Australia and the WhaleShark, Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
That’s it, I’ve been here for a year. Yesterday, it was just one year! 366 days today that I am in the land of kangaroos.
It’s gone by fast! I haven’t done half of what I wanted to do here, as if time had been stolen from me. No, no, it wasn’t stolen from me, I just got caught up in a daily routine, caught up in a logic that was no longer that of a traveler.
And today, I don’t know if this spirit of adventure is lost forever or if I can find it again.
That’s not how I saw my journey in Australia…
If everything had gone according to plan, I should be in Paris by now, after 11 and a half months in Australia and two weeks in Malaysia. Yes, well, if everything was going according to plan, you’d all be at the bar, the theater, skiing or going to the movies by now. The covid decided to thwart everyone’s plans, I didn’t escape it.
However, I cannot blame everything on this dear disease. Yes, it made me spend my last saved money. Without the covid, I probably wouldn’t have ended up doing UberEat. Without the covid, I might have been able to buy a car in Perth and then hit the road.
Sure, the covid has something to do with my setup, but if there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. I found friends, I found the thrill of love, and I enjoyed life, I saved to spend according to my desires, my opportunities, my outings.
After 10 months in Perth, leaving the city, and especially all the friends who lived there, all the good memories I had of it, was painful. Arriving in Brisbane, I was lost in my choices, disappointed. And I ended up landing in Noosa, with only one idea in mind, working like never before to really put money aside.
Homesickness
For the past few months, I have been feeling homesick. I am well aware that given the situation in France and in Europe, I should consider myself happy to be here. Yes, what’s wrong with me, not to get excited about the beautiful beach of Noosa? Why is the pleasure of having drinks and exchanging with interesting people not as important as it used to be?
In my eyes, Australia has gone from being a super cool country, full of promises, to a country in which I feel too much, a country where I no longer take pleasure in living, a country that I no longer want to discover as much.
When did it start?
I would say it’s been a little over five months since I’ve seen Australia with the eyes of a traveler. I probably stayed too long in Perth, a city that I don’t particularly like, but which turned out to be home to my new friends and my comfort zone.
Yes, I started to have too many habits, and habits are the enemy of the traveler. I would see the months go by, and cut back on my travel plans. You can’t see everything after all, so the unexplored territories would remain unexplored.
Then there was my first road trip, and the thrill of the journey took me back. But the savings were gone, and my heart had grown heavy with a love that I could not admit to, but which I did not want to give up.
At that point, I began to get homesick in Perth. I started not wanting to go out anymore, spending more time alone. I wanted a home, but I couldn’t find it completely.
What makes you feel at home somewhere?
It’s the people around us. You can feel at home in a caravan, in a micro studio, in a large villa or even in an apartment with a sea view, just as you can feel like a stranger.
What makes me feel homesick is not having people who know me, who love me, who care about me, and whom I want to take care of.
Of course, you create a home, and I almost had one in Perth, I met real friends, and sometimes a little bit more… But nothing equals a friend who knows you, a friend who can read you, parents who feel the pain without you telling them, crazy friends to do the four hundred tricks with.
In short, the lack of all of you has begun to make Australia and its koalas much less attractive. So no, I’m not going to go home right away, yes, I’m going to save up so that I can do one last big road trip on the East Coast, but I already know that the stars I had in my eyes during my first road trip will be much less sparkling this time.
My personal balance sheet
After all, even if my program here was to see and do everything, the purpose of this trip was always to take a break, to leave me a year, or a little more to think about my future, my life…
And I can already see more clearly. I am going to continue my desire to teach, I decided to take the competition for school teacher in April 2022. In the meantime, I will try to find a fixed-term contract in Purchasing, in Lyon, Paris, Bordeaux, or even Lille…
My big revelation here was writing. My goal is not to make a living out of it, I’m not naively stupid… But I want to continue writing, in my blog, but also fiction, like Riverside Gardens, a novel why not. In short, I stop putting off this writing that does me so much good.
From a less professional point of view, here, I have laughed, I have loved, I have hated, I have loved to hate, and sometimes I have hated to love… I have lived warm friendships, I have been the love advisor of some, I have been the Mama, I have been the hunter, I have had my heart swollen with love, and recently broken. But I don’t regret anything… no, nothing of nothing…
The summary of what I did in Australia
Ah yes, compared to the whole territory, it’s not much. And I wouldn’t have the time to do everything.
My goal is to see the East Coast, from a little above Cairns to Sydney. I’m not sure I would have time for Melbourne. That’s life, you can’t see everything!
The ten most beautiful things I’ve seen or done
- Kalbarri Natural Park at sunrise.
- Swimming with the whale shark.
- Lucky Bay and its blue water like never before.
- Swimming with a turtle in the Exmouth natural park.
- Karijini, climbing Mount Bruce.
- Bike around Rottnest Island
- Swimming with sea lions
- Driving through the forests of Margaret River
- Touching a ray in Hamelin Bay
- Go to see the sunset between the ocean and the river in Noosa.
What next?
Like I said, the goal now is to save up. And the best way is to work, work and work !
I have two jobs here in Noosa. Life is expensive here, but I don’t have time to spend, so it’s perfect ! I clean in a hotel in the morning and I work as a waitress in the evening in a seafood restaurant.
Of course, I have two or three nights free, but my friends aren’t always available at the same time, so I don’t go out much, and I don’t spend a lot.
I have time to enjoy the beach between my two jobs, and to write. It’s not the most sociable life in the world, but I don’t feel so lonely. I see the dollars starting to pile up and it makes me feel better.
What about my visa?
Yes, my visa has expired. I didn’t do the 88 days, so I didn’t apply for a second year of PVT… So I applied for a Covid Visa, which would allow me to stay 3 more months on the territory. For the moment, and depending on the immigration between 5 and 7 months, I am on a Bridging Visa. Basically, while my application is being processed, I keep the rights of my WHV and I can stay… Hopefully, when I leave, I will still be in Bridging…
Now it’s time for me to go to work, to try to put in competition the list of my 10 most beautiful Australian discoveries!