Time in the Desert

Ok, I had to take a quick minute to chuckle as I started blogging to the same song as the last entry........ NEXT!

Due to the amount of time I spent changing schools, doing correspondence, or just outright not attending school, I honestly don't have ages for some of these events.

We spent at least a year in Victoria, over 4 batches I think. We didn't go directly from Bowen to Victoria at any point in time. It was always via somewhere else like Mundubbera. Coincidentally, if you ever want to play a game of minigolf with bent home-made putters next to a giant fiberglass Mandarin then Mundubbera is the place for you.
Actually let's visit Mundubbera.
We lived here only once that I recall and It was for months. We picked the whole season as far as I know, and we saw the Big fibreglass Mandarin change.
It was a gift shop at one point, and an office or local museum at another. So there's a few references to the length of our stay.

I didn't go to school while we were here. And I didnt celebrate Christmas or a Birthday. So it was between March and December. The show rolled around. This was an exciting part of every small town. When the carnival came to town.
As usual there were dodgy rides and dodgy show folk, but it didn't faze me. The time I had spent with my grandparents at the showgrounds.(what are the odds the Satellite photos of Brisbane are from August. There's the show I grew up attending) So, as I was saying. The time spent around the showfolk as I grew up made me feel comfortable avoiding them.

I remember we begged for 3 days to get money to go to the show. And in the end scrounged enough to gain admission and have $3 each. Barely enough for a ride 20 years ago, or in some cases enough for two. Depends what sort of ride you went on.
We wandered around, watched the rides, listened to laughs and yells, looked at the showbags lovingly and eventually settled on a Tilt-A-Whirl Ride. It squeaked and groaned and generally felt unsafe. At the age of 9 or 10 I thought it wasn't a good idea. But I still got on. (Courage? Stupidity? Or just being a man....)
On our way out, we walked around the opposite direction. And saw a circus tent, but it was square. What could it be? A python of cables leading under one side suggested it was electronic. Ever notice that as a kid, even in the face of overwhelming evidence you never jumped to a firm conclusion. Everything still only suggested or implied.
Armed with this new found suggestion of fact we circled to find an entrance and enter the tent. Lights flashed, Beeps sounded and the roar of artificial gunfire from spaceships filled the air.
It was an arcade. A mobile arcade.
Bear in mind at this point in life I had never lived in, nor visited a major city. The concept of many videogames being together had never been considered. I wandered for hours. I scrounged the ground for coins and found many in the grass. Not enough, but still I got to play so many games I had never seen.
I was in love, this is where I beleive my love for videogames came from. It was as much a technological achievement as it was raw gunnery. Even though I'd had videogames before. We had a sega at home.

I hadn't reached the moment of jaw dropping awe yet. That was a few minutes later, when I finally made my way behind a row of machines I thought was the last.
Wooden games. Wood and metal and glass. Old fashioned antique looking games youd associate with the term "Penny Arcade". These games were exquisite pieces of engineering and took skill to play.
My favourite, which I lost many coins in over the next few days was a key puzzle.
The game consisted of 5 hanging keys, all suspended in the centre. And a curved base. This base had keyholes in it.
As you inserted a coin, a trapdoor at the back opened revealing a stash of coins, 10 or 15 of them to be precise. And one keyhole under each key would change colour. (there was a track or row of seven keyholes for each key. Three per side and one directly underneath.)
Now the keys started swinging, and one of the keys was red. So one keyhole under the red key would switch to red. And one would turn white on each of the other tracks. You needed to press a button to stop the keys. Your prize of coins was awarded based on how close each key was to it's designated keyhole. The red one if locked exactly would release all of the coins in the treasure compartment for your winning pleasure, and possibly add more coins if other keys lined up.
I became very good at watching the keys and timing the lock right. So whenever I found a coin or two, I would go and try to win some more. The only reason I won money was because I waited until other kids saw me play it and win. So they would try after me and put money back in the machine. Someone had to.

Apart from home made minigolf at the giant Mandarin, the rest of my time here was forgettable. Very much so. Just a caravan park, few belongings and afternoons watching the Ninja Turtles. I didn't have a room or my own space here. I didn't need it. I was only a guest.