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            <<  Byron Bay, 26-Feb-2014  >>

He came, he saw, he left

Jirka's 5 day sidetrip to Australia. Beaches, BBQs, rum, lighthouse, Slovak language.

Jirka arrived. Again :-)
When I was leaving Slovakia, me and Jirka kind of agreed that we would meet in India. Well, we didn’t met in India, but we did meet in Sri Lanka, Nepal and now also Australia.
Finally he came to visit me in each country I went to, except Indonesia. Folks of Bratislava get some inspiration! I wanna see more of you around the globe!
And the funny thing is that he’s meeting me here, because he’s doing a mini trip around the world: he’s going for a vacation to Hawaii and so he decided to make it around the world and stop here in Australia for few days. So finally, he was with me in Sri Lanka, lazying around Midigama, we met in Kathmandu and did some trekking near Annapurna together (and before we met in Nepal he actually went for a week to the ashram where I had stayed at the beginning of the journey), and we’re spending few days in Byron Bay (after he spent a day and a night in Sydney). So he did “everything” what I did, although instead of 15 months he managed to squeeze it little bit over 15 days :-) and now he will even manage to go around the planet, something that I will ultimately fail to do, because of my Georgian assignment. Shit, Jirka is ahead of me! :-D

Jirka tried to fool the massive jet lag caused by arrival straight from Europe by traditional medicine: rum, wine and beer :-) This time, unlike in Sri Lanka and Nepal, I was no longer avoiding alcohol, so the hangovers that Jirka always brings with him were worse and more frequent :-) Poor me, heheh. But oh my god, that awesome rum, so yummy!

Me and Irene gave him quick Byron Bay full-on experience: barbecue dinners, all the beaches there are around: Main Beach, Clarke’s beach, Wategos, Tallow Beach and fabulous Kings Beach, which is a nudist gay beach that me and Irene “discovered” some time ago and which is stunningly beautiful, trip to the lighthouse and the easternmost point in Australia, night at Buddha Bar, and even quintessential shopping with Australia’s fresh food people at Woolworths :-)

There’s not too much to do in and around Byron Bay other than beaching, surfing and barbecuing, but that’s exactly beauty of this little place. But there were few novelties, such as dinner at the restaurant I had worked in. Just 2 days after I quit, I came there a customer to finally make some plates dirty, instead of cleaning them. It was only my second time there, first had been with Irene few weeks ago. It’s an expensive and good restaurant, so it doesn’t fit my money saving lifestyle, but I couldn’t resist going there at least twice to indulge on the food. We were served by me boss, it was a weird moment when my 2 bosses, one from my previous life (and future life, at least while I’m in Georgia) and one from my current life met.

After many months, Jirka has been the first person from my old life that I’ve seen. It was rehearsal for my return back home. And for speaking Slovak.

Jirka thanks for coming. See you in Bratislava, maybe in Georgia, and well, other places. You are definitely #1 fan of my journey! :-) List of countries we have been together (at least partially, for few days) starts to look quite impressive: China and Hong Kong, Georgia, Armenia, Vietnam, Cambodia, India (in 2009), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Australia.

PS: I was booking airport bus to Gold Coast for Jirka, I told the lady at the desk that the name is “Jiri”, and as she was confirming the seat with the transport company over the phone this is what she said: “Name is Jiri. J for JESUS, …”. J for Jesus! Hahah, I’m 33. Jesus is not coming, but Jirka is. And J is for Jesus. All is well! :-D


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     MARCEL STRBAK | www.strbak.com | www.facebook.com/marcel.strbak