Sydney/Taree Australia
Part 3

Over the next few days, I did some more sightseeing. Took a train to Bondi, then walked to the famous Bondi Beach with its crescent-shaped stretch of brilliant white sand dotted with a kaleidoscope of colorful swimsuits and umbrellas, all housed beneath the bluest of blue skies. "It's pronounced 'Bond-eye', Daniel." Well, I figured that must've been 'cause of all the eye-candy... lifeguards, who were called lifesavers in Oz. Whoa! Totally hot bods, and wicked tans. Lots of hunky surfers, too. No way could I resist approaching a couple who had just left the water, with their boards tucked under their muscular, golden arms.

"Hey, guys. Pretty neat beach you got here. I'm from Tampa, Florida," I beamed.

"You're American?"

"Yeah."

"Cool accent, mate."

"Thanks. Hey, uh, I was watching you guys riding your sticks out there. Pretty damn awesome." So were their bods, but I didn't wanna get my face rearranged by being too forward. They reminded me a bit of Kyle and Steve. One was tall and blonde, and the other was shorter and more thick set, with black hair.

"You staying in Sydney?"

"Just a few more days, then I'm off to Taree for a little while."

"Taree? You serious?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with Taree?"

"We know a couple of real bad guys up there."

"Yeah, real bad," his buddy agreed.

"You do?"

"Yeah, me and Jeff," the blonde hunk grinned, flashing a row of gleaming teeth. "We come from Taree. Hey, if you're interested, Jeff and I are off to the rubbity for a schooner or two. Wanna join us? By the way, I'm Col."

"Daniel," I said as we all shook hands. "Uh, what's a rubbity? And a schooner?"

"Rubbity dub... pub. Rhyming slang. In other words a hotel," Col laughed as he toweled his athletic, V-shaped bod, and sent shiny, wet ripples up and down his awesome chest and abs. "And a schooner is a large glass of beer."

The next thing I learned as Jeff and I sat at an outdoors table in the hotel beer garden, waiting for Col to return with the schooners, was the meaning of the word 'shout'. It was customary for Aussies to take turns in buying beers for their mates. So it was Col's shout first, then it would be Jeff's, and, lastly, mine.

"But what if we didn't want three beers each? What if we only wanted one?"

"Then we'd go Dutch."

"Dutch?"

Three large glasses of cold amber ale were placed on the table before Col took a seat. Then he raised his glass and said with a wide infectious grin, "Cheers, mate! Welcome to Oz."

"Mmmm. Great beer," I announced before licking the white foam off my top lip. "Hey, is all of Oz this casual?"

"Depends. If we were in a city pub dressed only in boardies, we'd probably be thrown out. Beachside suburbs are different... more relaxed. So what do you think of Oz?"

"Haven't seen very much... just a bit of Sydney and the harbor... and Bondi. But everything I've seen so far is awesome. Thanks for inviting me to the rubbity. Are all Aussies this friendly?"

"You were first to say g'day, Daniel. Are all Americans as friendly as you?"

"Or as good looking?" the dark-haired Jeff added with a cheeky wink.

I felt a rush of hot blood filling my cheeks as I lifted the glass to my mouth, then took a sip of beer in an attempt to avoid commenting.

"Sorry, mate. Didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's cool," I lied, then began to laugh as I saw the funny side. "Hey, it really is cool. I was thinking the same about you guys... I mean, as in good looking. But I didn't wanna sound... well, y'know..."

"Gay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you?"

"Gay? Me? Uh..." I took another sip of beer while I tried to unscramble my brain. "Well, not exactly. I mean, my buds and I have kinda... y'know, done the teen experimental thingy. But it's not like stereotypical or anything like that. We're the same as you guys. Oops! I mean... not that you guys experiment or anything. That's not what I meant. Jeez!. Is my face red?" Both Jeff and Col were giggling their fucking tits off, so I guessed I'd really blown it. Damn!

"Hey, Daniel, no worries, mate. OK? It's no biggie."

"It isn't? I mean, yeah, you're absolutely right. Of course, it isn't!" I stammered. "Uh... Can we change the sub? What's it like in Taree?"

"Laid back. Nowhere near as busy as Sydney. Chalk and cheese, mate. But Sydney's good to visit sometimes, and it's cool to hang out at Oxford Street."

"Oxford Street?"

"Darlinghurst... the gay strip. It rocks big time."

While I was practically choking to death on my beer, Jeff was saying something about some of the gay pubs in Oxford Street, and how he and Col liked to go there to stir up the queens. "We dress like this, just in boardies. Sends the queens totally fucking ballistic," he laughed. "But that's OK. We're treated like royalty there."

"He means kings, not queens," Col cracked. "But he's right. It's fun, and it's great for the ego. Hey, Daniel, you should come with us one night before you head for Taree."

"I should? Uh... hmmm, maybe not. I think I'd freak."

"Nah... no wukkers, mate. They're harmless. They just get a big kick outa making a fuss, and they buy all the drinks, including expensive ones. It's cool."

