Erm... can I afford a spending spree??

Took the bus for the first time from Sydney last night.. cost 4 dollars which is a bit steep, but at least its a convenient way of getting to/from the house in Manly to the city.

Right, well, a sort of unplanned spending spree has just taken place today: I didnt really bother with attending the car market today, but rather went to "Paddys Markets" (a special roofed market that takes place every Thurs-Sun) where you can get some great deals. Indeed I managed to scoop a DVD of "Night of the Living Dead" for only 9.50!

The main reason I went there, though, was to check out the prices for a new didgeridoo.. preferably one with some Aboriginal artwork on it (the one I currently have is just plain).

"Another didgeridoo??" you might ask? Well yeah, you see Ive been getting quite good on the didgeridoo lately, yet when I try out OTHER didgeridoos in shops they always sound FAR better and EASIER to play.. in fact I once came close to getting the circular breathing working while testing a didge in a shop. This, unfortunately, is not the case with my current didge since Ive found the mouthpiece is a little too small to get THAT good a sound and the circular breathing (for me anyway). The main reason I want a didge is to play the damn thing, so I got it into my head to purchase ONE more didge that plays properly (Ill still keep the other one since its a fine instrument too.. just not as easy).

So I snooped around Paddys for a few more hours.. lots of great bargains are to be had with clothes etc (I might come here to stock up on some Oz Tshirts before I leave), but not much to choose from on the didge front.. so off I went to Kings Cross to begin sticking up my van FOR SALE posters. No sooner was I walking up the main drag at Kings Cross than I spied a spectacular looking didge that still had the bottom uncut - i.e. it looked like half a tree log, with the upper part smoothed out. The sound was perfect too. After haggling for a few minutes I managed to get the price down to 230 dollars from 330!

After packing away the didge in the van, and feeling chuffed with myself I proceeded to continue exploring Kings Cross... no sooner had I started than I found myself in ANOTHER didge shop (it has become a habit over the past few months so I wasnt thinking). Eager to sell ANYTHING, the Chinese shopkeeper was declaring 50% off everything!! That was a better deal than the previous shop! So I obliged, thinking Id try out a few for Jonny not for me mind, and soon ended up playing a nice carved one. The sound out of this baby was AMAZING! Damn what was I to do??? I wanted this baby for myself too but didnt want to pay any more, so I managed to haggle the price down to an amazing 120 dollars from 300!!! Sheesh!!

Hmmm so now Ive got 3 goddamn didges, its becoming like my guitar collection (now numbering 10).