CARDS AND TRAVELLING AND TRAVELLING AND CARDS

For some reason, my entire time in Australia has been very nostalgic. There are many times that good memories pop up in my head and I am able to reflect on that time in my life and how I felt. It's funny that travelling and living abroad had brought these memories and feelings all back to me. I would say that living in Australia has changed me in many ways, but one thing that has always remained constant is my love of a good card game. 

The other day I had another nostalgic moment where I was thinking of a time when I was surrounding a picnic table with some friends and family in a campsite back at home. The fire was crackling in the dark and we each held a hand of cards which we could only see by nonchalantly shifting our hands into the stream of the propane light. This memory flooded my brain with other memories where I would be holding a hand of cards and it brought a feeling of warmth to me. As I reflected on these experiences, I came to realize how important playing cards are to me in my lived experiences and who I am as a person. 

Like I mentioned, travelling and living abroad has changed me in many ways. Not to be egotistical, but I feel like it has benefited me by making me a better person - more awesome, if you will. I have become more social, confident, adaptable, adventurous and perhaps even a little smarter. The more I travel, the more universal my thoughts, ideas and conversations become. Like playing cards, travelling has a large influence on my everyday learning and who I have become not only as a person but also as a teacher. It just so happens that travelling and playing cards have almost always gone hand in hand.

Through my travels around Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, I have come to realize that travelling, and in particular - staying in hostels, is the best way to meet new people each and every day. These people come from all around the world, all with stories just as unique as mine to share. There is something so profound about sitting at a table surrounded by people who came from each edge of the Earth with a willingness to share their stories and listen to others. I'm sure that a hand of cards is one of the best ways to be able to connect and get to know new friends. 

More often than not while we were travelling, we would find ourselves sitting around a table each with a hand of cards that had been dealt to us. In everyone's hand - a different combination of cards. I like to think of the cards as metaphor of our lives; possibly representing our pasts, our presents, or our futures. Whether they represent one thing or another, the truth is, those very cards are what brought everyone sitting around the table together. The cards engaged everyone in conversation and sparked the enthusiasm of some to lay their cards on the table for everyone else to see. 

Whether my metaphoric interpretation of playing cards engages you or not - the fact is that I realized that playing cards - a standard pile of 52 plastic-coated, distinguishably marked pieces of paper - have come to mean a whole lot more to me that I ever expected and have been a part of my own learning experiences since the very beginning. Now that I have looked back on many different memories, I have come to the realization that for the most part, playing cards have been the foundation for much of my learning. It’s not one specific place that has taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life; rather, it is the numerous hands of cards that I have held in different spaces that has guided my learning. These lessons have shaped my learning, molded me as a teacher, constructed me into a lifelong learner, and guided me as a curriculum-maker.

This friendship all started with a game of cards!

Besides the obvious, such as learning how to count and to add numbers, playing cards have taught me some bigger life lessons. Allow me  to put this into perspective.

Sense of Belonging

I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: playing cards brings people together. Looking back, I don’t think there was ever a family gathering where the good old casino quality deck of cards wasn’t brought out for a game of some sort. A simple game of cards can bring people together and as I have recently experienced, a game can bring people from all over the world together. The cards give you a sense of belonging or a reason why you are suddenly surrounded by the people around you. Whether I played cards on the red marble covered table at my grandparents, on a plane meal tray flying over Africa, on a rickety picnic table somewhere in Australia or gathered around a coffee table in a cozy cabin nestled by a creek in New Zealand; a deck of cards has always given me a sense of belonging and a reason to believe that I am where I am for a purpose.

Don’t Expect an Easy Way Out

If you’ve ever played cards with me, perhaps you have witnessed me with a hand full of jokers – for some reason they always wind up in my hand (I swear I don’t cheat), sometimes allowing me to easily win a round – or two. BUT, you aren’t always dealt the jokers or the wild cards, so there isn’t always going to be an easy way out. My Grandpa taught me this lesson best. Even though I was his granddaughter and he loved me, there was no way he would ever let me win. I never realized at the time (and maybe he didn’t either) but my grandpa was teaching me a whole lot about life in a single card game. There were times, I wanted to give up and not play cards against him because the probability of me winning a hand was never in my favour! He played to win and he was merciless when there were cards on the table. However, he taught me that it is alright to lose as long as I continue to give it my best the next time to try and win. Even when things are hard, don’t throw in your cards and give up. Just try again.

Pass Your Knowledge onto Others

If you’re a frequent card player, or frequently find yourself around card players, you’ll notice that each person knows different rules to some games, such as Rummy, where there are many versions to be played. You’ll hear, “We play it this way,” or “I’ve never heard of those rules before!” I enjoy the diversity each player is able to bring to the table. It allows for us to pass along our knowledge of the game while being able to absorb others knowledge of the same game. It’s fun to sometimes combine rules of different games to make a new game, as long as all the players agree on the rules! There are also times when some people may not know a particular game and you have to opportunity to teach them the rules and how to play the game. It’s all about collaboration and passing on what you know to others.

Always Be Present or You’ll Miss Something

In my early days of playing cards, I’m sure my family can testify to me never really being present in a game. I was off making sounds that annoyed them, I wasn’t thinking of how to play my cards before it got to my turn and I would have to be reminded that, in fact, it is my turn and so on. I would miss the fact that someone laid a wild card for me as they simply had too many or I would unknowingly have my opponents take advantage of me because I was not present in the game. I would miss something that was right in front of my eyes. Over time, I ditched the sound making and the wandering eyes and mind and learned how to focus on a game and to strategize, planning out my next move. In the long run, this has taught me about life. To live in the present. To not dwell on the past and to not worry about what may or may not happen in the future. Just to simply be present, where you are in each moment of the day. To look where your feet are planted, love every minute of it and don't miss out on the little things. 

You Can Still Win With a Bad Hand

The funny thing about playing cards is that you can be dealt really, really bad hands. You might not have anything you can work with or you might have nothing at all to play. This can go one of two ways. No matter what strategy you have in place or how strong your strategy might be - sometimes the cards just don't go your way. This happens in life too. You could have the best laid plan in the world, but things don't always turn out the way you imagined. And just like in a game of cards, you find out it's going to all be all right in the end. The same situation can go the other way as well. Maybe you're dealt a poor hand but there still a chance, even just a small chance, that if you play your cards right, you can come out winning - even against all odds. And really, is there a better feeling than being able to win with a bad hand?

DON'T WANNA LEAVE BUT I GOT A JOB!

It's crazy to think that this is my last week left of my year long stay in Australia. It has gone by so fast and to be honest, I am slightly nervous to move back to Canada. My life and experiences have been so incredible here that, at the moment, I don't want to begin picturing how everything will change when I move back. I am really going to miss my life in Melbourne. I love this city!

These last two month has been amazing for work! I have only had four days where I went without working. It has been very busy but I am grateful to have the opportunity to experience different classrooms and connect with so many people. 

Yesterday I was at a school that I have been to quite regularly. I've always enjoyed going to this school as the staff is absolutely amazing! I found it strange how a bulletin didn't make it to me before the first break so I went into the staffroom to check out if I had a yard duty. As I was checking the bulletin, the vice principal spotted me looking and added , "Nope, no duties for you today Kaitlyn!" This came as quite a surprise because as a CRT, you almost always have at least one yard duty a day, if not two. This is because we are paid to do a yard duty, so the school will swap us places with a teacher who would normally be on duty. I don't mind at all because I know the regular teachers would have heaps of things they could accomplish in their break whereas I don't have much to do.

I grabbed a seat in the staffroom, made a coffee and was ready to settle in for the next 40 minutes. There were mini muffins set out on a plate in front of each seat at the table. I began talking to the vice principal about my plans for next year as a kindergarten teacher and how I have so much enjoyed teaching in Australia, especially at this school. Once more of the staff had settled into their seats, the vice principal got up and began to explain why they were having a morning tea with mini muffins. One of the teachers got a full time job so they were celebrating, then he mention the two high school boys (who I was working with in PE) who had been volunteering their time in the sport program and that it was their last day at the school. All three of them were presented with big shortbread smiley face cookies. Then he continued as he brought out a massive jam and custard filled Lamington, "And, I have this typical Aussie dessert for our Canadian friend who has been a great addition to our school on occasion and is returning home shortly." I was completely shocked! I had no idea and I nearly cried out of the genuine gesture and for realizing my time here is down to the last few days. He said so many other kind, meaningful words to me but I forget most of them as I was completely surprised by all this happening. He explained to the rest of the staff where I come from and what the weather was doing there and then had me explain what I would be doing when I get back home. 

Which brings me to my latest news... I GOT A TEACHING JOB FOR THE FALL! Yessss, I woke up one morning at the beginning of the month to a job offer! I was absolutely thrilled because I had been feverishly applying to jobs all over Canada since March! This was another big surprise to me because I did not even interview for the position - I was just offered it. I accepted the offer because it was in Saskatchewan and because it is temporary (I will be covering a maternity leave!) I think it will be the perfect opportunity for when I get home and I will have the chance to move onto another adventure come January when my temporary contract is up! 

Meanwhile, I am so sad that my time here is coming to an end. I keep doing regular things that I have done for the last year and think, "This is the LAST time I will be doing this." It's going to be so hard to leave this place. I already miss it and I haven't even left yet. This Sunday Jenna and I did our last South Melbourne Market trip - something we have done nearly every Sunday for the last year. Today, I went to the Queen Victoria market and just took it all in being it would be last time there. The weather has been rainy and cold, I'm thinking it's mocking my feelings about leaving. 

Before I return home, I will be doing some final Australian travelling. On the first of July, I head off to the Red Centre, the heart of Australia...the OUTBACK and I am going solo! I am so so excited about this because I will get to explore Uluru, Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon and more! I will meet up with Alannah in Sydney where we will continue to do a sailing adventure through the Whitsundays Islands, head up to Magnetic Island, Mission Beach and Cairns! I'm glad I get to end my time off in the warm and tropical areas of Australia.

YOU CAN BE BATMAN IF YOU WANT TO BE

As a CRT, yard duty (supervision) can be rather stressful at times. I actually don’t mind yard duty at all, in fact, I will even offer to take a yard duty from teachers who look like they just might need an extra break. There are many things that I enjoy about doing yard duty such as being outside and having the opportunity to observe students in their natural habitat of play and exploration. However, we all know that there is a tendency for many things to go wrong at recess. Being a CRT does not help in these situations. It’s not that I can’t solve problems, break up fights or reason with tempered students, it’s that I don’t KNOW any of the students very well, including their names, especially at  schools I don’t go to often. I'm never sure which students I should be keeping a watchful eye on or the ones who tend to over exaggerate conflicts with friends.

With that being said, today was what I consider to be a good yard duty day. While the playground was still bustling with busy students at play, boys getting more footy balls stuck in the tree tops while trying to get one ball down and major girl drama under the play structure, I had what I would consider to be a really great moment with a student.

“Excuse me, miss” I hear as one student comes running up to me. I get to be decked out in a lovely florescent orange vest, which makes me an easy spot for anyone within a few kilometres. At this particular school, we also carry around a first aid kit and a clipboard with a paper to record any serious situations on the playground. No matter who you are, you will always be followed by a posy of preppies (kindergartens) who beg to carry all these things around for you. It’s insanely cute.

“My friend has been punched and I think he’s hurt!” I get him to lead me to his friend. On the way over, I ask, “So do you know what happened?”

“Yeah, I punched him.”

I stopped and looked at him saying, “Dude, why would you punch your friend?” and I thought, this has to be to most incredibly unique situation where someone punches their friend only to feel really bad about it and go to retrieve help.

When I arrived at the scene of the crime, there was a boy laying on his back with tears rolling down his cheeks. A group of students hovered over him speculating him like a foreign subject. As soon as I approached, all the witnesses wanted to share their take on the story at once. There were names being thrown around, fingers being pointed and nearly a dozen voices explaining everything in discord.

“Jude took my batman mask and I can’t find it.” This was part of the story that I had heard before I stopped everyone, “Woah, woah, woah. Let’s break this down.” I pointed to the student who came to retrieve my help, “So, you’re Jude?” “No, Miss. Jude is a boy who doesn’t go to our school anymore.”

