as days go by - the thrill of being on the road fades away and begins to feel as though it was all just a dream. it hasn't even been a week and yet my life has shifted so much in the past few days that it's hard to even fathom that nearly the past 2 months have been spent exploring australia in all it has to offer. but it WAS real. it DID happen. and now i am in broome desperately trying to switch pace into what my life will be like for the next few months.
the last few days i got to spend with anika before she went back to sydney, on route to germany, on route to brazil were bittersweet. we had so much fun and yet it was hard to accept that those last few moments were just that - our last few moments.
we spent our last days cramming in as much beach time as possible, hoping no one would notice our brightly colored van parked overnight (again) in the parking lot. during one of those days we met a new friend, luke, who happens to be a flying doctor. officially called the "royal flying doctor service," this non-for-profit organization works to help those who need medical attention in the most remote areas of australia. beings that anika and i had just driven through parts of these areas on our road trip (and equally as such didn't even begin to touch on the extent of remoteness australia has to offer - we were still on a road) we took a liking to luke immediately. that and he offered us pizza (we offered him warm water - he politely declined). we had no choice but to all exchange phone numbers and become friends.
a few days later we said goodbye to bertha (the van) after spending a whopping $30 to clean her up (NOTE: never leave bug guts plastered on your car an then try to get them off 2 months later). we then checked into a local hostel (beaches of broome) where we relished the experience of "REAL" beds for the night. anika and i (okay - she paid for it and refused to let me pitch in) even threw and impromptu (but extensively fantasized) BBQ with luke and a couple of girls we met at the hostel. it was a blast, but tough knowing that was mine and anika's last night together.
the following morning, hours before anika had to catch her flight and i had to go to work, we made our last trip to the beach together where we did none other than a camel ride. i wish i could go into extensive detail about the amazingness of the ride, but it honestly wasn't that much different than riding a horse. untill you looked down and realized you were twice as high as what you would be on a horse. or the fact that the camel had to kneel down for you to get on and off. or that when the camel sat or stood it was like riding a rollarcoaster. or that it was in the back of my mind the whole ride that the one behind me might decide to huck a wad of spit in my general direction (he didn't). okay. so it was a little bit different than riding a horse. especially since no horse-riding experience i ever had was on a nude beach. yes - that's right. we got our money's worth when it came to our view of the well-known cable beach... though i was mostly glad there was lots of beach to look at so that i could avert my eyes when a man wearing no more than a baseball cap and sunglasses turned out to be REALLY excited to walk alongside the camels as we rode. made me wonder what the young children behind me were thinking of their ride...
all that aside, the camel ride over, anika left. and i went to work.
now - the whole looking-for-work adventure had started a few days prior in which i was frantically editing, printing and sending out multiple copies of my resume. all while trying to look my best in 3-week-old dirty clothes. it takes a bit of skill i reckon. as it were, in the midst of looking for work, anika and i decided to try and find frank. frank is a friend of bob and els - a couple i got to know fairly well in sydney who had come to broome and stayed at this frank's B&B. they told me to look him up. now, anika and i didn't know which B&B to check out for frank and as there are what appears to be an extensive number of B&Bs in broome, the situation seemed hopeless. but we went for it anyway. anika researched the internet for the B&Bs that mentioned a frank in their website. i called them.
the first "frank" i couldn't reach as the phone just continued to ring and ring. the second one, however, picked up immediately and i told him our ridiculous situation and pretty much just straight up asked him if he knew bob and els from sydney. he did. we were estatic to find frank and told him we'd try to drop by to meet him and his wife.
later that evening, i got a call and i answered my phone. the guy at the other end told me i had called him first and was wondering what it was about. i asked who it was and he told me his name was "frank." i quickly realized that this was the first frank we had called and i told him our ridiculous situation of trying to find "frank" and that we had found him so that he was not the frank i was looking for. he laughed and asked if me and anika wanted to come and meet him and his friends out later for drinks. i asked him if he might have a job available for me and he said he did. it all sounded perfect - even when he told us to meet him at some local bar/club where there'd be dancing at a $500 prize for the best girl who could dance on stage. anika and i figured it would be fun so we planned to do that for the night.
now - keep in mind that all this time we have been travelling, anika and i had been getting ready for bed at dark (7pm) and lights out by 8:30pm at the latest. to go to a bar/club - one only STARTS to get ready to maybe decide to head out soon around that time. it's tough to be doing hair and putting on makeup when your mind and body are saying it's time to sleep. but we did it. for the sake of a potential job and some random fun.
we got to the bar and quickly figured out this wasn't what we had in mind. we were the only girls and the "dance" contest wasn't so much dancing as it was a wet t-shirt contest. for $500. we opted out. after being offered weed from a local and hit on by some sketchy characters we decided to scram. there was no sign of frank. it was 8:30 pm. time for bed.
the job hunt continued and all the while i kept in mind that the last thing i could possibly want to do with my time would be housekeeping. this would be my "last resort" job. the job i would do if i couldn't find anything else. the job i would do if i was anyone else but myself. so what did i do? i went out and got myself a job as a housekeeper at a resort. and i love it. helps when they pay you twice as much as what they would in canada. go figure.
all i needed next was a permanent place to call "home" for the next bit. so i went out and got myself a tent and parked it at the local caravan park. i figure if i run out of money i can propose a reality tv show called "trailer trash girl." only i suppose it would be more of a "tent trash girl." okay - it's not THAT bad. it's honestly the thing that everyone does here who is not local of broome, but working for the season. it's kind of cool as my neighbors (a girl from perth and a guy from belgium) are doing the same thing as me - working like crazy to save money for the next great travel adventure.
and - as many have been asking me - what IS going to be the next great travel adventure for me? well. i am thinking new zealand. i am thinking of doing a trek. i am thinking of exploring the mountains and wild of new zealand as i did in british columbia less than a year ago. but i can't say more than that as i have plenty of planning, research and preparation involved untill i can get to do something like that. so in the meantime - this is where i am. for the next few months it's going to be me. in broome. living in a caravan park. in a tent. working as a housekeeper. hanging at the beach. chilling with friends from all over the world. and enjoying every minute of it.
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