I wanted to get my knickers in a twist. I wanted to be righteously indignant about the bizarre cost of flying over the Pacific Ocean. But when you’re moving across the Pacific, the price to ship your stuff vs. carry it on as luggage suddenly makes the plane ticket seem a little less outrageous.
How much to ship all the items I wanted for life in Australia? $750. Plane ticket to Australia – $995.
#winning
Essentially.
I spent the flight gorging on movies and enjoying the luxuries a posh airline like Emirates provides: wood paneling and complimentary products in the lavatories, in-flight wifi, cameras mounted on the front and belly of the plane, faux stars in the cabin, and of course unlimited booze.
Dorothy Returns to Oz
International friends wanted to know what it was like to be back in Australia. As one who treasures the fleeting heightened awareness that comes with a changed environment, I happily obliged their curiosity. Re-remembered novelties:
- Waking up to crows making such a funny noise
- Neighborhood watch signs that look like the Girl Scouts of America logo
- Right turn on red 1technically left, since Aussies drive on the left being illegal here
- Outrageous prices
First Aussie summertime night back on the balcony – love picnics on the treetop perch!
I returned at the start of the year, which is also the start of summer in Australia. I brought my New Year’s resolutions with me. One was fun, one was environmental, and three had to do with my physical and mental health. The most shareworthy of the latter: go to the beach and swim a minimum of five days a week. I did it, too. Hard life, hey?
When I wasn’t at the beach, I had plenty of other things to keep me busy. I…
- Briefly got back into working out
- Supported boyfriend in his frustrations with new career
- Tried fruitlessly to catch up on this blog
- Escaped to the CBD for some desperately needed me-time.
- Made heaps of ice cream & discovered chia pudding
- Caught up with friends not seen for a year
- Pulled off a few weeks of culinary caretaking
- Learned to remove soap scum from shower glass through hours of trial and error 2The thing that finally worked, after CLR, baking soda, vinegar, steel wool, etc? A flat, circular rubber pad that attaches to a drill, a lamb’s wool cover that slips over the pad, and polishing compound from the auto parts store.
- Raced to prepare boyfriend’s house for sale before the impending market slowdown
- Properly celebrated my first Australia Day 3like 4th of July in America
Straya day. I believe I spent the morning cleaning soap scum, then the arvo drinking beer. #appropriate
- Put thousands of dollars’ worth of labor into painting, cleaning, and home repairs
- Became addicted to the HBO series True Detective 4I’m sure it had nothing to do with the buttery voice, gorgeous jaw, or sexy swagger of Matthew McConaughey.
- Had a horrifying encounter with dozens of palm-sized spiders 5I guessed incorrectly that I would have the local lake to myself at 6 a.m. To get some solitude, I followed an overgrown trail into the bush, watching carefully for deadly snakes. As the path got less and less defined, I got more and more anxious. Relief arrived when I got to a tunnel of trees. I no longer wanted solitude more than I wanted to get the heck out of the overgrowth. As I picked my way down the path, lost in thought, an image in my peripheral vision stopped me dead in my tracks. A spider too big to trap under a coffee mug was in its web INCHES FROM MY FACE. I dropped to a half squat, keeping my eyes riveted on the danger. After a few steps, I quickly scanned the path ahead… and saw an uncountable number of arachnid brothers and sisters in webs stretching between every tree in sight. I turned around, prepared to get the hell out of there, and discovered my snake vigilance had been misguided for the last HUNDRED METERS. My choices: walk terrifyingly close to giant-creepy insects for an untold forward distance, or walk terrifyingly close to giant-creepy insects for known backward distance – to include re-covering lethal snake territory. I never went off-trail at Lake Gwelup again.
- Got word that my permanent Australian visa was going to be granted seven months earlier than expected
- Bought a last-minute ticket to Bali to activate said visa!
And just like that, I was off to Indonesia to begin the adventure on which Boyfriend and I had placed many hopeful bets about the future. ♣
References
| ↑1 | technically left, since Aussies drive on the left |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | The thing that finally worked, after CLR, baking soda, vinegar, steel wool, etc? A flat, circular rubber pad that attaches to a drill, a lamb’s wool cover that slips over the pad, and polishing compound from the auto parts store. |
| ↑3 | like 4th of July in America |
| ↑4 | I’m sure it had nothing to do with the buttery voice, gorgeous jaw, or sexy swagger of Matthew McConaughey. |
| ↑5 | I guessed incorrectly that I would have the local lake to myself at 6 a.m. To get some solitude, I followed an overgrown trail into the bush, watching carefully for deadly snakes. As the path got less and less defined, I got more and more anxious. Relief arrived when I got to a tunnel of trees. I no longer wanted solitude more than I wanted to get the heck out of the overgrowth. As I picked my way down the path, lost in thought, an image in my peripheral vision stopped me dead in my tracks. A spider too big to trap under a coffee mug was in its web INCHES FROM MY FACE. I dropped to a half squat, keeping my eyes riveted on the danger. After a few steps, I quickly scanned the path ahead… and saw an uncountable number of arachnid brothers and sisters in webs stretching between every tree in sight. I turned around, prepared to get the hell out of there, and discovered my snake vigilance had been misguided for the last HUNDRED METERS. My choices: walk terrifyingly close to giant-creepy insects for an untold forward distance, or walk terrifyingly close to giant-creepy insects for known backward distance – to include re-covering lethal snake territory. I never went off-trail at Lake Gwelup again. |
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