A Wicked World

So today IS the tomorrow I worried about yesterday, and guess what, everything turned out alright. I've begun my Wicked roadie with a German girl named Julie. We left Brisbane on Thurday morning and headed to Surfers Paradise to soak up some sun and enjoy the Gold Coast night life. After much convincing from the Wicked Pub Crawl crew we decided to stay an extra day in the area. We needed something to fill our time so we drove up to Lamington National Park. The drive up the mountian was absolutly beautiful and breathtaking. We did a tree top walk and a 2h hike to a magnificent waterfall. My pictures will never do it justice. We arrived back in Surfers to begin our night out...6 clubs, free drinks and some bowling was enough to give me a great big headache this morning, but not stop us from hitting the road again. We have just arrived in Byron Bay; hippie town NSW! We're going to go to the beach and then roam the streets and try to hook up with some more backpackers, but that won't be hard.
I'm so glad to be on the road and travelling. A month was the original allocated travelling time, but I think I'm going to extend it as long as I can!!

On the Road Again

Relax...ok, someone tell me to relax. I'm leaving...yeah I'm leaving, but not on a jet plane. In a Wicked Van...it's my dream and has been since that post you read months ago. Here it finally is. I love when things are so far away and then somehow end up on your doorstep awaiting you tomorrow. But today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday and it's all turned out fine. That's what my original van was supposed to say on the back. I was solely going to take it based on that saying, and because it has stars on the ceiling (read post back in December). But I didn't feel safe in it, so I have the one that says " Goddesses are just angels with big boobs"...which both my travel mate and I have, so good riddance.

Tomorrow begins the epic journey I have been looking forward to basically since I got to Australia. I'll be travelling for a bit shorter than a month and covering about a 1/4 of Australia. How cool is that! And just when I thought I would have absolutely no one to do it with, fate, and a cafe near work, brought me Juliane. She's a German girl, season world traveller, speaker of 3 languages, and needs to get out of Brisbane. She's keen on travelling but doesn't have a lot of dough, as per the greater population of backpackers. But she's awesome and I think we'll have a lot of fun.

I had dinner with my friends and roommates tonight just to say farewell. I'm excited to leave, but the feeling is bitter sweet. I'm so grateful for the many wonderful people into my life while here is Brisbane.

Now for some last minute packing...

See you on the Gold Coast!

Quarterly Update

This is the first quarterly update of the new years goals. I'm pretty happy of the progress I've made, but I've been reminded of the work still needed to be done. 9 more months to complete it all!

1. Learn to surf- good progress
I've gotten on a board and ridden a few waves. I plan on living in a coastal town to take up the sport.

2. Ski New Zealand- no progress
Hasn't happened yet, but it's still summer. ETD is August for NZ.

3. Bungee Jump ( or some other extreme sport)- no progress
Same as above

4. Get in shape- good progress
I've joined a gym and try to eat healthier. I've gotten back some endurence and increased my cardiovascular strength.

5. Blog- mediocre prgress
Still Blogging- Just not a lot going on to blog about!

6. Keep in touch more often- poor progress
I've been doing ok but I could make much more of an effort- starting tonight!

7. Take more pictures- medicore progress
The new camera is working out well and I try to take more pictures when I can

8. Travel alone- no progress
No opportunities to do so yet

9. Shake the Someday Syndrome- good progress
Yes- well, I've been working on it, and I'm getting better. This post is proof that I'm keeping up with things I said I'd do.

Still searching

I'm having a mid trip crisis. Someone asked me how long I've been here and when I told them, 5 months, they coolly remarked that I was almost at my half year mark; half the trip was over. I was not very happy with this and didn't even put it together that I was almost at 6 months. So for the past week I'm been having major mood swings and questioning what I'm really doing. I've hardly done anything, and there's so much that I want to do. I don't think I'm going to have time for all of this.
Secondly, I feel quite alone here. I came here with Carley, and love it when we do trips together, but I worry that we're on two very different paths, and she'll not be ready when I am. Other than that, I really have no one to travel with. And I guess not just travel, but spend time with and lean on, and have a strong relationship with. I really miss my family back home, and all of my friends, and dearly wish that they could be here doing this with me.
I feel pretty hopeless at the moment, like nothing is moving forward, I'm just at a stand still. All I want to do is travel, but I haven't got enough money or someone to go with right now.
At least the weather is cooling down...