Alright, let me get this straight. This entire brawl got started by a student who doesn't even attend this school?! What is going on? While I'm still not sure I understand exactly what happened on the playground this afternoon, here are the facts I do know.

One student wants to be batman. He lent someone his batman mask..in grade 3 (we're dealing with grade 6 boys)..to a student who no longer attends this school. However, said student lent it to someone else who still does go to this school. He just wants to find his batman mask. If Ben Affleck can be the new Batman, he can just as well be Batman if he moves to America. In his search, his friend told him he could, in fact, not ever become Batman. In frustration of having a friend not believe in his dream, he punched him. Complicated, right? RIGHT.

Even though I have only ever seen one Batman flick, I can relate to this student. He understandably became upset because someone didn't believe in him and let me tell you, that kind of stuff hurts. It doesn't matter who you are, if you have the ability to tell someone their dream is stupid, you probably have no heart.

After getting all the students involved sorted out, making sure everyone was feeling at par again, I asked the student if he wanted to take a walk and hang out with me. He agreed.  I had him explain to me what his dreams were, what he wanted to do and how he would achieve this dream. He had it all figured out. At the end of our talk, I turned to face him. “Now, if you have a dream, I don’t want you to think that anyone can stop you from achieving it. Just stay positive, do what makes you happy and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what you set your mind to..but let’s not use violence if someone does tell you that.”

It has nothing to do with becoming the next Batman or not. Who knows, the odds could be in his favour. But I wanted him to know that if he has a dream and if he believes in himself - that is all he needs. And it felt good being, perhaps, one of the few people to believe in his dreams and let him know that anything is possible. If even for a moment I gave him the courage to go after everything he has dreamed about, it made my little heart smile. I am always the happiest when I can make other people happy and I know after our talk, he was feeling pretty happy too.

We high fived it out before I headed up to the staff room for lunch and he went off running in the opposite direction, chasing his dreams. 

Great Ocean Road & Grampians

On Monday morning, we got up to hire a car so that we could start our little adventure! We got to the rental place nice and early and loaded our belongings and selves into the car. I turn the car on and I was about to throw it into drive when I realized we had gotten a STANDARD car! We went back in to ask for a automatic car, but the last one just drove off with other excited adventure seekers. Well, now was the time to put all my standard driving lessons to the test. I didn't feel overly confident, but I knew it was something I could do. Embarrassingly enough, I didn't realize the emergency break was on while becoming frustrated that I couldn't even get the car into first in a parking lot. Once I realized that that was the problem, we were off. But not for long. The stop and go traffic, combined with my sisters inability to give directions left us stalling at green lights and creating some sort of traffic drama. 

I got her all figured out on our way to the Great Ocean Road. Not the easiest thing to on my first time driving standard, but I did well on the first day. I got some old man towing a camper really revved up when I accidentally stalled going up a hill. He knocked on our window (the one that didn't roll down) and tried to be angry at us. That's the funny thing about people. They often waste too much of their energy being angry at little things instead of choosing to avoid it and be happy instead.

Getting some pictures near Angelsea Lighthouse!

I was able to show my sister many sights along the way. We stopped at Torquay Beach, Erskine Falls, Angelsea, Lorne and spotted some cute koalas along the way! Johanna Beach was our last stop of the day which is where we set up camp for the night. It was easy enough to just pull the ladder of our tent down and it just pops up on top of the car roof. It's rather silly looking but mega easy to set up and take down. We watched the sunset on the beach. It was spectacular! 

Our little Wicked Campervan set up in Johanna Beach.

Johanna Beach sunset!

After a long night of not sleeping, but shivering instead, we cranked the heat in the car and drove off making stops at the Twelve Apostles and walking the trails of Loch Ard Gorge and Thunder Cave!

The Twelve Apostles!

We got to Warrnambool around noon and hadn't eaten yet as we needed propane for our camp stove. We found a K-Mart and stocked up on some propane and a proper blanket for the following nights. We cooked our brekky sandwiches right in the parking lot and stole the nearby Hungry Jack's WiFi to Facetime! 

