A little sweet taste of Adelaide

Monday afternoon, my last day at work, my last day in the van, my last day in a town called Gawler. I've been here only 9 days and it's already time to pack up and leave..

Since leaving Nyah West, last Saturday morning (the 21st of November) Jason and I have been both working and having a ball at the same time. We left on Saturday, headed towards Adelaide. It was an 8 hour drive and the feeling I got, just from doing a short roadtrip in the van again, was amazing. I felt so free and enjoyed every minute of the drive alone. The term "roadtrip" was really so appropriate. Because this term means that a journey is being made but it's not a means to an end and it's not with a mindset that is focused on the destination. Even though the destination does approach ever so slowly and even though there is a purpose and a reason for taking the roadtrip in the first place, it still felt like a holiday, just those 8 hours on the road. What a great drive!

We arrived in Adelaide on Saturday evening. I'd never been before, not to the city or to the area where Jason is from (which is Gawler). I passed through the airport several times, in the last 6 months and me and Jason did a wine tour in a valley an hour north of the city, but I'd never ventured into Adelaide itself. We ended up touring around the city on Saturday night, checking out all the "hotspots", such as Chinatown and having some yummy Malaysian food (just to get me "warmed-up" for my trip). It's a tiny city, compared to every other one in Oz, and had a similar feel to it, as Brisbane does, only smaller. I loved it! The vibe I got was great.. We camped on the beach that night, south of the city, after having had the best luck in the world when we decided to try find the house of a couple we met when we were in Queensland back in June, called Jimmy and Shirley. We had an idea of where they lived but we weren't too sure but we thought we'd chance our arm anyhow and drive around that area of Adelaide, up and down the beachfront, to hopefully spot their mobile home outside their house and pop in for a visit.. And that's exactly what happened!! I never expected to find them or to see them again but we did..so randomly! We ended up staying there for a good few hours, talking about our travels, looking at photo's and just being in good company. It was such a random experience and what a way to spend a Saturday night! They are a great couple, both in their 80s.. so full of life and with an amazing amount of energy, it's unreal. We were delighted we made the effort to look for them and were so grateful to them for inviting us into their home, as we turned-up so unexpected.. What a great couple they are!

Sunday I decided to set-off and explore Adelaide by myself. Those short few hours we spent there the night before didn't cure my craving for a city, which I didn't realize I had, until being in one for the first time in months.. It was so great being in a city again. It made me feel so alive, not that there was so whole lot to do as retail-therapy doesn't seem to be my thing anymore. But just being amongst the hustle and bustle was enough. So I sat and drank tea all day long and ate sushi every chance I got. How cool!

We were due to start work on Monday morning, in Gawler. This is Jason's hometown which is around 30 minutes north of Adelaide. We started work on the rosefarm Jason has worked on for years, doing the same work as we did in Nyah West..the rose-patching. The conditions were so much better, but I struggled all week trying to get back into the swing of working again. It had only been a week and a half since I worked, but for some reason the heat (only 28degrees) got the better of me everyday.. But this didn't ruin the fun we had. We were camped on a caravan park in Gawler, only 5 minutes from the farm. It was a different experience, compared to all the other camping spots we've had.. A caravanpark was something new. There were other "budders" (this is what Jason's job is called..he is a "budder" ) staying on the caravanpark aswell. They were all English, so we all had lots in common and we quickly had created out own little community within this holiday atmosphere we were surrounded by. We hung out lots together, explored some of the sights, had a few sessions and had lots of fun out in the field too. It made such a change from it just being Jason and me in the field.: We now had more people who we could share the experience with, we could all motivate each other and have a laugh and relate our own personal experiences to, regarding either work or travel, was a great way of being!

And suddenly I found myself having to say goodbye to the English workers and, more importantly, to Jason. Today was the last day at work and tonight we'll be camping at the beach once again just like we did 4 months ago when I was flying from Adelaide to Cairns. It's almost like coming full-circle. We'll be in the same spot doing the same thing: we'll be at the beach near the airport and having to say goodbye. This all might be the same set-up but other than that everything has changed so much. We've done so much together over the past 3 months, since my coming back from Cairns. We know that I'll be back after my Malaysian adventure. We know where we stand now and I know that I'll always have a home in the van, no matter what happens. I'm leaving my dream catcher, that Jason gave to me as a present, hanging above where I'd sleep.. So I'll definitely be coming back, even if it is only to sleep and let my dreams be caught and lead me to where I'm supposed to be. How amazing...

Where to from here..??

It's Friday evening, and the heat is passing.. Today it's raining and it's such a welcome relief. Where am I?? Well, I'm still in Nyah West. We are destined to stay here I reckon, cause we've been trying to leave since Monday afternoon, but with one thing and another, we just haven't managed to pack up the van and head off. First it was work that was stopping us from leaving. Then it was the heat that was stopping us from leaving. Then it was our lazy-mode that was stopping us from leaving. But all going well, and without any interferences, we'll be leaving Nyah West tomorrow. It's definitely time now. We've stretched our stay as far as possible and the more we stretch it, the harder it will be to leave. So we're biting the bullet and we're off to Adelaide.

Between the hot spells of weather we've been having over the past week, I've managed to make a decision. My brain might have been fried by the scorching sun beating down on it through my straw hat, but I still managed to see some opportunities come my way and make some plans and finally take some action!!

When did I start cooking up these plans? Well it was last week. We were still working on the rose farm at this point, and I felt like I wanted to go somewhere and do something alone, by myself, in the big wide world. I've been having itchy feet for a while now, and it's so easy to stay with Jason and the work. But, at the moment, I'm in exploring-mode I think. But I hadn't a clue what to do or where to go. I thought for a while to go to some spots in Oz that I haven't been yet. Then I thought of working with Jason until the new year, to save some extra dollars. But the thoughts of doing either of these, didn't excited me. I felt like I needed a challenge, I needed to do something for myself and by myself, I needed to branch out, even it was to be for only a couple of weeks. I figured I'd worked pretty hard the past months, and financially I was set for a while. But travelling in Oz for a month can be so expensive, too expensive almost, considering there isn't really any other place I'm longing to see in Oz. For the same price I'd be able to travel to Asia somewhere.. Hummm.. This got me thinking.

I hadn't a clue where I wanted to go. So I just started browsing the net last week, searching for a sign of some sort, showing me which country could offer me some adventure - a sign in the form of a cheap flight was actually what I was after.. And I found it. It took me a few days before I actually made the decision to book it and being the indecisive person I am, I could have done with some coaxing from someone here, but I actually wanted to make the decision all by myself. And I did!! last Friday I booked a flight to Malaysia!!! It was "cheap as chips", and the dates worked out so well.. I had a whole "plan" in my head, as soon as I seen the dates and the prices of the flights. I just needed some certainty, regarding work in Adelaide with Jason for the next week.. If everything was to fall into place, I knew these were the flights I had to book. And within a day everything managed to miraculously fall into place.

So what's the plan? Well, we're leaving Nyah West tomorrow, going to Adelaide. We start work on Monday, on a rose farm. I'm staying until the 1st of December. And from Adelaide I fly to Melbourne and on the same day I fly to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I'm staying until the 27th of December, flying back to Melbourne and will be going to a festival near Swan Hill with Jason that lasts until the 4th of Jan, to celebrate the new year. I couldn't quite believe how easily everything came together. It was amazing and I was, and still am, so excited. It will be amazing to travel in Asia again. I've been to Malaysia before, but had a bad experience and wanted to leave the place asap. And that's exactly what I did. I swore never to go back there again. But when this flight popped up on the screen, and the more I thought of visiting this country again, the more I thought it would be amazing to give it a "second chance". Because it is a beautiful country, with beautiful people and an amazing culture. And being in a different culture again will give me that boost again and the confidence I'll be needing once I decide where next to travel to. It's going to be so good for, doing this again. And it's going to be so different than the last time. Traveling in general gives me totally different things, than it did when I was traveling for the first time. So I know it's going to be amazing..