Limbo

Thoughts of the day:
Frequent and extensive transit systems are no good when you have no place to go
Cities are pointless to live in when you have no one to go out with
Phone plans are expensive when you have no one to call
Having a gym membership does not necessarily mean you'll get in shape
The concrete jungle is slowing taking its toll on me

I'm having a hard time trying to find my happiness here. I'm really not happy to just stay in by myself, it's rather lonely, however I'm not entirely happy to spend every weekend at the pub, drinking away all the money I'm supposed to be saving. And to be honest, unless you're with really good mates, or you completely inebriated, it's just a mundane evening 9 out of 10 times. This is highly conducive to my lack of self confidence I'm sure, but I could have just grown out of that partying phase.
My dream involves a coastal town, a part time job and second hand surf board. Why do I find it so complicated to make that happen. The whole point of being here was to rid myself of strings and responsibilities and do what I want.
I'm looking for answers but I'm stuck in limbo...and believe me; the rent is too high in Limbo.

A picture worth a thousand words

I got this idea from a fellow blogger on 20somethingbloggers.com. It's a pretty cool idea, everyone should give it a go, on your own blog or FB.
here are the rules:
1. go to your picture files or wherever you store your pictures on your computer.
2. go to the sixth folder and select the sixth picture.
3. post it on your blog and tell the story behind the picture.
4. tag a couple other wonderful bloggers and leave a comment on their blog telling about it.
This is a sweaty snap from early January when I went to Sunset Sounds, a music festival. I fell in love with Brisbane that week and decided that's where I was going to move. I also discovered some great new artists who performed beautifully. This was on the first day of the fest, fairly early in the day, and getting straight into it drinking!

Pass it on!

I ♥ Quiksilver

If you ever come across Quiksilver the brand, no doubt Kelly Slater’s face will come along with it. Pro surfer from his teenage years, Kelly continues to be the poster-‘man’ for Quiksilver across the world. As I worked for Quiksilver back in Toronto, we’d loop several videos of surfing competitions or footage of Kelly catching a great wave. It was a hard thing to imagine when it was -25 outside, what it would be like to watch a pro do what he does best, but an impromptu trip with my best buddie and a Wicked Van had myself on Snapper Rocks beach in the VIP bar watching the best surfers, including Kelly of course, surf the 2009 Quiksilver Pro Comp.

Rewind…the weekend began as all my other weekends do; at the Wicked Campers Depot working my usual Saturday shift. This was my week to only work until noon, so I was in pretty high spirits for the day as it was. There had been talk with Carley the night before whether we should head down to the Gold Coast to catch the Quik Pro, but we just couldn’t decide how to get down there. Sam, who’s been working at the event all week was unfortunately working Saturday all day as wasn’t able to bring us down. The Wicked van idea came up and I was pretty sure I could swing us a deal. So to my ultimate satisfaction, I was granted a Wicked Van on Saturday at the “Awesome Employee” Rate! 12pm couldn’t come any slower, I was just so excited to get on the road and down the coast. Now I must remind you, I have always been an automatic driver, and since living here, I have the graces of patient people to teach me the stick. I’m pretty confident when it comes to my driving, but this was going to be my first time driving with no help, a full trip in a standard van. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. But only a few wrong turns ended up being the obstacles on the road, and the trip went seamlessly.

We arrived in Coolangatta late afternoon to catch the last couple heats of the men’s division. I was pretty much as excited at a 13 year old at a Hannah Montana concert. Going to a Quik Surf Comp has been my dream for so long, and to finally see it happening was truly overwhelming…especially when you run into a surfer as big as Dane Reynolds, which Carley and I did!

Fast forward to Sunday…after a cozy sleep in our Wicked Camper, Carley and I rose early to get back to the beach. Sunday morning was Roxy Pro, women’s division semi-finals and finals. It was really great to see some chicks ripping up the waves, and even better to see DOLPHINS! Yes, dolphins, just chillin’ in the water with the surfers. It was my first time seeing 1. Girls pro surf, and 2. Dolphins. But the day gets even better. We meet up with Sam who’s come down for the day and surprised us with VIP passes to the best bar/viewing area. All the Carona and Red Bull you could skull down, and a full view of Mr. Kelly Slater as he surfed his late afternoon heat.

Rewind…When I began working for Quiksilver in Sept 07, it was a dream come true for me. I’ve always been a Roxy girl at heart, so working for the company wasn’t like a job, it was just getting something I loved to do everyday. But it went beyond clothing for me, and probably most of the people there. Quiksilver has truly changed my life and brought be to places I only dreamed of, so it has a big soft spot on my heart, and if you look close enough, it’s probably shaped like Roxy!

So fast back forward to me watching Kelly surfing, and to say it was overwhelming is putting it lightly. A year ago I knew I’d be coming here, but nothing can prepare you for actually accomplishing it.

After the last waves were surfed, I got back in my van, by myself this time, and made my way back to Brissy. By far one of the best weekends of my time here.