It's spring in the city...

Spring has painted the leaves green on all the trees that line busy streets...
The sun is bright,
I'm promenading down the street,
heading home,
working to evade the masses of people in dark clothes...
(Who would have thought that black would be the 'in' colour in Melbourne even in spring...)
I've got a slight smile on my face as I stroll, content and alone,
the old, fallen and forgotten leaves of fall are crisp and dry,
they drag across the pavement with the breeze,
I can't help but make a detour to crush them with my shoe...
I chase them playfully as they flee from me.
Goodbye wintery Melbourne fall... hello plentiful spring,
cloudless sky,
an engine ignition,
a squeeky tram,
beats, bass, a car stereo,
hushed conversation,
dragging feet,
distant laughter,
deep breath,
open mind...

Ah, yes, the city is peaceful.

And it's all downhill from here...

I feel like time is a little red balloon traveling up and up and up and now... now it's losing momentum...

After Byron Bay, everything hit its peak. Time is no longer counting up, it's counting down. How long have I been here... almost FOUR MONTHS! My oh my, how time does fly. Two months left for me... Two weeks of school, six weeks of travel. The past few weeks have been packed with study for me... Melbourne is losing it's sparkle... The travel bug has entered my system yet again...

I don't quite know what to write about... Not too much new here. What's been making me happy lately? My friends! I feel so lucky and blessed with good people in my life... I'll give you a quick rundown of a few of the people who have touched my soul... Without them, I don't know what I would do...

(Make no assumptions... This is not based on order of favoritism!)

Fleur (Fleurtje, Hubby):

Fleur is from Holland... Amsterdam to be specific. She's at least six feet tall and makes me feel like a midget. When we hug, I fit perrrfectly under her chin. It's like it was meant to be!!! She's got long legs and a wonderful smile. There's something very special about her... Maybe it's her tendency to find the positives in everyone and everything... Maybe it's her spontaneity... or maybe it's just her downright amazingness. She's so wonderful that I have to make up words like "amazingness" to describe her... SHES INDESCRIBABLE! She's my hubby and my true, true friend. Whenever I get blinded by petty worries, she always sets me on the right track. For someone her age, she surely has a lot of wisdom to share. I know she gets embarrassed when I flatter her, but I have to be honest she is one beautiful person inside and out... I look forward to our road trip up the east coast of OZ!!! I can't wait to see where our impulsive tendencies and adventurous ways will lead us next!!!

Camille (Old Greg, Mizzy, Mizzle):


Camille hails from the city of Los Angeles. Originally she is from Arizona, but she attends Occidental College in Southern California. Scholarly, EH? Camille is one of a kind... Ah, she brings me so much happiness! Another person who I surely could not live without here in OZ... From her exquisite cooking skills and propensity to unintentionally make very strange noises when I least expect, she is full of life and always keeps me on my toes. There is never a dull moment when I'm with Camille; she's like a sister to me. It baffles me that I have only know her for four months and I already feel like we know everything about each other. Like Fleur, Camille is extremely positive and always finds the good in each moment. We've had some of the greatest times and I am going to miss her with a firey passion... BUT, since we live in the same state, you can be entirely sure we will be seeing each other frequently... Which will be necessary, because I know when I don't see her for a couple days, I usually get withdrawls.

Dan (Dan-Man, you need a nickname):

Daniel Rosales! D-man is American... He goes to the same school as Camille in LA. He is originally from New Mexico. Well, in all honesty, sometimes I worry that Dan and I might rip each others heads off... We have about as close as you can get to a love-hate relationship as you can get. Naw, that's not true, there's no hate involved! Dan is one of my best friends here... He's one of those people who you can always count on. Now that I think of it... He's never, ever let me down since the day I met him! There was a moment in Byron Bay when I saw how much he cared about me: I had just gotten hit in the ear with my surfboard (YES, it happened again...) and was bleeding... I was walking up the beach, laughing at myself because of my bad surfing luck... When Daniel saw my injury he reacted like a father, sort of... We had been arguing a bit that day, but as soon as he saw I was in need of help, he was right there to do everything he could. He reached into his pack and pulled out his medical kit and treated me with antibiotic ointment, gauze and some love. This is sort of a metaphor for how Daniel looks after his friends... Daniel is an amazing person and I am reminded of it constantly... The little things he does almost daily really add up and remind me of how wonderful our friendship really is... like an arm around the shoulder, home-cooked tacos, a call just to say hello, or even the nickname I have earned; "skankatropolis" (meant to be sarcastic...yes). This is a friendship that will last forever, no matter what we do or disagree on... D.R. is a legend!!

