Storytelling Sunday - Australia ~ Moments That Last

Hello, and welcome.

Every first Sunday of the month many bloggers join Sian at From High in the Sky, to tell tales and read stories. If you'd like to join in then see Storytelling Sunday here, and then dive into a world of enchanting, amusing, and intriguing tales.

As I mentioned in my Month in Numbers post for February, my sister was here for a long visit last month, after returning from her travels in Australia. She was inspired to go on the trip because I did, and she's wanted to ever since I told her of my adventures there, with my friend Mehalah. It's been a long time coming - my trip was 11 years ago when I was 18 (she's 9 years younger than me, so she went at age 20). And since my travels in Oz took place before I began scrapbooking, I thought I'd share a few of my memories today - the moments that have lasted in my mind.

1. The first time I saw an emu ~ my great aunt took us away for a couple of days, and when we arrived at the caravan park, we drove (slowly) past an emu, with me gawping up at this bird that was so much bigger than the car we were in. I snapped this one that was sitting down later. It made me feel small and young, and a little bit scared to be around such a big animal that I'd never seen before. Though these feeling were probably assisted by the fact that I'd not long got off my first ever aeroplane journey, to travel for the first time without parents or a school teacher!

2. Snorkelling at the great barrier reef ~ I had never been snorkelling before and I was immediately hooked by the beautiful underwater scenes. It's a kind of magic to see so many colours under the water. We had a short 'test' dive that day too which I did not enjoy, it made me feel panicked to have to think about my breathing. I'm on the right:

3. This pool ~ was at a hostel in Mission Beach, where we stayed for Christmas. It's memorable for me because I had such fun with new friends here. And the moment that has stuck with me was from swimming in it at 1.30am, under the stars, and one of my new friends teaching me how to find the Orion constellation. Whenever I see Orion now I think of that moment, when I was shown it on the other side of the world, by a friend who was from Canada. It symbolises for me the vastness of our Earth.

4. New friends ~ I made lots of great friends when travelling, a couple of whom I still talk to on Facebook. I loved it because until then I hadn't really met many people ouside of my little bubble of school friends. It was amazing to chat to so many people from different countries and of different ages. It definitely helped to bring me out of my shell.

5. Horse riding ~ Our only adventure away from the coast, we spent a few days on a cattle farm. We rode horses, rounded up the cattle, and learnt what life was like for the family there, away from the sunshine coast. Quieter, more basic, but still very stunning.

6. Fraser Island ~ Ah, Fraser Island. I saved the best until last. So many little stories could be told about our few days camping there, like how I lost my only shoes and had to walk with sarongs tied to my feet because the sand was so hot, or about having to take someone with a torch to watch your back if you needed to go 'use the bushes' in the night - otherwise a dingo might bite your bum. But the real thing about it all was the impact the place had on me - there was beauty at every turn. Even beauty from off this world - at night we'd sit and watch the amazing sunset, and then, when the stars came out, I could see more of them than I'd ever seen in my whole life, because there was no light pollution there. The view of the milky way blew me away. The awed feeling that I had in my heart that trip has always stayed with me, whenever I'm staring out of my windows at rainy buildings, I can shut my eyes and be back at that beach, with adventure at my fingertips:

There we go, my story of my travels in Australia. Thank you to Mehalah who's idea it was to go on the trip, and who was brilliant fun to travel with! 

Sorry this was such a long post, wth lots of little stories in one, thank you very much for reading if you've made it to here. I'm pleased to say my sister enjoyed her adventure just as much as I did. Obviously her trip was very different, but she has many magical moments to remember like I do. I'll definietly have to get this into a scrapbook!

Bye for now, x

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