to renew with the English language.My husband is not from a family of intellectuals, and he is not one either. Since I married him,thirty years ago,I have lost contact with the language. We went but once to London.I studied English in French universities for seven years and was an English teacher for some few years,but all was long gone when I reached Australia.And surprisingly enough,I cried on leaving the land of Aussies.Back to France, they nicknamed me the Australian,for I could not help speaking of the country to everyone I met.Australia became my favorite topic.I had to go back there by any means.Lucky I was to meet Patrick and Seb Cros.Pat is a reporter and writes articles on Australia and his brother is a tour operator. Seb runs two businesses: one in Darwin, the other in Sydney.Seb was willing to sell us one of his tours,and he helped me convince Pierre,my husband,to go back there.We had our thirtieth wedding anniversary last January, a good excuse to plan such a trip. And finally,Pierre wanted Laure,our daughter to discover the land.We ,finally,took off on April 21th.My first trip took us from Melbourne to Sydney,then Ayers Rock,Alice Springs and Cairns. I went in a romantic mood on arriving in Alice Springs, for our guide told us about a film:A Town Like Alice. I did not know then how I would hate that Alice Springs airport,nor that I would experience something almost similar: missing the one I loved so much to meet as he flew to Sydney on the very day of my arrival.I had a good contact with Peter,our driver. Speaking English helped a lot.He gave me a bear hug at the airport on my departure day and that moved me.Back in France, I sent him a postcard and I expected an answer for two long months before I got the idea of phoning the bus company. A charming lady answered me that she had the card but did not to whom she should hand it over. Was it Peter,the German man? I remembered the latter told me he was born in Germany.Luckily enough, he was back working for her the following week-end. In fact, he had not worked for her since I left Alice Springs.I waited for an answer in vain. He never replied,even after having got the Xmas gift I had sent him.On the other, the lady at the bus company has become a good friend of mine.Denise is a bit older than me but we look much the same. She has had quite a few rough times in her life. Her husband she cherished died when 42 and she was left on her own to bring up her for children.She is a dancer lover,same as me, but a car accident when she was 18 injured her legs badly taking away her dream of becoming a ballet dancer.She met Wayne in Sydney, ten years younger, and they started the bus company in Alice Springs. Unfortunately, they parted last year and she is on her own again to cope with the business. Laure said to me we looked like two sisters when we met in Paris last December.The Bojangles.Something changed my life greatly when Laure gave me her old computer and could surf on the web.It was not long before I met Pat who was back from the Alice.He asked me if I had been to the Bojangles when in Alice Springs. I had not.He explained to me that it was a bar and restaurant with a dance floor and that the shows were broadcasted on the internet each night.So it is with a bit of anxiety that I connected to Bo's for the first time.I did not know it was a long way to Hell.They have two DJs working there and they take music requests from the internet,the phone or SMS.I sent my first request and waited till I heard the DJ say:"this one goes out for Mary who is listening over in France". Suddenly, Alice Springs was so close again.They have four webcams rolling on different parts of the place. I started scrutinizing the screen searching for Peter,hoping he might drop at Bo's for a beer.I started to like the moments in the company of DJ Marty better than those with DJ Dan.Marty played a better music to my opinion. He was commenting on the people at Bo's.Most of all,he was adding a few words to the requests before playing them.That's how our funny relationship started.I started to send longer mails,telling about my life over here and Marty would reply on his mike."I could not play golf this morning,it was too cold and the links were frozen""You would not have played golf here either,Mary. It's too hot!"Or,"Mary is sad today for her husband has just had a car accident"Slowly I stopped watching at the bar to stay focussed on the dance floor and the console. Peter had lost his interest.I started missing the days with Marty. I noticed his looks, his scruffy beard,his long dark hair,his casual clothes.Dan was still saying "this goes out for Mary",but what a surprise when he started saying:"Mary,oh Mary, I love you". It took me quite a while to find out his girlfriend was called Mary. We sorted it out with a big laugh.Marty, long way to Hell.We developed a relation based om my mails and your replies on the mike. It took a certain time to find out you could send messages through the songs you played. At first,I would not believe it.The count down had started and you were the first one to know when I was going back to Australia and Alice Springs.The weeks preceeding my departure,you turned queer.You stopped playing my requests. I begged you more than once to know the reason why,but you would not answer me.I started to smoke as never as you kept me waiting in vain.I decided to phone Dan. This boy shouted on the mike:"Mary says DJ Marty doesn't love her anymore,but,you know,Mary,I still love you".By that time,Dan had got used to finish the party with a request of mine: "Welcome to my Life" by Simple Plan.You then started to play my requests again,but without dedicating the songs for me. I was going nuts.I decided to phone you then. You said Dan had told you I was on my way to Australia soon. As if you did not know...You asked me for my dates I had given to you thrice before.Xhen I said I was arriving in Alice Springs on May 1st, you said: "Oh,Mary,I'm sorry,I'm leaving for Sydney on that day". You added you would stay there for a fortnight, the length of my stay in the Alice.The day I got back home I connected to Bo's on the web and you were back at work.I sent you a mail saying we could not have done better.The news came as a blow. Nobody,even Denise,understood why I had decided to stay for such a long time in that town in the middle of Australia.It was meant to meet you at last and you did not seem to be aware of it.Cairns.After that phone call,you took my requests and things were going a bit better.Since I connected to Bo's on the first time, I said I would connect everyday without missing one day.I have almost succeeded.After travelling for three days with a stop in Hong Kong, Cairns was in sight.I checked into my in-box at the hotel for a mail from Seb. Seb was living in Darwin at that time and we were to meet there.Big surprise,it was a mail from you waiting for me.Such a nasty one!You were advising me to enjoy my holidays with my husband and you said you were just a DJ wondering what I was expecting from you. I have forgotten to mention you told me on the phone you were to meet Johanna , your girlfriend,in Sydney. That puzzled me a lot for you had told me on St Valentine's Day that you were single.Well,what a blow again!I replied at once,giving you my age,and saying I was not expecting anything from you.Hard to tell,though.I was deeply hurt and had to hide it.Hopefully I was busy visiting Cairns and its surroundings,with Pierre and Laure.We enjoyed a day on the Great Barrier Reef.Well,it was not new to me,but Laure was discovering the country.I had on my mind my future meeting with Seb.He would welcome us in Darwin and drive us through the Lichtfield Park to Katherine.We would go on a local bus from there to Alice Springs along the Stuart Highway.Life seemed brighter thinking of what was ahead of us.Hell with you,Marty!!!