It's not over yet

Here we are. Or better, here I am. 

I have been at this airport before, sat two rows further waiting for a flight. But the destination was another and it was a return flight. This is one way. For a long time. You would think after so many timesI would get used to it. The goodbyes, the last views and the tears. Instead the knowledge of how I will feel makes it worse.

I left Strahan one day after my birthday. When I woke up on Saturday I was beyond unexcited for the twentieth celebration of my birth. We had no plans for the day and I was half expecting for noone to show up to my birthday/ farewell party. David being thoughtful as he is left to get a coffee (I knew something was up because he never does that first thing in the morning) and returned with a chocolate tarte and a unicorn candle. From that point on I slowly managed to raise my spirits.

We headed out to the Heads and Ocean Beach with the car and enjoyed the cloudy but pleasantly mild day. The waters were calm and offered perfect reflections of colorful boats, green hills and playful birds. We encountered a few people going for walks or fishing while we epically failed at trying to take a jumping photo.

Birthdays really aren't special days at all. They are just a day in the year at which ages ago you started existing out here. But nothing happens. You could just ignore the day and make out it never happened (sadly with time you will still get wrinklier and slower). Birthdays are however good for the economy! People buying presents (sometimes out of the blind belief that a self made wooden spoon wouldnt function perfectly as present), cake makers are high in asking, people think its time to treat themselves with an expensive dinner or a foot massage. 

On a more private, personal level birthdays are also a great excuse to do lots of stupid things. Like getting drunk or in my case sit and lay on top of a car while racing over the beach at 50 km/h. What a thrill! And it doesnt even feel fast at all. As long as the driver doesnt hit the breaks and you fly over the hood its the safest and easiest thing!

David really spoiled me with this excursion, chocolate and pizza, which I had been craving for days! (I have to add I crave pizza about once a week but that time it was particularly bad. Safe to say I was supplied with effective distractions of the upcoming departure. Heading to my house for the party I felt like I was going to join what someone else had planned as I arrived with the unicorn tart in hands and the place didnt feel like home anymore. (Too much time spent at Dave's place). 

My heart pretty much stopped when I turned on Tv and saw Ellen and I called out to David: "wow, Emma Watson is on Ellen!" And he replied: "Aaah, cool!! .. Who is she?" He has never seen a Harry Potter movie. Not one! We have work to do.

Soon a few people arrived and I got excited when Ben, Talia, Kana, Mai and her boyfriend Takumi arrived. I had only briefly invited Ben and Talia by shouting out the rolling car's window  and didn't really expect for them to show up! With more and more lovely faces coming through the door my worries no one would come vanished. Nadja entered with an apple cake and pink candles (Talia's reaction: "Whaaat it's your birthday?!") and I received touchibg birthday calls from Manu and Oma. It was a pretty calm, talkative party with the countdown for the number one ever popstar running on TV (imagine our disappointment when Elvis came up as number on and they played a remix!) it was sad to say goodbye to everyone but I was too happy to cry. 

Quite a few of these lovely people I saw again the next day when I was still receiving birthday wishes from all over the world. With all these last chats and multiple goes round the roundabout to catch all the kisses Ben and Talia were throwing out from in front of the seaplane office we managed to depart towards Roland around midday. We of course means David and I who were up for our last activity together - a roadtrip up north. Robin awaited us with a delicious curry on which I completely overate myself but I wish I could have been able to fit in more!

And well, here I am now. After driving into a glorious sunrise and shedding a few tears I am alone again. My head doesnt quite comprehend I will never see those familiar things again. Not go for fun drives on the Heads anymore and never serve another beer with view on the harbour.

Its been an amazing time and I am grateful for every moment and everythibg I have learned. It feels like I am just going but there are still some weeks to my trip. How strange. For those who dont know: I am gettig up to some diving around the Whitsundays, then after a quick visit to my lovely Walkers in Perth I am leaving Australia for good to see a bit of Cambodia and Indonesia before I return to Frankfurt on the 13th of Mai. Its still a while away so I will try to only be sad on the toilet where I dont waste precious moments and to take it day by day. Jennys audio book and many activities will help me with that. One step after the other. One sweep with the broom after the next and before you know it you are at the end of the street. I will catch you there. 

