This is it

Well, here I am, back in Australia. I've just spent 36h of travel from Paris to Melbourne (with one or two hours of sleep in between) not realizing that I will not come back home for a whole year. The planification on excel spreadsheets has become reality.

Do I think this is social suicide? Maybe. But it was something I had to do. I have no idea what's coming for me, but I know it will change me, and believe me, that's not easy... I cannot regret doing this, because I know I would have regretted not to. And if I ever get depressed, this is what I will tell myself:

"girl, 6 months ago you had no idea you had it in you to quit everything and leave. You're living your dream, so you have no right to feel sorry for yourself, so use every opportunity at hand, understand?"

Well, it might sometimes get a little more complicated than that, but I'm hopeful I will be able to convince myself of this. For now, time to repair the jetlag damage and to discover a new town, Melbourne, with an open mind and wide open eyes.

Until next time!

The first goodbyes

It’s never easy to say goodbye. You never know what to say, how to act, and you know it’s the last thing people will remember from you. But usually, if you’re lucky enough, you don’t get to do it that often.

For me, this is it. A week before my travel begins, and in a context when I don’t know yet if I’m coming back, I have to say goodbye to my family and friends. Some of them, I won’t be able to tell them how much they mean to me. Some of them, I want to squeeze them so hard as to nearly imprint myself on them so that they will know how much I love them and they will hopefully not forget me. So yes, as I was saying in this note, this is one of the sad moments.

And, as the title hints, this is just the beginning. As I will not stay too long at the same place this whole year, there will be a lot of goodbyes along the way. But I figure, for that many goodbyes, there will be that many welcomes. Whether it’s just “Welcome”, or “Welcome home”, or “Welcome back”, I know that with every sad moment of goodbye, I will be granted the same amount of warm times, be it with the same people or not.

So to all the world travellers around the world, I ask this question: how were your goodbyes? Tearful? Joyful? Hopeful?

NB: as promised, I updated my Impossible list with two more objectives, because this year is going to be the year when anything is possible. I know there will be so much freedom and so many choices ahead of me, I feel like I'm in this comic, where I could live out of my hobby (be it dance, or music, or anything I like, or more accurately, anything I want)

The excitement of doing things on your own

There it is. In one month I will be off to see the world all by myself, and I'm thrilled just thinking about it!

Even if "On my own" is for me one of the saddest songs of all musicals ever, doing things on your own is not. 

Creating something on your own, such as your first timelapse video gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment.

video coming soon...

Planning your trip on your own, choosing which places you will go, only on the basis of what you really like and want to do, this is even more amazing. Let me tell you something, I am right in this phase right now, planning my trip to Australia and Asia, and I am so excited about it that I nearly forget about the life I still have here!

Of course, travelling with a companion is great, I have done that for six years, and sure, it is good to share your emotions instantly with your travel companion. But I'm not sure it gives you the same pride, knowing that you did it on your own, and that it went pretty well. My goal is to forget about travel agencies, and to concentrate on what is locally available.

And look at it this way: would I have been able to seat on the co-pilot seat on the flightseeing tour I took on the whitsundays? Certainly not!

So yeah, it will probably be sad sometimes, but looking back, I know I will be so much more proud of having done this trip on my own, and right now, all I can think about is all the amazing things I will do because I want to do them.

Edit: I found this article that sums up the joy of solo travelling

Norway 2012

At first, I didn't know if it was worth it to write an article about my stay in Norway, as it was a 10-day short traveling experience with nothing else in mind than Aurora hunting... But anyway, I will still give some basic information about this beautiful country.
My first step was Å i Lofoten, that I reached via a night flight from Oslo to Tromso, then a short 30-min flight around 10h45 (enabling me to see the sunrise) to Evenes, the airport of Narvik/Harstad, and a night bus from there to Å i Lofoten departing at 4:30 pm with a 15 min break at Leknes. Finally arriving in the middle of a dark clear night, I could only wait the day after to see what this little village was made of. Well, it is quaint, picturesque and... hibernating in winter...

Next day is a bit clearer, and I decide to walk around to the next village called Sørvågen as pretty as Å.

After 2 days and still no aurora, I decided to leave the tranquility of this region and head down to Svolvaer, the main city in the area. The road to there, road E10, this time in dim daylight, is purely amazing, We pass through little towns like Reine, Flakstad, Leknes again and Bostad, before finally arriving in Svolvaer. 

