Louise Gardiner: Aghhhh Bonjourno!!!

Well its my first day off alone in Queens town.

I miss my QT hosts company and I have checked into my hostel which is pleasant enough if you like mixing with people under 15.

I have had my hair cut and look less like an ageing old hippy….. I HOPE! I have bought a new blusher, some anti ageing moisturiser and some ear buds! At last! I have been on a cup of tea crawl and am now sitting a kind coffee shop stroke chocolaterie patisserie….. if that's the right word, where I can get WIFI.

I have had to order cup after cuppa in order to get online as the Internet does not work in the hostel which is a bit of a pain in the bum. So my caffeine intake is high but the connection is real slow and I am not getting anywhere fast.

I felt pretty lonely to begin with today. I am used to having a definite purpose every day and its been a long while since I spent time with friends and family and I really miss the familiarity of being with people that know me, having a laugh and a chat about stuff. Having travelled through the states on my tod and knowing there are at least 4 months to go its hard being resourceful and I would love to nestle in the arms of a good pal and have a hug.

BUT keep on trucking I say. You have to be strong and inventive and its good me not knowing what the hell to do with myself as I usually always have purpose and jobs to be done in list fulls.

This evening I did something which was for me, extremely daring and completely out of character.

I was sitting in a really nice cafe and writing to my brother, alone as usual wondering what on earth I could write which made myself sound more exciting and not quite so at a loose end…. other than about stitch!

There was some pretty good tunes spilling out from the speakers and a group of post ski chaps came in and sat at the same big table where I was sitting. I was just about to leave and they asked me what I had been up to and I had a wee chat with them. They were in their 30s, 40s and there was one very charming guy I reckon in his 50's, Juliano, all very laid back and amusing!

They were from Oz and on a long ski weekend. Anyway they asked me whether I had been to any good bars ( Ha Ha) and I told them I was travelling alone and mainly doing cross stitch in the evenings ….

NO I DIDN'T …….. of course I didn't!

Didn't want to completely ruin my chances of making male friends. I upped to go and they said well we might see you later then and I said yes we might bump into each other again yes… Then I left!

Anyway I said good bye and then was drawn into a shop next door to look at a pair of bright red slippers in the window. NOT SHOES!!!! SLIPPERS!!!! They ere really nice and really cosy and fluffy and warm.

Suddenly I thought!!! 'What the hell are you doing you old fart! '

'For Gods sake have a word with yourself, you and your electric blankets and your developing fluffy slipper fetish.

YOU WILL perish on your sewing machine with cobwebs in your hair and cats nibbling your toes at a tragically young age and no one will give a stuff!'

Obviously, for those of you that don't know me - this is a temporary land slide into middle age and when ACTUALLY I am a world famous socialite and am known for dancing on huge speakers in my sequin hot pants with a bottle of gin in one hand and a whistle in the other! You dont believe me? I have scars to prove it.

OK … so I am slowing down a little now what with my dicky hip and my embroidery related aches and pains but I am so bloody bored of myself at the moment!!! You ever get like that? Lou Gardiner? BORINNNNNNG!

So guess what…. I didn't give myself time to think about it and I marched back into the cafe, up to the table of 5 Ozzie men and I said ' Would you guys mind if I joined you for a beer later?'

I gave them my number .. got one of their numbers and said see you later and walked back out. Then subsequently fainted round the corner from the effort and shock of it all.

So I am going back to the hostel but you know what … I am nervous! But that's the way it goes when you are travelling alone. Its hard and you have to stick your neck out occasionally to meet people. It completely goes against my nature as I am quite shy when I am not wearing the teacher hat and I find it very difficult to make meeting new people happen on my own. Because I have been travelling for nearly 2 months now I am even more in my shell on the social front than I usually am and so I had to do something about it.

You'd have thought I had arranged to go do a naked bungee jump wouldn't you!? What a woos.

Oh Shut up you old Dicky Hipster and just get out and have a bloody beer!

Louiji Squeegee .

Some Self Timer Art Photos......