Week 9: April 10th – 16th, 2023 // The highs ‘n’ lows

It’s been a week of many highs n lows, physically and emotionally, and it’s bringing out a lot of reflection (seems to happen quite naturally when you’re completely solo).

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Monday finally got a move on! Was feeling super stoked to hit the road and travel through the Great Ocean Road.  I managed to find a free hot shower in Lorne and do a little bit of wandering around.  It’s a really cute little ocean front touristy town – kind of reminded me of a smaller version of the main street in White Rock back home!  My drive involved many stops at little view points and beaches – ended up at Sheoak Falls which then took me from a 15min stroll to a 1.5-hour hike.  Views were pretty mediocre, but felt really nice to get on a trail again. I ended up spending a good few hours of my day just driving until I found a spot to sleep for the night.

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Tuesday really changed the tone… I woke up early, feeling really good, sun was shining, skies were totally clear; Was feeling super energized and ready to cover a lot of ground.  I went down to the beach to do a sunrise yoga flow, and about 20minutes in I ended up tweaking the muscles in my neck REALLY badly… like couldn’t move my neck, hurt to take deep breaths bad… I was feeling SO defeated from this and really worried what this could mean for the rest of my trip.  Thankfully I have pain meds and Tiger Balm, so I just set myself up in bed and did my best to massage things out and not move much.  This meant my day consisted of a whole lot of nothing and mindless scrolling.  I actually ended up deciding to start watching all the Spiderman movies from the very beginning lol. I’ve been wanting to for a while now and figured what better time than when I have nothing else going on and literally can’t do anything else… so I’m now halfway through the 4th…

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I woke up the next day thankfully in a lot less pain but definitely still limited mobility.  I desperately needed some type of win for the day to boost my moral, so I spent the morning getting my van better organized. I sorted through the “pantry” and cut up some boxes to create little compartments in the different drawers to keep things separated and minimize the amount of “free roaming.”  I did this back home with most things, have for years, and it makes SUCH a difference for keeping your space feeling cleaner and easier to sort through.  

The movement was really helping my neck feel a bit better, so I managed to get on the road and make my way to the 12 Apostles! The views along the way were SO stunning.  The Great Ocean Road covers such a variety of landscapes that I really wasn’t expecting – there’s beaches, 100+ metre cliff’s, farmlands, little towns, and a rainforest… the rainforest was such a pleasant surprise and SO stunning to drive through.  There was a nice little trail just off the highway that I made a quick stop to explore (there are other bigger hikes that I definitely want to return and do one day).

I got to the 12 Apostles closer to sunset and it was SO busy… I walked out towards the boardwalk, saw the crowds and said “NOPE.” I got a quick view of the Apostles and made the decision to find a spot nearby for the night and to get up early to spent some time at the Apostles for sunrise the next day instead.

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This turned out to be a GREAT idea! Not only was there hardly anyone there, but the views were so much more magical.  I lucked out with a clear sky and the most stunning cotton candy coloured sunrise.  I ended up committing to a time-lapse and stayed there for about 1.5 hours.  

The day was a lot of stopping at stunning view points, and driving.  I made a little pit stop at a beach to read for an hour, then a restock on some groceries, water and better cleaning some dishes, before driving another couple hours to find another spot for the night.

I think I’ve been really lucking out on my sleep spots, which I’m REALLY trying not to take for granted, because I know it’s not going to be like this the entire time…  There’s been a few spots where it’s debatable on whether I’m allowed to be there or not, but I think because I’m travelling in the “off” season, no one is really checking in on these areas.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed this continues for these coastal spots especially ‘cause there’s really not much better than a free spot next to the ocean!

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Friday wasn’t really anything notable.  I spent the majority of the day just driving, found another free hot shower passing through Portland, then found a spot for the night near a windmill farm and a secluded beach!  It turned out to be a hidden gem for people to walk their dogs, so had a handful of people come and go, but was such an ideal spot for the night!  Had beautiful weather and desperately needed the doors open, but the bugs were insane… so I was forced to finally DIY my bug net I bought a while ago.  I spent the rest of my evening looking into jobs for my visa and learned that I got the volunteer photographer position with Sea Shepherd that I applied for a couple weeks ago!! I’m SO stoked for the opportunity and what this could mean for future opportunities, so I’m now just waiting to get a better idea on event locations to see if I might change up the route a bit (for the billionth time lol I swear the plan changes every week).

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I woke up the next day in a really low mood and decided to allow myself to sit in it rather than fight it.  I spent my time reading, watching friends, and sleeping.  I eventually reached a point where I knew this was going to stick around longer if I didn’t act, so finally late afternoon I dragged my ass down to the beach and went for a nice evening walk. Between the sun coming out and moving my body, it forced me to reflect a lot on patterns that show up in my life, and ones that I know show up for others as well.  When you find yourself stuck in your head, the only way to really cut this and bring clarity to your thoughts and the feelings that are arising are by moving your body.  Writing the thoughts is equally beneficial, but the movement allows you to redirect the energy that is building up inside you and being spent on thoughts, and gives you the momentum you need to pull yourself out of those low spaces to act on the things you really want to.

As expected, the walk did absolute wonders for how I was feeling.

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Sunday I woke up EARLY. Like 3:45am early.  My mind and body were wide awake since I ended up with a solid 7hours of sleep, but it felt way too early (and was way too dark outside) to do anything – so I found myself mindlessly scrolling again.  When I finally pulled myself out of the cycle, I had a bit of a reality check when I realized how much time I’ve been spending on my phone during this time alone.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a lot of productive and fulfilling things for myself, but being completely on my own has made me realize I’m looking for connection and going about it in an unproductive way (will be talking more about this in a separate post).  I ended up spending the morning doing a lot of journaling/reflecting, got myself to finally start working out again (been saying I would for MONTHS), reading, and made myself a good breakfast while listening to some podcasts and taking in the beautiful morning (got lucky with a few rainbows and sun).

I also spent some time setting up daily reminder alerts to make sure I’m drinking plenty of water, making time for intentional movement, checking in with myself, and investing time into creating + learning.   Redirecting my days to focus on the things that matter to me.

I hit the road once again by around 10:30 and made a stop at the Tantanoola Cave!  Normally it’s a $15 entrance fee but the person at the front desk snuck me in at the last minute without charging me!  Highly recommend making the stop if you’re looking for something to do – the cave was really cool and the tour was very well done.

The rest of the afternoon involved a lot more driving, officially crossing into South Australia, getting stuck on a beach (won’t be doing that again lol thankful to all the people that helped me out), caught up on messages from the past few months, read lots, and found a STUNNING spot next to the ocean to stay for the night!

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All in all, it’s been a really rewarding and eye opening week for me with some really exciting updates to come in the next couple weeks.

Stay passionate and curious,
Hunter 💛