"Do they hit on you?"

"Nah... we tell them we're lovers, Jeff and me. So it's look but don't touch."

"But you're not, though. Lovers, I mean. You're just regular guys, right?"

"What do you think, Daniel?"

Whoa! What kinda question was that? I studied the Cheshire cat grins spread across those two guys' handsome faces as they waited for my answer, but I didn't know what the fuck to say. "Hey, what the hell?" I shrugged, finally. "I dunno. And I don't care. I mean, it's your biz, right?"

"It's also my shout," Jeff announced as he stood, and gathered our empty glasses. "Same again?"

"Cool. By the way, what was it? Fosters?"

"VB."

While we waited for Jeff to return, Col told me about the way it was in Taree. "It's like most country towns... pretty blokey."

"Blokey?"

"Yeah, y'know... a bloke's gotta act like a bloke. Macho and all that fucking crap. There's no gay scene, at least not that I've noticed. So Jeff and I kinda take time out now and then, and head down to Sydney for a bit of fun. There's a scene in Newcastle, too, which is closer. Newcastle's quite a big city, about halfway between Sydney and Taree."

"Are you saying that you and Jeff are gay?"

"We're lovers, but not exclusively. Does that bother you?"

"Fuck no! Cool with me. So what happens in Taree? Does anybody else know?"

"Not really. We keep a pretty low profile. The surfing fraternity has a pretty macho image, so we kinda blend in."

Just then, the beers arrived, and Jeff sat down to join us at the table. "What's that about a low profile?"

"I was telling Daniel about us, and how it is in Taree."

"You mean like the gay thing?" he asked as he raised his glass to his lips. After swallowing a mouthful, he continued. "Yeah, a lotta gays from country towns gravitate to big cities to be more accepted, but Col and I like Taree. It's a cool place to live, and the beaches are nowhere near as crowded, 'cept during the tourist season. Some mornings you can go down to one of the locals and be the only guy on a board. Just you and the waves and a rising sun. It's awesome."

"So like what's gonna happen later? You gonna get married or something?"

"Are you?"

"Dunno. Guess I'll think about that when the time comes."

"Anyway," Col explained, "we're not all that gay. I mean, we don't need the gay lifestyle thing, if you know what I mean. It's cool to come down to Sydney for a bit of a giggle, and to tease the fuck outa the queens, but it's not the way Jeff and I wanna live our lives."

"What did you mean before by not exclusively? You've got girlfriends?"

"We go out with girls... nothing serious. And there are a couple of other guys in town who are what you might call friendly. Straight but not so straight after they've had a few drinks. They don't talk about it the next day, though. It's like it never happened."

"How can that be? It happened, right?"

"Hey, mate, why stir up a fucking hornet's nest? Being gay or bi or whatever in a small town is not like being gay or bi in a big city. Everyone knows everyone else's business in a small town. And if they don't already, it's only a matter of time before they do. So it's like you do your own thing but you don't talk about it. Mom's the word. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I guess. Pity, though. People should be allowed to be themselves."

"Allowed? That's precisely the fucking prob, Daniel. The majority rules. And if the majority thinks a certain way, guys like us are fucked if we open our mouths. Lemme tellya, there's no gay mardi gras down the main street of Taree, mate."

"And even if there were," Jeff interrupted, "we wouldn't attend it. That's not our style. We'll leave that to Sydney and the extroverts. We just wanna be laid back and live our lives without some holier-than-thou do-gooders shining their fucking spotlight in our faces."

"And that's another thing," Col said, "we don't need their permission to be who or what we are; we don't need permission from anybody. If straights don't need my permission to be straight, I don't need theirs to be who I am. Simple as that."

"Whoa, settle, mate. Don't bust a gut," Jeff laughed, then returned his attention to me. "So what's it like in Tampa?"

"You mean about crap like permission? I've never really thought about it. I just do what I do. Fuck anybody who doesn't like it. Well, it hasn't always been like that, but that's the way it is now."

"Feisty bugger," he grinned. "How come you don't give a damn?"

"It's not that I don't give a damn, I do. Truth is, it hasn't always been that easy. My step-bro Greg and I had a few probs to begin with. And some of my other buds freaked at first."

"So you stood your ground?"

"I guess I did without kinda realizing it. But it wasn't like I forced anything on anybody. On the other hand, I also didn't let them force anything on me. So I guess we're all kinda even. Anyway, everything's worked out OK with me and my buds."

Then Col interjected. "I know this has nothing to do with the convo, Daniel, but I love your accent. It's just so damn cool to listen to. Sexy, even."

"Sexy? Whoa! I'm gonna have to shut up."

"That'll be the fucking day," Col cracked. "Your mouth isn't connected to your brain. So what about my accent?"

"Your accent? It's kinda weird, but also kinda cool. I like it. And I like you guys. I really do. I'm glad we met."

"It's your shout, Daniel."

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