Everything has been taken care of, and I feel so at ease about going over there. There's not a fear or a doubt in my mind.. Just excitement in my heart..

It's the last night at the pub, and we'll be saying goodbye to everyone a little later on. We're sad to be leaving, but so happy to have been here in the first place. At the moment it's getting busier, so we're leaving before the season gets started properly, but it's been so cool. Who knows, we might be back, together. I know Jason will definitely be back at some stage. But what the circumstances will be, we don't know. But as always, time will tell!!

Starting life at the "Grand"

It's Friday afternoon, it's a warm and it's sunny day. Summer is here in Swan Hill and the people are buzzing. Everybody is excited by it and the temperature is hitting 30 degrees today. It happened so suddenly. Within the space of 2 days, we went from 15degrees to nearly 30.. How drastically it can change..

The past week and half, since arriving in Swan Hill, have flown by. Me and Jason are waiting for the next job to start. It will be on a rose farm near Swan Hill, working with trees again. I'll be doing pretty much the same as I did 3 years ago. We worked there together then too. It will be strange going back there again, but good all the same. The job will last probably 3 weeks and from there, who knows.

When we first got to Swan Hill last week, we had decided that we'd move into the "Grand Hotel" in Nyah West. It's the place I stayed at, 3 years ago and it's also where I met Jason and where we first worked together. It's in the tiniest of towns, and should probably be classed as a proper country pub, with 40 odd rooms above it instead of calling it a hotel. Because this "hotel" doesn't live up to it's name; there's nothing at all "grand" about it.. But comparing it how we've been living over the past 2 months, it's luxury.

Last week we thought it would be a good idea to stay at the pub, while we were working on the rose farm. It would give us some more space for a while, it would break the monotony of living in the van and we'd be meeting lots of other workers and travelers at the same time - because that's the type of place it is: it's a place where people stay only temporarily when the seasonal farming work is available..it's a town people just pass through..(only if you're unlucky enough to find something that will keep you there for any particular length of time..then you're doomed!!)

So I was excited about staying there again. I knew it would bring up so many memories when I was first there, in 2006. And it did.. We stayed there last week for just one night and it didn't feel too great, if I'm totally honest. I didn't know what came over me.. I was just overwhelmed by the fact that I ended up back there again. The times I had there, when I first got to Australia in 2006, were amazing. They were some of my most precious times and the times I'd miss the most, whenever I'd be thinking back to when I traveled Oz for the year. I felt that by being there, I was trying to recreate the past. It was like I was trying to relive the memories that were, and still are, so dear to me. I felt like I was going to make the Grand hotel in Nyah West into something different than it is, in my head and I was also afraid that I'd start to look at it in a different light and not be as fond of it as I am. I was also overwhelmed by how much I've changed. I was walking into the kitchen, I was walking down the corridor, I was having a shower, and constantly seeing me as a young girl, doing all these things, but who had only just started her adventures, who had only arrived in the country, who was new to the traveling lifestyle, who was partying hard, who was so naive and so so young. I saw her constantly, it was me and I was seeing how I used to be. I saw how I looked at the world and at people and at traveling. And I couldn't believe how much 3 years has changed me. Suddenly it was like I was seeing this person who is no longer an innocent and naive traveler, on the go, running through life with an enormous amount of energy. I could see so clearly, what I had "become" since leaving there, in December 2006. I could see what life had thrown at me, and now it was like coming full-circle almost, just so I would be reminded of how much I've changed and how I've come to value such different things in life. It's unreal and was a bit of head-wreck at first. It made me feel isolated, scared and it made me panic.. It wasn't until afterwards I realized why I felt that way. And it's only now that I'm sharing this with you that I can see it even more clearly and it makes all the more sense.

