Pre-farm Adventure

I don't know where to start. I have to admit its difficult to be so out of contact and yet also very freeing! It's nice to just be here and not amist several conversations at once or feeling the need to check my email- because I can't! (I'm writing this in the car to share later.)

Everytime I turn on the radio I hear One Dimension! Makes me think of my own boy band obsession. Ben and I rented a camper van and drove along The Great Ocean Road over the last couple days. Crazy to think about being at the bottom of the map (not counting the south pole.) I got to play and swim in the water for an hour at the last beach we went to and had a blast! The water is so clear and beautiful. I'm always amazed by the power and beauty of the ocean.

The road trip has been fun. The road signs in Australia are of course different and I find them amusing, especially the one where the tire tracks of the car criss-cross over each other behind the car -warning that it's slippery. Ben's been doing a good job staying to the left, but it definitely is confusing at times! We've seen a kangaroo, lots of sheep and cows, beautiful parrots and several koalas! (A parrot landed on my head at one stop!) The plants and trees are also fascinating. There are incredibly green giant ferns everywhere!

Earlier in the week we managed to figure our way around Sydney with public transit quite proficiently. One afternoon we were trying to get back to our hostel in Melborne and got all mixed up on which train to take, switching from platform to platform as directed by several "informed" people. Eventually we found the right platform but hopped on the express train and blew past our station! So we got off and found the right train on the other side of the platform and it was about to leave the station so I ran and hopped on an turned to Ben to see the door close between us. It was one of those movie moments with our hands reached toward each other saying,"nooooooooooo...." I sat down laughing and got off at our station while Ben went to the information box to find out when the next train was coming and when he pushed the green button it started to dial the operator which he didn't want so he tried to cancel it and pushed the red button, "What's your emergency?" Haha! He walked away.

Our first night with the camper it got dark sooner than we'd planned on but fortunately we ran into another group of travelers at the waterfall we stopped to see and they showed us the way to a free campsite! We had a wonderful time hanging out with them under a tarp suspended over the gap between our campers. Everyone had a different accent but we were all speaking English, for the most part. They were great!

Visiting all the big tourist attractions along The Great Ocean Road made me realize how many ways there are to travel. I like our way. If we didn't have a rugby game to get to and a farm waiting for us it would be fun to make every stop and check out every interesting roadside attraction along the way, but we've had to pick and choose. My favorites were the Loch and Gorge and the beach after London Bridge where I got to play in the waves!

We've survived on potatoes, carrots, "rocket" (which is arugula) and spinach, cashews and apples. We also had some rice to incorporate. And peanut butter! I've created some interesting concoctions and they've been yummy. Sad thing is...
I've run out of chocolate!

We're on our way now to the Collingwood game at the Eliad stadium~ exciting Rugby game! Our first day wandering around Melborne we came across a rugby team practicing out on a feild in the middle of a park. They were really good and it was fascinating to watch. There was a family there and one of the women was calling out to all the men calling them "baby" and cheering them on. I ended up asking a guy who had been talking with one of the players and found out it was one of the more famous professional teams in the Rugby union! Comparable with The Lakers, he said. They were casually signing autographs for that family and chatting briefly with them. One girl kept handing her 4 month old baby to the players and taking their picture. It was exciting but we didn't know who was who so Ben wouldn't take my picture with them. One guy kicked a ball from halfway across the feild right into the recycling bin that held their balls! I should've known he was one of their best players. We ended up wandering around until we found the stadium they're playing at today and bought tickets!

So we have one more night in Melborne then we catch a 4am shuttle to the airport and hop on a plane back to Sydney. Our harvest got pushed up again so we'll head to Steph's collect our stuff and then hop on another plane at noon to Dubbo where we'll meet Jono! And so it begins!

(Sorry for the lame photos ~ all the great ones are on the camera...)

We're not in Kansas anymore...actually..?

I'm writing this from the cotton field because right now there's nothing better to do ~ except watch them mend the ball buggie. They need to weld it and we can't move on until they do, so I'm chillin against my cotton module catching up on this. I plan to take pictures of the whole process when it's slow..but stopped doesn't offer a good idea of the process. I've already had lunch, there's no more cotton rollin around on the ground worth pickin up; I suppose I could pull string for dayz but we have plenty for now.
I'm being summoned...
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Weee!! I just got my first lesson in driving a tractor! Which will be my responsibility from now on whenever necessary. I'll check the oil/water in the morning then start em up! Then I'll turn on the module builders (my machine and Harry's) and then climb up and sit on my cushion while I wait for my first load.

Working the builder is pretty cool. It's like a video game or flying an airplane with the levers I'm working. I can get into quite a quick, efficient rhythm of forward, down, up til I slowly approach the end of of the builder, then down twice, then back, down, up... Pretty simple but it keeps my attention concentrated.

It's beautiful out in the fields with blue sky all around, until dusk when we've had gorgeous sunsets. The clouds are also quite amazing to watch float across the sky. It's quite strange that the tree tops are as high as the horizon gets..there are certainly no hills in this flatland. It's been really windy the last couple days though and pretty chilly. The sun is warm protected from the wind but atop the builder I'm right in it.

