As Far As You Know

I took the overnight train to Brisbane, the city lodged between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast north of Sydney. When I booked a berth in the sleeper car yesterday morning, it looked like I'd have the place to myself. Instead I would up with a bit of a crazy old Australian guy to share the space with. I knew things were a bit off when I found two garbage bags on the floor of the compartment when I boarded; as I went to move this trash into the hallway, a grizzled fellow banged on the window, indicating I should leave the bags in place. I first thought he was a train worker, whose job it was to clear the trash. When he came on board, though, it was clear that these garbage bags were his luggage! Anyway, the guy talked non-stop about all sorts of details of his life history until I got my iPod headphones in place an hour into the journey. I survived the trip, even though we were awakened at 2:30 a.m. to change trains because there was something wrong with a screen on the engine, whatever that means. No worries, as they say down here.

Today's offering is from Elton John's Live In Australia album--which now is 20 years old! This gem of a song, performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, is called "The Greatest Discovery."

On a whim, I caught the 3:30 showing of Blood Diamond in a downtown mall in Brisbane. An entertaining movie about the brutal intersection of the diamond industry and African warfare. Not a great film, but a reasonably well made one on a provocative topic.

Here is a map of where I've been and where I am going on this four-month sabbatical:

Here is a bigger version of the map.

This ain't no party
This ain't no disco
This ain't no foolin' around.

I am renting a car and heading out with no specific plans before my train leaves Brisbane for the ride back to Sydney on Sunday afternoon. I'll either head north to the Sunshine Coast or south to the Gold Coast or both or perhaps just head west into the bush. We'll see.