This happened last week. Jason said that if I wasn't comfortable staying there, then we just stay in the van, no worries. But I knew it would be good to stay there again.. So, up until yesterday, we've been camping anywhere and everywhere, just to save some pennies before and last night we moved into the pub. By anywhere and everywhere, I mean camping on the river, in our mates driveway, then in the forest, then on the racetrack grounds.. Filling the time has been too easy, especially with the gorgeous weather. Jason has been doing some fishing and catching up with some mates and stuff. I've become a part of the community, by sitting in the library nearly everyday, working on my laptop, reading heaps and catching up on internet-stuff (except facebook..oops..). Last night we were back at the pub, which is where we'll be staying for the next 3 weeks. I felt so much better, when I got there last night. It was almost a relief to be there. Maybe because, now we'll be a little settled for a few weeks. We don't have to ask ourselves everyday: "where are we camping tonight", we don't have to plan ahead too much, we've a shower at our disposal, we've a lounge, we've a kitchen and an unbelievable amount of space! How nice it will be!!!! O yeah, and a pub downstairs ;)

For now, I don't want this time-off to end..haha. I'm having a ball! Haven't partied in a while and I must admit that I do miss it now and then. But there hasn't been an opportunity and there are so many other things to enjoy in life. So that's fine.
The next 3 weeks are pretty much planned for now, and from there, I'll have to be making some proper decisions..humm.. keep you posted!

Visiting - driving - visiting - driving - visiting

I find myself in a place I've been before. Somewhere that isn't new to me, somewhere that's familiar. A little blast from the great times of my past. I'm in Swan Hill, in Victoria (only 4 hours north of Melbourne), where I worked in 2006, for nearly 3 months, when I first came to Australia. It's where I had my first job in Oz and where I worked with Jason. Swan Hill was always the nearest town to the hotel, where we all lived. We would come here every week for shopping, it was like our base and Nyah West is where the hotel was and also where we worked, which is 25 km down the road.

We got here yesterday after a week of full-on driving and are staying with a mate who used to live at the hotel too, but now lives in Swan Hill, a guy called John. We rocked up at his place yesterday afternoon, without any warning.. A little risky, but he was delighted to see us and couldn't believe that I was there.. He thought he was never gonna see me again, just like I thought I never would see him again either.

Such a great time we've had, catching up. And so surreal aswell. The whole set-up and situation right now is so strange.. I was sitting on a sofa last night in a living room (which has been something I haven't done in nearly 2 months, so even that felt odd), with Jason and John, in Swan Hill, 2,5 years after leaving here.. I'm back in a place I had some magic moments and a place that holds some of my dearest memories from backpacking. I'm almost a different person, with a different state of mind, on a different journey and with so many different things going on in my life.. Things that I could never have imagined that could happen to me, have happened or have the potential of happening. It's the strangest feeling.

This morning we went to Nyah West, and that totally blew my mind. Seeing the hotel where we stayed, the phonebox where I used to ring home, the pathway I used to jog along in 40 degree heat, the deli where I used to email from, and the pub where I used to spend so much of my hard-earned cash on a beer after a day of tieing trees with Jason in the paddock. It was so crazy. Not much has changed. I even seen some familiar faces, everybody still doing their daily thing.. I had forgotten how backwards that tiny little town was. It's still like a place out of the 1960's.. the buildings, the roads, the "shops", everything. But it felt great to be there. Especially seeing as though it was there that I met Jason, and now I was back but after having traveled thousands of miles with him; It's all so surreal..

