Maroochydore

The first day of 2017 Haowen and I went to some museums downtown and it was a beautiful day indeed, but mentally I was feeling sludgy. I felt like I had to drag myself through the day, and because of that I didn't take any pictures by the picturesque southbank of Brisbane. Oh well, it's stored in my brain.

The next day Haowen and Feifan walked me to the train station where I said my goodbyes to the Chinese brothas. Next destination: The Sunshine Coast. A few hours north. I lost my way briefly getting off at the wrong station (what's new?) but eventually figured it out. Gliding past The Glasshouse Mountains was like entering a subtropical lunar world. Massive mountain-like rocks in the most random shapes dotted the land, as if chunks of an ancient asteroid disintegrated long ago and the native Australian flora then took it over aggressively.

I switched from train to bus and loved the new scenery as always. What is more awe inspiring than watching Nature in all her different manifestations? Riding past Mooloolaba I looked to my left and right and instead of driveways and cars there were docks and boats. A suburban water land. We soon crossed a small bridge that kids were jumping off of. Families enjoying picnics, kayakers floating along, fishing poles waiting for the hook, and the sun blasting its light off the serene waters. The Sunshine Coast. What a sunny dream.

I grabbed my bags and exited the bus near the Maroochydore library having a general idea where Sundeck Gardens was, the resort I'd be staying at. I walked for about fifteen minutes and made it to a grassy spot, put my stuff down and wiped the sweat off my face, and realised I should have asked someone before walking all this way. Right then I looked to my right and saw the sign "Sundeck Gardens." My destination!

I walked in the front office and asked for Deb and after realizing I was a workawayer Ian welcomed me into their home situated behind the front office. Ian has a wild grey beard and along with his wife Deb, manage this resort right across the street from the beach. Within minutes I met Deb who offered me some fruit, as well as two other workawayers Marie and Anton. Marie is from Quebec. Anton is from Germany, easily distinguishable by the distinct German accent. Ian had to immediately get back to work and Deb was busy as well so Marie gave me a brief tour of everything. Her accent is one of kind. I've never met anyone from Quebec. At this point there's no way I won't always have people in my life with different accents from different cultures all over the world. It's just too much fun. After a brief tour Marie, Anton, and Mr. Purps went for a walk around the city. What a chill seaside town. It is a place where tourists visit, but not busy by any means. We passed a bunch of geezers playing a game of Lawn Bowls which I had never seen before. From the looks of it Lawn Bowls is similar to curling but on grassy turf, with the advantage of actually looking fun. Making our way over to the beach, feet squishing over little mounds of powdered sugar sand, floating with the waves, looking at the long stretch of land along the beach making the shape of a boomerang, I thought, "how do I ever stop traveling when the world is so majestic?" 

My new front yard. 

A little bit about the other travellers. Anton is fresh out of high school and traveling for a year in Australia. Out of all my travels, by no comparison, I've met the most Germans backpacking. It's naturally a part of their culture at this time. I absolutely love that. All the germans I've met have been super open minded and just awesome people. Good for Anton for taking the leap and plunging into arguably the best real life education. Travelling the world alone with no itinerary and no plans. 

Marie on the other hand has been traveling the world for the past seven years. Seven years! Six of those years with her boyfriend and for the past year alone. Every time I hear a woman spout this nonsense that the world is a dangerous place for a girl to be travelling alone it makes me shudder with  frustration. All I have to do from now on is just say, "talk to Marie." It's such a lousy fear based belief. I mean for fuck sake, if you want to be technical, it's dangerous walking outside your front door, it's dangerous getting in your car, it's dangerous just being alive! What are you gonna do sit in a bubble of fear your whole life? 

Becoming more familiar with their pantry and garden it made me so happy seeing spring water, all sorts of quality ingredients and herbs, including the Ayurvedic herbs Brahmi and Holy Basil out in the garden. For as long as I live pure high quality food and herbs will be one of my greatest passions.   

The rest of the night was spent in conversation and a solo walk on the tranquil beaches of Maroochydore. 

Photo courtesy of google. Sundeck gardens is the white three story building sitting near the bottom left corner near the roundabout.