Lire la traduction française
My throat is burning deliciously after each Bundaberg Ginger Beer sip I swallow. The lovely non-alcoholic sparkling liquid warms my heart as I reflect upon my last three weeks in Manly. Gosh it's good! No artificial crap, just cane sugar and lots, lots of ginger... I visited where they make it, so I feel very privileged when I drink it, very "Aussie" so to speak...
I think I have been feeling very "Aussie" lately... Coming back where it all started makes you realize how much you love a country and its people, whether real "blokes and sheilas" or "expats" who have chosen Australia as their home. Last Saturday, we were out picnicking by the ocean with our friend Marjan (we lived with her in Agnes Water) and we managed to randomly meet 5 other friends. We totally felt like one of the first days of spring on Wellington Street when you bump into all your best friends without planning it... I will always be amazed at humans' power to make good friends quickly and to make a new place feel like home.
I reckon this is the addictive substance of travelling; this feeling of being lost and found at once.
Leaving loved ones is always a very difficult task, but the excitement of the trip to come combined with knowing how delicious it will be to return to them always ease the wounds. We have fallen in love with amazing friends all over the 2.8% of the huge continent we visited, and every parting moment was way weirder than what I have always known. I have always said: "we'll catch up on the road" or "I'll come and visit". This time, none came up because I did not want to say something I did not believe. So we have left heaps of great people knowing we might never ever see them again, or that at least we are not planning to for the moment. Let me tell you it is a bit heartbreaking. Monday night, we visited Julie (friend from Magog I met for real Down Under) and her lovely love Martin. We had a great dinner, as usual, great laughs, as usual and we just felt our hearts surfing on the smoothest of friendship's waves. Then we said goodbye, after all that time spent together in the last three weeks, and it was a real goodbye, although we did not cry. Weird isn't it? It makes you ponder on how people driven away from their families can do it...
Do not get me wrong here; I am actually in the gayest of moods! We are leaving tomorrow morning for new adventures in a wild land of huge mountains...I can't wait! It is also a land of progressive social politics, which I intend to investigate a bit. New-Zealand gave the right to vote to women in 1893...wow! Quebec waited until 1940, it's scandalous! The Maoris have always had a say in governmental stuff, which makes New-Zealand a lead in dealing with Indigenous Rights...Before I get too "politicized" here, I should wait to double check a couple of facts! Till then, Bonne St-Jean and get warm while we get cold!
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
It’s bloody freezing!
Lire l’original en français
This morning, sitting on the white couch, I was savouring each and every ray of sunshine heating my skin through the old windows of the veranda. The jungle of plants and surf boards hanging from the ceiling seemed to enjoy absorbing this new heat as much as I did: everything was glittering with a myriad lights under the heat. I wanted to stay put forever, stay there roasting and stop time …
It’s only 3:00 p.m. and I find myself inside, wearing my coat, tuque and scarf. Despite my huge slippers and hot tea cup, my nose, hands and arms are frozen. The big palm trees only three feet away from me in the back yard seem to poke fun at my hypothermia. I hear them say, just like their Australian human counterparts: “Come on Canadian girl, you should be used to the cold!”.
BUT IT’S ONLY BECAUSE WE HAVE CENTRAL HEAT, BUGGER!
It started to be “bloody freezing” around March 10, which means autumn when we live down under from Québec. It was then justifiable because we were sleeping in the car, i.e. almost outside. When we arrived in Melbourne, we realised it was almost preferable to live in a car rather than a house. Here, the ground doesn’t freeze, so people don’t have adequate heating systems. Even worse than that: if someone earns less than $100,000 yearly he or she is condemned to freeze behind the old walls of his or her house. OK, I draw a long bow here, but for the last three months, we froze during more days than all the days we froze in the past (even taking into account the failing fireplace at the White Mountains…) When we arrived in Sydney last October, Julie, my resident friend, told us she had just spent the coldest winter of her life. I totally did not believe her! Come on… palm trees, year round surfers. But she was absolutely right!
So the weather is fair outside, but we live inside, all bundled up, and we prepare hot-water bottles to heat the bed… Oh well, I like the unexpected!
We are now back in Manly, Sydney, and it’s so good to join our precious friends. It’s really unique to go back somewhere seven months later and feel as if we never left. Especially in a place where we stayed only a few days! Back to square one, I fully realise my Australian adaptation: I recognise words, traffic regulations elements, birds, food, people’s habits that seemed so out of the ordinary to me at first (out of the ordinary I wished for, of course) and I realise they all became part of my daily life. It’s only the cold I’m having more trouble getting used to!
