Life After Work...

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I haven’t been working now for 2 months and I have decided it’s time to commit to something and start blogging again.



So where do I begin…how do I fill my days? Where does all my time go? Well let’s go back a couple of months and see what I have been up to…

I finished working with the Defence in the last week of March and headed straight to the Sunshine Coast to spend the Easter weekend with my friend and her family. The weekend was jam packed with beach days, lazing pool side, learning to ride a motorbike (not very well…didn’t manage to get out of 1^st gear or over 10km but had a death grip on the handle bars the whole time thinking I was flying!), golf range practice (where unfortunately an unlucky duck got in the way of one of my very low flying balls and definitely lost a few feathers as he stumbled off) , a sunrise walk up Mt Coolum, espresso martinis, South African BBQ (braai), wine, many laughs and brilliant sunshine from dawn to dusk.

I flew back to Sydney for a quick stop over before flying to Hobart to visit my friends and family. Having not seen any of my friends in Sydney for 6 months it was great to catch up with a couple of them – all those cliché quotes you see about great friendships not being altered by any amount of distance or time really are true. It was fantastic to see these incredible people in my life after not having much contact with them for so long and it not feeling like a day had passed between seeing them; I’m sure this is something that many are familiar with and are just as appreciative as I am.

After only a couple of days in Sydney it was time to fly to Hobart to see my wonderful family and the place where I grew up. I always enjoying visiting ‘home’ (even after not living there for 8 years I still call it this), feeling comfortable in the places I know, knowing the streets so well I don’t need a GPS and seeing my friends and family that are there. A friend of mine flew in to visit for a few days before we flew back to the mainland to drive from Melbourne to Perth as she was relocating for work.

For the few short days we had in Hobart we adventured to the top of Mt Wellington and enjoyed a rare, windless view at the top, explored Salamanca Markets in shorts and t-shirts (again, a rare experience for Hobart in April), caught the car ferry to Bruny Island and camped for a night, played golf in the backyard with a few pointers from Dad (hopefully no more ducks will be losing their feathers when I hit the golf course again) and caught up with friends and family over many coffee breaks and delicious meals. It was a great little trip back home with the weather being incredibly well behaved for the entire time; there’s not much more you could have wished for.

We left Hobart early in the morning to fly into Melbourne to start the 3,500km journey from the East Coast of Australia to the West Coast in what would be a 5 day trip with a day off in a coastal town along the way. We had decided we would take the long way from Melbourne to Adelaide on the first day and ventured via the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles … over 12 hours later this resulted in our driving day finishing at midnight. We then continued at 5.30am the next morning in order to catch up with another friend of ours who had started the same journey that day but hadn’t taken the scenic route and was already over 300km in front of us.

After another long day on the road, driving some of the longest, flattest, straightest roads Australia has to offer we pulled into the Nullarbor Roadhouse just on sunset and enjoyed a quiet meal with our friend and her Dad who we had caught up to and had an early night in the middle of Australia.

I had been told by my Dad that there was a golf course that stretches across the Nullarbor and that it was a must do along the trip! This golf course is a full 18 holes, stretches over 1,365km and is known as the World’s Longest Golf Course. Due to our rushed journey, we had accidently missed the start of the course but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm when we stumbled across our first hole at the boarder of South Australia and Western Australia. We eagerly dressed up in ‘old grandpa golf hats’ and some stylish vests that we had borrowed from Dad (be sure to check out the photos to fully capture just how great we looked). Unfortunately after starting with only 2 balls, we only had 1 left at the end of the first hole so our golfing adventures were limited. Despite this, we enjoyed the little break from driving every couple of hours and highly recommend taking a golf club along if you ever plan to do the trip across the Nullarbor.

After spending 4 full days driving across Australia, with one day off spent in a town along the coast called Esperance, we reached the West Coast late in the afternoon and celebrated with a home cooked meal and some wine at a friend’s place. I then got to enjoy a couple of days in and around Perth which is one of my favourite cities in Australia which for anyone who has been I’m sure can relate.

