The Bus Stop In The Bush - Anna

I would like to preface this by letting you know that this story, unlike my others, is non-fiction. I could give an approximate Melways reference for the Bus Stop but it is quite difficult to the give the exact location as the trail comes to an end early on the map.

It was early Sunday morning and I decided to set off on a long run. I’d been gradually increasing the distance of my Sunday run, and this day I was set to do 33km.

I was running along a trail that follows the river. It’s a great place to run, popular with a lot of runners, as it’s nice and shady with the gum trees, and there is a good range of wildlife to see. I’ve seen rabbits, foxes, lizards, snakes, the occasional black cockatoo, and further along, families of kangaroos.

This would be the furthest I’d ever run and it was a good day for it. Cool and overcast. I was feeling good and strong, pacing myself so I’d last the whole 33km. the trail was soft dirt, and the gum trees towered above me. It really felt like the middle of nowhere. I was quite far away from civilization at the 14k mark and coming across fewer runners and dog-walkers. At the 17k mark, I felt like I was truly alone in the wilderness. This was now the furthest I’d been on this particular trail so I was in new territory for me, and I took the opportunity to take in the environment, listen to the sounds of the bell birds and the odd kookaburra or noisy cockatoo.

At the 22k point, I slowed down a bit as the trail headed up a steep hill. When I got to the top of the hill, I stopped when I saw it.

Just past the crest of the hill was a bus stop sign bolted to a tree. I’d heard of this before, but thought it was a myth. The Bus Stop in the Bush. This is where magical things happen. I found it! I actually got to the Bus Stop in the Bush!

The trail continued round a corner and I walked round to see a veggie patch with the most brilliant orange pumpkins. I knew I could follow the trail ahead to get to my destination, or I could wait at the bus stop for the bus to come. Of course, there were no roads out there, but this was a magical bus that took people to magical destinations.

I sat down against the tree that the sign was bolted to and decided to wait for the bus. I’d heard it usually arrived a dusk, although it could arrive at any time. I stretched my legs out in front of me and closed my eyes. Something good was about to happen. I knew it.

The Madman - Anna

Walking through the eternal garden of Eden,
Everything is perfect if I keep on walking.

Round & round
Talking to myself
Walking round the garden of bliss

What a life!

Scenery in the City - Anna

I was walking around Sydney CBD, but it looked quite foreign, like being overseas and discovering a city for the first time. I was looking at the skyscrapers from a distance. Then the city started to tilt. All the CBD skyscrapers tilted on an angle towards me, at almost a 90º angle. The city was showing everyone a bird's eye view of the skyline. It formed quite a nice shape, like an architect had purposely built a city so that it would look good at an angle. I could kind of see the Olympic rings in the buildings. This was because the Olympics were being held here soon so it was a touristy thing. I got my camera out to take photos. For some reason I had some crappy disposable camera as well as my SLR. I was using the disposable one though because I couldn't be bothered putting the zoom lens on the SLR. Then after a while, the buildings began tilting back into place. It was very interesting, and left everyone feeling uplifted, awakened, aware, conscious and at peace.

Moving to a New City - Anna

Anthony and I decided to go to Sydney to see what the job market was like and if we could make a go of it there. We went to the north shore since we had stayed there before and looked for somewhere to stay. We walked along the water's edge for a while. It was really nice and peaceful. Then we saw the hostel where we once stayed.

"Shall we go there and see if they've got a room?" I said.

"Nah, they were shit, remember"

"Oh yeah," I remembered.

We saw a path and decided to walk up to the road to keep looking for somewhere. There were plenty of hotels, but most looked 5 star.

We walked down a side street and saw a guy walk out of a house. He said he was looking for a housemate. It was only $120 per week. We didn't really intend on sharing due to previous experiences and we really just wanted to live by ourselves but we thought why not? We'll give it a go.

From the outside it appeared to be a small terrace house. Pretty, but the room would be too small for the price. Then we noticed it was double storey, but the lower floor was actually below ground level so of course it wouldn't get any light. We followed the guy in.

The rooms were actually quite big. We passed two bedrooms and weren't sure how many people we'd be sharing with. We went downstairs. Anthony didn't want to go, thinking it would be crap. I followed the guy and the stairs led to a large lounge room.

"Come on," I said, "It's really big."

As we walked down the long staircase, I saw a tree planted inside. It was magical! A massive tree inside the house! And a few ferns at the foot of the tree. The room opened up and there was grass and a lake. It was just perfect. We were so excited! We saw a few people relaxing, and found out that 5 others lived here. It seemed like a lot to of people to share with, but with your own lake and plenty of space you wouldn't get in each others way.

The guy indicated that the spare room is actually in another building on the other side of the lake. The other building was another house and we'd have it all to ourselves. Perfect! And only at $120 per week! We were so excited! Yes! We wanted to live here!

The guy said he'd have to talk to everyone about it to see if it was ok, but was optimistic about us moving in.

I was so excited at moving into a place with a lake and beautiful trees and gardens. Of course it would take us a while to get to work because we'd have to walk around the lake just to get back onto the road but it would be worth it.

So I Started to Sing a Song - Anna

Flipping through a magazine, I saw an add for clothes in a 1940s style. I could see beauty in the models and the clothes they wore so I started to sing a song. It went something like this:

I am interested in your boy
That’s a nice hat
He must be very nice
What an elegant skirt