Following the advice that I discovered afterwards, I found a little shop selling smoked salmon sandwich and a dessert called Svele, pure bliss! 

Then when night came, I went to an ice bar to enjoy a drink in a literally freezing place, which was rather an experience.

Unfortunately, still no aurora... So the next day, I take the bus to go back to Evenes airport, and the road between Svolvaer and Narvik doesn't disappoint. I arrive at Tromso, and take a taxi crossing this fairly pretty city from the airport to the ferry port to embark in the Hurtigruten ferry MS Polarlys.

My cabin: quite nice

Once the city lights are gone, I take myself to the cold front of the ferry, and yes, here it is, a nice and not-very-intense-but-still-pretty-good-for-a-first-time-with-a-camera aurora! Once the personnel of the ferry announces the Northern Lights, flocks of people join me in this experience, and as I had enough pictures for a first time, I went back to the warmth inside and enjoy my very comfortable bed. 

The next day, we arrive at Honnigsvad, small fishing village with an industrial port, and for which the only touristic interest is its proximity with Nordkapp. Also, the northern lights. Yes, as soon as I arrived there and for the time I remained, the sky was clear enough to enjoy auroras every night.

The next day (yes, the days are short in winter, here), I decide to get infos on how to go to Cape North. Attention, in winter, buses only go once a day at midday, and only in weekdays, not during the week end. So I was pretty lucky to be able to enjoy it, as I spotted the bus on my way to the Information Center and decided to go for it. There's only 2 passengers in the bus, a japanese backpacker and me, and the wind is getting worse. But for the charming bus driver, it's just routine. After 20 kms, we wait for the Hurtigruten bus (as a day excursion for its passengers) to join us and a snowplow opens the road for us for the remaining 10 kms. As the night is rapidly growing, there's just enough time to take a picture of the "Children of the World" monument before returning to the warmth of the Tourist Center, offering a mini museum celebrating the opening of the center by the King of Thailand (!) and a poetic 14-min movie celebrating with no words but traditional music the beauties of the region in every season.

Saturday is a dead day in Norway, and most of all in Honngsvag. The wind is growing even stronger, and I try to find a protected place to take pictures of the northern lights at their best. Once the night has come, which doesn't take long, I set for my protected place, and some time after that, I finally see the most amazing aurora so far. Mother Nature at its best. I can actually see the solar wind moving and undulating, it's purely magical.

The next morning, waking up early to take the ferry to Tromso, the wind is good enough for the boat to stop at the harbour and take on its passengers. The day is boring on the boat, but the food is delicious. Arriving at Tromso at midnight I need a hotel room for 4h because Tromso Airport is not big enough to stay open during the night, and the Rica hotel right next to the harbour is very handy and comfortable (and the delicious receptionist offers me half price for the room).

After the plane the next day, I arrive in Oslo and take the train from the airport for a day tour around the capital city. 
First impression: it's a perfect set for a Christmas commercial, with those quaint houses on snowy hills and pine forest
Second impression, out of the train station: no salt on the ice-covered walkway... Ok, so this is sporting, alright, ice-skating, more precisely...
Quickly put, because I only had a few hours, the Opera is modern but a bit tasteless, the City Hall is just dreadful, but the wharf looks nice. Spikersuppa, the place behind the City Hall, has nice buildings around, and an interesting Christmas market, with an ice-skating ring, and stands offering deer burgers, smoked whale and one last treat of brown cheese vaffel, before heading back to the station via Karl Johans Gate.

To conclude, Norway is obviously a beautiful country, and I'm sure I'll go back there soon enough. The fjords are so magical, and it must so different in summertime! I want to discover the "day" face of this country...

Australia 2012

This is the report of my November trip to Australia, before the long gap year, mainly to enjoy the eclipse.

