Byron Bay to Montreal- a temporary end, a chapter summary

Wow! So, it's been a while since i've last posted. That partly has to do with the fact that I hadn't changed spots, I stayed in Byron Bay for the last six or seven weeks! Being there felt right, and I just couldn't leave.

Which brings me to this: I have news, my lovelies. The reason I stayed in Byron so long is because I decided that three months in Australia is just obscenely too short, so after a short stint back home, I'm returning to Oz on a (up to) 12month working visa! Traveling without working is expensive stuff and only viable for a few months MAX, so this time I'm going to be working as I go, which is actually extremely common amongst backpackers in Australia, and not that hard to do. Basically, I feel that I have learnt so much from my experience so far, and It's not the moment to cut that experience short. Staying for longer will be the best thing I can do for myself right now, and although I'm nervous as all hell, I am also really excited.

My plan at the moment is to return to oz and spend a few months back at the arts factory working a REAL job, then when the weather gets a bit nicer I will start doing some trips up the coast. I hope this time around to make it out to more places in oz; ayers rock and the outback, western australia, and maybe I will also spend a few months in Melbourne, the city I loved soo much (my substitute montreal, but with a better climate...)

My last few weeks at the arts factory were pretty great. I continued to do my nightime bus shifts. The last one by far had the be the best, with the drunk guy who could barely walk or talk or recognize his surroundings, but he tried to kiss me and get my phone number anyways. I had to forcibly remove him from the bus!!

Life at the arts factory had started to get more settled in those last few weeks, with fewer drinking binge nights; what there were seemed to be relegated to weekends, almost like normal people. ... scary .... It brought up a whole new set of thoughts and feeling about travelling. I wondered if staying at the AF so long was a sign that I was regressing back into those oh-so-comfortable-&-familiar stable-life patterns. But then I reminded myself that I worked 12hours a week and was living in a tent. ... ... Being able to make REAL friends for a change was really nice, and I know I will really value some of those friendships for a long time, if not forever. However, at moments being around so many people in such a social environment also made me feel more lonely; funny how being surrounded by people can highlight any feelings of distance and alienation you feel in a new/temporary/transient environment.

So, for the moment, and I do stress moment, I'm back in Montreal! Planning the next period of my life. Trying to shelve some aspects of my life of the past before heading out again. Thinking alot about my travel experiences in this new at-home-northern-hemisphere-urban-living light. Sorting out the feelings I have about leaving people behind everywhere I go, and about the people I am leaving behind. Trying to let go of past experiences and move on to new ones. trying to not travel for travel's sake, but travel cause I actually want to, where & when I want to. Packing up my life, literally! Trying to find a way to pack up stuff I'll need for a year - backpack? suitcase? Searching high and lo to find plane tickets galore! Asia? hmm... Dealing with living in my teen-years bedroom in my parent's house. (yay.) And sleeping in till noon, staying up till 3am. (LOVE being jetlagged. Oh yah.)

And since I'm so bored, you might soon be subjected to a post or two about the moderately neurotic post-travel-pre-travel debates raging in my mind.

hugs& kisses to all, I miss you Arts Factory lovelies!

more byron and terrifying times

I may have to re-think this blog; does it still count as a travel blog if you have three or more entries from the same tiny town? Does staying here for so long still count as traveling? I'm gonna say Yes, even if just to reassure myself that I'm not falling back into my entrenched normal-life habits, and an ever present desire to settle down somewhere... hmm... I also maintain that continued hostel-living also gives me 'traveller' status. It's my logic. don't argue.

Also, true to traveller-form, I have continued to push out and past my normal boundaries, trying all kinds of 'terrifying' things.

Terrifying thing #1 - I did a 10m high jump off a cliff into the water at a local 'quarry'. Before jumping, my biggest worry was that I would hit the water at an angle and wind up with a big bruise. And as luck would have it, that's exactly what happened. Despite my sore butt, it was still a blast, and I think almost even better thanks to my 'injury'; ie seeing that my worst-case-scenario fear wasnt such a big deal after all.

Terrifying thing #2 - I performed in the hostel's weekly talent show! Me and another guest named Phil cracked out a version of Joni Mitchell's "Case of you" about two hours before the show started. Neither of us have really performed in front of people before (I maintain that Karaoke doesn't count...) Performing was so much fun, I think I'm a tad addicted to it now, I just might do something next week!!

Since I've spent so much time here in Byron, I decided to start doing a little work-for-accomodation in the form of driving the hostel's nightly shuttle bus. It brings guests into town, and runs every 7 minutes till 4am. The motivation in offering this service, however, has much more to do with reducing complaints from the neighbors about loud, drunken backpackers roaming their streets at 3am, rather than some well thought out business strategy. Of all the accom work, this job is considered one of the best, since you only do it twice a week ( 2 x 6h shift) and it doesn't really take up much usable time (10pm- 4am.) Plus, how many jobs let you crank out your own tunes, mock your 'clients', and have a friend sit with you as you work? I've even taken to photographing people as they stream thru my litte bus-world, helps the time pass, provides some really interesting souvenirs of this job... And a final perk of the job: the snacks I get given from stoners doing 'pie runs' in the middle of the night (aka nipping into town to the all-night bakery for some munchie-induced snacking) I'd have to give the rum ball and hedgehog two thumbs up, and the asperagus-corn-cheese pie is NOT to be missed! .

Which brings me to terrifying thing #3: I have learned to drive a manual! I kid you not, people, it has actually happened. Opportunity presented itself when the automatic bus almost ran out of fuel one night and resulted in a friend offering to teach me on his own van. (he's crazy, I know.) And I'm not kidding when I call this one terrifying: my first reaction was to run screaming. I had a hard enough time learning how to drive in the first place when I was 19; somehow I managed to make turning corners into a huge feat. BUT, a 2 hour lesson later i had almost mastered hill-starts, and then drove the manual bus that night for my 6 hour shift, almost without incident. I only stalled, hmm... 10 times maybe? And almost NO bunny hops. Ok, a few. many. shut up. At least I learned!!

The surf goes on, though my body is giving out bit by bit. Or at least it was until I discovered that occasional breaks from surfing, or a one-on-one-off schedule are more suitable for my extremely out of shape and unathletic self. My surf-induced cuts and grazes have been saved from becoming sea ulcers thanks to some self-maintenance-education from local surfers and chemists. But hey, i've graduated off the softboards, also know as 'boats', and my paddling is improving a hell of alot, so I'm pretty fuckin' happy!

hugs and kisses to all of you from byron, missing you lots.