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13 November 2008

THE FINAL DAYS OF THE TOUR!

I left Nowra right after the show at midnight and drove back to Sydney (3 hrs away) just so my drive to Byron wouldn't be so harsh, but it was still a big slogging 11 or so hours of highway to get through (Another stint on little sleep the night before.). Thanks to cans of V , hours of talking on the mobile and some great music I got there without a hint of drowsiness.

Needless to say... I slept like a rock parked out the front of my friends house in Brunswick Heads and awoke to almost being late for my show at Satori Cafe!!!


On the road to Byron from Lowra		Satori Cafe in Byron Bay

Satori Cafe in Byron Bay

I was warmly welcomed by a beautiful crowd of lovely folk and lots of little kiddies running about. After my 3 sets were over Nikki Bomba asked me if I'd jump up with him and his band later that evening at the Beach Hotel and 'jam' on the banjo.

I nervously tried to decline with my usual response "I cant jam, as I dont know the instrument well enough and am self taught..." but he didnt care and told me it was easy!! Hah.

I pondered it for a while and figured I'd give it a shot...all I had to do was work out how to play D on the thing!!! Thankfully I found my D tuning and gave it a whirl in the back of Lady Luck outside the hotel and then 5 minutes later was onstage in front of several hundred punters jamming on with his band....

Here's a photo taken by someone I handed my camera to in the crowd (they must have been dancing cos the photo's are all blurry!)

My final gig of the tour was the next evening in the Gold Coast at the Cavern. The same Cavern I played at right at the beginning of the tour. Kinda felt like home cos I've been getting used to rocking up to totally new venues and new faces....this time they remembered me and welcomed me with open arms and loads of questions about the tour....

I had planned to head back to Byron to lie on the beach and soak in the glory of my 1st solo self-made tour being over and completed successfully... but for some reason I just couldn't. The rambling woman in me was itching to get back to a base (my mums pad in Brissy) where there is internet and a kettle so I can get cracking on booking the next tour STRAIGHT AWAY!

Many people have asked me how I do this. The answer is I LOVE it! ....end of story. I love driving, even if it is over 10 hours on less than 5 hours sleep!. And of course I love performing. I also believe in doing what I love regardless of seemingly difficult 'setbacks'. Geez, I left Brissy with $180 to my name and succesfully completed the tour! Not bad I say...... not bad at all. :) Being on the road is my time to DJ, sing harmonies & duet with Neil Young, Hank Williams, or dance in my drivers seat, take some sneaky photo's of passing trucks and sundowns, meet friendly folks at dingy rural petrol stations, and live my own choose-your-own-adventure novel!!!!

I never plan where I'll stay ahead of time.....and during this tour I always had a home with open arms, an open back door with nice bathroom, or a spare key under a mat and fresh towel on offer. In the whole 5 week tour that covered 5 states... I stayed for 1 night in a caravan park! Not bad aye?

My big heartfelt thanks go out to all those of you that welcomed me into your homes for those hot showers and cups of tea, glasses of wine and great company! ..but don't worry folks...Lady Luck is the sweetest, cosiest mobile home a gal could have. She's well & truly overdue for a service now which I will attend to promptly as we are heading very soon to Port Macquarrie for the Festival Of The Sun on December 12th & 13th.

I'm so glad to have that to look forward to cos I'm already having highway withdrawals.

Lotsa Love to y'all,

Ramblin' Gal - Abbie

P.S. The video tour diary is coming soon...

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