Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

We just don't know where we are going, exactly.  And we kind of like it that way.

I have been in Australia for a month now, and what have I got to show for it?  Well, I haven't acquired any material possessions whatsoever.  No, that's a lie; I bought a buoyant wristband camera strap for my camera so now maybe I will be brave enough to take it out for some surfing photos.  I've done a fair bit of surfing which teeters from making me feel extremely elated to extremely frustrated.  I started in Brisbane then to Noosa for a week, as I already shared, I got to see Erica a few times.  I investigated the notoriously over-developed Gold Coast (over-developed has a different meaning in a country the size of the US with only 22 million people), but skipped Surfer's Paradise which I am told is the Las Vegas of Australia.  The thing is, there is no such thing as Las Vegas outside of Las Vegas.  That place is too bizarre to exist anywhere else.  Now I'm settling in on Bryce Street, have showed some face volunteering at the dive center where I did my first Australian dive a couple of days ago and I'm working on (not too hard though) getting a job in town in Byron.

7 Bryce Street.  So, I am living in Suffolk Park which is just south of Byron.  I can bike into town in about 20-30 minutes.  Suffolk is nice, it is a small quiet neighborhood I am <5 minutes walking distance from the beach.  From the house you walk 2 blocks, cross through the camp grounds and follow the sandy path to the beautiful Tallow's beach that stretches 15km uninterrupted from the Cape Byron Headlands which hosts the lighthouse on the north end and Broken Heads to the south.  From 7 Bryce Street to Broken Heads and back is a perfectly timed and wonderfully pleasant 20-30 minute run.  Or, if you like, you can run to Broken, then climb around some rocks and find a trail that takes you up and over the head lands to hidden beach patches via grassy hills and generally beautiful surroundings.  Past the lighthouse to the north is Wategos, and the Main Beach.  Wategos has surfing that I like, relatively easy, cruisey surf, perfect for a longboard, complimentary to my surfing ego. 

The dive site here, Julian Rocks, is 2-3 km off shore, visible from the northern beaches.  The rocks emerge from the water and dropping in near them you can explore the rocky reef that surrounds.  The diving in Byron is particularly interesting because cold currents from the south and warm currents from the north meet, creating a suitable habitat for a large variety of marine life.  My single dive the other day was rather strenuous, pretty strong current, my mask was leaky, and the whole thing was just generally a bit stressful, but of course wicked cool as well.  We saw so many leopard sharks.  They are pretty good sized, but I believe they are harmless.  Their mouths are very small compared to the rest of their bodies and on the underside of their faces, which lead me to believe they are some kind of bottom feeding breed that generally eats very small creatures (wikipedia confirms, have I mentioned how much I love wikipedia?).  Almost always they have a little buddy fish hitching a ride on their backs, sometimes two.  There were a good number of turtles, and of course all kinds of amusing fish to look at.  Apparently there have been many sightings of manta rays lately, I did not see get to see any… yet.  And, if I stick around, from June-November I will be able to see some of the  thousands of humpback whales that pass by on their annual migration north from their summer in Antarctica.  You don't even need to leave the beach for that.

I arrived in Byron just after the high season, so with the town in a bit of a lull I'm going to have to put a little more effort into securing some kind of work.  With the Blues Festival coming up there should be a bit more of a buzz soon.  I'm not too motivated to work anyway, but t will be nice to have a little routine for a few months before I voluntarily re-enter into unemployment for a little while.  Work, surf, volunteer, dive, write, explore, dream, discover.  

Byron is a pretty small town with a permanent population of about 5000 people, but it doesn't exactly feel like it.  There are people from all over the world.  It is a very popular tourist destination, specifically for the young backpacking community that you find all over Australia. 

The Working Holiday Visa is really an amazing thing.  I just discovered that its only been available to US citizens since 2007.  There are lots and lots of Europeans and Canadians here on the visa.  I'm actually surprised Americans have been allowed to get one as well, as we do not return the favor with a similar visa for Australians.  The American visa is a little different than the one Canadians and Europeans are granted.  They have the opportunity to extend their visa for a second year if they do 3 months of farm work during the first year.  Americans do not have the extension option. 

