Lire l’original en français
Beauty
Beauty everywhere
Beauty, and you, who are in the midst of it.
For sure, sometimes a cloud passes over and for a moment, I lose the magnificence. But, it comes back with a vengeance, perfuming my entire life, reminding me of my luck and duty to be filled with wonder! I just love it when our eyes are bewitched by new beauties. Sometimes, we meet people whose eyes light up more and more every day. We learn to know them, their uniqueness is revealed to us and they suddenly are a source of inspiration.
When we first started our journey on the “Bruce Highway”, I didn’t have enough eyes to record every meander of the eucalyptus branches and every warm nuance of the melaleucas’ bark… Then, I lacked water in this almost completely dry continent. The grizzly and squirrel in me were yearning for the coolness of a fern edged stream. Suddenly, Magic... Just like the larva metamorphoses into a dragonfly, the landscape mutates into this food for soul, fascinating and bringing me a smile every day. When I go to work or come back from it, huge gum trees, with scattered foliage seem to take advantage of the little wind there is to choreograph the most beautiful dance of the moment. Their tall silhouettes emerge from the thin tall grass, so much liked by kangaroos and shatter on a shiny blue sky sprinkled with immaculate white mounds. I’m sweating beads of happiness from being addicted to this feeling of discovery, adaptation and fascination. From always being more than satisfied with my surroundings of the moment.
This feeling of constant happiness however, requires constant efforts, which I just love doing, of course! For example, to me, the expression “Our daily bread” is one with all the loaves I have to throw away every day. I was feeling so good in my bubble, far from the painful realities of the food industry … For sure, I bring some to selected close friends, but this town is so small, if I start giving even a small part of what we throw away, there won’t be any more clients! Every time, it breaks my heart. And there is the paper, which, for hygiene reasons, we must use to clean and dry everything, and the stinking smell of chlorine on my hands, even at night, and the non-existing recycling... Just like at the hostel, by the way. Being the good citizen that I am, I called on the council to enquire about the operation of waste collection. Reassured, I now ask my colleagues for their empty bottles and bring them to the bins on the beach. Seeing their reactions, I hope, one day, they’ll recycle by themselves… But, as mentioned before, it’s not enough to lose my enthusiasm for every new day life brings me!
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Stars and frogs
Read the French translation
Have you ever wondered about the bounty of secrets a cleaning lady knows about her clients? What intimate moments she witnesses when she works in hotels, what little treasures she finds and what bizarre objects she has to throw away? How she perceives the human race according to how messy the customers leave a room? For a couple of days, I was part of a jolly group: the “Swedish Girls and Stef’s Cleaning Service”. We knocked on backpacker’s dorm doors at 9 am…right on time to see and smell the joy of hangover and/or to feel that we did not necessarily belong in the vicinity…
There is a blissful breeze caressing my skin; I can hear the TV playing a movie and from here I catch a glimpse of the many foreigners all bundled up on a couch eyes riveted to the screen. Marc plays ping pong with our friend from the Netherlands, Marjan, and the Swedish girls, Anna, Louise and Johanna, are petting the dogs (who are fond of eating ping pong balls…). Birds, frogs, crickets and cicadas compete to be the loudest as night falls down on the bush. Soon I will go back to my home, 17 steps away from the buzzing of the little international village of cabins, and from the screen of my tent I will maybe see an owl on a Eucalyptus’ branch, with behind it a tapestry of bright stars.
We finally “settled down”. We fell in love with Agnes Water and Town of 1770 about 2 weeks ago. It happened when we saw how beautiful and friendly these villages were. And maybe I should add the welcoming of the dolphins, which swam two meters away from our picnic table on our first day. Then we met Rodney, Marcy and Breck, we kayaked with rays in a mangrove tunnel and we found a small restaurant where they serve…well, believe it or not, they serve poutine! I looked everywhere to find a job related to the community and through that I met other amazing people, like Phil the principal of the unique small school of the area. They would have had some work for me except that, we are summer… and like back home in summer, kids are off!