We decided to head up to the Grampians next. We had seen a lot of coast and were looking forward to get into the "mountians." Which, in Australia, the mountains are no Rockies and in comparison, quite small. Beautiful nonetheless. 

Once again, my navigator had gotten us lost, but it was all about the adventure! Siri lead us back to the main road after we ventured off onto a few farm roads with gravel as orange as, well, an orange! 

Heading into the Grampians, we got some awesome views of mountains and it was nice being one of the very few people travelling along the road! 

We made our way through the bottom half of the Grampians swerving to avoid Kangaroos, Emus, Possums and other miscellaneous wildlife along the road. When we arrived at a campsite called Jimmy's Creek, we decided we would set up our little tent there for the night. After the two minute set up, we took off on an adventure walk, which basically ended up being an unmarked path to no where - but it was 2km straight up hill in the 32 degree heat! Some killer views though! When we got to the other side of the path, we were completely lost since all the landmarks we noticed were not on the map! So, we just started walking - eventually finding a 4x4 track and making our way back. We returned to find a few guests in our campsite! To take a shower, we filled up an old metal pail that had a shower head on it, filled it up with river water and hoisted it up on the chain for it to pour down. It was funny but made me realize how much water only a quick shower uses. 

One of our camp site visitors!

Up early the next day to explore more of the Grampians! We really wanted to see the falls that were near by, which by how the map had it laid out meant it was only a short drive on an unsealed (gravel) road. Well, the gravel road ended and turned to sticks and stones. After twenty minutes of driving on that, we decided to turn around and forget those falls. Luckily, we found some others. I like to climb rocks and anything that looks remotely climbable. In no time I was up on top of the Silverhead Falls with my sister on my should saying "get down now!" No thank you. 

From there, we ventured on to Halls Gap and many popular lookout places such as Boroka Lookout and The Balconies. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Mackenzie Falls (although we tried) as they had it completely blocked off since a fire recently wiped through the area causing a lot of damage. At all the lookouts, they had fences that acted as safety boundaries and although my safety guru sister yelled at me, I like to think of them more as suggestions. It's really a lot nicer if you just step a smidgen outside the fence and take a look at a view that everyone else is missing from standing inside the boundary. You can't dangle your feet off a cliff from a walking path! 

Views from Boroka Lookout!

We ended up hiking to the top of another mountain later on in the evening after trying to find a place to camp out, but failing and going through another series of dirt roads and getting the car awfully dirty! All the views were 10/10 and completely and totally awesome! I hope I will get another chance to visit the Grampains again before my time in the area expires!

We ended up camping back at Jimmy's Creek again and our guest came back just as we sat down for some dinner. Perfect timing dude!

The entire trip was quite the adventure and provided some great sister time! This morning as we drove back down a quiet highway, we past about five small "one-horse towns" - all without gas stations. We rode on the fuel light for a good half an hour. I was starting to get slightly worried as my phone had little service and I wasn't exactly sure of our location. Luckily, we found a fuel station and filled her up. The whole time we were riding with little fuel, I just knew we would find a "servo" because I didn't feel like having bad luck today. Ha Ha! Always think happy thoughts!!

Thanks for following along on my adventure. In a few days we are headed up to Sydney to meet with the rest of my family! 

I'M JUST A LITTLE DREAMER

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have been living in Australia for the last seven months. It has been a crazy, incredible adventure. I look back to just about a year ago when I received the email stating that I was accepted to come teach in Australia. As I read that email, I didn't know how much this opportunity would change my entire life. In that moment, I had no clue what my responsibilities were even going to be once I got here. All I knew is that I was going to a place that I had always dreamed to visit and to pursue my first teaching job and a chance to travel a beautiful country.

I can't even imagine what my life would be like had I stayed in Canada to teach. I do miss Canada and all the beautiful faces back at home, but right now, I can't even picture myself anywhere else but in Australia. It is an amazing country of discovery, exploration and complete happiness. I know that one day, I will defiantly miss living here. There are nights where I have to ask myself, "am I seriously living in Australia right now?" because for me, Australia had only ever been a dream. It had always been "over there" or "too far away." 

