Antipodean Fellows

26 September - Met more weirdos in the hostel - I think that the hostel is also a permanent home for illegal immigrants (one korean guy said he'd been there for 3 years and another said he was a dishwasher - two and two in my mind make ... illegals). Also met a dodgy russian guy who'se been living in Australia - every second word is fuck this and fuck that, a bit creepy. The kitchen is the place where they all congregate so if I want to cook something i've got to do it as quickly as possible so I can get out without being engaged by these bizarros, although it is the best place to meet people in the place so it's a Catch-22.
Met up with Steve, the Australian I first saw at the airport when I arrived - he brought along his housemates, Hayley and Tess, a couple of kiwis who've been here for a month. He had scared me a bit when we first met but he turns out to be a very sound man indeed - butcher by trade, he's been moving around for the past five years and he had some great stories including having done the running of the bulls - will definitely be staying in touch with him whilst i'm here I hope. While we sucked down a few beers (Monsieur Robbie has such a way with words) we ended up chatting with a really creepy FInnish guy who was completely drunk. He had evil beady eyes and it looked like his face was covered with powder; in actual fact, he looked like a very ugly, pudgy Count Dracula -eerughhh .... Also were engaged by a really annoying Torontonian geological professor who wouldn't stop talking about investments - I was as sarcastic as I could be in showing interest (that is so fascinating ...) but he was oblivious to it. Wanker.