Man has it ever been a hot minute since I’ve put up an update!  It’s been such a whirlwind of experiences, emotions, connections, realizations, opportunities, changes… the whole shebang!  As I’m getting myself re-organized, taking time to reflect on what I want this personal project to grow into, and coming to terms with some realizations – this next month is going to be a transition period of really diving into all these thoughts and questions.  It’s going to be a period of action and holding myself accountable for a lot of the things I’ve said I want to accomplish, and developing what I want that to look like.

Now, like anything meaningful, it’ll take time and many iterations as I learn and identify what that will actually look like – so welcome to that journey!

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6 weeks is a lot to catch up on! With 3 of them having been on the Sea Shepherd Campaign, this cuts it down to 3 that I can actually write about… there’s some collaboration projects in the works that I’m looking forward to sharing with you all in the future - but in the meantime, that’s all I can say about that!

These last three weeks though have been WILD. I’ve properly transitioned into solo van life with no set plans in sight, no jobs lined up, no adventures booked.  Nothing. Nada.  And I’ll be honest in that it’s hitting me a lot harder than expected.  I’m being confronted with some realities that while I’m a pretty independent, introverted individual, I crave community a lot more than I gave myself credit (or allowed myself to admit… if we’re being honest lol).  Which is why I’m really looking forward to these upcoming weeks, where I’ll be spending lots of time around Brisbane/Sunshine/Gold Coast – getting to meet up with both old and new friends, and I can’t wait!

As I’ve been navigating this though, I’ve been spending my time checking off two big bucketlist items: visiting the Daintree Rainforest and Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef; along with waterfall hopping, reading, visiting markets, eating ice cream next to the ocean, visiting art galleries, markets, butterfly sanctuaries, botanical gardens, eating good food, dreading my bank account situation and needing a job again soon, dealing with calls with insurance and Telstra.  Because there’s just so much to touch on, rather than going into detail about each day like I normally would, I’m just going to share the highlights in point form from each week.

Week 36: Oct 16th – 22nd

• Reunited with Peg and gave her a good scrub down

• Ice cream in bean bag chairs next to the ocean

• Finding a zero-waste grocery store after 5.5 months! Shoutout to the Source

• Visiting the Cairns Botanical Garden/Art Exhibit

• Visiting the Cairns Art Gallery

• Visiting the Kuranda Markets and Butterfly Sanctuary (probably my biggest highlight)

• Taking the ferry over to the deep parts of the Daintree Rainforest (Cape Tribulation) – just in general being in a rainforest right next to the ocean. Heart is big-time full (okay this might actually be my biggest highlight)

• Lots of reading

• Call with an old friend

• Walks through the forest and finding a swimming hole with no crocs

• Visiting the Daintree Discovery Centre

Week 37: Oct 23rd – 29th

• Snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef!!!! (okay… this is definitely top highlight) Amazing tour with Ocean Safari

• Crocodile boat tour – not best time of year to spot them, but did manage to see a baby croc, and an older croc hiding out

• Visiting Paronella Park

• Call with my sisters

• Lots of uncomfortable solo time, forcing me to do some deep reflections and ask myself some difficult questions

• Impromptu hike to Behana Gorge for some swimming and reading (SO beautiful)

• Journaling in a beautiful park at sunrise (Lake Placid)

• Impromptu detour to a stunning waterfall/waterhole for an evening swim (Little Crystal Creek)

• Finally meeting my friend/penpal of 6months in person for the first time and getting to spend a couple days with them!!

Week 38: Oct 30th – Nov 5th (to be completed in next weeks post)

• Starting up counselling again

• Vancouver Zero Waste Conference (attended online for live viewing… which meant I was up at 2am when it was starting…)

• Laptop somewhat working again so I can finally start working through Sea Shepherd, Luminous Studios, and Golden Hour projects that have been piling up!

I’ve been wanting to get an update out for weeks now!! And with how my weekends going to go, I know that things would be delayed SO.  Posting this one early, and we will be back to the regularly programmed Monday posting starting on the 13th (meaning I’ll cover this upcoming weekends updates in Week 39).

Really stoked to be back on here again and looking forward to sharing what comes up next for me! Until then…

Stay passionate and curious.
Hunter💛