Bianca (Roomie, Room):

Roomie is from Australia, a small town about two hours south of Melbourne. She's a rocking, tan, surfer babe... Bianca is a little ball of energy. I feel like her huge, beautiful, blue eyes are constantly taking in everything around her... feeding her mind with new information about the world and herself. Sometimes I forget how young my roommate is... She's got such a mature demeanor! She's been all over the world and experienced things that most people have not. She's got so much knowledge, but is also always learning and sharing her new insight. If there is anyone I can talk to, it's her. We've spent countless nights talking until the earliest hours of the morning, sharing our ideals and opinions. I couldn't have been blessed with a better roommate! We get along perfectly and together make the best of life!! She keeps me energized and excited and I love her to death...

Caitlin (C-money, Chippy):

Yes, that's her on the left with the glasses on...
I met Caitlin surfing in Byron Bay. She's a Canadian woman... From Vancouver actually. She's been away from home for the past two years, traveling around the UK and Australia. I overheard her talking about Melbourne while surfing at the wreck and I immediately jumped into the conversation, telling her she should come to Melbourne and visit me... It was an instant connection. I was heading in and I told her "Come find me on the beach, I'll be in a yellow bikini!" About an hour later, she found me... we swapped numbers and pretty much spent every day together in Byron Bay until she left. A couple weeks later, I got a call from her telling me she was coming to Melbourne... I told her I would put her up for a few days until she could find a job and get back on her feet. She's been sleeping on my floor ever since! It's been a week and we've spent almost every waking minute together... AND we haven't even gotten sick of each other. I don't think I could get sick of her...She is so lovely! She has big green eyes and has a wonderful outlook on life. She has a wild tendency to break out in song or start whistling... Sometimes she doesn't even notice she's doing it. This girl is so chipper and happy all the time, its impossible for it to not rub off on you!!! Ah, the wonders of traveling... You meet some of the best people.

To be continued... I'm going to go eat some pizza... LOVE YOU ALL!

Oh, Byron Bay...

Brace yourselves... This is going to be a long one...

Wednesday the 16 of September 2009.

Pitch black. We arrived at the Arts Factory Hostel at 1 AM after a long, quasi-stressful and expensive cab ride.

For some odd reason, Fleur Juliette, Dan-man and I had assumed that shuttles run 24 hours from the Gold Coast Airport to Byron Bay... FALSE. Stranded. We stumbled along, ungracefully lugging our overweight boardbags toward the deserted bus stop. It didn't take long for us to understand the mistake we had made... After speaking and reasoning with a concierge who was far too bubbly for the hour it was, we assessed our options:

A. Spend the night in a hostel and catch a bus in the morning: 190 dollars.
B. Catch a maxi-taxi now: 180 dollars (A deal that was sworn by the driver of the taxi to be the cheapest in town)
C. Walk to the public bus station, take the bus to New South Wales and take a cab from there: 180 dollars.

We went with option B! If we split it three ways it would be sixty each. Everyone was tired and beginning to get the hunger-grumps anyway...

We arrived. Pitch black. We stumbled around looking for an open area to pitch our tent... Finally we found a suitable spot.


This is me hammering in the tent pegs with a frying pan... Can you sense the state of crazed delirium that I was in?

In a restless flurry, we ignorantly left our bags strewn around the campsite.

Fleur and I climbed into our tiny tent. NOTE: This tent requires serious, hardcore snuggling in order to fit two. Fleur, who happens to be six foot something had to bring her knees to her chest into fetal position to fit while I could (sort of) stretch my extremities to (almost) their fullest extent. Ah, the benefits of being a shorty. Yup, spooning came into effect every night. I was the little spoon... A few days into our trip we earned the nicknames of "Hubby" (Fleur) and "Wifey" (Me) due to our snuggly sleeping arrangement.

Here's a photo of our camp.



I quickly drifted into dreamtime... only to be awoken by a loud, foreign and repetitive sound. It was coming from just outside the tent right by my head!

