It's beginning to look a lot like....Fernweh.

With less than two weeks left until our departure date, I’m feeling prepared for the impending craziness that is surely about to erupt. All things that need to be done pre-Asia have been checked off the list – any tours, hotels, etc. that need to be booked in advanced have materialized into confirmation letters all organized into my OCD teacher binder, along with important documents and visas. Paco and I celebrated the less-than-one-month-to-go countdown with Typhoid shots (he was a champ at handling me and my phobia by the way), and now the fernweh is seriously kicking in!!! After all these years of dreaming about moving to or visiting Southeast Asia, I'm actually going there! And I get to share it with an awesome man who is also a great travel companion! Is this real life?!

The only thing not checked off this list is finding a new place to live once we get back. Our host family has told us that having a couple instead of just a single AuPair is too much for them, and in the end, it is a mutual agreement to move on. Evie and I have grown much closer in the last several weeks, and I'm very sad to be leaving my mini-me friend, but I also look forward to the possibilities of teaching English downtown and living on our own. I have interviewed with and subbed for a couple English language schools already, so hopefully one of those will hire me full time once we return. We have looked at a few apartments with no luck, but we will be looking at my favorite yet on Wednesday. Crossing our fingers it's just right for us.

Other than these upcoming trips and changes, we've been surfing almost every weekend. The first big swell of the season is coming in on Sunday, and I am looking forward to some (hopefully) nice, big waves to surf with my new, shorter, faster board. Also, I've picked up soccer (gasp! I know...), and I've really enjoyed playing goalie. Since it doesn't involve running, I'm actually not too bad for a rookie! Our team came in second place for the season, only losing to the team that beat us in the finals. We've been playing in a volleyball league as well, and Paco is improving greatly as a court player! Looks like we're rubbing off on each other in the sports department.... :)

As the holidays approach, I am missing my family and friends more than ever. While I have spent a couple Thanksgivings away from home, this is my first Christmas (and entire Christmas season) that I've been away. Putting up the crazy family Christmas tree is a favorite activity I'm craving, and I miss all the festivities, Christmas lights, parades, and parties. I even miss the Christmas songs on nonstop repeat and the cold weather! You know it's bad when I'm missing COLD weather! Ha! At least we had a really nice "Friendsgiving" this year. An American friend from volleyball hosted an Aussie Thanksgiving - mostly Australian people with traditional American food. We met some delightful people and enjoyed some home cooking. We will be in Vietnam for Christmas, which is not celebrated there, but maybe we can treat ourselves to a nice meal or cooking class or something special for the occasion. I'm sure there won't be a shortage of amazing things to get into on our travels there!

Plumeria, Jacaranda, and Poinciana trees blooming right now! 

Evie's last day of kindergarten is today, so she and I will get to spend some quality time together before we each leave for our big trips -she's going to the U.S. Ironic! It's like we're switching places. I won't have much down time in Asia I'm guessing, but keep an eye out in case I can manage a quick update before/during our adventures! Don't worry, lots of pictures are sure to come once we return!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Give thanks and enjoy your family, friends, and festivities this holiday season!

For the Holidays

Happy Halloween everyone! Look! We dressed up as snorkelers for Halloween....well....and we actually went snorkeling! Here's a few tidbits from the Tweed River (where I got SCUBA certified!).

 


Today has been our first American holiday here in Oz. Thanksgiving is coming up, and we have already been recruited to help host a traditional, pot-luck American Thanksgiving dinner with another American girl for some of her Aussie friends. I'm definitely looking forward to that kind of comfort food already!!

But the real reason I'm writing about the holidays is to make our Christmas announcement...READY?

WE'RE GOING TO SOUTHEAST ASIA!!!! 

