down under here
Current mood: peaceful
I have been back from Australia for 5 days. I am continually amazed by the world, though I am currently only exploring only a small part of it.
I arrived in Sydney, Australia on April 3 and immediately took a train to Newcastle. Dylan, an Australian friend from my Swiss exchange student days, picked me up and we walked along the beach from for a few hours, talking, catching up, and enjoying the sunny weather and beautiful day. We stayed in Newcastle for the night and left early the next morning for Byron Bay, further North on the East coast (about 7 hours further!). The next few days involved swimming in the beach, beer drinking, and seriously good music. We had tickets to 3 of the 5 day Blues and Roots Festival in Byron. My ears were literally still ringing a week after the concerts… some of the acts included Joss Stone, Paolo Nutini, AYO, Ziggy Marley, Bo Diddley, Gomez, ALO (where Jack Johnson showed up as a surprise!), Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, the Roots, Ozomatli, Amos Lee, Fat Freddy's Drop (a kiwi band I had already grown to love), Paul Kelly, Xavier Rudd, John Butler Trio, and more… My senses were flooded with sounds of good music and rain and sights of thousands of people and mud.
Rainy first day at the Bluesfest:
I stayed with Dylan's family in a cabin in Byron Bay, and though the weather turned on us, it did not spoil the fun. The company of good, down-to-earth people and the music of very talented artists made the rain merely an afterthought, a background noise and physical explanation of the soundtracks in our heads.
hordes of people, and dirty feet...
After Byron we headed to South West Rocks, about four hours down the East coast, to "luxury" camp (seriously) with Dylan's mom's cousin's family. They surfed, we swam, snorkeled, and jumped off bridges… I went scuba diving at one of the top 50 places in the world to dive (top 5 in Australia) and scared myself a bit… perhaps all the talk of sharks and crocodiles and snakes and bears and all the other scary animals in Australia? (none of the above mentioned, except sharks, do they have in New Zealand) Had a great time nonetheless.
Camped right on the beach, heard the tide slowly roll in or out at night, manifested by constant waves and the sounds of nature- wind blowing the tent, rain pounding on it, all to wake up in the morning dry after a good nights sleep!
luxury camping at it's best (such a good time): Keira and Kate prepare dinner.
View from the lighthouse at South West Rocks.
Kangaroos in the wild!
After 5 days we carried onward back to Newcastle for a night and then to Sydney for an Australian Football game, a visit to the aquarium, wandering the city through the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House to find them perfectly shaped around the light of the night.
Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House at 1am...
Met up with other exchange students and felt like we picked up where we left off in 2002… told stories about how we'd become the people we were and realized how shaped it was by our collective experience living in a foreign country, with a foreign language, at 18 (or younger).
I stayed in Sydney at a hostel for a few days on my own after saying goodbye to Dylan, Keira, and Nathan, who I had spent the last two weeks with.
I then met up with the Watsons, family friends of my stepmother who I'd never met but felt just at home with. We went to the zoo, Fitzroy Falls, Bowral, Robertson, Berrrima, and many other surrounding and coastal towns around Sydney.
I love this side of the world.
I returned to New Zealand feeling like I was coming home… back on Tuesday, did a skydive on Wednesday, hike the Tongariro Crossing on Thursday (the best day hike in the world, so they say… ) and off to Wellington on Friday.
beautiful views and volcanoes...
It's now Saturday and I'll be off to Nelson (where I lived and worked for 5 months) tomorrow. Then I'm heading South for the winter and I think I'll freeze my arse off! But, I'm excited. Skiing and winter (which I haven't seen for a year and a half) in a crazy town… can't complain, and I won't.
I'll be back in August sometime… until then… doing everything I can, checking off the NZ to-do list.
It's a good feeling.
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