Sooo, 4 days a week I serve local favourites at a bakery, one day a week I work at the reception of Southern Cross Backpackers (where we camp) and I will teach Spanish to 2 friends 2 days a week! I will take my first surf and stand up paddle lessons and I will try to accompany Marc on the reef as often as possible! To compensate for not finding a job where I can better the world at every moment, I give all the smiles I have to the nice locals that come and buy bread! It is really fulfilling, and witnessing my accent changing is quite pleasant! I also make the French customers quite happy when I teach them how things are called around here…
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
Have you ever wondered about the bounty of secrets a cleaning lady knows about her clients? What intimate moments she witnesses when she works in hotels, what little treasures she finds and what bizarre objects she has to throw away? How she perceives the human race according to how messy the customers leave a room? For a couple of days, I was part of a jolly group: the “Swedish Girls and Stef’s Cleaning Service”. We knocked on backpacker’s dorm doors at 9 am…right on time to see and smell the joy of hangover and/or to feel that we did not necessarily belong in the vicinity…
There is a blissful breeze caressing my skin; I can hear the TV playing a movie and from here I catch a glimpse of the many foreigners all bundled up on a couch eyes riveted to the screen. Marc plays ping pong with our friend from the Netherlands, Marjan, and the Swedish girls, Anna, Louise and Johanna, are petting the dogs (who are fond of eating ping pong balls…). Birds, frogs, crickets and cicadas compete to be the loudest as night falls down on the bush. Soon I will go back to my home, 17 steps away from the buzzing of the little international village of cabins, and from the screen of my tent I will maybe see an owl on a Eucalyptus’ branch, with behind it a tapestry of bright stars.
We finally “settled down”. We fell in love with Agnes Water and Town of 1770 about 2 weeks ago. It happened when we saw how beautiful and friendly these villages were. And maybe I should add the welcoming of the dolphins, which swam two meters away from our picnic table on our first day. Then we met Rodney, Marcy and Breck, we kayaked with rays in a mangrove tunnel and we found a small restaurant where they serve…well, believe it or not, they serve poutine! I looked everywhere to find a job related to the community and through that I met other amazing people, like Phil the principal of the unique small school of the area. They would have had some work for me except that, we are summer… and like back home in summer, kids are off!
Sooo, 4 days a week I serve local favourites at a bakery, one day a week I work at the reception of Southern Cross Backpackers (where we camp) and I will teach Spanish to 2 friends 2 days a week! I will take my first surf and stand up paddle lessons and I will try to accompany Marc on the reef as often as possible! To compensate for not finding a job where I can better the world at every moment, I give all the smiles I have to the nice locals that come and buy bread! It is really fulfilling, and witnessing my accent changing is quite pleasant! I also make the French customers quite happy when I teach them how things are called around here…
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Bits and pieces of escape
Lire l’original en français
Breathe in, ocean fragrance. Breathe out to clear out the screen of a moth. Breathe in, feces fragrance. Breathe out, happy to see that here, composting toilets are Queens. Here, away from “civilisation”, they’re trying to preserve environment and it smells good in the soul even if the foul-smelling prevails. I’m in Agnes Water, in the woods, near the ocean and wild turkeys. Here’s a “scoop” (Marc wrote his blog yesterday, and here things change so fast!): we’re trying to settle here… Tomorrow, I’ll take a stroll down THE street (it’s so small) to try and find a job. But I’ll spare details of this place for next week; I want to share “bits” of my last adventures with you.
A few days ago, it rained, and we saw tons of smiles light up on our way. It was funny to hear the opposite from home: “Oh Thanks! You brought rain with you.” We realize a little more that we are on the driest continent of the world (Marc tells me to correct: the 2nd, after Antarctica).
