somewhere else

An "Australian Surf Instructor" in Uruguay. Something I never thought I would do/be/become... This is going to be a good conversation starter when I start going for job interviews in Australia again. So the summer in Punta del Este has come to an end and therefore so has my work as a surf instructor. I decided to keep a small diary of my experience over the time, giving you the following as a little summary and extract of some of the thoughts, feelings & struggles I faced whilst teaching surf over the past 6 weeks. Never-the-less, it was a fun experience and will be interesting to elaborate on in an interview some day! WEEK #1 Challenges faced: the constant feeling of jet-lag whilst trying to bring my body clock back into sync with daylight hours. Emotionally ... read more

My last day in Brazil. It didn’t hit me until I was walking into town from the beach in Florianopolis and was wondering why my mood was down. I had a nice little surf today (literally 30 mins max!) and now sit here drinking a glass of chilled white wine – my first in over 12 months. I have recently realised I am not the best communicator about my future plans but seem to be a great story-teller about the past. So, for family and friends, this is a quick update for you of my ‘plans in pencil’ of what lays ahead... After leaving Itacare (insert a little giggle here, as that’s another entertaining story in itself!) I then spent a week in Rio split between staying in Ipanema at a girlfriend’s house and at ... read more

It's official. Surfing is the hardest thing I've ever done. Maybe not physically, but definitely mentally... I'm not use to something taking so long to learn - oh, beside Portuguese that is :( People compare it to snowboarding, but I think it is so different. It isn't necessarily up to you or your capabilities. So much is out of your control and left to mother nature. The shape of the wave, the wind, the tide. Some days I get so frustrated at myself because I think I'm not where I should be after 3 months. And then I go back into shore and one of the guys told me they were some of the biggest waves he's ever surfed and I think, "ok. Maybe I'm not THAT bad." At least I was out there having a ... read more

Dear Diary, I’m sorry for not writing to you in such a long time. You’ve been on my mind, I swear! I just have a special talent of procrastination – even over here I cannot shake it!! So after being in Itacare for 6 weeks now, I have discovered it is definitely a unique place and I am finding out the more I stay here, the people in this town are quite unique along with it! Last week I made a 6hr round-trip to the closest ‘big town’ Ilheus and extended my visa with the Federal Police. Considering my (very!) basic Portuguese I think I did quite well and now have another stamp in my passport for another 3 months - YAY! All done on day 89 of a 90 day visa! Lucky for me I ... read more

I have been travelling for 3 months now and have now decided to start writing a blog. I cannot guarantee the quality of my writing, or whether this may interest you at all, but I would like to update this once a week – even if it is only one sentence…..ok, maybe a damn good sentence – but it counts! This could be an interesting challenge, considering I have not kept up with the Facebook & email posts to date – but I have to start somewhere. Better late than never, right?! Let’s renegotiate for once a month then... So since Aaron left at the end of January, I have travelled up the east coast of Brazil between Rio de Janeiro & Salvador. And they are 2 very different cities and the cultures which thrive amongst ... read more