"FLEUR!" I shook sleeping Hubby, "FLEEURRRRR!!!!"

She turned over in a daze, cracked one eye, and made a face that implied that I was crazy for being up this early.

"Do you hear that?!" I asked, whispering.

The sound erupted again! It sounded as if somebody was shaking a plastic bag full of metal spoons.

She opened both of her eyes, wide. Our eyes locked and I could tell the same sort of thoughts were rushing through our minds... Was it human? An animal? If so, how big? Was it dangerous? Did it want our food? Or more importantly our lives!?!?!? No, just kidding about that one haha.

"Should I go look outside?" Fleur asked.

Right when we decided we should scope out the scene...

"AH, FUCKING BUSH TURKEY!!!" An unknown male voice hollered in a European accent. Apparently the noise had awoken him too.

Still inside of the tent, I called out:

"What is it?!"

"Ah, just a bush turkey, got ahold of your bag."

This was our first introduction and encounter with firstly the infamous bush turkeys that would irritate us repeatedly over the next two weeks and secondly Jonas Bunge, soon to be known as "GERMANY", our exuberant German tent neighbor.

Once we decided to actually wake up, we unzipped our tent to daylight. Before us lay a beautiful, lush green forest. Suddenly, a strange feathered animal scampered by. That's when I was visually introduced to the vicious creature that had stirred me from my slumber! The bush turkey:





Cheeky little buggers... They had gotten into Fleur's toilet bag. Over the two weeks we were there, I witnessed them stealing all sorts of things... from ramen noodles to underwear to toothpaste. They're equivalent to Raccoons...

Walking around the campsite in the daytime, it didn't take long for me to realize that I was going to love Byron Bay. The weather was perfect: not too hot and not too cold. The people, especially at the Arts Factory, were vibrant, full of life and wonderful. The vibe was ON. This was my kind of place... I felt like I had been living under a rock in sub-zero degree Melbourne. Okay, the temperature is a bit of an exaggeration, I know... but, it's still pretty damn cold.



Guitar Players in the mists... Arts Factory


When people ask me what I did in Byron Bay, I don't have many of the "standard" and "exciting" stories that people 'ooooh' and 'aaaah' over. No, I did not go skydiving, nope, no bungee jumping. Naw, I didn't even feed a kangaroo! So, what DID I do... one might ask. Well, one might also say that I truly did a whole lot of NOTHING. AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!! I camped, read, surfed, chilled, napped, ate, chatted, napped, surfed, read, ate and it was so amazing. I was in great company all the time. I had my hubby, my DanMan and my Mizzy (Camille), who joined us a week into the trip. I also met some of the most beautiful, amazing people:

Marcus, a.k.a. "Cous Cous"...Our quirky little German neighbor who instantly became one of our best friends.

(Cous Cous and his first timtam)

Jonas, a.k.a. "Germany"...Also German. A legend. Only a true legendary figure could earn the name of his entire country.


Florian, a.k.a. "Flow"...An extremely easy going and positive Swiss dude. Really felt the bond with this one.



Ron and Bas...Two chiller Dutch boys who were touring Australia in a camper van.

(Above: Bas, Ron, Flow)

Caitlin...A lovely lady from Vancouver who I met surfing at the Wreck.

(Dante, Caitlin, Myself and Germany)

Lionel...From Belgium and has one of the most contagious laughs you will ever hear. Bought a van to travel around Australia... We nicknamed the van "Fatass Christine".


Dante...A cute skater boy from Sweden who worked at a hostel down the road from ours.


Aaron...Awesome guy from Philadelphia... Loved his dreads. Just dripping with good vibes.


The three Frenchmen: Ben, Thomas, and Olivier.


(There they are...The three frenchies fishing...Olivier, Ben, and Thomas' back)

(Ben with his huge fish that he caught)

(Olivier and Ben being french)


HUMAN PYRAMID!


JUMP!


SHAKA GNAR GNAR.


This is Filip Manfredsson.

Will somebody give him a medal PLEASE? A medal for being spontaneous, positive and always fun... Filip also studies in Melbourne and joined us about halfway through our trip. He was a key component that added to the sheer bliss of the trip.

