The return of Stupid Tourist Man
Trip Start
Oct 29, 2003
1
90
117
Trip End
Ongoing
Indooroopilly, Brisbane, Australia
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Myself and Rob headed to the main drag where we watched Roger Federer win another Grand Slam whilst the Italians shopped for more food of the pasta variety. After chatting with a few of the crazy locals - and confirming that racism is alive and well in Tassie - it was time to stagger back up the hill to see if Edward or Tubbs had murdered anyone.
Fortunately they hadn't, and the next day we completed the last of nearly 1,400 miles to drop off dear old Norris. He may have had a crap radio but he treated us well.
It was the end of the road for our little trip, with us all going our separate ways. Rob and the Italians were off to Melbourne but I however was in a bit of a pickle. Because of the long holiday weekend flights back to the mainland were expensive so I waited an extra day till they came down in price. This meant I would have to change the next leg of my RTW ticket from Sydney to New Zealand by a couple of days. Imagine Stupid Tourist Man's surprise when he was told the next available flight given the ticket restrictions was three weeks away. Bugger! I already had my non-refundable flight from Tassie to Sydney so couldn't change that but fortunately help was at hand. Remember that friendly Aussie I told you about that I met at the first Test match in Brisbane? I explained my predicament of having three weeks to wait and Wendy happily said I could crash at her place.
So that's how I ended up on television at the 'Gabba catching the ball at the England vs New Zealand game! The winner would probably be spanked by the Aussies in the final but we'd beaten them a few days before so confidence was up. Thanks to a great innings from Collingwood we sent the Kiwis packing. And then we only went and stuffed the Aussies 2-0 in the finals! It was a great end to an otherwise disastrous tour, and at the end of the day we still lost the Ashes 5-0.
The next couple of weeks was spent pottering around Indooroopilly whilst trying to keep up to date on the whole Anna Nicole Smith saga. It was hard work - and still is by the looks of things.
Other highlights of my unplanned trip north was Roger Waters in concert although no tickets were being touted outside so we listened to a couple of songs from the foyer before driving disconsolately back. But we had more luck with Little Britain, and had an hilarious catchphrase-tastic night laughing at fat people and gays.
All too quickly the three weeks was over and it was time for just me and my backpack to move on to the shaky isles of New Zealand. Huge thanks to Wendy for giving me the freedom of her flat, but I have to say I was a bit upset that she didn't get cable installed so I could watch more football.