Skipper

- A street always has the same length even when you run along it. -

Think lovely Thoughts

Two weeks from today I will be leaving Strahan to fly north. To do some traveling before I go back home. To be quite honest I am not ready yet to go home or to travel. My time in Strahan has been to short, I haven't reached the point at which I miss home so much that I want to leave. I am happy here, content. There is nothing I miss (except my sweet family). I love my work and the people I work with. It often enough doesn't even feel like work. If I hadn't booked all my flights I would stay until my visa expires. And then when Strahan falls into winter and every night becomes a TV night and barely any guests appear on your restaurant's doorstep anymore, then it would be easier to leave this home behind. But at the moment I am terrified at the thought of saying good bye again. Why do I do this to my self, over and over again? The outlook on traveling for four weeks does not thrill me at all at the moment. I will be alone and I am not a good alone person. I like to share with people. All my good memories are friends and family memories, not on my own memories. If any of you feel the urge to come join me in South East Asia all I have to say is: YES! Get your bum over here.
I feel lost at the sight of going... home. Rarely any of my friends will be there. I won't be going to school anymore. Aren't the things and people at a place what makes it your home? I feel like I will be useless without drive or direction except the need to travel again and to see and explore more. I am so spoilt with my job at View that I am scared other jobs which are less ideal will not contribute to my okayness.
To remind myself that until a few months ago I was terrifically excited to return I wanted to, for my sake, list things that will await me. Things I want to do.

- See my family and visit my sisters. Visit Jenny in her new FLAT!! wooot woot!
- attend Tim's graduation and go party with my now adult brother o.O :O
- make my now driver brother chauffeur me around and fight with him over the car
- eat self made dinners until I drop (good bye ever same buffet food)
- eat Oma's curry, and cake, and vegetarian thingies, and all her food
- film, film, film! Let's start a project!!!
- on that note, a lot of dashes here should be : sing with Eva, film with Eva, record with Eva, bake with Eva, talk with EVA, dance WITH EVA, LOVE LIFE WITH EVA!!!!! :O but no, by the looks of it not even she will be there. Oh wait. Lovely thoughts. REWIND!
- sing and learn some songs on the piano
- take singing lessons again!
- maybe ballet again?
- go out to eat with the choice of more than two restaurants and a not empty wallet!
- try and find Rekordelig cider in Germany. It's sooo yumm!!!
- having to pay less than 15 dollars for a cocktail
- escape the yucky weather of a fall without golden leaves
- Just Dance myself fit again (sorry, hip bacon, I lied. We are not friends.)
- cuddle my niece
- cudddllllllleeee my nieeeecceeee!
- bake a sick (that means over the top amazing) cake with my sister
- go to Verena's wedding!
- take Lucia to the zoo :)
- go on holidays with Tim and Jan and Benoit!
- eat less Chocolate. Or more good chocolate
- have a full closet again but also very possibly throw half of it away. It's hard but... I guess I probably possibly maybe don't need just quite all of what's in there.
- drag my little brother to come back to Autralia with me. Where is my second year visa? #IAmAnIdiot
- sit with my parents while watching shit Tv shows.
- visit EVERYONE! Freya, Jenny, Lissy, Eva (if she dares to leave -.-), Astrid and Miriam, Hadia and so on and forth
- force everyone who hasn't seen frozen to watch until there every second sentence is" DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?"
- I want winter! A real one.
- eat spaghetti ice cream
- eat good sushi
- go to a really good party and dance through the night
- hopefully apply my new learnt skills like cleaning, not caring about my looks, caring less about dick head people's stupid need to gossip and fill their mouth's with filth because their life sucks (really, talking badly about other people has become a thing I avoid more than anything and I hate it when people just can't shut up about other people.)
- teach my niece singing and film her as much as Opa filmed me
- make her watch DISNEY! in english. Honsetly. It needs to be in english.
- just hug every single person I love so much for minutes and forever because I am so deprived of hugs :)

I am sure there is more. But I am really hungry now :D Let's hope the kitchen will supply me with more than chocolate. Although chocolate isn't bad either.

See you in not very long!
Skipper

Everyone, meet David!

My life isn't just work. It does seem to be mostly work (and sleep) but I do manage to squeeze unworky things in. Like yesterday's pizza party or a girls night with my house mate (actually during that one we had pizza too and while we nibbled on our delicious prawn pizza we bawled our eyes out watching PS: I love You.) Nadja and I are still very good friends but she usually hangs out with her best friend Jake and our work hours often limit the German togethertime.
I myself spend most of my time with my best friend in Strahan. He is a tour guide on Sarah Island on the Cruise and an actor in the local play which has been running for 28 years. 'The Ship that Never Was' is the reason I met this really cool, goofy, happy, spontaneous weirdo.
Because many guests at View 42 participate in the Gordon River Cruise I often talk to them about their experience. Sure enough at least once per evening I will have two ladies gushing about Disco Dave who made their day despite the rain. Funny conversations arise like:

"How nice! Who was your tour guide?"
"SOCKS!!!"
"Sorry, who?"
"The guy with the stripy socks!"
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that David is always recognizable by an unusually huge grin and his stripy socks.
It is easy for people to describe to me who they are talking about. I will know it was him if they mention one of the following features:
- tall and handsome
- a beard "like that"
- stripy socks
- funny shoulder movements while talking
- huge grin
- "YEAAAAAHHH!!!!"
- excited
I was going to say funny but I think they all are quite funny on those tours.

