My writing-voice is hoarse and rusty, so please bear with me while I try to find it again.
I last wrote from Melbourne, what feels like years ago. The last four and a half months have flown by in what now feels like a bit of a blur. We flew back to Brisbane and after some quality family time, went to stay with Dan’s brother and partner on the Gold Coast for half a week – which turned into ten weeks. We bought bicycles, bought a (stunning) car, and bought some luxury camping equipment for some Aussie travel.
I took up a three month – which turned into four month – opportunity with work which has been a pretty hit-the-spot mix of rewarding and challenging and extending my skills. I built up close, trusted professional relationships with colleagues outside Queensland, who I’ve still never met in person.
And while I was investing time one one of my favourite hobbies – the law – Dan was adding a new one to his (monstrous) collection: paragliding. He’s now licensed, experienced, and ready to jump off the nearest mountain at the drop of a hat. I’ll be hiking down alone until I learn.
During this time, we had a bloody awesome time staying at Benny and Mel’s beachside apartment at the coast. We’d generally wake up to watch dawn, jump in the sea most days, and we’d cook the most delicious dinners. I’m so enormously grateful for that extended stay. I think I would have been in a pretty intense period of holiday-mourning if I wasn’t so distracted by the beach and the bike paths.
I’m also enormously grateful to everyone else who let us crash in their spare bedrooms for weekends and weeks up in Brisbane during that time. We were made to feel so at home that we kind of forgot we didn’t have a home of our own.
Six weeks ago, we packed the car (to the brim) and hit the road headed north. We had a super fun week with Nat and Josh in the town of Seventeen Seventy, followed by an incredible six days of hiking Hinchinbrook Island with Oli and Duncan. That island is chocker block with beauty. It was so relaxing to tackle the thirty-something kilometre hike over six days – it made for super heavy bags at the beginning, but heaps of time for side adventures and lazy afternoons.
We’ve just finished our fourth full week in sunny Townsville, whose winter days feel hot and summery. We’ve filled weekends with camping trips, boat trips, hikes and bike rides. Despite accomplishing so much, we’ve still got a huge list of things we want to do around here. And just like Brisbane, we’ve accrued a huge debt of service to all the loving family who have housed us and shared their meat and mead.
From here? A few months ago we were hoping to do a half-loop of Australia – Cape, centre, Adelaide and back around the coast. But now it looks like Queensland will be our playground. We’re off to Cairns tomorrow to spend a week or so with Simone. We’ll then we’ll slowly make our way up and back from the Cape, slowly boomeranging our way back to Townsville where we get to tackle our “to do” list.
I don’t know what this blog will look and feel like going forward. I feel like it was so easy when I was overseas and had so many cultural experiences to process by expressing and explaining them. Maybe Dan and his stunning drone photography will take over and this will become a picture book. Who knows. I just know I’m excited – this isn’t the 2020 adventure we thought we’d be having, but it’s the 2020 adventure I’m still going to relish.
VRPS
[Townsville]
The Two Swords 