Starting in mid-December, Paco and I will be going on a tour of 5 countries in 5 weeks. First up, we will hit Bali for 4 days to relax, check out some temples, and test out my new diving license. Next, we fly north to Hanoi, Vietnam where we will spend about 7 days exploring mountains and markets. We are hoping to spend Christmas on a cruise boat there in the beautiful Halong Bay! We will spend most of our time in Laos, ringing in the New Year with a seriously remote (10 hours by bus outside of town to be exact) forest and hill tribe trek and kayak tour. Maybe, if we're extra super lucky, we'll see the rare tiger or spot an Asian elephant! After the trek, we will head south to the Lao capitol of Vientiane to meet some of Paco's ESL students who live there! They are very warm and welcoming people, and they have offered to give us the proper tour of real Laos. After we finish our adventures here in early January, we will be meeting Paco's parents and brother in Thailand. The next two weeks will be spent with family, exploring Thailand and the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

After all these years of dreaming of Thailand and Bali and Vietnam, I am ACTUALLY going to visit!!! PLUS I get to explore Cambodia and Laos too, which I'm super excited about. Is this really happening?? Whoa!! You can follow along in the blog during my planning process!

First Light

As I get older, there are more and more things that get me up at sunrise, like a good surf session or an early start for a trip somewhere amazing. And there are even fewer things that get me up before sunrise, before the first light of day even. It just so happens that I saw first light TWICE last week!

Two weekends ago, Paco and I ventured down south, crossing a state border for the first time into New South Wales. We avoided the long-weekend crowds by skipping past Byron Bay to Lennox Heads, a much quieter beach town with rocky headlands and clear water. There are also sharks, but we did survive a pretty decent surf session.

Surfing with my new board and wetsuit! 

While the beaches were beautiful (Australia is like 5 for 5 right now...every single beach has been incredible!!), the real highlight of our trip was our hike to Mount Warning. Mount Warning, or Wollumbin for Aboringinals, is the heavily eroded crater of the Tweed Volcano. Although it now stands only half as high as it once did, it is still the first place the light touches in all of mainland Australia. The thought of being the first in all of Australia to see the new day was enticing! But....that meant we had to be at the top by first light, and to be at the top at first light, we had to hike before first light. Yes, we hiked the steep 4.4 km up to the top in the PITCH. BLACK. DARK.

Our alarm went off at 1:00am and we were out of the hostel by 1:30am. SEE THAT A.M.? At this point, the stars are out, and we are both looking at each other wondering how we came to be so crazy to attempt this! As we are getting in the car, a taxi is parked across the road, surrounded by a few people.
"Oh look, they must be doing the hike too!" I exclaim.
"Uh, they're all drunk...." Paco pointed out.

HA!! We're leaving for a hike as people are coming home from the bar......................................that's a good sign.......

After a 1.5 hour drive through windy, foggy (and quite creepy), country roads, we made it to the parking lot and trail head. I don my new (on sale!) winter coat as it is quite chilly, we switch on our headlamps, and start up the trail with a handful of other crazy people. Not only are we hiking through rainforest in the dark alongside who-knows-what animals, but we now have only an hour and a half to make it up the mountain. Most people allow two or more, but we weren't going to drive all this way to miss first light. So we booked it. My winter coat came off reallllllly fast, and before too long, sweat was dripping off the tip of my nose. Rocks and roots protruded from the path, and darkness to my left could only mean one thing - a sheer drop off. "Just don't trip...don't trip..." I kept telling myself as I hustled along, out of breath. And if 4km of this wasn't enough of a rush, the last .4km of the trail was a nearly-vertical rock face. On the side, there is a chain hikers use to pull themselves up the trail, and someone had drilled shallow foot and hand holes in the places where the rock had become smooth with wear. One misstep and you were going straight down to the bottom. We were free climbing by starlight.

Once at the top, we joined about 20 other people to reap the rewards of our intense climb. Still out of breath, we look out to the east over the mountains below towards the ocean. The fog we had driven through hung low in the valleys, making it look like the mountain peaks were poking out of a blanket of snow. Over the ocean, the sky began to lighten from dark, blood red to burning orange, golden, and hot pink. Whispers of Ooo's and Ahh's and the click of camera shutters are the only sounds on the lookout platform as the sun creeps closer to the horizon. Just before the sun appears over the sea, we see the reflection of the sun on the water. Just for a few seconds, all we could see was the reflection, and then finally...Sunrise! Yep, this hike was absolutely worth it!

 First light over the ocean! 

SUNRISE! 

The hike back down was quite relaxing and enjoyable, minus the rock face part. It was nice to see the same trail in the light of day! We even saw a Wompoo Fruit Dove and listened to it's odd calls. (Listen here!)

