Week 28: Aug 21st – 27th, 2023 // Back to Reality? [Oh what a beautiful reality it is]
What a LIFE! I feel like I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming, because holy shit has this life turned out to be a beautiful one. I just spent the last hour reading through my first 7 weeks here in Australia, and can feel all the emotions as if experiencing them for the first time again. I feel so much gratitude and love and pride. At one point on mine and Jono’s second to last day of the trek, we were talking about things we want to experience in life still and Jono asked: how will you know you’ve “made it?” Like what are the things you want to accomplish/experience/gain in your life, that will indicate you’ve reached the point you want to be in your life? The point where you know you’re truly happy. And without much hesitation I said “I think I’m already living part of it now.”
Coming out of the Larapinta Trail has me feeling all kinds of things and has me redirecting some of my focus and energy on things that really matter (and defining what this actually means to me). Spending two weeks completely offline, with nothing but good company, my thoughts, nature, and a lot of reading to keep myself occupied, it’s allowed me to reassess how I spend my time where “connection” looks very different. I’m reminded of how much can be accomplished when we’re attentive to how we focus our time and energy, and I’m also reminded of the importance of connecting with yourself.
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So Sunday was technically my last day on the trail, and was supposed to drive back into town this day – but I found myself on our last summit, feeling all the feels, and not ready to head back into town just yet. I was able to learn that I wasn’t scheduled to start work until Wednesday, and with Pablo having brought my van + Felipe driving his own car for when they joined us on our last hiking day, I was able to stay one more night! The thought of leaving straight away, after spending so much time on the trail and ending on such a high, just didn’t feel right. As much as I wanted a shower and a comfy bed, the need for proper closure to this beautiful and challenging experience was so much greater; I’m so happy I camped out for one more night. As soon as I hit the road Monday morning, the gears were on a constant go, listing out all the things I have to organize for leaving Alice Springs in 3 weeks, as well as cleaning + packing to head down to Yulara for a week of work. It’s weird how the brain can go from focusing on so little (wake up, pack bags, walk for hours, eat, drink, read, sleep, repeat) and feeling so calm, to a sudden stress-ball.
I came back to my back door of the van (and my only access to any food/kitchen/storage stuff) broken… the latch wasn’t connecting, and therefore wouldn’t open the door. Initial game plan was to have the longest shower humanly possible before hitting the ground running on getting my life sorted, but as soon as I got into service, I texted our mechanic at work for help and next thing I knew I was getting my van looked at + fixed within the hour! Needless to say, the disgusting hair streak went on for another day (I did manage to get in a quick 10min shower though so I didn’t smell like I’d been living off-grid lol). Rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the van, quick grocery run, and spending time with Pablo before driving him to the airport. Officially the first of the OG Alice Springs crew to leave and it feels so surreal that time in the Outback is coming to an end. As much as I struggled out here in the beginning, it’s a bit bittersweet closing this chapter, but I’m SO excited for what’s to come during my second half of this Visa - Wild that it’s been 6 months already!!
In the evening, part of the Larapinta Crew all met up for burgers and drinks at the Jump Inn bar (Matt, Sam, Andy, Jono + Myself – you’ll be introduced to the whole crew in the upcoming Larapinta Recap post)! Was such a nice way to end our time together before the others had to head back to various parts of the country.
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Tuesday was a BIG day of non-stop chores to get ready for Yulara tomorrow and clean up all the trek gear, was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, but best part was finally getting a proper shower after 16 days!! Took 4 shampoos to get my hair completely clean lol.
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The rest of the week has been a combination of working BBQ’s at Uluru, reconnecting with some coworkers, reading lots, working on blog posts to cover everything from the trail, getting daily trail summary posts scheduled, sorting through photos, journaling, relaxing, making new connections around Australia with guests on tour, working the BBQ’s…
I think coming up to Yulara has been the perfect transition away from the trail. There’s really not much up here, the work is super chill, and it’s so incredibly peaceful/quiet that it gives you a lot of time to focus on yourself. There is service, so that’s been an adjustment of trying to be mindful of my screen time, and not reverting back to old habits of mindlessly wandering the internet, but rather being intentional with my time I spend in front of a screen. It’s given me a lot of undistracted time to work on blog posts and reading, which has been really motivating, and is getting me really excited about some of the potentials and future plans for Golden Hour.
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For now, I’ll leave you with that! Got lot’s cooking up on my side of things, with lots of new posts soon to come – So much I can’t wait to share with you all.
Stay passionate and curious.
Hunter💛
