Pat
We picked up Pat in Noosa Heads, the day after we left Sydney. He’s also in the midst of an around the world odyssey; however, his journey is moving east and is focused almost exclusively on surfing. You can read about his trip here. He had just spent a week in Noosa for some sort of surfing festival, staying in a condo with a group of great lakes surfers from Michigan and Chicago. By the time we found him, the rest of the lake surfing contingent had taken off the day before and he was crashing at the apartment of Clive and Stuart, two old west coast Australian surfers who came to Noosa to get away from their day jobs for a bit and make a surf movie. Their place was baller: gigantic, right on the water, with a private pool on their balcony. According to Pat, Clive had a birthday party earlier in the week and the Roxy women’s surf team showed up. I don’t think Pat had any fun in Noosa at all. Alissa and I were only there briefly, but the guys were extremely friendly and welcoming. They offered us the use of their expansive master bathroom shower, which we graciously accepted; it was crucial before starting our 1000km overnight drive to Shute Harbour.
It has been awesome to see Pat. He’s been working on a sweet, scraggly beard; it really suits him, even if it only reinforces my image of him as a “dirty hippy”. Australia really suits him. He has taken to going barefoot 24/7 since arriving in Indonesia and it amazes me how many bars/restaurants/supermarkets/etc. don’t say anything about it. ”No shirt, no shoes, no service” doesn’t seem to be the policy most places on the east coast of Australia.