A total of 8.8km (5.5 miles) was worth it, and it just wouldn't have been such a cool hike if not for the sunrise experience. After the hike, we stopped in the small, hippie town of Uki (pronounced "ook-I) for a celebratory cup of coffee. From the front porch of the cafe, we could see the rock face at the top of Mount Warning. We played an awesome game of Hanabi, enjoyed good coffee, and hiked a mountain all before 9am!

The second time I saw first light last week was for my SCUBA certification!! Saturday morning was spent in the pool since I had already completed my coursework online, and I was surprised at how comfortable I felt! The only real semi-panic situation was when they made me take off my mask and put it back on while still breathing through my regulator. Talk about getting the whole pool up my nose......geez! The mask straps got stuck in my hair for one, and the instructor had to help me get it unstuck. One hand was holding my nose, the other flailing with my mask, and I needed to cough underwater. I couldn't open my eyes since I wear contacts, and how was I supposed to clear my mask if I had water up my nose?? Great. 

After a second try, I figure out that I had to place the mask against my face and clear it out with my nose bubbles before trying to put the strap. Thank goodness that part was over. Otherwise, all went very smoothly! 

Saturday afternoon we went to the Tweed River for our first open water dive. We didn't have much choice of tidal time since our pool work had to come first, but you are only allowed three dives in one day, which we needed to do tomorrow. Visibility wasn't great, but we went out to the jetties anyway. After descending with about 3 feet of visibility, I had my first "oh sh**" moment. At the bottom, I could barely see my instructor or buddy, and sunlight was hard to see through the surface. My immediate reaction was the feeling of being pushed deep under the waves during a surf session, and I had to get up quickly for air!! Oh, but I can breathe. Whew. Ok, a few deep breaths. You're fine. Cool. We tried to explore a little but didn't see much. Maybe tomorrow. 

Me on the right!

We met at the dive shop at 4am on Sunday, bright and early to get to the Tweed for the best tides. Once we get there and suit up, we realize why the instructors made us get up so early. In the same place as yesterday, the water was now so clear we could see all the way to the bottom!! Fish were everywhere, and it was beautiful! Now, I really felt in my element. I snorkeled around while I waited for the others to get in, and then we had to practice that dang take-off-your-mask skill at 20ft. depth. Yay, but I passed. Now that I've learned to get water up my nose and cough under water, I've got the skill mastered! Ha! Our last, longest, and deepest dive was great, and I felt very proud of myself for overcoming a small fear and doing something I've always said I would do. I DID IT!! The certificate in my hand felt pretty good! Hmmmmm now where to for my newest addiction??? :)

Don't forget to check out the rest of our pictures in the updated Flickr Album!!!

Inland Island Oasis

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. This means that the island is missing a rock bed anchor and a rich soil layer. The inhabitants, which include dingoes and wallabies, subsist entirely on what the sand can provide, which is impressive as sand is pretty unforgiving. An entire rainforest has somehow managed to exist here. Over many hundreds (or thousands??) of years, plant remains built layers of nutrients available to the next generations of life, allowing soil-dependent species to adapt to living in sandy terrain. Pretty cool environment, and absolutely gorgeous to match! Check it out....

And the coolest part? That's a LAKE!! Yes, freshwater has never looked so amazing! Since the whole island is old, bleached-white silica sand, the lakes even look like beaches! This inland perched lake, Lake McKenzie, collects rainwater that is slightly acidic, making it uninhabitable for certain species. I took my underwater camera, and captured a few pictures that look staged in a backyard pool!

F.I. for Fraser Island

On our day tour to the island, we also visited the island's rainforests, crystal-clear inland creeks, wind-blown sand Pinnacle formations, and even an old shipwreck. It. was. AWESOME. Another absolutely gorgeous location. On the way home, we were even lucky enough to spot two dingoes! Check out the rest of our pictures in this album (Click where it says "this album"...)! There are just too many good ones to fit here. (I'll be keeping this Flickr album updated too, so you might want to bookmark it if you follow along!)

