lucky girl

Someone recently said to me, "You're living the life." It was probably the most surprising thing anyone has ever said to me, and of course, I did a double take "um, what did you just say to me?" for good measure. It's funny and flattering hearing that, but at the same time, I realised how lucky I am to be able to travel, go on adventures and roadtrips. In no way do I think I'm living the life, but I'm discovering that with each passing year, I have a greater resolve to live my life the best I can.

What does best mean exactly? To me, it's just doing the things that makes you happy and feel good about life. I'm learning that being happy also means being open. Doing things that you've never done before, doing things another way, and just carpe diemin' the heck out of life. When I went on this impromptu roadtrip to Cowes, I remember one night we just ordered a pizza and had it on the beach as the sun set and the boats reeled in, and it was just the best. I remember thinking to myself, "ah, life. you can be a bit of an ass sometimes, but today you're doin' mighty fine."

let's climb mountains

These were taken on our day trip up to the Grampians, and it was just one of those trips that somehow encapsulated my year. Climbing mountains. I've spent the past year climbing a mountain that I did not know the path to, uncertain as to whether I'll ever make it to the top, or make it at all. It was kind of like bringing a pair of seven inch stilettos to hike. I was unprepared, unaided, inexperienced. But like many things, it was the path itself that was important. With every step of growing confusion, I also found a small sense of clarity. Little did I know then, it was growth.

Making it to the top of the mountain, is perhaps, merely a bonus, and something I didn't put much emphasis on from the beginning anyway.

cairns part 2

Looking back at these photos reminded me just how good life can be. And that's a precious, precious thing. One thing I love about travelling is how much you learn when you travel, that you can't really learn elsewhere. For example, on this trip, I saw koalas as their own person - if that makes sense. I normally see koalas, giraffes, zebras, and all the other animals at the zoo as a collective, you know? But in Cairns, somehow I saw them differently. One of them appeared to be sleepy, one quite outgoing and one even appeared to be smiling!

"They all have their own personality', I thought, which is really quite obvious when you think about it, but it just never crossed my mind. That last photo kills me dead every time - koalas are just so darn cute, it's hardly fair.

cairns part 1

Went on a train ride during our first morning in Cairns. The railway had such a great history well over a hundred years behind it, I quickly learned that it was one of the busiest stations during the Second World War! Being a lover of the old and quaint, I am such a sucker when it comes to history and the documented pieces of the past. Our past. There is truly something special about being on the same path as those some hundred years ago. We were off to a great start, that's for sure.

Back from paradise

Just got back from Cairns! Now, I'm convinced that if any place can steal your heart at any point in time, it's Cairns.

Many of you will have heard of Cairns as the home to the beautiful Great Barrier Reef (and now home to my heart, apparently). And boy, is it beautiful. Not just the gorgeous fish and corals, but also the rainforests, the wildlife, the secluded beaches... it really is a world of its own. And a colourful, serene, grounded world at that. Cairns is the kind of place that leaves you repeatedly saying, "let's just not go anywhere today. let's just stay right here."

And let's be honest... stayed, I would have happily done so.

Oh adelaide, you're such a charmer

Adelaide wasn't at all how I imagined it to be. In fact, I was shocked to see skyscrapers when we first arrived. You should've seen me. I was like a kid seeing skyscrapers for the first time.

To be fair, I've always imagined Adelaide to be full of nature, and in my mind even the city itself would be composed of two to three storey buildings. Adelaide was indeed, full of beautiful and surreal nature. And even the city itself was quiet and peaceful, which was a nice change of pace from the city I know (which has more than three times the population of Adelaide, just so you get the picture). The quiet is really something, which makes the early morning and late night walks, visits to quaint little towns, late night slushie runs, ice-cream by the beach, all the more worthwhile.