I'm leaving...

This is the end... after the end of 2013 comes the end of my Working Holiday Visa in Australia. 

and what a grandiose way to end the year that was...

I'm leaving a country which is an island and a whole continent in itself, where the pigeons are pink (the funny galahs) or yellow and the native animals cannot be seen anywhere else... A country so vast that in one whole year, I only scratched the surface of what there is to see and experience... This was the country of utes and paddocks, of premix drinks and stubby holder, a country where Coriolis turns the other way...
But before going back to France, I'm leaving a place that has been for me home away from home, with beautiful people that I'm not sure I will see again...

A year ago, I was experiencing the first goodbyes, and now I have to brace myself for the last ones of this WHV. If I had known how hard it would be to leave, I would have worked the 88 days needed to renew the visa, and unless you already know that you only have the one year, I strongly recommend that you seize the second opportunity to stay in this incredible country.

I know that in a couple of weeks I will see again my old friends and my family, but somehow, it's not cheering me up right now. I have no idea what 2014 has in hold for me. As I am turning 31 this year, the plan would be to do another WHV in New Zealand, taking the time to spend on the places I liked the most, and maybe find a real job in the country... 

or learn how to run a vineyard

That would enable me to do all the travelling I couldn't do this year: Bali, the rest of Northern Territories, maybe even the Philippines... 

But I'm also keen on making my brain work again, and while I'm writing this article, I'm also applying for jobs, mostly in the UK because one thing I'm sure of, I need to speak english on a daily basis. I'm doing this because I don't know if 2 years away from the workforce will annihilate any thought I had about a career.

So, as Freddy Mercury sang, "the show must go on" and "whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance".
And for today, I'll let you with this thought: