Traveling, stupid and blind folded: The boat crawl!

Before i talk about my antics at Freds i Thought it was rather important to update y'all on my spending at this point

Credit card: -£950

AU bank account: $650

So within my first week at base hostel I had also been working part time at the marlin bar which was about a 30 min bus ride away on the other side of the island. I had had to loan $400 from Craig to get me through that week before I was paid which was spent on bus money and food, although breakfast and evening meals were included for the woofing. $50 deposit went to base hostel and the rest on afternoon meals and bus money I guess. I earned $450 in my first week at the marlin bar, that's after tax. The most I'd made in Australia so far and I'd only worked around 20 hours for it. So it seemed to be working well, working for food and accommodation at base hostel and then working for money at the marlin bar.

So the German girl staying with fred was Corina. Amazing girl absolutely wild though. She had been getting on really well with another boaty,. And that night, as it was corinas last night with Fred and Corina must have wanted to meet all the other boatys on horse shoe bay they went on a bit of a mission using the dingy to go from boat to boat to do just that. (Now when I think of a dingy I think of those blow up boats. No, this is plastic with a motor, I would think of it as more of a speed boat than a dingy but what do I know) Fred asked Me if I wanted to join the 2 of them but I was tired and I wasn't really sure I wanted to be chucked in at the deep end meeting every boaty on shore but it was that or stay on the boat with fred, a possible axe swinging maniac, so I went. Corina and (Forget her name - so annoying!) Got a long really well and had plenty to talk about so it was nice to be in their company, they had also made sure they had bought lots of drink with them. It turned into a "boat crawl" like a "bar crawl" but better. I used to think people with boats on shore or at the harbour had their boats there for leisure, to use for fishing or travel as and when they wanted. But it's very rare that anybody has a boat on shore for anything else other than to live in. It's a totally different, yet amazing life style. Every person I met was so friendly and welcoming, its a really great community, like neighbors. we drank, we had a laugh and each put some music on or one played guitar and I played and sang what I could. Corina insisted "more more more" but my knowledge of guitar chords was incredibly insufficient. If only I had a piano...

in general living spaces on a boat are very small, a toilet and Shower is usually but a single cubicle. a bedroom that is also a dining room is the size of a walk-in wardrobe and manages to fit in up to 3 beds that are also couches or storage units. Everything is very crammed, so the kitchen is usually within this area too and then outside on deck you either have a storage unit or seating areas. On first mpressions, Long term, it looks totally unlivable, it's like camping. No heating (although you wouldn't need it Unless you were in southern parts of aus) no air con, unless you had fans. Electric is usually run by a generator fuelled on petrol or solar panels.

Each boat had its own character, one was very basic as are most, but had tonnes of amazing things from all over the world, Asian writing hung on the walls, ornaments on the table, interesting pebbles and shells. That was lochys boat, he told us storys of his travels and of all the things on his boat and i sat there appreciating that moment. craigs uncles house has a similar style to it, filled with interesting artifacts from all over the world, its something i wish to do with my own home one day.

Many days later lochy broke a bone in either his leg or foot and we used to see him drunk on his boat many times to numb the pain before he could go to hospital. Once he'd got that sorted he looked completely like a pirate with his crutches, ear length curly hair, on a boat. There's a lot of climbing up and down ladders to get to and from the lower deck which is the living area. Hard work for him.

Another boat we went to was so much cleaner than the others, animal print seamed to be the theme. It was such a unique pristine boat it felt like a real home "Chili magic" was the name so the woman who owned the boat was nicknamed chili. She was lovely, she had a really interesting job and lots of drama filled story's involving herself and her family. I could tell she had a big heart. She offered me a toke of her spliff and we continued to all sit their quite merry with drink and the smell of chilies cooking, sitting on the comfiest outside couch on any of the boats so far, able to admire the stars. I asked how life on a boat was and how she was able to maintain it all on her own. Apparently as a woman you can get a lot of help as most boatys are guys, but for the most part she was able to do things on her own and she's just learned as she's gone along and the only struggle was when she's ended up in crutches like lochy. Her toilet was down a ladder in something that looked like a storage unit. It probably was a storage unit also. She must have been in agony. She said It's hard at times but totally worth it for the freedom you get and the community of boatys you have. What an amazing life.

Between a visit to the next boat lochy brought his dingy out too and we had a game of "dingy wars" racing the dingys to the next boat and almost crashing into them as it was so dark we could barely see some of them, by law each boat has to have its light on top of the mast but the odd one didn't. Weaving in and out of boats at night speeding through was so much fun.... The more drinks we had the more difficult it became to climb on and off the dingy to get to boats. At one point Corina had her feet on a boat, her hands on the dingy and sea inbertween her. I was in stitches. It was time to call It a night and we made our way back to Fred's boat. Fred had made our beds on the deck, so sweet. I slept in a camper bed beside Corina who had a sheet covered gym matt on the storage place on the deck outside. It's so difficult to imagine with that explanation so check out the picture. Fred came out and insisted on tucking us in. Ok fine... But then he decided to kiss me on my head?!? He was about to kiss corinas, I'd never seen anybody jump so fast out of bed before haha, she awkwardly hugged Fred and said she doesn't want a kiss and that was that. When Fred left I asked Corina what it was like living with Fred and she said he's really nice but he has to be told not to do certain things. I had a good feeling about Fred, ok he was strange, but he had a good heart and i really appreciated getting back to a made bed. So what does Fred get out of it? A lot of people struggle with this idea that human kindness can sometimes be free. I remember a quote from the hustle. "If its too good to be true then it usually is" but couch surfing IS free. Everybody has their own reasons for taking on backpackers in their homes, usually to meet people of all cultures and ethnicities, to have some company if there is none. I was yet to figure out Fred's.