Everyone, meet David!

My life isn't just work. It does seem to be mostly work (and sleep) but I do manage to squeeze unworky things in. Like yesterday's pizza party or a girls night with my house mate (actually during that one we had pizza too and while we nibbled on our delicious prawn pizza we bawled our eyes out watching PS: I love You.) Nadja and I are still very good friends but she usually hangs out with her best friend Jake and our work hours often limit the German togethertime.
I myself spend most of my time with my best friend in Strahan. He is a tour guide on Sarah Island on the Cruise and an actor in the local play which has been running for 28 years. 'The Ship that Never Was' is the reason I met this really cool, goofy, happy, spontaneous weirdo.
Because many guests at View 42 participate in the Gordon River Cruise I often talk to them about their experience. Sure enough at least once per evening I will have two ladies gushing about Disco Dave who made their day despite the rain. Funny conversations arise like:

"How nice! Who was your tour guide?"
"SOCKS!!!"
"Sorry, who?"
"The guy with the stripy socks!"
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that David is always recognizable by an unusually huge grin and his stripy socks.
It is easy for people to describe to me who they are talking about. I will know it was him if they mention one of the following features:
- tall and handsome
- a beard "like that"
- stripy socks
- funny shoulder movements while talking
- huge grin
- "YEAAAAAHHH!!!!"
- excited
I was going to say funny but I think they all are quite funny on those tours.

This might be random, but since I was so excited about the milky way here I asked a friend to take a photo of it. Actually, reduce the randomness. That friends name is David, too.

Just two days ago an older man at the bar was thrilled by my ability to remember his table's drink order and asked me if he could swap his misses for me. I had to decline pointing out my friend on the boat as the reason.
Later when Jess swapped me in the bar and I was clearing plates I ended up at this bloke's table and he shouted out:
"This here is my waitress who has the boyfriend on the boat!"
"I was on the boat.", a slightly younger lady said extremely excitedly. "I know who your boyfriend is!"
Oh, wow. How does she know that?
"How do you know that?", the guy asks.
"He is the one with the socks! The green stripy socks."
"Yeah, bingo. He is the only one on this planet who would wear them.", I agree. There is no doubt, she guessed him right. Don't asked me how she knew he could be the only one on there fitting the bill but apparently "my boyfriend" has to be very handsome and lovely to qualify for the title.
"He was so great!", the lady keeps talking. "How lovely! You made a great catch."
I am amused by her excitement and of course feel flattered in David's place for her to be so mesmerized by him. I can see Dee throwing me a half amused half wondrous look and I smile back while my arms are about to fall off because I am still carrying all my plates. The lady's husband returns from the bathrooms and her excitement ignites again.
"Darling, her boyfriend is the one from the boat!"
"Who?"
"Our guide with the socks!"

It's not always all about the socks but people always love him. One group of four had this incredibly lively American lady with them and they came to eat twice with us. Thrice, if you count the breakfast. I had spoken to them the first night and then the second night they too had fallen completely in love with SOCKS!.
"I cannot believe he never acted before! He needs to keep doing it. He is a natural, so talented!"
"Yeah, he loves making people laugh."
"Oh, but he is so amazing! It just comes to him. He needs to go to acting school (they told me the name but I forgot. It's in Sydney.) and do this professionally. And he made me the... what's the name. The jellyfish in the play! Yes, I was the jelly fish, oh it was so funny! Tell him the jellyfish said: 'SOCKS ROCKS!'"
I saw them again the next morning when this lady gave me a huge hug and thanked me before they kept moving on. "Your colleague told me you have a beautiful voice. Keep singing and tell him to keep acting. You are both so lucky!"

It's just lovely to have such enthusiastic customers. It lets you know you are doing your job right. David, you are doing your job right!
As you can see everyone, exclusively, adores David. To me it's great, too, because he doesn't work on my side of town. He is not part of Strahan Village and therefore most people aren't really aware of him. But even if! He convinced me of his extraordinariness when he took me dancing on the cemetery because I mentioned how much I missed dancing. And to accompany this adventure he brought cheese and crackers and dip and grapes! ..... ! I can't even express how excited I was. What a perfectly fun idea. (We didn't dance on the graves of course. We danced on the carpark between water and graves.
The graveyard is beautiful, too, by the way. Lots of old graves and it is situated right next to the harbor.
Brandy (as Dave was named yesterday by Justin - David unwittingly repaid him by calling him Jonichi) loves eating, for some reason always feels the urge to do our dishes, surfs, hikes, is extremely relaxed, has barely seen any Disney movies but already went through Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, has tendencies to fall asleep within three seconds (like Papa), has a red beard although his head hair is dark, is covered in freckles (jealousy occasionally arises) and his phone number is 04010......

Anyway, if you need anymore proof of how lucky I am to be friends with him I present it to you in the form of photos - yesterday provides you with the literal translation of how he makes my life in Strahan brighter, gigglier and more myself.

Does this give you an idea what I am talking about? This was taken back at our old spot the graveyard where we burst into some colorful fun. 

Camouflage method to blend in with the trees. 

I have to correct myself: His beard is green although his head hair is very black.

The results:

At first I couldn't decide wether I look like Hulk, Captain Blaubär or Frankenstein but then I realized I look like the sea.

Hallo, I am a dog - uh, zombie. I am new here. Can you tell me, what are this?

Hope you are having fun too!

Skipper (and monkey/brandy/disco/toomanynicknames)