I'd have to say though, that the most shocking part of the trip for me was "morning tea" (snack) after the rainforest walk. Rainfall overnight had made the landscape damp, but nothing muddy or squishy considering the island had no dirt to make mud! I was hanging out on a log, warming myself with a cup of instant (gasp...) coffee, when I felt a sharp bite on the arch of my foot. I swatted at my Keens, thinking it was just one of the billion bugs that live here. I thought I got it until I felt the bite again. This time when I swatted, I noticed A BLACK LEECH on my skin. Cue spilling coffee and a mild state of panic. If there is anything that freaks me out as much as whiptail spiders and scorpions, it's leeches. I tore my shoe off and immediately thought of all the things in Australia that can kill you, wondering if this species of leech was one of those. Thankfully, our tour guide pulled it off before it was too attached, and Paco just chuckled at the coffee stains on my pants. 

The rest of our relaxing long weekend was spent...you guessed it....SURFING! Finally back in the water on the waves! We surfed Noosa Heads, one of the many world famous surf breaks here in Australia. The water was cool and so sparkling clear that I could see to the bottom more than 8 feet down! Words really can't describe how perfect the water is here....The waves were small, but really fun to catch on a longboard. The second day surfing, I tried out my new baby....Yes, I already found myself a surfboard, exactly what I was looking for! Fish shape that can catch knee high to overhead waves, three-, four-, or five-fin setup, 6'10" (getting shorter!), and it's even a pretty color! The guy gave me a fair price, with leash and fins, and it's epoxy material, which is supposed to be sturdier than my previous fiberglass boards. Hopefully it's sturdier than the one I snapped in half last spring...haha! Check her out on the left, she's a beaut. 

Yes, despite all this fun and adventure, I'm still working. Evie Update: This week has been the first half of a two-week school break. Evie and I have tried to keep busy all day by going on a mangrove tour with classmates and visiting the museum. We have also had some mighty interesting conversations. Evie tells me that when she grows up, she will have 164 natural childen, all with the middle name Helen (which is also her own middle name). She says your idea lightbulb is actually your skull...her lightbulb is green with leaves and mine is white with crystals. If we break our lightbulbs, new ones cost upwards of $129. Good thing that American lightbulbs are supposedly harder to break than Autralian ones, according to the storekeeper. Gargling is the surest way to turn on her lightbulb. She exclaimed once that the only thing she likes better than butterflies are train rides and the only thing better than icecream is a flight of stairs. Haha! Oh the mind of a (very imaginative) 5 year old.

Life's good here so far, I can't believe we've been here a whole month almost! This weekend will be spent relaxing in a quiet, empty house but more big travels are on the horizon! Watch for another update on that coming very soon.

Tamborine and Lyre

First of all, watch this fascinating, 3-minute BBC video on the Lyre Bird. I'm serious, watch it!

Cool huh?! WE SAW ONE!! It was a female, smaller and with less tail-plumage, but we stalked it into the forest while it scraped around for food. We were able to get within a meter before she realized she had onlookers and bolted. Supposedly, they're shy animals that aren't so easily spotted, so our timing must have been just right!

While hiking at Mount Tamborine today, Paco and I explored two different waterfall loops, Witches Falls and Curtis Falls. Luckily, we got to Witches Falls before the crowds, which meant an unspoiled walk into a rainforest dreamland. Several different species of birds, including the Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Lorikeets, Cockatoos, King Parrots, and this elusive but loud Whipbird (listen here), were chattering in the trees, flitting between branches with their mates, or even trying to find new mates with bright plumage and fancy calls. As we descended into piccabeen palm and eucalyptus rainforest, I felt like I was the first human to ever discover this land. There was a true magic under the stretched palm fronds and shadows of the eucalyptus canopy.

The human crowds unfortunately broke the spell not too long after we finished Witches Falls, but Curtis Falls was an adventure nonetheless. This is where Paco spotted the lyrebird, and a camp of Little Red Flying Fox (bats) hung overhead. We even saw an adorable pademelon, a small, fluffy relative of the kangaroo!

Panorama from the top of Mt. Tamborine!

Last weekend, and our first weekend here, we visited Stradbroke Island, another wonderland. Straddie (as the locals call it) is one of the barrier islands here in Moreton Bay. We took the car over on the ferry and explore just about the entire island. Here we saw our first kangaroo, koala, and wallaby, signaling that indeed we are officially living in Australia! Ha!