See HIS View
See His and Hers Pictures
See His and Hers Videos
This morning, sitting on the white couch, I was savouring each and every ray of sunshine heating my skin through the old windows of the veranda. The jungle of plants and surf boards hanging from the ceiling seemed to enjoy absorbing this new heat as much as I did: everything was glittering with a myriad lights under the heat. I wanted to stay put forever, stay there roasting and stop time …
It’s only 3:00 p.m. and I find myself inside, wearing my coat, tuque and scarf. Despite my huge slippers and hot tea cup, my nose, hands and arms are frozen. The big palm trees only three feet away from me in the back yard seem to poke fun at my hypothermia. I hear them say, just like their Australian human counterparts: “Come on Canadian girl, you should be used to the cold!”.
BUT IT’S ONLY BECAUSE WE HAVE CENTRAL HEAT, BUGGER!
It started to be “bloody freezing” around March 10, which means autumn when we live down under from Québec. It was then justifiable because we were sleeping in the car, i.e. almost outside. When we arrived in Melbourne, we realised it was almost preferable to live in a car rather than a house. Here, the ground doesn’t freeze, so people don’t have adequate heating systems. Even worse than that: if someone earns less than $100,000 yearly he or she is condemned to freeze behind the old walls of his or her house. OK, I draw a long bow here, but for the last three months, we froze during more days than all the days we froze in the past (even taking into account the failing fireplace at the White Mountains…) When we arrived in Sydney last October, Julie, my resident friend, told us she had just spent the coldest winter of her life. I totally did not believe her! Come on… palm trees, year round surfers. But she was absolutely right!
So the weather is fair outside, but we live inside, all bundled up, and we prepare hot-water bottles to heat the bed… Oh well, I like the unexpected!
We are now back in Manly, Sydney, and it’s so good to join our precious friends. It’s really unique to go back somewhere seven months later and feel as if we never left. Especially in a place where we stayed only a few days! Back to square one, I fully realise my Australian adaptation: I recognise words, traffic regulations elements, birds, food, people’s habits that seemed so out of the ordinary to me at first (out of the ordinary I wished for, of course) and I realise they all became part of my daily life. It’s only the cold I’m having more trouble getting used to!
See HIS View
See His and Hers Pictures
See His and Hers Videos
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Magnificent Melbourne
Lire la traduction française
My heart was floating in a bit of nostalgia at the end of our desert adventure. We had lived our last nights in the Australian immensity. After a few months here, you take for granted the never-ending mountain ranges and the silence of the milky-way…You take for granted being alone in this beauty, breathing fresh air. Even if I have been here for a little while, I am still so amazed by how unpopulated it can be. You would expect towns and people in between two big cities like Melbourne and Adelaide but we had to drive 100 km to find restrooms!
Our very short stay in Melbourne revived our desire to stay here longer. It is so inspiring! We told you about permaculture, bicycle repair co-ops and we just seem to discover a new amazing thing every day! Even in this busy time we found time to get involved a bit: we found out about “Lentil as Anything”, a non-for-profit organization, which operates restaurants where you pay what you have or what you think the food and service are worth. It doesn’t sound real, does it? The majority of their food is organic and you have access to a range of delicious iced-coffees, chai, fair-trade teas and so on. Lentil as Anything addresses social isolation experienced by new migrants and socially isolated people. They provide support and training for refugees, youth and other members of the community who are struggling to find an opportunity in their new social environment. They even have a school canteen run that way! How AMAZING is that? The food is spectacular. Everyone there is beautiful, the service is impeccable and there is always live music or multi-cultural display of some sort! You can eat with people or you can have an intimate table on the terrace. It was the first time I was going somewhere like that where you could choose to be communal or to have privacy in a normal restaurant setting. Bravo!!!!