Noosa Beach, Australia, 2014

I am young. I am a young person with dreams. I am baffled by the fact that two of my biggest dreams that I had as a child have already been realities for me. Ever since a young age, I was fascinated by The Big Five, or the famous African animals. I dreamed for a chance to some day go on a safari to see those animals in their natural environments. I dreamed of the opportunity to be submerged into a vibrant African culture and do work that would benefit the lives of others. Next to Africa was always Australia. I desperately wanted go to the Sydney Opera House since the first time I saw it on TV. I dreamed of swimming alongside the marine life in the Great Barrier Reef. I dreamed of learning to surf somewhere on a beautiful Australian beach. Who would have thought that in my short twenty-two years of life, I have completely fulfilled these dreams. 

Emdoneni Cat Sanctuary, South Africa, 2012

Just because these dreams are fulfilled, I will never stop dreaming. I have a long list of dreams big and small wandering around somewhere inside of my head, waiting to be fulfilled. Mark my words, I WILL step foot on each continent. Antarctica might be tricky, it isn't entirely outside the realm of possibility, so I'll try my very best.

I have five months left in Australia. My feelings are completely mixed. There are days where I wish I could go home early to see everyone and get back to a 'regular' life and then there are days where I wouldn't change a single thing! I'm most excited that my sister arrives in Melbourne in FOUR days which will commence an unreal sister road trip! Shortly after, we will meet with my parents and little sister in Sydney to head off and do some more travelling!  I can't wait to experience the Cairns area with them and to show them Noosa and Sydney. 

The way I see it, you are given one life. Dream as big as possible and do what you want. Go after your dreams, work hard, be courageous and never take 'no' for an answer. Don't let your dreams only ever be dreams. Make them come alive and live them! 

EAST COAST ADVENTURES!

After having been gone travelling for a month, I'm finding it hard to settle back into the regular lifestyle back here in Melbourne. I won't have to settle for long though as my sister comes in just a few weeks and we will be off travelling and meeting up with my family later!

Our East Coast trips was completely amazing and filled so many wonderful memories. We started the journey in Sydney where we took in the sights of the city. My favourite part was definitely walking the Harbour Bridge at night and taking this picture, which is probably the best picture I have ever taken! 

From Sydney, we had a crazy night out in Brisbane before hopping on a ten hour bus ride to get us up to the small town of 1770. This is where we learned to surf and exchanged our innocent teacher looks for a bad as bikers look.

 

The rest of the trip kinda speaks for itself in this video I made of all our little clips put together. I can't even watch this video without laughing at least twice! I feel so grateful to have these opportunities to travel and experience so much! I'm even so lucky to have the best mates to travel with! Check it out:

Lessons from a Wonderful Year

It is officially the last day of the year. While I'm not one to pick and choose favourite seasons, I do reserve a soft spot in my heart for December because of the holidays. This December though was unlike all other, and though I don't necessarily miss the cold, I sometimes wish I could wake up to frosted windows and falling snow. Even though Melbourne weather is highly unpredictable, snow just isn't in the cards. 

I started 2013 in a completely different atmosphere than I am ending it, which leaves me to wonder what is in store for the year to ahead. At the beginning of the year, I had no idea I would be living and teaching in Australia or that the experiences I am having would be real. 

I feel like nearly everything I did this year was wonderful and caulked full of new experiences so I thought I could leave you with some lessons that I've learned through the year! 

You can do anything you set your mind to (and don't let anyone tell you that you can't!) This isn't necessarily something I've only learnt this year, but it was a big part of my year. If you want something, get after it, it will probably take hard work and persistence, it may challenge you, but always keep in mind the outcome. And, if someone has the nerve to tell you that you can't, let that be your fire to prove them all wrong! 

Someday doesn't exist. If you are given an opportunity to do something, do it! There are too many times in conversation where I will hear people promise themselves "someday I will." The truth is that the "someday" that they are banking on doesn't exist; never has, never will. Don't make excuses to push an opportunity beside, don't promise yourself a day that has not come. Get out there and do it now! 