Yet another huuuuuge letting-go: the entire Australian north coast is riddled with deadly jellyfishes. OH yeah, mate. And from November to May, none the less. We’ll have to put sexy aside and go to swim in a wet suit. There’re worst things than that, so we learn to be grateful for all the rest!
Here, everybody plays bowling green, all dressed up in white. Every time, I can’t help myself but shout the French equivalent “Boulingrin!” It’s such a funny word!
Every day of my life, I often think about the ones who suffer all over the world. It’s like a craving. A need to remember how lucky I am and the duty I have to share love, richness of the heart and happiness I’ve been carrying with me forever (by the way, thanks everyone for being instrumental to my joy!). And then, I really think a lot about immigrants. Here I am and I chose to go through all the hustle and bustle of finding a new nest, making new friends and finding a job. It was my choice. So, it makes me ponder…
There’re so many bugs on the screen!
Last chip of Australian reality. Come with me. Imagine yourself under the most beautiful full moon, round, just like my pregnant friends and orange like Uluru. She paints a widening silver path to the ocean. The steady sound of the waves urges us to lose ourselves on that path, to delve into our memory to find age-old times familiar to all, hidden in the meander of a dream. A procession of silent humans strolling towards the dunes, strangers reconciled by the power of the Earth. These ignored druids coming from all over the world to witness an event finding back its posterity: a Jurassic era creature giving birth to 150 young ones from which only a few percentage will survive. A huge turtle and 30 astounded humans. Dear friends, there’s hope.
Love you!
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
Breathe in, ocean fragrance. Breathe out to clear out the screen of a moth. Breathe in, feces fragrance. Breathe out, happy to see that here, composting toilets are Queens. Here, away from “civilisation”, they’re trying to preserve environment and it smells good in the soul even if the foul-smelling prevails. I’m in Agnes Water, in the woods, near the ocean and wild turkeys. Here’s a “scoop” (Marc wrote his blog yesterday, and here things change so fast!): we’re trying to settle here… Tomorrow, I’ll take a stroll down THE street (it’s so small) to try and find a job. But I’ll spare details of this place for next week; I want to share “bits” of my last adventures with you.
A few days ago, it rained, and we saw tons of smiles light up on our way. It was funny to hear the opposite from home: “Oh Thanks! You brought rain with you.” We realize a little more that we are on the driest continent of the world (Marc tells me to correct: the 2nd, after Antarctica).
Yet another huuuuuge letting-go: the entire Australian north coast is riddled with deadly jellyfishes. OH yeah, mate. And from November to May, none the less. We’ll have to put sexy aside and go to swim in a wet suit. There’re worst things than that, so we learn to be grateful for all the rest!
Here, everybody plays bowling green, all dressed up in white. Every time, I can’t help myself but shout the French equivalent “Boulingrin!” It’s such a funny word!
Every day of my life, I often think about the ones who suffer all over the world. It’s like a craving. A need to remember how lucky I am and the duty I have to share love, richness of the heart and happiness I’ve been carrying with me forever (by the way, thanks everyone for being instrumental to my joy!). And then, I really think a lot about immigrants. Here I am and I chose to go through all the hustle and bustle of finding a new nest, making new friends and finding a job. It was my choice. So, it makes me ponder…
There’re so many bugs on the screen!
Last chip of Australian reality. Come with me. Imagine yourself under the most beautiful full moon, round, just like my pregnant friends and orange like Uluru. She paints a widening silver path to the ocean. The steady sound of the waves urges us to lose ourselves on that path, to delve into our memory to find age-old times familiar to all, hidden in the meander of a dream. A procession of silent humans strolling towards the dunes, strangers reconciled by the power of the Earth. These ignored druids coming from all over the world to witness an event finding back its posterity: a Jurassic era creature giving birth to 150 young ones from which only a few percentage will survive. A huge turtle and 30 astounded humans. Dear friends, there’s hope.
Love you!
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
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