So people from all over the world come over to trek about - often finding odd jobs in tourism and hospitality, volunteering at dive centers, working for room and board at hostels.  It's funny the way each country allows itself to be travelled.  America is famous for its road trips, in Europe you can fly and train around, and in Australia you  sign up for a year and work your way around the country.  It's an entirely different travel industry.  Of course, of course, of course. there are people who come to Australia to vacation and just touch the surface of the country, but it has been made very possible to have a completely different kind of traveling experience… at least for resourceful people between the ages of 18-30.

Honestly though, if I was Australian I seriously would NOT tell people about how awesome Australia is.  Maybe that's why they do their best to divert people with tales of dangerous animals, deathly desert, and sweeping riptides.  The truth is, they have it good down here.  Really good.



And now its time for a breakdown...

Do you know what the minimum wage is in Australia?  I don't.  Neither does anybody else because it seems nobody makes minimum wage.  Even using the phrase warrants confused looks from Australians, as though you may be speaking in a different language.  "What is this 'minimum wage' you speak of?"  A low paying job in a retail store would earn you about $15 an hour.  Work at a restaurant or cafe and you are likely to make at least $20, and if you work on Sunday you are pulling $30 an hour for the day.  I have heard that there is a minimum wage based on age or something like that, either way they seem to support fair wages rather than minimum wages.

Cost of living may be slightly higher than the states, especially depending on your lifestyle, but it doesn't seem the cost of living in the states is proportional to the difference in income.  Not that you should strive for a "minimum wage" job, but it is a nice gesture that employees are paid enough to be able to afford, say, their own bedroom in an apartment in their community, for example.  As an entry level professional in many places in the US you can barely even manage that.  And if that isn't your path, well I guess you better get used to the idea of sharing a room with a buddy and eating ramen noodles till you "grow up."

Speaking of growing up, I often can't help but wonder what the hell am I doing with my life, anyway?  Then I realize I'm living it.  when I had doubts and anxiety about taking off around the world, Mary-Kate was there for me again simple words of wisdom;  she said to me as I was fretting in my room in Santa Monica, "No, Maria, you have to go.  You are fulfilling your destiny."  How can that be wrong?  The rest will come, it always does.

Every choice you make leads to a whole new set of choices, worries, fears, challenges, more decisions come.  How can you ever know what's right or wrong for you?  Life is just a series of choices and decisions.  Sometimes you create the path, sometimes unforeseen obstacles create a new path.  You always have to wonder where it will go, what will come next.  There is no way to know.  It seems like everyone is always looking for the period at the end of the sentence.  As though one day you will make you last decision, and then you are done.  It doesn't actually work that way.  You are not entitled to know when and where the final word is, when the period is final and not just an ellipses.  The period is your final day, which is usually not a decision you make. 

So what else should you do?  Besides, as cliche as it may sound, follow you heart.  Some of the obstacles you are presented require you to leave your hearts desires at bay for a while.  Sometimes you are faced with obligatory responsibilities which take away your total freedom of choice.  These times are often difficult, but at least it takes away the question of "what to do" because it's laid out right there for you.  As long as you have the fortune to choose "what to do", you may as well scratch whatever itch you have.  So do what excites you and do it hard for as long as you can.  When the obstacles come put your passion on hold, but at least know you didn't waste any of your moments of freedom when you had the chance.  Of course its always a good idea to be sure to have some provisions stored for an unexpected long and cold winter. 

I never understood what people meant by traveling to "find yourself".  If that's your motive, you are certainly going to be disappointed.  You should travel because you ARE yourself, and you want to find everything else.  One thing you are not going to find YOU under a rock somewhere, or in a foreign city, or in a museum, or anywhere else for that matter.

The one thing I'm sure of, is that if I reach a ripe old age and I think back on my life I will be happy to have taken some time to explore my surroundings.  And if I don't happen to reach a ripe old age, well then I'm certainly already happy that I haven't completely wasted all my time chasing the illusion of total security.

"But why think about all that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?"  

For a good time though, read through some of these.