From here I flew back to Hobart (on a red eye flight with a 5 hour stopover in Melbourne where I fell asleep at a café and woke with headphone marks imprinted across my face much to the amusement of other travellers there grabbing their early morning coffee). I was fortunate enough to spend another week at home enjoying some quality time with my family and again, enjoying the glorious weather that Tassie was putting on. My Dad and I explored one of the new walking tracks on the Southern Peninsula which takes you out to Cape Hauy and back over 3-4 hours. It was a challenging walk by my standards so I was immensely impressed and proud of my Dad (who is in his mid 60’s) to complete the entire track with a smile on his face. We were blessed with perfect hiking weather and incredible views and landscape throughout the walk; it was just one of those brilliant days that I will cherish for years to come.

Whilst home, my friends who I currently live with in Sydney happened to come down and visit some of their other friends who live just outside of Hobart. It was great to have them in my home town and again play the tour guide role in and around Hobart. Another trip up the mountain ensued and even a quick dip in Tassie’s fresh water which didn’t seem to be an idea that we shared with any other beach goings, making up 2 of the 3 people in the water at the time.

Each time I go home I am reminded of what a beautiful and calm place Hobart is and I fall in love with the state just a little bit more. Tasmania has so much to offer every kind of traveller, from beautiful wineries and fresh seafood, to incredible world-famous, and often arduous hiking and countless exploring adventures. I intend to spend a bit more of my time on the little island over the next few years and explore as much as I can.

From Hobart I made my way over to Melbourne again where I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle for a few days in their home just outside the city. Every time I stay there I am welcomed with open arms and I often feel that I have walked in the doors of my own home; it’s a great feeling. We spent a few days hanging out, creating amazing meals, walking the streets of Melbourne, exploring the Shrine of Remembrance in the city (I highly recommend taking the guided tour here if you ever have the chance) and just sitting quietly at home in each other’s company.

I then farewelled my family and stayed with my best friend who I’ve known for too many years to count. Although we haven’t lived anywhere near each other for 8 years now, it is one of those friendships that traverse time and distance, we pick up exactly where we left off every time. We spent a couple of days together where we sipped cocktails enjoying one of Melbourne’s best views of the city, ate incredible food and spent a day on the Mornington Peninsula exploring the hiking trails along the raged coast and enjoying the unusual sun of April in Melbourne.

I then spent the next 5 weeks in Sydney and what a jam packed time it was! To quickly recap I went to a concert at the Opera House, celebrated Anzac Day in the city, attended a two day business seminar , hit a few balls at the multi storey driving range, hit the surf, watched a movie at the drive in, walked the Kiama to Gerringong coastal walk, visited a Buddhist temple, caught up with many friends over breakfast, lunch and dinner, sun baked on nearly every beach along the east coast of Sydney, drank many coffees, watched sunrises and sunsets, hit the water wake boarding and of course ate some incredibly delicious food with great company and finished many a bottles of wine over many laughs.

As I write this I am sitting in sunny Noosa after spending the last week here enjoying the incredible late autumn weather. My friend and I ventured up here to simply escape the rat race of Sydney and enjoy a relaxing week on the beach which we most certainly did. Our week involved sunbaking, swimming, walking, reading, listening to music, markets, stand up paddle boarding, hiking through the national park to watch the sunrise, catching breathtaking sunsets by the beach, wonderful food, wine and laughing uncontrollably.

As you can see, life has been incredibly generous to me and I wake up every day grateful for the people I get to share it with, the places I get to explore, the incredible weather that seems to be everywhere I land and the many smiles and laughter that fill my days.

Of course I still have days where I sit at home, read a book, veg out, exercise, do washing and all that usual ‘life’ stuff and I don’t want to give you the false illusion that my days are just non-stop adventures and exploring and relaxing….obviously this blog is a quick snapshot of my high lights reel.

I have been living out of a backpack for just on 18 months now and I wouldn’t change a thing, I am truly living the life I thought I could only ever dream of. I have learnt many things and travelled both overseas and within Australia but the biggest take away I have got from all of this is the incredible people I have been surrounded by which make the whole journey worthwhile.

My next adventure lands me on a 10 day silent meditation retreat on the outskirts of Melbourne before hitting the slopes of Perisher for some snowboarding at the end of the month and then back to Western Australia to explore some more of this incredible country that we live in.

Until then…

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Comments

[Patricia Powell]

Living your dream
You are an awesome woman and I am eager to read more of your adventures Jodie.just know our home is always open to you.. wondering what your retreat will bring to you. Eagerly waiting to welcome you on the 12th xxxxx Aunty T?????