Disorientation Dingoes & Slot Machines

Truly an odd day in a sense. Waking up in a remote location, jumping on a plane and having the scenery drastically changed, visiting my past, rental car fun, and Christmas carols. Seriously, the night before I was looking at scenes like this:

I was looking at more red soil than you can shake a venomous snake at:

I was experiencing the wild ferocious animals of the Outback such as this critter:

Not long after, this is what I was looking at:

Okay, okay, let's go back and try and make sense of this. We awoke Saturday morning too damn early (in my opinion) and got ourselves together for our Ayers Rock departure. Some instant coffee and Tim Tams once again graced our lips for brekkie, and soon we were off to the small Ayers Rock airport. I glanced at the sign on the wall and knew it was very true.

Before heading to Brisbane, we had a brief stop in Alice Springs. For the record, even when this trip is said and done, I will have spent the majority of my total 6 weeks in Australia (over this trip and my last) based in Alice Springs. So, on this brief stop, I had an encounter with my past and in a sense finished some business. The last time I was in Alice, I left a piece of my heart there. On this short visit, I gathered it back up and it's back in my sole possession. It's not like I needed it for San Francisco, but it certainly belongs somewhere else now.

With business settled in Alice, it was back on the plane to Brisbane. Qantas really does know how to do it right, and we were served a tasty Tandori chicken with mango chutney sandwich. One of my other favorite aspects of flying on Qantas is you are always offered a tasty hot beverage after your meal. It's not "tea or coffee", but rather "coffee" or "cup of tea". I simply love it as the stewardesses walk the aisle repeating "cup of tea?".

After arriving in Brisbane we experienced some fun with Hertz car rentals. The attendant who waited on us clearly was not a veteran, and we wasted about 30 minutes on getting the car secured, when it was already waiting and ready to go. After that fun experience we did some left-side driving towards our downtown hotel. After checking in we wandered out into the city in search of some food.

What a difference a short period in time makes. From red dirt to Louis Vuitton. Crowded streets galore and while I enjoyed a tasty steak and beer, I was serenaded with Christmas carols.

After that we wandered around and passed through the casino. A scene like this brought back memories of Vegas, and truly for a moment I had no clue where I was: The Outback? Christmas? Big City Lights? Slot Machines? Oh my! Well, the day is winding down, as well as the month of November. Like I mentioned previously, Christmas season is in full swing here, and now I'm in the tropics (which makes for an odd mix for me). A truly weird day down under INDEED.