Day 206-7 - Loneliness & Thoughts On Hostels

Day 206 (Thursday 8th) - Lonely and Bizarre Dreams

Last night I sat in the bar, alone, failed to meet anyone, watched the manager's band (who were pretty good, three guitars and the chef on Didjeridoo for the last song) and then went to bed fairly early - this was troublesome, as my room is as close to the bar as can be, and therefore was extremely noisy until lateish - this resulted in me having some truly wierd dreams, one of which involved being back in Byron Bay, having a birthday party for Rob Franklin for which I had hired dancers to entertain him, one of whom was Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. All very 

Day 207 (Friday 9th) - A Day At The End Of The Rainbow

I was awoken far earlier than I had planned by music coming from the bar again, and found I had gone to sleep fully clothed. I had a bit of time before I could manage to get out of bed, so  I devoted this time to figuring out why I didn't meet anyone yesterday , but why I met loads of people in Mooloolaba. Consequently I think I have figured out what makes a good hostel as opposed to a bad one - the presence of a bar. I have found it harder to meet people in hostels that have a bar  as opposed to those with TV rooms and kitchen areas. Here people are just hanging out, open to chatting in a relaxed atmosphere. Bars tend (and I know I sound like an old man here) to be rowdier and less conducive to a chat without shouting. Also, joining someone on a sofa facing a TV, or on a bench in a kitchen, seems less difficult than joining someone at a table at a bar. Mooloolaba was easy as there was a kitchen/TV area on each floor, so you could slump and have a chat. The Arts Factory was easy as everyone hung around outside down by the lake on the benches, always ready for a chat. This place however has none of this - the bar area runs into the kitchen and games room, as does its atmosphere, I feel. All these places are really busy in the evening, with everyone already in little groups - another reason for this may well be that most people pass through Rainbow on their way to or from Fraser Island, where by necessity they are crowded into little groups who become fairly close over the three days they spend in their vehicle. I start mine tomorrow, and meet my group at 4 this afternoon - I'm sure my loneliness will pass by then. Oh, also there's no surfing here really, I would have needed to go on a trip (leaving at 0730 this morning) to take advantage of it. Bugger.