Wow – it’s been way too long since I last wrote about my adventures
down under. So much has happened since I came back from my ‘winter travels’
that I’m not sure how else to catch up on the many tales to tell, but to give snapshots
of the past 4 months. So here it goes:
July in Eire.
Once upon a time…
In a land not so far from here…
There once was a girl who met a boy…
In a land not so far from here…
There once was a girl who met a boy…
Really, no matter how I start this tale, the fact that the
10 days I spent in Ireland was a romantic fairy tale will be utterly blatant.
But I do need to first lay some background tracks to give points of the story
relevance.
When I moved to Australia, I was single. Free as a bird,
ready to soar through countries and spaces unknown without a care in the world.
I arrived in the Auckland airport, chatting to a girl I recognised from the LA
airport, who was on my same flight. From behind our module of seats came a
bright eyed, blonde North American who introduced herself as Rebecca. She had
overheard me say I was moving to Australia without a job and without anywhere
to live – so of course her ears perked!
Fast forward 2 months – Rebecca and I are moving into an
apartment together in South Yarra (a suburb SE of the CBD) and are tied to the
hip. I clung to her as my ‘first friend in Australia’ and she had been here for
a year at that point – so was more than willing to show me around the town so
to speak. On one particular weekend, we headed to a local pub to watch the
rugby match. Clearly I had no interested in rugby, or even knew what was going
on during the match, but it was an excuse to get out of the house and meet some
new people. A friend of hers from work came for a bit, and then she informed me
that another friend from work, Ryan, was also coming with a couple of his Irish
mates.
Well, I’m always up for meeting new people, especially Irish
boys with fantastic accents – so when they traipsed through the door, acting as
suave as can be, I also played it cool, despite my giddiness inside. They
introduced themselves, and just like any other time you are introduced to
people – you shake their hand, try to remember their name, but 2 seconds later,
you’ve already forgotten (especially when they have a name like Paedar,
pronounced ‘Pah-dur’ which is ‘Peter’ in Irish.) Well there was name that did
stick out, and of course it did, because it was Dave. How many David’s can I
meet?! I mean – really! I shook off the thought and continued on through the
night, not paying much attention.
Fast forward a couple of weeks – Bec and I went ice skating –
and who else was there, none other than the Irish boys again. All I heard as I
entered the skating rink was ‘Dave, Dave – looks who’s here!”
Forward another couple of weeks – Bec and I decided to throw
a ‘North America’ party – and we of course had to host it at the Irish’s house,
because the place was so big.
Now all the way to July 2012. Sitting on a plane, taking off
to Dublin. Dave finally admits to me that he was planting seeds all along the
way. Waiting patiently for the seed to take root and grow into a full blown
love tree that I couldn’t shake. We like to reminisce about that first night we
met – I thinking, oh great, another David. He was thinking, ‘Hey lads, Bec
invited us to go out with her and her new friend Bethany from America. She
sounds hot.’
He then had used his best friend Dave and his fiancé Sorcha
to invite me to their wedding in Dublin so he could ask me as his date. I would
just HAVE to go back with him then to meet the family!
So there we were – touching down in Dublin after a painfully
long couple of flights. Meeting his mom and literally 20 minutes later, Dave
rushing off to the bachelor party, leaving me with the family for the weekend
while he was off with the boys. But of course I didn’t mind – his mom, Sorcha
and I had a ball! The rest of the week’s time was spent shopping, visiting the
grandparents, helping Sorcha with final touches of wedding planning, rehearsal
dinner, wedding, day-after-the-wedding garden party (very Ralph Laurenesque).
Time flew entirely way too fast. It was just enough time to
give me a taste of life in Ireland, and I have to admit – I’ve got the bug
pretty bad! Every person was just brilliant. They were incredibly friendly, thoughtful
and fun people. (I went for a run along the beach one morning – and stopped to have
a chat with a lady for about 20 minutes about why I was in Ireland!)
So – it appears that I need/want to make my way back very
soon - I mean, I became a socialite (known as Pocahontas because of my dark
hair and skin)! So, here’s to planning my next trip back soon, which will
hopefully be just as beautiful weather and romanticised as the last time (here’s
to wishful thinking!).
August’s Winter
Blues.
Well, I must admit – once I came back from all my travels to
the US, KL, Singapore, Ireland, I returned to Melbourne and it was STILL cold,
wintery weather. I was hoping that I had been travelling long enough that I wouldn’t
have endure cold and rain, but alas – this proved to be one of the longest
winters ever in Melbourne. I think I just came off of a high from travelling
and I sunk into a depression. Not much was going on social wise. Work was ho-hum.
And it seemed to rain about every day of that month.
I was pretty much ready to say adios to Melbourne, when Dave
surprised me with a spur of the moment idea to go to Sydney to see Dave and
Sorcha the first weekend of September...
September in
Sydney.
So that brings me to September. We flew up to Sydney for the
weekend – and there’s never a doubt that a trip visiting our dear friends Dave
and Sorch won’t be a brilliant time. We had an awesome dinner and night out on
the Friday and on the Saturday, we took the ferry to Manly beach where we hung
out along the water all day long. The worst part about trips like that, is that
we have to say our good-byes and head back to work.
Not a bother though, because a couple of weekends later, I
was heading back to Sydney to compete in the Tough Mudder competition! There
was team of 8 of us – and through the
thick and thin of 20 kilometers of running, mountain trails, obstacles, mud,
mud and even more mud, we stuck together as a team and finished 5 hours later!!
The day after the race, we hung out at the beach, went to see the Opera house,
and sat around the Botannical gardens (getting stuck at the airport with a
threat to have to sleep in the airport for the night was only a side issue).
I could feel spring in the air – the warmth was in the air
and the number of activities was increasing. I had come out of my seasonal
depression, and all of a sudden, my email inbox seemed to be flooded with invites
to different things going on for the next few months. Finally!!
October,
Frocktober.
One event in particular that I was excited to participate
in, was Frocktober. Now, to explain, dresses in Australia are called Frocks. The
idea of Frocktober started alongside an event called Movember.
Frocktober – to raise money for the Ovarian Cancer Research
Foundation, individuals, groups, etc can pledge to wear a frock every single
day of October and their friends and family can make a donation on their behalf.
Many groups arrange Frock parties (where even boys dress up to get the big
bucks donated!) There are a few of us girls taking on the challenge at work –and
so far, so good. I guess I didn’t realise how many dresses I owned until I had
to start wearing on every day. Some of them are a stretch to wear into the
office (not really ‘corporate wear’) but I’ve gotten away with it – and have a
couple more weeks to go!
Movember – Same concept, except boys have to grow Moustaches
for the whole month of November – to raise money for Testicular cancer. Really,
offices just start to look like one big 80’s dad party, but it’s pretty
amazing.
Let’s see, what else has been going on this month? Oh – I finished
my first 10k race since my broken ankle. Ran it in 48min 23 sec – which isn’t too
shabby considering! I was very proud of myself.
Works been going great, all the friends are tip-top shape, the
sun is finally shining – I really have every reason to rejoice at life at the
moment!
Some big events (ie. My 25th birthday, the Colour
Run, Thanksgiving, etc) are coming up next month – so many activities to look
forward to!
So – hopefully this snap shot has helped to catch up wear I’ve
been the last 4 months. So while the US is heading into Fall, Winter, I am in
Spring, heading into Summer and couldn’t be more happy.
So until next time – sending everyone a bit of hot hot
Australian sun and big hugs and kisses.