Always choose happiness. Sure, at times happiness isn't always the easiest choice, I get that, but if you aim to choose happiness in the morning and in a bad situation, you may be likely to live a happier life. You can't go back and un-do whatever it is that's got you down, so why be mad about it? Be happy, enjoy life and don't waste your time being grouchy!

Smile. I can bet that a smile signifies the same this worldwide: happiness. Smiling is contagious, makes you happy, makes others happy, makes you look good and had the possibility of evolving into laugher. That's a serious win, win situation. (I'm smiling now, are you?)

Get your butt out of bed! Although I used to always sleep in on the weekends, I never enjoyed it, I just enjoyed sleeping. I'm up everyday, no matter what, by 5:30-6am and it feels great! You can get so much accomplished all before noon and still have an entire day of unlimited possibilities ahead of you. And, when you wake up, begin with a smile! 

Travel. Do it. Go near, go far. Just go! Experience something new. Meet new people. Listen to others stories. Eat. Drink. Emerge yourself in a new culture. Dance with waves of he ocean. See the world. Stand in awe at the edge of a cliff wondering if there could ever be anything more beautiful. Reward yourself be feeling more alive than you thought possible. 

Perhaps you could say my lessons could be a little advice to anyone. Maybe they sound like cliches, but cliches are cliches for a reason - they work. 2013 has been a wonderful year, but I'm so excited to welcome 2014! Five days from now I will be off the travel the East Coast of Australia, a month after that my sister will arrive for some long overdue sister time, followed by my family. Shortly after that, my mates and I may head off to New Zealand. I hope for a chance to see Uluru and Tassie before I leave. 

With all this excitement, the year is bound to fly by. Before I know it, I will be back in Canada seeing all the beautiful faces that I left behind, and that is something else I am totally looking forward to! 

School Holidays Begin!

Hey! How yous goin'? Check out this video of our weekend!

The weekend was a kick start to our two week holiday. Although the weekend was pretty laid back for me, we had some adventure on Monday. Looking at the forecast, we saw that Monday was to be 27°C out and we wanted to do something different. I remembered one of the teachers telling me we should visit Mornington Peninsula because it was a beautiful place and there was lots to do. So, we headed out there early Monday morning. It was about an hour train ride and then another forty-five minutes on the bus. We found a nice beach where we relaxed for a bit. We could see the city skyline so far away in the distance and the crazy thing is that we were still in Melbourne. This city is so massive!

We went up to the main street where there was an information center to figure out what we wanted to do. The lady there recommended that we have a go at Tree Surfing, so we called the place and that's what we were set to do. We stopped for lunch at a burger joint and then hopped on the bus for another forty five minute ride where we had to get off and wait for a taxi to take us up the long winding road to get to the Enchanted Forest. The turns on this road were so sharp and went straight up hill. I'm pretty sure the taxi driver was accelerating on the turns and it smelt like burning rubber. He was kind and stopped the cab where we could get a good view.

The Enchanted Forest was beautiful and there were lots of activities to do. Tree Surfing was heaps of fun! You'll have to watch my video to see more about that. We were also so lucky to be tree surfing with these kids who had an awesome mom who offered us a ride back to the Frankston train station! We would have had to get on a bus for about two hours to get back there. There are some truly kind people here and they were no exception! They even drove us around to show us where Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman lived when they were married and they took us to a pier to see the most beautiful sunset! They also told us all the great places we will need to visit while we are here too! Just amazing people! And, check out this sunset (not that I got a good picture, or that a picture would do much justice anyway). She told us it would be nice out today because of the sunset - "Red sky at night, shepherds delight!" And is it ever nice out today! 

We will be out doing more exciting things this week! Hope you enjoyed this post and my video! 

Don't forget to be awesome!

Kaits :)

From: San Francisco To: Melbourne

The past two days have been filled with tons of adventure. However, when I think of adventure my mind tends to head for fun and exciting experiences. Our adventure so far has been an exciting adventure in the opposite kind of way.

Wednesday started off really well as we flew from Regina to Calgary and Calgary to San Francisco. Those flights were short and easy. Then came the eight hour wait until our 10:45pm departure to Sydney. We killed time in the airport mainly by eating, charging our phones and soaking up all the free Wi-Fi!