I'm getting along wonderfully with the team and have been working right alongside the 5 other men. Feels good. Frustrating sometimes though when I'm just not strong enough to heave the bag of cotton collected from the ground up to the builder or pull that tight knot on the tarp over the module. However, that's landed me the tractor job, so I'm happy. And the module builder is great. Right now my builder is facing the sunsets and I'm really good at it. It's fun working the BIG machine! Though it requires strength, it also requires gentleness, which I Definitely possess. Today in the middle of module building, a lovely yellow and black butterfly fluttered-by ~ or did a flutterby butter fly?

Being at the farm has been wonderful. Jon (my boss) and Karin are just great and Harry, Karin's dad, is really an adorable guy. They're all funny too, Smiles and laughter all day, it's great. Ben and I are staying at Ross (head farmer, Jon's dad) and Kerry's house and it's been absolutely lovely. Rocco (Ross) is quiet but sweet and very kind and Kerry is absolutely wonderful in every way! I already feel a strong connection with her and feel very safe and at home. She and Karin are both lovely cooks and we've been well fed! They're all vegetarian here and the food has been delicious! Kerry has also made us some bickies (short for biscuit, which is a cookie) and some yummy banana-white chocolate cupcakes to take in our lunches.

Ben and I make breakie each morning and pack a lunch for the day to put in the esky (cooler.) Then Harry comes to pick us up at 8 and we're off for the day! We've got quite a great team and if the machinery and weather would just cooperate a bit we could breeze right through this harvest! It's fun getting so dirty all day and not having to worry about it. I've decided to just keep my pants by the door and throw em on before I leave because they're getting quite greasy and I don't want to ruin any others but can't put these in the wash until a rainy day (our only chance for a day off.) Thankfully these ones were from Vinnies (St. Vincent's ~ like Salvo, salvation army.)
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Karin just came for a visit and brought lunch for Harry and Jon. She took a few photos and then we climbed up into the builder and played in the cotton, falling in on our backs, seeing who could jump in the furthest, having a cotton-ball fight! The cotton smells like something I can't define. Something I've eaten. Maybe celery seed?
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Whew!!! Once we got the buggie fixed the fuel ran out in the other builder which meant I took every load (instead of every other) and it was exhausting! My arms were tired and I'm trying to think of the exercises they recommend for people who work at computers all day, to keep from cramping up! There's no masseuse around here unfortunately. Anyway, overall it was a very successful day! I'm having a wonderful time working and being part of the process. And evenings are just lovely back at the house. Tonight we had delicious roasted veggies and brown rice and as I was helping clean up I found ginger tea! Hooray!! Seeing my excitement, Kerry showed me her stash (which is loaded with goodies!) and offered me a piece of ginger rolled in rice flour and it was fantastically delicious!

Bedtime now and we'll start it all again tomorrow. We'll have a bit of a later start so I'm hoping to go out with Kerry and meet the chookies! (chickens)

I am THINKING in an Australian accent. I love listening to everyone talk, and their voices in my head are lovely. I also love the expressions here. Especially how everything is lovely and gorgeous! What a wonderful life!

Touring Sydney!

I'm debating how much I want to blog and how often. There are so many incredible things and so many fun things I'm discovering these first few days and I definitely want to share them. But I don't want to lose sight of this trip being for me. But I keep thinking, I want to write that in my blog ~ so, here I am.

I just had some delicious Greek yogurt for breakfast (best yogurt I've ever had.) And Steph is cooking and Ben is reading the paper. He just had me taste passion-fruit/lilikoi that we picked up at the market ~it's quite tart and fragrant like perfume! I guess the point is life here is just as normal as anywhere else but I'M IN AUSTRALIA!! Steph and I are having a conversation about Albany Ca.. it's nice to initially have someone who can relate to our life in the US. The australian dollars are made with a plastic, similar to the material used for certain envelopes or Indestructibles~ which are a line of baby books that are chew proof! And it's color and size coordinated. ATMs spit out yellow $50s or "pineapples."

The creatures here are certainly fun and beautiful to look at. Lots of incredible birds just wandering around! We saw some really sweet new babies following their parents around in a pond and Ben got some great pictures of coccatoos in the trees at the Sydney Botanical gardens. There are also seagulls and pigeons. The spiders are amazing! We saw a possum (which here is spelled without an "o") wandering around in broad daylight, which isn't normal apparently but it was really cute. The Gardens are really beautiful, especially the trees in my opinion! (I'm a sucker for trees though.) Lots of the trees here have roots reaching from the upper branches trying to get to the ground and then they form another trunk, sometimes connected to the original trunk and other times not. Really fascinating! We also saw a walking tree!