Federation Square is the centre of Melbourne. Tourists and locals alike hang out there, visit the free mediatheque unit, free galleries and exhibitions and profit from the free public wireless internet. After beating the Guinness World Record for the most people dressed up as super heroes in one place, we were quite hungry. Normally street food stands are not allowed, so we were curious to see what was going on with the beautifully trendy kiosk showcasing wooden boxes full of fine herbs. The staff wore shirts saying StrEAT and the menu, mainly organic, was more than appealing. It turned out that StrEAT is a fantastic initiative to reduce homelessness. Being not-for-profits, all the money goes directly to shelters and other great services, and it is an opportunity for homeless youth to get a training, which could give them a proper job and a brighter future. After we bought our delicious conscious food, the girl there gave us one of these cards “buy ten and get one free” that we get from many food places. But this time there was a clever twist to it: “buy ten meals and the eleventh goes to a homeless youth”. Really, wow!
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
See His and Hers Videos
My heart was floating in a bit of nostalgia at the end of our desert adventure. We had lived our last nights in the Australian immensity. After a few months here, you take for granted the never-ending mountain ranges and the silence of the milky-way…You take for granted being alone in this beauty, breathing fresh air. Even if I have been here for a little while, I am still so amazed by how unpopulated it can be. You would expect towns and people in between two big cities like Melbourne and Adelaide but we had to drive 100 km to find restrooms!
Our very short stay in Melbourne revived our desire to stay here longer. It is so inspiring! We told you about permaculture, bicycle repair co-ops and we just seem to discover a new amazing thing every day! Even in this busy time we found time to get involved a bit: we found out about “Lentil as Anything”, a non-for-profit organization, which operates restaurants where you pay what you have or what you think the food and service are worth. It doesn’t sound real, does it? The majority of their food is organic and you have access to a range of delicious iced-coffees, chai, fair-trade teas and so on. Lentil as Anything addresses social isolation experienced by new migrants and socially isolated people. They provide support and training for refugees, youth and other members of the community who are struggling to find an opportunity in their new social environment. They even have a school canteen run that way! How AMAZING is that? The food is spectacular. Everyone there is beautiful, the service is impeccable and there is always live music or multi-cultural display of some sort! You can eat with people or you can have an intimate table on the terrace. It was the first time I was going somewhere like that where you could choose to be communal or to have privacy in a normal restaurant setting. Bravo!!!!
Federation Square is the centre of Melbourne. Tourists and locals alike hang out there, visit the free mediatheque unit, free galleries and exhibitions and profit from the free public wireless internet. After beating the Guinness World Record for the most people dressed up as super heroes in one place, we were quite hungry. Normally street food stands are not allowed, so we were curious to see what was going on with the beautifully trendy kiosk showcasing wooden boxes full of fine herbs. The staff wore shirts saying StrEAT and the menu, mainly organic, was more than appealing. It turned out that StrEAT is a fantastic initiative to reduce homelessness. Being not-for-profits, all the money goes directly to shelters and other great services, and it is an opportunity for homeless youth to get a training, which could give them a proper job and a brighter future. After we bought our delicious conscious food, the girl there gave us one of these cards “buy ten and get one free” that we get from many food places. But this time there was a clever twist to it: “buy ten meals and the eleventh goes to a homeless youth”. Really, wow!
See HIS view
See His and Hers Pictures
See His and Hers Videos
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Boobook and Lawrence
Lire l’original en français
Our last adventures date from a month ago. Let me draw you a picture of some of the landscapes we crossed.
Exhausted from looking in vain for a job, but filled with our new-found friendships, we left Melbourne to tour the famous Great Ocean Road so photographed. The next morning, our crew was adorned with a French hitch-hiker, who happily filled our ears with expressions we had never heard. The magnificent 12 Apostles are seen under a stormy sky; these pillars defying the ocean seem greater than life, under grey light turning silver with unprompted passages of the Sun. That night, we achieved a big dream: to sleep in an old Winnebago, decorated with a kitschy design of the sixties! The next morning, even more gigantic waves shatter on the yellow and ochre stratum of the sea cliffs. Monoliths resemble sentinels posted to protect treasures buried for millenniums.
We say goodbye to Xavier and wish him good luck with his hitch-hiker desert crossing. We arrive at Anna’s in Adelaide. She is a friend of a friend from Melbourne and has generously offered to harbour us. Wham Bam! Sudden friendship. The two days spent with Max, Anna, Nico, Mia, the chickens and the garden are unforgettable.
