Full Circle

Well – I have made it to the Perth airport. I wish I could say that I know what I am doing here at this hour, but the reality is that it is past my bedtime and I definitely do not have warm enough clothes to be present in this part of Australia. You’d think I’d know better in being Canadian, but given I have spent the last 5 months immersed in daily temperatures within the 30s, stepping off a plane to go down the stairs to the tarmac in the middle of the night just doesn’t have the same appeal when it’s a whopping 11 degrees outside.

I knew it would be cooler outside in Perth and it will be just as cool when I arrive in Sydney. I just forgot the whole bit about the fact that I am arriving during the night when it is the coldest and that Australia prides itself on using the stairs whenever possible as access to and from planes. And as it were, on the plane ride to Perth here I got stuck beside a mother and her four girls. Yes, that’s right – four – all between the ages of about 2 to 12. Total sweethearts and total headaches to the fact that I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep the flight away in order to remain in my bubble of denial that I had even left the realm of Broome.

I slept just the same - as well as one can when the seat only reclines a mere inch or two backwards and ones knees are pressed up against the seat in front - and I can only imagine what the little girl next to me wrote frantically with her chewed down pencil in her journal. She probably talked about how she got stuck sitting next to the window with me curled up in a ball on the other side of her constantly drifting into a world of sleep, all the while blocking her only access to the bathroom, isle, her family and other such necessities. Whether she did or not, I have the privilege of writing about her and how a 10-year-old girl was wearing more makeup than I do on a night out. She even had a nicer purse than I did. I just kept thinking of how I still had sand plastered all over my skin after the day on the beach – she was just lucky I had recently washed my clothes and I didn’t smell overly bad. But makeup? I continuously attempted to sneak peeks at her perfectly blended eye shadow covered eyelids in order that I might pick up tips on how to do mine the next time I have the urge to plaster powder on my face. My mission failed to be a success as my own eyelids just wanted to close off the entire world and wallow in dreamland. A land of which I could have taken everyone from Broome with me on my way over to New Zealand.

So between being crammed in a plane surrounded by crying, fidgeting, whining and overall quite lovely girls, drifting in and out of sleep, walking off the plane to be shocked by a drop in temperature of 20 degrees and getting my regular dose of being the randomly selected person for a bomb scan – I have done a fair bit of reflecting on what it means that I have now officially left Broome.

First off – it is completely and utterly weird that I have even gone. How does one say goodbye to people that have become like family within such a short time span of four months? It was like leaving home all over again and it was hard. I am completely excited for what is yet to come. And scared – for sure. It will be a great adventure, one of many unknowns and I am thrilled for that but it doesn’t make it any easier to let go of what was so great before.

I’d go on babbling about this topic, but the guy that has sat next to me at the airport terminal gate here has so nicely decided to play a video game with an annoying sound that repeats over and over and over and – well, you get the idea. So now all I can think about is how I can discreetly destroy his cell phone he’s playing it on without him throwing noticing. That and where’s the nearest shop I can buy some Ugg boots as I am having trouble imagining me being comfortable with the temperature once I arrive in Sydney. Only a mere 5 more hours to go.

Okay. So I have officially made it to Sydney. At precisely 6 a.m. the plane landed in the city that is overwhelming in size. I attempted to rub sleep from my eyes only to remember that I didn't really even sleep the entire flight from Perth to Sydney and instead found myself simply scratching my dried out eyeballs. I reckon they don't call them the redeye flights for nothing. My only saving grace was that Jetstar decided to, yet again, allow us to use the stairs running down to the tarmac so the balmy (in comparison to Perth) 15 degrees managed to make me feel a little more lively.

After grabbing my bag and making a quick dash to the bathroom I found a spot at the local coffee shop within the terminal and sat down for some breakky - I, afterall, hadn't eaten since late afternoon yesterday... a meal of which ended in a semi-emotional goodbye as it was my last meal at Zanders.

That meal was only the last in a string of things that was my "lasts" in Broome. There was my last shift which turned out to be the most chaotic shift I have ever had at Zanders, and yet Siobhan and I ran that bar like the A-Team that we were. There was the last staff shindig which turned out to be a hippie-themed party complete with retro flowers, peace signs, poi, hoola-hoop and about a million pictures of the entire extravaganza. Definitely a night to remember. But that wasn't all - there was the last sleep at the caravan park, the last sunset over Cable Beach, the last time I went to yoga and my last day on the beach. It was all so beautiful and none of it I wanted to end.

And yet it did. So here I am. Completely a full circle from when I first arrived in Sydney a year ago - not having a clue where my travels would take me. Not a clue of the amazing people I would meet, the incredible adventures of seeing new things, trying new things, tasting new thngs. Not a clue of how much Australia would become ingrained in my heart - forever to be a part of who I have become. Not a clue of how a year from the time I stepped foot on Australian soil, I would be leaving to go to New Zealand to complete my greatest adventure to date. And I can't wait. I wish it were tomorrow - or at the very least, I wish I could have access to all the great outdoor clothing Alex and I will receive from our sponsors as the stuff I have at the moment really isn't sufficient to Sydney's dreary days of rain. But what can ya do eh? It's all part of life's great adventure...