Once i was lost to the point of disgust (21/12/2007)

About six months ago my dad and i drove across the country together to visit my brother for Christmas. I had been reading a lot of Kerouac and was looking forward to a life on the road.

We drove into the city at 5:00am because dad had to stop at his work.

We got petrol and shitty day-old hotdogs and drove out of melbourne.

All the little towns to the west were exactly how i imagined them when i used to see them from a plane. All these tiny little places with four shops and a school. There must be alot of teenagers in melbourne that bailed on little towns like this.


Pops

Truck-stop graffiti.

We drove in the same direction as this storm so we got rained on for like 6 hours.

The country just gets drier and drier the further you go.

I brought alot of cd's for a four day drive. Dad hated all of it. And it was all from his era too. Lots of Lou reed and bowie and even Woody Guthrie.

They have weird shops in Adelaide.

From the car and my camera it just looked like a shittier, smaller version of Melbourne. But I bet if i actually visited it i would sell my shit and move there forever.

We stopped at a weird trucker bar in the middle of nowhere and had burgers and beer. Things at this stage were beginning to look alot like in that movie, Mad Max.

Or No Country For Old Men.

Then i saw this place and made dad stop for for barnacle burgers.

Port Augusta is this strange town that is simultaneously in the desert and on the ocean. It reminds me of mexico.

After driving for about fourty-six million hours we got a hotel. The idea was to sleep but i just stayed up watching the office like a nerdy loser all night.

And Foyle's War.

Motel Art.

Dad's idea of efficiency was that we had to be awake the whole time the sun was up. Which in the middle of summer is like 15 hours of driving. Thank god for Belle and Sebastian and Henry Rollins books on tape.

Thank Christ.

The two things i remember most were watching the country change...

And reading truck stop graffiti.

Some other things i remember is my dad sleeping, listening to every stones record in order and shitty petrol-station food.

In my own country i am in a far-off land.

I an strong but have no force or power.

I win all yet remain a loser.

At daybreak i say goodnight,

When i lie down, I have a great fear of falling.