After many days of arid budgetary labour in the cold of the new winter, we finally leave for the Australian apotheosis: the Red Centre, the desert of the middle, the flat, flat, flat away from civilization. But, the First Nation has a story for every hill, every dry river, every tree tuft and every rock. The Australian continent, for them, is a huge “géophonic” map, if I may propose a new term to French legislators. Aborigines can find their way through orally transmitted “roads of songs”. Every element of the ground is sung as we approach it, songs based on the speed of walking to know how many verses to compose between every important relief feature. I wish I could have learned some of them, but this millenary culture is more than rugged and the asphalt is too much of a speedway.
Each time I’m back on secondary roads, throughout the world, I’M filled with joy. The nature of human beings to celebrate their sense of belonging is really fantastic. Motor bikers salute one another, backpackers say Hi and often times, people with hair “stuck slump” like mine smile at each other. It’s the same on less busy roads: we smile and wave at each other in a brotherly manner.
On the rocky mountain roads to climb, we crossed many super heroes: cyclists riding thousands of desertic kilometres and hikers ready to climb cliffs to admire the beauty of their country … and all of them already in their sixties. Such a lesson for us, who consider ourselves adventurers!
Rare wallabies, surprised kangaroos, curious emus, protective owls, wild horses and camel HERDS where there… Really! 200 years ago, Australians used the help of Afghans to build the famous Darwin to Adelaide railway line. Well adapted to the desert, these huge softies multiplied and now, it’s like being in Lawrence of Arabia in the middle of Australia!
We took the train on that line and at 10:30 p.m., in the dark, without lighting or roads miles around, a lady detrained with her suitcase. In the middle of NOWHERE! A 4X4 came to pick her up and headed through the bushes. There, I really felt I was “Down Under”.
See HIS View
See His and Hers Pictures
Our last adventures date from a month ago. Let me draw you a picture of some of the landscapes we crossed.
Exhausted from looking in vain for a job, but filled with our new-found friendships, we left Melbourne to tour the famous Great Ocean Road so photographed. The next morning, our crew was adorned with a French hitch-hiker, who happily filled our ears with expressions we had never heard. The magnificent 12 Apostles are seen under a stormy sky; these pillars defying the ocean seem greater than life, under grey light turning silver with unprompted passages of the Sun. That night, we achieved a big dream: to sleep in an old Winnebago, decorated with a kitschy design of the sixties! The next morning, even more gigantic waves shatter on the yellow and ochre stratum of the sea cliffs. Monoliths resemble sentinels posted to protect treasures buried for millenniums.
We say goodbye to Xavier and wish him good luck with his hitch-hiker desert crossing. We arrive at Anna’s in Adelaide. She is a friend of a friend from Melbourne and has generously offered to harbour us. Wham Bam! Sudden friendship. The two days spent with Max, Anna, Nico, Mia, the chickens and the garden are unforgettable.
After many days of arid budgetary labour in the cold of the new winter, we finally leave for the Australian apotheosis: the Red Centre, the desert of the middle, the flat, flat, flat away from civilization. But, the First Nation has a story for every hill, every dry river, every tree tuft and every rock. The Australian continent, for them, is a huge “géophonic” map, if I may propose a new term to French legislators. Aborigines can find their way through orally transmitted “roads of songs”. Every element of the ground is sung as we approach it, songs based on the speed of walking to know how many verses to compose between every important relief feature. I wish I could have learned some of them, but this millenary culture is more than rugged and the asphalt is too much of a speedway.
Each time I’m back on secondary roads, throughout the world, I’M filled with joy. The nature of human beings to celebrate their sense of belonging is really fantastic. Motor bikers salute one another, backpackers say Hi and often times, people with hair “stuck slump” like mine smile at each other. It’s the same on less busy roads: we smile and wave at each other in a brotherly manner.
On the rocky mountain roads to climb, we crossed many super heroes: cyclists riding thousands of desertic kilometres and hikers ready to climb cliffs to admire the beauty of their country … and all of them already in their sixties. Such a lesson for us, who consider ourselves adventurers!
Rare wallabies, surprised kangaroos, curious emus, protective owls, wild horses and camel HERDS where there… Really! 200 years ago, Australians used the help of Afghans to build the famous Darwin to Adelaide railway line. Well adapted to the desert, these huge softies multiplied and now, it’s like being in Lawrence of Arabia in the middle of Australia!
We took the train on that line and at 10:30 p.m., in the dark, without lighting or roads miles around, a lady detrained with her suitcase. In the middle of NOWHERE! A 4X4 came to pick her up and headed through the bushes. There, I really felt I was “Down Under”.
See HIS View
See His and Hers Pictures
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