A year gone...

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Now I'm back in North America.

I don't quite know what to do with myself. It feels like the past year was just a dream, gone in the blink of an eye. Even the accent's slipping away.

There's the longing I have to be back in under the hot, glaring Aussie sun. To be back at the breathtaking beaches. To be climbing through old growth temperate rain-forests or up red sand dunes. To be climbing down into beautiful old gorges and up canyons. To be sitting in cafes drinking really nice coffee. To appreciate the beauty and wonder of the wide open spaces, seemingly inhabitable but teaming with life if you look close enough. To marvel at the rain because you haven't seen any for months on end. The distinctive accent that I initially shook my head at but soon started mingling with mine.

Then there's the shock of being back in North America. The cold weather (why did December seem like a good idea to travel?). The vast waste of water and electricity. The cars on the right side of the road. The traffic! The horrible coffee. The mass consumerism stuck in your face (yeah, you'll see it in Aussie cities too, but you must remember I spent most of the last 6 months in the Outback). The harsh accents and slang that I had forgotten about.

How does one go back to a "normal" life after a year away?

I feared coming back to North America. I don't look forward to the questions of what I'll be doing with my life now that I'm done traveling. Two problems with such questions: the assumption that I'll start down some sort of career path, and more importantly, the assumption that I'm "done" traveling.

Nope, I've got wandering feet. Surely someone would've noticed by now. My plan: I'll be a world-traveling bum. Can I put that on my resume?

The other question I don't look forward to: How was your trip?
How do I begin to summarize the past year? I can list off the places I went, but to summarize my trip into a few sentences does not do this past year any justice. Especially to someone who doesn't travel or has no desire to travel. How can they begin to even understand how my year was?

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The past year was amazing. Spectacular. Bloody Brilliant. Words can't describe it. It doesn't feel like a year. It went too quickly.

Some favourites include:

* Trying to rock climb through a gorge in Karijini to avoid getting cold and wet again
* Climbing up massive sand dunes in Tasmania and southwest WA
* Snorkeling with whale sharks on the Ningaloo Reef
* Having a joey try to grab my sweater at a wildlife park in Perth
* My first jump from a rock ledge into the water below in Karijini
* Spotting the first koala near Adelaide
* Visiting the "bat caves" near Alice Springs
* Feeding a dolphin at Monkey Mia
* Getting lost at a park outside Kununnurra because the group left the track without me
* Learning that I was a "cadbury" (I was previously a "lightweight")
* Deciding that Bundy rum is just foul
* Snorkeling on the drift current at Turquoise Bay on the Ningaloo Reef
* Unearthing a kangaroo skeleton in the sands of a dune in WA
* Picking up enough Aussie slang to confuse several Aussies ("Just where are you from?!")
* Seeing wildflowers spring to life on the red sand dunes of the Red Centre
* Having a dingo steal the last loaf of bread
* Trying to convince a quokka that he did not want to enter our tent on Rottnest Island, WA
* Watching crowds watch cricket at Federation Square in Melbourne
* Singing along to Slim Dusty and Scared Wierd Little Guys
* Losing count of the number of crocodiles in the Yellow Water Billabong in Kakadu
* Spotting echidnas in Tasmania and the Grampians in Victoria
* Coming back to the Red Centre (from Asia) with a warm welcome
* Tasting a lime ant in the Kimberley
* Tasting fire-roasted roo tail near Kings Canyon
* Having giant fruit bats sweep over my head in Darling Harbour, Sydney
* Wandering around old-growth temperate rain forests in Tasmania
* Getting stuck at 3 Voyages Resort campgrounds (El Questro, Yulara and Kings Canyon)
* My "bad-taste" good-bye party in Perth
* Seeing a double rainbow over the George Gill Range
* Wandering down back alley-ways in Melbourne to find cool bars
* Seeing my Danish friend's proud face when he calculated that he had driven over 3000 km
* Learning how to make a delicious coffee
* Playing the digeridoo
* Knowing more about aboriginal culture than most Sydney-siders
* Seeing rain and waterfalls at Kings Canyon
* Sliding 110 metres down a slide into the swampy blackwood forest at Dismal Swamp
* Learning to make a damper
* Finding serenity in the Chinese Friendship Garden at Darling Harbour in Sydney
* Climbing Mt Bruce in Karijini (my first 'mountain' climbed!)
* Seeing the "World From Above" photo exhibition in Melbourne and Sydney a year apart
* Hanging out with the oldest form of life on Earth - the stromatolites at Shark Bay
* Watching Uluru change colours at sunset
* Waterfalls! The Kimberleys, Karijini, Great Ocean Road, Kakadu & Litchfield National Parks, Tasmania, Kings Canyon
* Sitting alone on a rock in the Murchison River in Kalbarri National Park
* Watching the landscape of the Western Macs change colours at sunset
* Attending the 2-day, green West Coast Blues & Roots festival in Fremantle, WA
* The stars in the outback! Simply breath-taking
* Enjoying 3 kilos of barbied prawns over two dinners in Exmouth
* Spotting pademelons and wallabies at the various national parks in Tasmania
* Feeding a bandicoot in the garden in Perth
* Trying to document a "flying saucer" near Wycliff Well, NT
* Tasting beers at Bootleg Brewery near Margaret River, WA
* Having a kookaberra try to take my lunch
* Getting a helicopter ride over Kings Canyon and the end of the George Gill Range
* Needing to be pulled out of a waterhole in Maguk Gorge in Kakadu National Park
* Feeling tiny against the huge trees! Great Ocean Road, the karri forests of southwest WA, the old growth of Tasmania
* Tasting bush coconut on a cultural tour with Jungala in the Centre
* Having to stop for a black brumby (wild horse) on the road in the middle of the night
* Having to stop for a bull camel, his female and young calf on the road in the middle of the same night
* Deciding that kangaroos are far more dangerous than deer on the road at night
* Realising the hard way why one should never drive at night in the Outback
* Sitting on buses for over 20 hours, on more than one occasion (Perth to Exmouth, Alice to Darwin)
* Savouring wonderful cappuccinos in Canberra and at King's Creek Station, NT
* Having tea in a cave with a view of the landscape of Arnhem Land
* Swimming in really cold waters under the really hot sun
* Rock art! The Kimberley, Kakadu, Arnhem Land, the Red Centre, Tasmania, Blue Mountains
* Knowing more about the local birds than some of my tour guides
* Finding glow worms next to Russell Falls at night in Mt Field National Park, Tasmania
* Managing to miss every major event in Alice Springs (Camel Cup, John Butler concert, Bass in the Dust, Henley-on-Todd, etc)
* Going on an opal mine tour in Coober Pedy
* Getting my ducks back after leaving them at Parachilna (thanks Dean!)
* Seeing a herd of 15 camels behind the camp at Yulara
* Managing to only spot one snake in the entire year (in Tasmania)
* Getting the "meh" attitude towards dangerous Australian wildlife
* As an example of the "meh" attitude, chasing after the dingo who stole the last loaf of bread
* Riding down both the Mereenie Loop and the Giles Track in the Red Centre
* Watching the musical Snugglepot & Cuddlepie
* Learning about gumnut babies, magical puddings and the Easter bilby
* Spending over 2 hours at Parliament House in Canberra
* Trying to push together two of the Devil's Marbles
* Having several brumbies run across our path in the early morning light
* Sitting on the piers in Darling Harbour at night drinking Lindt cappuccinos
* Watching the sun set in Broome while having my heart stolen.


So here's to the year gone by. Thanks to everyone who made my year awesome. Anth in Canberra, Dino & Imran in Melbourne, Sarah, Kat and everyone in Perth, everyone I met between Perth and Darwin, Top End Explorer Tours in Jabiru, and the gang at Adventure Tours in Alice. I miss you all.

And a special thanks to the guy who swept me off my feet. I can't wait until the next adventures with you.

So what's next? Work for a few months to save up some more money, then off to explore Canada for a while. And someday Peru, New Zealand, the US, Europe, more of Australia...what can I say? I've got restless feet.

XOXO - Mel

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Photos

Postcard Perfect
My last sunset at Uluru

Stories on the Rocks
Gary explains aboriginal stories in Arnhem Land, NT

Waterfall!
At King's Canyon, a week after we were stuck because of the rain

Iconic Architecture
The Sydney Opera House by night

Heads Many
The domes of Kata Tjuta

Russell Falls
The waterfall that started the age of National Parks in Tasmania (Mt Field National Park)

Surfer's Paradise
Cable Beach, Broome, WA

Friendly Aussies
Isn't he cute?