It’s crazy to think how quickly things can change in such short period of time, and how many wonderful opportunities are waiting for you when you least expect them.  This week was one of embracing going with the flow, and really listening to what my heart n soul need right now.  Being on my own has brought about a lot of time to sit with myself and reflect on a lot of things.  One of the key things I’ve come to acknowledge is the realization that I’m heading into a period where I’m craving more community and solid connection.  I realize this comes at a funny time, as I’ve just begun my solo trip, but I’ve also come to acknowledge that I had been spending so much of the previous year on my own.  Don’t get me wrong – 2022 was an amazing year, filled with some of my absolute favourite memories, incredible first experiences, many lessons and brought me a lot of lifelong friends; but I never found any roots in community.  I don’t think that’s a bad thing, nor do I think that was what I was needing this past year.  But, as I move into this next chapter of my life, and after experiencing a handful of strong, connected communities here in Australia, it’s reminded me of some things I’ve been missing since graduating from BCIT.

And this week may have brought me the opportunities and connections for exactly what I’m looking for, in ways I was not expecting.

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Some of you may remember I mentioned getting new runners back in week 8 to finally get back into running again, but you’ll probably notice I have yet to mention going on a run… well guys, be proud because I finally did it!  I woke up Monday morning feeling oddly energetic and with a lot of bounce in my step, and I knew, if I didn’t take advantage of this right away it was going to be a while before I got it back again… so I laced up my runners and hit the road!  At this point, I don’t think I’d run in at least 4, maybe even 5 years, but it felt SO good.  I came back to my camp spot at the beach and immediately jumped into the ocean to cool off.

I spent the rest of the day getting through a fair bit of driving until the last bit of energy wore off and found a nice spot next to a Salt Lake in the Coorong National Park.  I took my time reading in the sun, cooking some dinner, listening to podcasts, answering messages, and working on last weeks blog.

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Tuesday was a very productive and relaxing day!  I decided to stay put and spend my day reading lots, finishing up last week’s blog post, some yoga, and applying to a bunch of guiding jobs in the Northern Territory.

As a little aside – the past week I’ve been looking a lot into visa work and trying to sort out what I want to do, and when I should do it.  With having spent a decent amount of money in my first couple months in just getting to Australia, getting the van sorted, and honestly just on other experiences, I’ve been feeling the pressure of the bank account dwindling.  Initially my game plan was to spent the next few months exploring the interior then wrapping down the west coast and finding some farm work mid-winter (July for Australia).  While I could’ve probably made this work pretty easily with my current savings, the more I looked into options for my visa, the more I started to lean towards guiding jobs in the Northern Territory.  After a lot more reflecting on the types of experiences I’m wanting right now, the more it was making sense to look for work during my time in the interior.

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The next morning, I started with a quick back workout and went for a 4.5km run along part of the salt lake + trails.   At this point, it’s been a while since I’d had a shower, so I found a sweet free one at a gas station on route towards Adelaide.  I ended up staying the night in Port Elliot and spent the evening looking into more stuff for my trip through the interior, applied to more jobs, and read.

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Thursday was a really fun day for me! I woke up wanting to do some touristy things, so I got myself dressed up for the first time in a while, made the last 2-hour drive to Adelaide, and wandered around the city!  I checked out the Art Gallery of South Australia and the South Australian Museum; Both were really cool and free to enter for anyone. They were also right next to the Adelaide University, which is a beautiful little campus right in the heart of the city… it had me thinking about how I’ve been wanting to go back to school again, and wondering what it might be like to study here in Australia in the future…

I spent the afternoon on a little video sharing my partnership with Last Object!  They’re a really cool brand creating alternatives to replace single-use products like cotton swabs, menstrual pads, face wipes, and tissues!  Check out their website https://lastobject.comand use the code LastPlanet for 10% off any order.

Today was also the theatre release date of Bob Brown’s documentary ‘The Giants.’ It was such a beautiful and inspirational film covering the political and environmental history of conservation in Australia’s old growth forests, and direction it’s heading today. I unfortunately don’t think it’s available outside of Australia at the moment, but I highly recommend checking out Bob Brown’s foundation. https://bobbrown.org.au  There are a lot of parallels between what is happening in Australia and Canada’s logging industry, the governments [in]actions, and the lack of conservation for these important biomes.

I also got an exciting email today to schedule an interview the next morning for a Trainee Guiding Job in Alice Springs!

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Friday ultimately decided the next phase of my trip… The interview in the morning went so well that they contacted me later that same day saying they were going to skip second interviews for narrowing down candidates and offered me the job! So in 11 days I will be starting my training as a tour guide in Alice Springs!  It’s going to be a pretty interesting and exciting experience in a lot of ways, and I’m really looking forward to it.  I spent the whole day camped outside of a park in Adelaide, sorting out the plans for the next phase, finding a climbing group in Alice to join, answering messages, looking into living options, etc.

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Saturday was the epitome of “going with the flow” and I could NOT be more stoked for the plans that got presented to me!  Part of the reason I’d been taking so much time to get to Adelaide the past week was largely because I was waiting for my aussie driver’s licence to arrive at Clae’s (Sam’s cousins) place for me to pick up.  Coincidentally the licence arrived the night before, and today was the last day for me to pick it up from Clae (if I wanted to meet him), before he was leaving on a week-long trip with a group of friends+his family.  Turns out it was a climbing trip in the Grampians they were leaving for that night, and they invited me to join them!  Because I had spent the whole day prior mostly being anxious about the interview, and whether or not I was making the right decision, I had a full day of chores to work through but knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.  I went into overdrive mode and checked everything off the list from groceries, to laundry, to cleaning out fridge, to buying a new camera lens off marketplace, to going into town to pick up a few items (including my own climbing harness + helmet), to finding a free shower at the beach!  It was a jam packed day with lots of running around, but I managed to time everything PERFECTLY and met up with Clae, his partner Harriet, and one of their friends to begin the 5-hour drive to the Grampians.  It was a long day, as we didn’t leave until 6pm, but I couldn’t be more stoked about the week to come!!

It felt kind of funny knowing that I basically backtracked the distance I just took over a week to travel, in a single night…

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But boy was it so worth it.  Our first day in the Grampians was so good!  We’re a group of 8, and everyone is so incredibly sweet, supportive and just immediately so welcoming.  We started the day with a quick drive and 30min hike into our first sport climb location: the Ravines.  It was a beautiful spot in between two cliff faces, and we had the whole place to ourselves for the majority of the time.  It had been a while since I did any sport climbing, so my arms felt pretty dead pretty quickly (not helping that I started on a hard 19 lol), but it felt so good to get out with a group and watch everyone else.  We went back to the camp for lunch and for Clae + Harriet to put their 1.5-year-old down for a nap, before heading out to a different spot for some evening bouldering.  I had been feeling pretty low energy after that morning, but found a second wind after a quick hike and some really fun boulder projects.   We had the most beautiful sunset and I got to use my new lens for the first time up at the boulders – earning me the nickname ‘JC,’ inspired by famous photographer and videographer “Jimmy Chin” (have got a long way to go before reaching his level, but a nickname I’m happily welcoming lol).   Ended the week with dinner around a camp fire and some really amazing new friends. <3

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This week started with me wondering how I was going to access community while on the road, and ended with me landing a job guiding in some beautiful and historically important locations, 7 new friends, and my first big climbing trip finally under my belt!  Learn to say ‘yes’ more to life, and the adventures will never fail to amaze you.

Stay passionate and curious,
Hunter 💛