From the picturesque Point Lookout on the northern Pacific corner of the island, we could see "whales como arroz" blowing up waterspouts as they traveled south for their bi-annual, seasonal migration. Dolphins (and their teeny babies!Aw!) played around the edge of the rocks as surfers waited for the perfect wave in cool, crystal green waters. If this place was any indication of our future Aussie discoveries, there will be many more dreamland adventures to come!!

Point Lookout

Looking down Straddie's Pacific coast

Inlet at Point Lookout

Frenchman's Beach

 Now that I've filled you in on the traveling, I suppose you want to hear about the real life part that got me down here. First of all, Paco and I had a wonderful pre-move trip to San Francisco, where we walked about in the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Berkeley, and Oakland, and we had THE BEST seafood Cioppino ever in Little Italy. Our host was warm and welcoming, and I've never seen such a cute outhouse before! (Her shared house had a compost toilet in the equally cute garden! After all, it IS San Fran! Awesome IMO.) Secondly, jet lag is a real thing, but if you time it right, it wasn't so bad. Skipping a whole day on the calendar and traveling for some of those really threw me off, but I've slept quite well here. The flight was also not as much of a total nightmare as it's made out to be, but then again I had a fun travel buddy. :)

Evie and I are getting in our groove, and her extensive vocabulary, insatiable imagination, and mature awareness definitely keep me on my toes and keep me laughing (except when we're both tired...we're still figuring that part out...). The family seems to be as good of a fit as I had hoped for too. Paco has found a job teaching English, and he start TOMORROW! Yay! Our room is cute and comfortable, we live 8 houses from Moreton Bay, and the weather has been absolutely gorgeous since we arrived. Slowly but surely, we are making friends, and I am hoping to join a volleyball league soon to meet more new friends. I can drive on the left side of the road, which was easier to adjust to than walking on the left side of the sidewalk when passing oncoming pedestrians! Ha! I'm not used to living in a foreign yet English-speaking country...I still have anxiety when calling someone on the phone or speaking to strangers because I'm so used to struggling for my words. Everything here is so similar to the U.S. but different at the same time, so Paco jokes that it's like a parallel universe. There are the same fast food joints by different names, similar grocery stores and clothes styles, but Coles is the supermarket and Lowes in the cheap clothing store, and familiar-looking houses, cars, and people with unfamiliar names. It's quite odd and eerie in a way, especially since I'm used to a more stark culture shock. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I'm 14 hours ahead of you east coasters. That means I'm likely a calendar day ahead of you already! 

All is well here, and I am happy. We are planning a coastal drive for a long weekend trip this weekend, so be on the lookout for more soon! 

Resfeber

I'm less than 48 hours from takeoff, and the gravity of what I'm doing has finally hit me. And it hit like a baseball smashes through a window, shattering my composure. I really thought that this time would be easier than the other moves since I had such an advanced warning for once, but there's always this strange feeling of "Whoohoo-let's-gooo!!!/OH-CRAP-what-am-I-doing?!?!" For anyone who has traveled, or maybe even made a big change, you may understand my new favorite word: Resfeber (Swedish).

1. Resfeber (n.): the restless race of the traveler’s heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together.

Much like Fernweh (German; an ache for distant places, or a homesickness for foreign lands), there is no word that means the same thing in English. Until now, I have always struggled to describe this very complex and confusing feeling to others because it doesn't really make sense. How can you be stuck between ready to go and not ready to leave? I'm beyond excited for many parts of this move, like meeting a new family, changing our LDR to one living together, exploring a new country (or countries), and learning as much as I can along the way. While most of me is bursting at the seams with anticipation and overwhelmed with excitement, there's a mix of nerves....It's been while since I've been thrust so far out of a comfort zone to a whole new country! I'm dreading saying goodbye to loved ones, but I'm full of wonder of new places and people, and there's some strange inner peace I feel when I'm moving somewhere. Calmness and Panic? Excitement and Dread? Nervous and Confident? Sheesh! I have more mental characters than the prepubescent teenage girl from the "Inside Out" movie!