I realize now... I can't really put into words exactly how wonderful Byron Bay actually was. Also, looking back in retrospect, I ask myself... was it actually that great? I feel like sometimes people are culturally expected when asked about their (usually) short vacation time to answer with words like "amazing" "so good" "perfect". Not many people return from a trip with words like "fine" "boring" or "okay"... But in all honesty, life under any circumstances will be full of ups, downs, arounds and upsidedowns... Who am I to define WONDERFUL? But if Byron Bay wasn't wonderful, then I don't know what really is... It had its many ups and of course its few inevitable downs.... Maybe it WAS the short time we spent there that made it so good... I mean the human psyche is bound to yearn for more after a given period of time... Regardless, I sure as hell wasn't ready to leave!

I realized, I thrive on spontaneous moments... somebody please run by in a banana suit or kiss me when I'm not ready for it!! What is life without these sorts of moments? I want to skinny dip at four AM, play mudfootball, strike up a random conversation, explore the unexplored, surf under the full moon, make love on a mountaintop, dance til my legs break and OH the possibilities!! Boredom isn't a word in my vocabulary. (I fully just contradicted myself, but you get the point) Boredom. (I said it again, just for kicks)

I saw the sun rise from the most easterly point in Australia! It was beautiful.

Life is too good to me right now. Here's a confession... It's so good, that I am a little scared for the future. It can't always be this plentiful! I am so grateful... Grateful to be in good health, grateful to have a family who is SO generous and loving... I hope one day that I can be as good of a parent as my mom and dad. I love them so much... truly blessed. I am grateful for my glorious friends, old and new. I am grateful for the present. I am grateful for past moments that have hurt me and caused pain... I have learned so much from them. I am grateful for you taking the time to read my words! My heart feels like it will explode of gratefulness!

Life is good now. Life was good then... Life will be good in the future... It's all just different shades of good. Each moment brings meaning to the next.

I guess I'm just feelin' the love right now... It comes and goes. Nobody is high forever. I do feel we must capitalize on moments of inspiration such as these... I'm a bit delirious, but it feels good.

"GOOD" -- the word of the blog. Get to know it... Like it... love it...

P.S. Anybody who has made it this far into this blog without skipping is truly dedicated... Sending the love!

Ah, alas, there is so much more to say I reckon...

We lived on a strict budget in BB... Included oatmeal (which we calculated to be eight cents a serving), peanut butter, bread, soup, fruit... Oh, and there was 2 DOLLAR PASTA NIGHT every Tuesday... You got a pretty good sized bowl of pasta and a free drink for two dollars... Can't go wrong!

Got to know my surfboard a lot better... Nicknamed her Luna :) She's a beaut. Here we are together... Out in the water waiting for a wave at "The Wreck"... My favorite surf spot of the trip. It breaks right onto an old shipwreck... How cool/eerie is that?

Wrap it up now girl........

"Love the life you live, life the life you love"

...A quote stolen from the inner wall of the toilet stall in a public bathroom in Byron Bay. It was located right next to another equally philosophical poem: "Cats have nine lives, humans have one, screw my boyfriend and you'll have none" Both of which have remained in my mind... for different reasons...

Byron Bay was a completely unforgettable experience. It had its goods, its interestings, its outrageously funs, its insightfuls, its confusings, its crazies... It reminded me of who I am in my preferred setting.

This is not to say that I have become someone else at any point in my travels in Australia... I've reinstated and put into play a previously sought out theory: BE HERE NOW (Thank you Mason Jennings... couldn't have said it better myself). There isn't enough time to be complaining about the present scenario, dwelling in the past or waiting on the future. Now, I'm no philosopher, but what I've learned is to make the best of NOW.

I'm back in Melbourne now...
I've applied these ideas to my life recently because I'm here, living in this vibrant city. I'm no city girl...(SMALL TOWN SANTA CRUZ HOLLA BACK!) I feel like a fish out of water at times here, but that doesn't mean I'm not having fun and making the best of it! I wear my peacoats, my boots because WHAT THE HELL, when in Rome, right?! I can't deny my connection with the life I was living in Byron Bay: camping, surfing and meeting all sorts of penniless travelers, but I'm here now and I'm appreciating the positives!


Little old me....

Well, not much else to say. Thanks for listening... Stay tuned... Til next blog, this is your homegirl Mir signing off...

LOVE to the tenth degree!!!!!!!!!