Before getting to Swan Hill, we came down from Childers (up on the east coast of Queensland). Along the way we've been visiting some other cool people. We left Childers last Friday morning, and headed down towards Brisbane. We were going to visit Trish and Ed, back in Caboolture. It was again the strangest thing really, because in a way it was like coming full-circle. I had left there, 6 weeks earlier, when I got on the plane to fly to Adelaide and suddenly I was back to where my journey in Australia had started out. But with so much than I set off with. So many great memories, that Jason and I are already thriving on. We got there on Friday afternoon, had some drinks and lots of chat out on the porch. We stayed in their house on Friday night, after having a great lamb curry, which gets mentioned everytime we see sheep or lamb in the fields as we're driving along (thanks again Trish!). It was all such luxury. Staying in a house, with heat for one, was glorious. The nights have been getting so much colder the past 2 weeks.. so a proper roof over our heads was soooo nice and warm.

Saturday we went on a search for a mate of ours, Lewis, who we stayed in the pub with in Nyah West years ago. We had his home address in Brisbane and after getting lost in the suburbs for a while, we finally made it to his house.. Totally unannounced we knocked on his front door, not even knowing if he still lived there or not.. When the door opened, it wasn't him though.. Our bubble burst so quickly, after the excitement took over both of us for a few minutes, once we were told that he moved out a while ago and that the new owner had no idea of his whereabouts. What a shame. We had no way of contacting him.. But at least we gave it a try. Deflated we left and got lost some more around the suburbs of Brisbane, until dinnertime and then just desperately wanted to get out of there.. We had nowhere to camp in the city so we had to hit the highway.. and freeze our socks off once again, as we found a restarea on the highway.

The next day, Sunday, we went to visit a mate, Craig, in Stanthorpe (south of Brisbane), who we also worked with in Nyah West. I was so excited to see him, we always got along so well. I never ever thought I'd see him again, just like John, but there you have it.. (my new motto should become: never say never) We got to his house (announced I might add, which makes a nice change..haha), hung out with him for the afternoon, had some beers and hit the highway again, in search of restarea where we could light a campfire. And it worked!! Halleluja, we had heat! A raging fire at night, and in the morning once again. You might be wondering just how cold it gets, at night. Well, I'm afraid back home, it might not be considered cold at all.. My Irish blood hasn't been serving me well at all, since I got so used to the warmer climate up in North Queensland.. It's only around 5 degrees at night, and 15 in the day.. So it's not freezing cold, but fairly chilly when you don't have heat in the van at night. Anyhow, enough about the weather..

From Monday onwards we were doing some good driving.. When I say good, I mean, "putting in a lot of km's". We had to put in the hours and needed to push ourselves to get on the road, good and proper again, that's if we wanted to move ourselves in space, not only in time. And they were very monotonous days I can tell you, and playing eye-spy doesn't really work when there's nothing around. Talking..and talking and talking alot of "bla bla bla" is all we can do. Which can't really be considered as talking. So then we go for just plain silence which can be nice, but then we both get too caught up in our thoughts and are like 2 zombi's and Jason then gets fatigued and agitated by rattling sounds in the van and I feel useless because I can't do anything to help or can't drive.. Hummm.. I reckon thousands of km's will do anybody's head in. So the camping at night was all we had to look forward to. On Monday night we were in the forest with a fire, Tuesday night we stopped in a truckstop.. and last night we were in Johns nice warm house here in Swan Hill..

So at the moment, we're only 600 km's away from Adelaide. This is probably our final port of call, before coming full-circle good and proper. John wants us to stay for a few days. We aren't too sure just yet how long.. Maybe until tomorrow or Saturday.. It depends. I don't know what it depends on really. But just on us I suppose. So much of the trip is now behind us, and I'm noticing that both of us have been pretty tired over the past days.. so many impressions, so many sights, so many kilometers.. It has been taking us more and more out of us, to keep the energy going. But being here, and feeling the way I'm feeling right now, it's all going effortlessly again. Which is great. We'll more than likely be back in Adelaide at the beginning of next week. That's an estimate. We'll see what happens. Until then, we're enjoying being in a house for a few days, in a warm bed and with great company.. I always said that Nyah West came close to being the best.. xxxx