This is when I realize how crazy I am! Haha! So many people tell me they could never be as "brave" as me or "take risks" like me....but the truth is, I don't always feel so brave like you may think. And no matter how much you mentally prepare for what you know is inevitably part of the process, it doesn't make taking the step any less scary. This is when you call upon that intestinal fortitude, trust in the process, pull up your big girl panties, and learn to laugh it off like the half insane person you really are. Haha! See, I'm already practicing! ;)

 Really, despite all this mess, in my heart of hearts, I know that this is going to be an adventure of a lifetime, and I'm ready to get it started! Bring it on!

A Southern Compass

A southern compass would theoretically have a needle that always pointed southward, right?

Or as my Grandy used to say, a toilet flush down south always swirls in the opposite direction.

What I'm trying to say is that my nomad needle seems to be ever-pointed towards the south. Yes, I'm from "The Deep South" but that's definitely NOT the kind of south I'm aiming for. In the past, I've traveled to Central and South America, both of which lie to the south of Alabama, the homeland. But this time, I'm headed even farther south than that. I'm talking the Southern HEMISPHERE. I'm talking.....

 AUSTRALIA!!

In late August, we will be crossing the equator AND international dateline to get to our new home in Brisbane, Queensland where I will be the AuPair for a lively, imaginative 5-year-old Aussie girl, Evie. Paco and I will live with her family in their nearly-bayfront home in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane. Evie's parents, Joanna and Cam, seem to share interests with Paco and I, such as cooking, enjoying good food and conversation, and traveling. Joanna's dad was even an Auburn University alum!! They still have family and friends in Alabama, and that is how we all got connected...My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. McWhorter(-now-Abernathy) saw a Facebook post shared by one of Joanna's Alabama friends requesting AuPair applications. Mrs. Abernathy messaged me on Facebook asking if I was interested since she knew I was a traveler. Many emails and Skype interviews later, here we are, narrowing down our packing list and preparing for a plane ride halfway around the globe.

Before we hit Brisbane, Paco and I will meet in San Francisco for a short, mini-vacation and birthday celebration. (Paco's birthday falls on the day before we fly out to SF!) Believe it or not, stopping through Frisco saved us about $300 on airline tickets! We'll be staying with friends too, so why not have a little time together before taking a great leap of faith across the wide Pacific? Then, on August 28th, we will board the plane bound for New Zealand and then Australia. TWENTY hours later, yet 2 days ahead on the calendar, we will land in Brisbane, meet our new family, and begin life down under.

In preparation, I have begun my SCUBA certification....The Great Barrier Reef is a short plane ride to the north, so I've got to be prepared to check that off my bucket list. I'm doing to online class now, and I'm planning to do my pool work and open water checkout dives once I get there. To think that the Great Barrier Reef, the supposed Mecca of all diving, may be one of my very first dives as a certified diver is thrilling. Go big, or go home, right?

Paco and I are also keeping our eyes and ears out for good weekend jaunts or backpacking trips in the area. My hammock rain fly and sleeping pad are due on my front porch any day now, and I'm stocking up on comfy insoles and GoPro gear. I don't know about Paco's list, but my travel wishlist might be slightly out of hand. I have such a wanderlust to see it all, especially since this is a region I've had my sights set on for a while. Let's see how many of these places I can get to...Here they are listed in alphabetical order.

Australia (Cairns, GB Reef, Sydney, Melbourne, surfing all over...)
Bali (Gotta check out those schools I've been applying to!)
China (Specifically Yellow Mountains and Tibet)
Indonesia (It's a surfing dreamland. Gotta get barrelled.)
Fiji (Life-long dream.)
Laos (Oh the food...!!)
Malaysia (Why not?!)
Maldives (Before they disappear!)
New Zealand (A backpacker's dream.)
Tahiti (The beaches and diving!)
Thailand (Scouting trip for possible future home?)
Papua New Guinea (Tribal culture intrigues me.)
Philippines (I must see where Grandy always talked about!)
Samoa (A unique food culture of islanders.)
Vietnam (Scouting trip and the scenery looks AMAZING.)

That's 15 countries...I wish I could narrow it down to a more realistic Top 5, but for one, that's too hard, and for two, I'm going to see them all before I die one way or another, so might as well start checking them off now!

One month from today, we will be landing in Australia! Eeekkk! I'm ready to pack now/what am I getting myself into?! Haha!