Numurkah Victoria

Pronounced “New Mer Ka”

This week’s exciting adventure was a trip, with the Melbourne Rainbow Band, to a little town in Northern Victoria for a performance at the towns "food bowl festival". The town is near the border with New South Wales and is about 3 hours due north of Melbourne, lying in the heart of the region’s produce area. It was a beautiful sunny day with highs around 31 degrees (87 Fahrenheit). The band rented a coach bus for the trip and about 25 gay guys and lesbians jump in for the adventure. We left at 9am and most of the people were still half asleep. Several brought pillows to sleep on the way up. I stared out the window and watched the rolling hills of southern Victoria turn into the flat plains that are farther north. This being my first real trip inland, (besides Nimbin), I was curious about the countryside. Eucalyptus trees scattered the roadsides with little farms about with a few cattle or horses along the way. No kangaroos or koalas as far as I could see. I did see one kangaroo on the way back, but sadly, it didn’t make it across the road. Some one before us must have had a nice dent to fix. There was a DVD player on the bus and some people watched Pirates of the Caribbean. While our conductor tried to instill a few last hints to help us along, as the theme song was one of our performance pieces.

Upon our arrival to Numurkah it was painfully apparent how SMALL this town really was. They did have a bottle shop (liquor store), an IGA grocer and 3 pubs. As the bus pulled up to the town centre we saw our venue for the performance. It was a little pavilion to give us some shade and not much else. The band performing when we arrived was the Numurkah town band. A group of locals that ranged in age and ability, much like our band. There were about 15 people in the audience. At first, there was a look of horror on all of our faces in the bus. The thought of 25 gay people unloading on to this little town seemed like a flash back to Priscilla Queen of the Desert’s scene when they arrive in a similar small town and walk the strip in drag. But we were there and ready to play. That old saying "The show must go on!" so we unloaded the bus and prepared for our Numurkah debut! Our apprehension quickly faded when we realized we out numbered the town’s folk and that we could play better. (I know that sounds conceded, but it was true) Our performance went off without a problem. We played a 45 minute set with songs form a wide range of genres. A 1942 swing song called American Patrol, A Ray Charles medley, a medley from the modern version of Hairspray and some others. I sat in the front on the right side and played along as best as I could. Most of these songs are beyond my currant abilities, as the speed and tempo change quite often. So I’d chime in here and there when the notes are held long enough for my fingers to work and I could stay in time with the rest of the band. Sometimes I just faked playing. Moving my fingers in time and not blowing into the sax. My guess is that without a musical background most people didn’t even notice. Overall the performance was a very good practice for our big concert coming up on November 1st.

After the set ended our host provided us with refreshments of coleslaw sandwiches and water. Being that it was a fairly warm day the water was nice and cool. I can’t say as much for the sandwiches. Which were served without any dressing and on plain white bread. So it was basically some cabbage and carrots (you know I LOVE my carrots) on very cheap bread. It was apparent that more sustenance and beverages were in order. A friend, Andy (seen in the overalls) and I walked to the left and checked out what Numurkah had to offer. We were hoping to find where this so called festival was taking place. It couldn’t just be the little pavilion we played in could it. After about 2 blocks we hit the edge of town and turned around, finding the rest of our friends at a pub at the far end of town. So for about 90 minutes Numurkah had a gay bar. Because when we walked in it was now a gay bar! That’s me (yes I am drinking beer) and some of the band members relaxing after our gig. We never did find anything more to do with the festival.

The return trip was a little livelier. We were all awake and had some beer in us. So while the beer buzz lasted, we watch Hairspray (the John Travolta version) and had a sing-a-long in the back of the bus. I really thought at some point we’d all break out into ABBA songs but it didn’t happen. As we trekked closer and closer to the city the hills and variety of trees slowly came back until we could see the Melbourne skyline again. At which point you could feel a sigh of relief on the bus. We’ve made it back to civilization and survived the bush! After unpacking the bus and loading up our cars we all parted our ways for the night.

Sunday was a totally different day, overcast, cooler and windy. But that’s spring in Melbourne, nice one day and cloudy the next. I spent the morning running errands before heading out for a little Christmas and birthday shopping (Mom, no thimbles I promise) at the “stalls” along St Kilda Beach and eventually back to Southbank (near my office) where there are more little booths. All of the items are locally made and most of the artists staff the booths. There was lots of hand made jewellery, aboriginal artwork, fridge magnets, scarfs and purses. I did find a few things but I’m not telling….

At the beginning of the stalls in St Kilda is the only amusement park in Melbourne, Luna Park! There's one in North Sydney too. It's a kiddy park basically with an old wooden roller coaster following the parameter of the park. It takes up 1 city block maybe a little more.

I’ve included a new more pictures of my flat. Just so you can see the progress. Last weekend Michael and I did more unpacking and have reduced the box pile to a more manageable size. We also set up the stereo, DVD player and dinning table. It’s starting to become a real place where entertaining and relaxation are actually possible.

Work is work…. The American, I supervise, is still a pain in the ass and I’m hoping he’ll self destruct himself all together, very soon. Between him and GWB I can see why we’re getting a bad reputation around the world. The other people I supervise are all hard working and able to handle the deadlines we face every day quite well.

Upcoming things for me are the big band concert on Nov. 1st and then it’s off to the GREAT OCEAN ROAD and my first little camping trip of the summer. This will test my camping gear and allow me to see where I’ll need improvements so I can get a full summer of trips in.

Take care I miss you all and hope someone is planning a trip to come visit me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUTH! And welcome to the world Olivia Wrobleski