After a night near Sydney Airport, I take an early plane to Cairns, with the objective to go to Cape Tribulation. First problem when arriving at Cairns, the shuttle doesn't go to Cape Tribulation anymore, so the furthest it can go is Port Douglas. The road, Captain Cook's Highway, is beautifully scenic. It follows the coastline, between high hills full of rich vegetation and pristine beaches with no one on it. I think that's when I realize that traveling is like being in love. Your heart is so tight and beats so strongly, you jut want to get drunk on what is in front of you.
Arriving at Port Douglas, I realize that I definitely cannot go to Cape Tribulation, because I needed to book a tour to go there (no regular shuttle, contrary to what was said on the Cape Tribulation website), and it is too late as tomorrow is the eclipse. So I decide to cancel my hostel booking in Cape Tribulation and treat myself after a long and exhausting trip to one of the fine hotels of Port Douglas.
On the morning of the 14th of November, it is eclipse time. It is always a beautiful and emotional moment. You feel it in your guts, and you know that everyone around feels the same way. It is caused from the sheer wonder of Nature, and it gives the strongest sense of community.

Love is about looking in the same direction

The day has begun so early that I have plenty of time to discover the little town of Port Douglas. The eclipse adds a festive atmosphere to the resort town. I book a snorkel trip on the Great Barrier Reef on a speed boat, and I am not disappointed. The speed boat itself adds a lot of fun, and also, one white-tip shark and one black-tip one cross my swimming path, and two turtles swim by my side. One of my best memories, but unfortunately, all the pictures I could have taken were lost later on... 

The next day, I check out of the hotel, take the shuttle back to Cairns, and take the Greyhound Coach to Airlie, which means more than 10h of travel, arriving in Airlie shortly before midnight.
After a good night sleep, I can enjoy Airlie in the early hours of the morning, where the atmosphere is completely different than at night. I book an airplane tour for the afternoon, and wow, I still don't regret it.

I don't think you would either...

After this great day, the next day is as dull as a 20+ hours of coach travel can be. And we arrive in Brisbane in the early hours of the morning. I unfortunately couldn't enjoy the city after so tiring a trip, but at the same time I didn't put the necessary effort to do so. 

Next step is Surfers Paradise, which is where I obviously take my first surfing lesson. But before that, I indulge into my favorite activity: walking on the beach. Beaches in Australia are particularly great for this, as they are pretty large with not much people on it (depending on where you are, of course). So I walk on the white sand as soft as flour for 2.5 km from the hostel to the city center, and there I discover the concept of schoolies, where student finishing high school just celebrate their graduation by partying really hard.
As for my surfing lesson... Let's just say that the board is really heavy, and even though the instructor gives simple instructions on the sand, in the water it's obviously much more difficult. I dare say that it is all a question of timing. But even though I wasn't able to get up on my board, the sensation is still pretty intense.
After that, I go back to the hostel to prepare for my evening tour to see the Glow Worms. It was my first time seeing anything like that, and I found it spectacular. After that, we visit an amateur astronomer who built two observatories for himself

Next day is once again a coach travel to Coffs Harbour, which is, depending on who describes it, family-friendly or very very quiet. The Marina is nice, but there is not much things to do. That offers a contrast with the next and final step of the coastal trip: Sydney

The hostel is the YHA in the Rocks, one of the liveliest neighborhood of Inner Sydney. And as it is Friday, there are food stands and animations in the streets.

A must see

After a week end just enjoying the atmosphere of Inner Sydney, Monday is Blue Mountains day. The weather isn't that good, but it adds a mysterious halo around the mountains and the Three Sisters

The next day, I decided to explore Avalon, and after a few mishaps, I finally arrived on this rigtfully named beach. It is simply very picturesque, the beach being framed by cliffs, and beautiful houses on top. 

From Avalon to Newport the coastal drive is impressive, Collaroy reminds me of a little Surfers Paradise, Dee Why (D.Y.) and then Manly, all these makes Northern Sydney worth seeing.

Next day is Bondi Day. The weather is still cloudy but it's ok, as I want to do the walk from Bondi to Bronte and back. And indeed, it is worth doing. I surprised myself day-dreaming about living in this neighborhood, and doing my jogging routine on this walk. Tamarama and Bronte are cute little beaches next to the 1-km Bondi, and once again, just the perfect settings for holiday pictures.

This marks the end of my coastal trip to the East Coast of Australia in November 2012. Little did I know that I would see so much more wonderful places on the West Coast... But still, I saw some amazing things that made for a beautiful trip.
What did YOU think of the East Coast? As it was only a 3-week trip, I certainly missed a lot, so don't hesitate to advise me on your favorite places!