This might be random, but since I was so excited about the milky way here I asked a friend to take a photo of it. Actually, reduce the randomness. That friends name is David, too.

Just two days ago an older man at the bar was thrilled by my ability to remember his table's drink order and asked me if he could swap his misses for me. I had to decline pointing out my friend on the boat as the reason.
Later when Jess swapped me in the bar and I was clearing plates I ended up at this bloke's table and he shouted out:
"This here is my waitress who has the boyfriend on the boat!"
"I was on the boat.", a slightly younger lady said extremely excitedly. "I know who your boyfriend is!"
Oh, wow. How does she know that?
"How do you know that?", the guy asks.
"He is the one with the socks! The green stripy socks."
"Yeah, bingo. He is the only one on this planet who would wear them.", I agree. There is no doubt, she guessed him right. Don't asked me how she knew he could be the only one on there fitting the bill but apparently "my boyfriend" has to be very handsome and lovely to qualify for the title.
"He was so great!", the lady keeps talking. "How lovely! You made a great catch."
I am amused by her excitement and of course feel flattered in David's place for her to be so mesmerized by him. I can see Dee throwing me a half amused half wondrous look and I smile back while my arms are about to fall off because I am still carrying all my plates. The lady's husband returns from the bathrooms and her excitement ignites again.
"Darling, her boyfriend is the one from the boat!"
"Who?"
"Our guide with the socks!"

It's not always all about the socks but people always love him. One group of four had this incredibly lively American lady with them and they came to eat twice with us. Thrice, if you count the breakfast. I had spoken to them the first night and then the second night they too had fallen completely in love with SOCKS!.
"I cannot believe he never acted before! He needs to keep doing it. He is a natural, so talented!"
"Yeah, he loves making people laugh."
"Oh, but he is so amazing! It just comes to him. He needs to go to acting school (they told me the name but I forgot. It's in Sydney.) and do this professionally. And he made me the... what's the name. The jellyfish in the play! Yes, I was the jelly fish, oh it was so funny! Tell him the jellyfish said: 'SOCKS ROCKS!'"
I saw them again the next morning when this lady gave me a huge hug and thanked me before they kept moving on. "Your colleague told me you have a beautiful voice. Keep singing and tell him to keep acting. You are both so lucky!"

It's just lovely to have such enthusiastic customers. It lets you know you are doing your job right. David, you are doing your job right!
As you can see everyone, exclusively, adores David. To me it's great, too, because he doesn't work on my side of town. He is not part of Strahan Village and therefore most people aren't really aware of him. But even if! He convinced me of his extraordinariness when he took me dancing on the cemetery because I mentioned how much I missed dancing. And to accompany this adventure he brought cheese and crackers and dip and grapes! ..... ! I can't even express how excited I was. What a perfectly fun idea. (We didn't dance on the graves of course. We danced on the carpark between water and graves.
The graveyard is beautiful, too, by the way. Lots of old graves and it is situated right next to the harbor.
Brandy (as Dave was named yesterday by Justin - David unwittingly repaid him by calling him Jonichi) loves eating, for some reason always feels the urge to do our dishes, surfs, hikes, is extremely relaxed, has barely seen any Disney movies but already went through Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, has tendencies to fall asleep within three seconds (like Papa), has a red beard although his head hair is dark, is covered in freckles (jealousy occasionally arises) and his phone number is 04010......

Anyway, if you need anymore proof of how lucky I am to be friends with him I present it to you in the form of photos - yesterday provides you with the literal translation of how he makes my life in Strahan brighter, gigglier and more myself.

Does this give you an idea what I am talking about? This was taken back at our old spot the graveyard where we burst into some colorful fun. 

Camouflage method to blend in with the trees. 

I have to correct myself: His beard is green although his head hair is very black.

The results:

At first I couldn't decide wether I look like Hulk, Captain Blaubär or Frankenstein but then I realized I look like the sea.

Hallo, I am a dog - uh, zombie. I am new here. Can you tell me, what are this?

Hope you are having fun too!

Skipper (and monkey/brandy/disco/toomanynicknames)