Will’s View

Being a student, I’m often wandering around with my head in the clouds, trying to figure out the latest thermodynamics problem, or thinking about what’s for dinner. Today I found myself doing just that, whilst standing behind a group of people waiting to cross the road.

I was then suddenly disturbed from my reverie by the `tink tink’ (that’s what they sound like in Australia) of the crossing indicators. Almost instinctively I started walking across the road. But alas, the noise was coming from the adjacent intersection and not the one at which I was waiting. No one had pressed the button, so the light phase had gone straight through the section dedicated to pedestrians. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, because one can normally J-walk safely across anyway. Sadly however, with this intersection this was not the case, so I had to wait through another light phase.

Sure it wasn’t much skin off my nose. Who cares about waiting through another light phase? I just went back to thinking about dinner, after pressing the crossing button for the intersection. But it got me wondering how often this actually happens. And why? I have always found it somewhat rude when someone comes up and presses the button for a crossing when I am already standing next to it. It is like they are insinuating that I am incompetent and incapable of pressing a button when I want to cross. But in this case everyone assumed that the first person had pressed the button, but they had let the side down.

Maybe we’re all justified in making sure that button is pressed. I’m not really sure. Either way I should really go cook dinner. It’s been marinating in my head all day.

--> Being a student, I’m often wandering around with my head in the clouds, trying to figure out the latest thermodynamics problem, or thinking about what’s for dinner. Today I found myself doing just that, whilst standing behind a group of people waiting to cross the road. I was then suddenly disturbed from my reverie by the `tink tink’ (that’s what they sound like in Australia) of the crossing indicators. Almost instinctively I started walking across the road. But (More...)

It was almost 6 weeks ago that I was in Airlie Beach for a scuba-diving holiday, but I was recently reminiscing and so thought I’d write something about it. Plus it comes up on my map as another pointer.

Backpacker towns are reasonably similar the world over, I imagine. All sorts of shops and such tailored to the niche needs of the backpacker. I had never really been in one prior to this trip, and it was an interesting change of scene. The bars were always open and full of backpackers, and the lagoon (Airlie’s substitute for a beach, because of the jellyfish in the water) always bustling.

However, after being there for a week, this novelty started to wear off. For the first few days we were diving all day every day (and we got steak for lunch). But after the diving was done, and we had time to wander around and see what there was to see, we realised how little there was to see. A lot of this could be because I am not really a great holidayer.

I am a typical ‘Type A‘ personality: I am not all that great at relaxing, and even get bored if left to my own devices with nothing to do. So being in a town that has become centred on pandering directly to the short-term backpacker population left me at somewhat of a loss after being there for more than five days.

This then led me to wonder how the residents of Airlie liked this high-turnover, high-throughput lifestyle. Sure they’re living in an amazing climate that is temperate all year ’round, but how do they like having their town trashed on a weekly basis by drunken backpackers? I suppose they just learn to take advantage of it and clip the ticket while the backpackers travel through.

--> It was almost 6 weeks ago that I was in Airlie Beach for a scuba-diving holiday, but I was recently reminiscing and so thought I’d write something about it. Plus it comes up on my map as another pointer. Backpacker towns are reasonably similar the world over, I imagine. All sorts of shops and such tailored to the niche needs of the backpacker. I had never really been in one prior to this trip, and it was an (More...)