Finally we boarded the plane. I was already so tired and I was asleep before we were even in the air. I woke up just in time for the hot meal and stayed awake long enough to eat it and go back to sleep again. I slept pretty well the whole 15 hour flight except for about three hours. We arrived in Sydney this morning (Friday) at 6:30am. Not only is it weird that we totally never got a Thursday at all but also this sixteen hour time difference is going to be screwing me up a lot! We had an hour until we boadred out next flight to Melbourne, which is where I lucked out getting three seats to myself!!

Each time I'm on a plane I quickly remember how much I appreciate for air travel and how thankful I am that I have been able to travel in the past and continue to travel far and wide! On our landing I was so pumped, filling with happiness and ready to enjoy our first day in out new city! We were actually able to hook up our phones to a network at the airport so we got unlimited data, calling and text on our phones instantly! I am so happy we decided to get that done first.

We taxied to our real estate agents office where we signed some more documents and were handed our keys. She told us its not a bad walk and that we would be able to want to our new apartment. So we did. Uphill. Three blocks. Four bags. We arrive at our apartment, opened the door and instantly felt sick. Now, I don't exactly want to explain in detail what we saw today but just imagine the most filthy, disgusting apartment ever. Yeah. So we left our heavy luggage in the room and walked back to the agency. That conversation ended in negative terms as there apparently wasn't anything she could do to help us out. What really ticks me off is that we started paying for the place on July 24th which meant the apartment should have been cleaned prior to that date regardless.

After many FaceTime calls and conversations back and forth with different people, we found a hostel to stay at in the time being as the original apartment is not fit to stay in at all. We could tell someone had been told about our frustration and trouble as when we went back to collect our luggage there were pillows and linens laying on the beds which meant, someone had gotten into our apartment and that someone expected us to live in that filthy place. Also what scares me is that that filthy place was someone's definition of clean. Yikes! Before we left we documented and took pictures of the apartment so that we can be sure to get our money back!! 

It was heaven to finally have a shower! Something that we had longed for after arriving in Melbourne! We got word once at the hostel that we would get a new realtor and be able to look at a place tomorrow and hopefully be out of this hostel by Tuesday. We have kept our bills for this hostel and cab rides in hopes that someone can reimburse us for the troubles we have gone through.

Anyways, it is time for bed now, even though it is only eight, it has been a long day. We went out and walked around this evening as well. It is quite chilly here as it is only about 8*C today! Ahh! It's been quite the adventure so far.

G'night Mates!

Unlimited Possibilities

Isn't it strange how some things never even seem possible until they happen?  I mean, if you would have asked me five years ago where I'd be today I'm certain I wouldn't have been able to tell you that I would hold a Bachelor of Education degree and be moving to Australia. On the other hand, if you ask me today where I will be in the next five years, or perhaps even in just one year, it's likely the answer would be quite vague. It just goes to show how we have no idea what is in store for us. 

I like to think of my life as a novel, and that each different part of my life is divided into chapters. Anyone who has read a good novel can hardly put it down because the suspense of not knowing what will happen next compels us to read on. The difference between my life and a novel is that I cannot flip ahead and peek into what happens next. Whatever is in store for me, I cannot wait to fill the pages of each chapter with happiness, excitement and love. 

I've got 43 days left until I hop on the plane that takes off to Australia. I have finally got my flights booked and the excitement is starting to kick in although it still doesn't seem possible. When I think back to a year ago when we were in South Africa, it didn't actually kick in that we were really in South Africa until the beginning of our second week there. Strange isn't it? Anyway,  I'm slowly getting things together and getting rid of other things that I no longer need. I'm hoping to fit everything into one suitcase and a carry on. I already know that it's pretty far fetched, I will be the person in the airport with two full sized suitcases, a carry on and a really big personal bag! Ha Ha! 

A huge CONGRATULATIONS extends from me to all my friends who received their degrees last week! All of the hard work, early mornings and caffeine filled nights have paid off! I hope your heart is smiling from your wonderful accomplishment, I know mine is!