We had to walk under the Sydney Opera House to get to the Gardens and passing by that was incredible. (We plan to do a tour another day.) We looked at the Opera House from all angles though, up close, from the Gardens, from across the harbor, from Harbor Bridge and from under Harbor bridge after we crossed over it and ate delicious dark chocolate and melted white and milk chocolate drinks. We had a lovely lunch on the grass overlooking the harbor under a tree and played frisbee for a bit before our trek through The Rocks toward the Harbor Bridge walk. When on the bridge
I fell in love with an awesome pirate ship in the water! I plan to be on that ship at one point or another! Although, I'm not sure I want the touristy version. I was considering being a ferry docker for a job while I'm here! We went by this crazy amusement park under the bridge which had a clown face for an entrance! The lights turned on just as we were leaving the city and we got to see the city begin to light up from the train station. I led Ben in a mini tango dance on the platform while we waited and noticed after there was a girl in the departing train who was videoing our dance on her phone ~ I smiled and waved!

We walked home and made a delicious (though very simple) pumpkin soup: boiled pumpkin, (all squash is called pumpkin), carrots and potatoes pureed with some coconut cream and cinnamon over rice. YUM! I glanced through their living room library and found myself very attracted to many of the books ~ I'm always amazed at how much is available to me and how little I will every get to, "There is more to see, than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done," thank you Lion King. Ben and I have been researching and trying to figure out what we want to do for our week of travel. There are so many exciting options. Looks like we'll be on a plane again and possibly renting a car or van from a company called Wicked.

Off to do some laundry now. Life is Good.

Crickey! We are in AustraliA!

Phrase of the day: "How ya goin?"
What I've actually been saying is, "How ya doin? Erm, goin?"

Today has been incredible and Steph is an amazing hostess!! Landing was great and going through customs was basically seamless. They didn't even search my stuff when I told them that I had food. They are pretty trusting down here I guess. I've investigated the toilets but the flush just seems to be sucked Down, not in a particular direction. I'll keep noticing in other toilets though. The spiders have met expectations and are SO COOL! We saw some pretty amazing looking ones today at Bondi Beach ((Australia's equivalent to Miami Beach)) and even witnessed a bee fly right into a spider and get immediately wrapped up! The spiders legs were on the web but her body was flipping and turning as she wrapped the bee and began to eat it(?)/suck out the juices(?) I got some cool pictures of it on my camera but I haven't uploaded them yet. I keep leaving my phone thinking, I don't need this, but I forget it doubles as a small camera! I wanted it most when we went to Jock's (Jon's brother (the farmer)) and he had a stick of cotton plant on his mantel. It was so cool to see it up close. It's really an incredible plant. There will be much more to experience!!!!

Steph has been filling us in on some of the things they say around here that are different from the states: a "bottle shop" is a liquor store. We actually passed a Drive In (drive-through) Bottle Shop!? WHAT!! Way to promote "drink" driving, as they call it. Also, when you do go to the store you're going to the "shop," which I find cute.
It's really bizarre to be in a car! Driving is on the other side and once today I thought there as a cute white dog driving the car, and another time it looked like an 8 year old girl was driving! SO Weird! It's the same with escalators and the sidewalk. I nearly crashed into a biker because he was coming toward us and I instinctively moved to the right which would have been fine but then at the last second I realized, No! The Left! So I darted to the left and he had to swerve around me! From the time I had my realization I called out, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" in my obvious American accent! What a dork.

Highlight of the day was certainly swimming/floating/jumping/diving in the warm, clear, blue ocean water! It wasn't a super hot day but Ben and I ran for it and jumped in and the three of us (and Many others!) hung out in the water playing for quite a while. I was amazed at how incredibly clear it was, and the colors so vibrant - the foam was literally "sea-foam green" like the crayola crayon! The beaches are absolutely stunning. They have pools on the beaches (some dug out and built, some created with boulders for walls) for lap swimming or safe kiddie pools. They pump the ocean water in or it just splashes in when the tide comes in and the colors of the water in the pools are just as gorgeous. They have two flags up on the beaches marking where swimmers can play and the rip tides aren't dangerous. These are the areas the life guards protect. At one point I ended up outside of the flags and they called to me to get back inside! It's so easy to get lost in the sound and the feeling of floating in the incredible strength of Mother Ocean, as Steph says. I slathered on lots'o sunscreen and didn't get burned but feel dried out. We were super grateful for Steph's lunch contribution of white rice with olive oil, sprouted mung beans, wakame and roasted root veggies. It was soo yummy and satisfying after playing in the water. Also satisfying: nap.

We walked through town to the store to wake up and get stimulated a little. Steph's doing a great job taking care of us, trying to acclimate us quickly, feeding us and offering vitamin C for airplane germies in our system. (I think I'm going to catch onto the nicknaming of ALL words rather quicky as I like to to that anyway: germies.) I made a yummy comfort food dinner because we're feeling so groggy and tired, of miso soup with carrots, green onions (from Steph's herb garden) and udon noodles over leafy greens. Then Steph offered us a yummy cookie which is tradition to have on the first night in Australia. It was really tasty ~ and chocolatey, of course!

Now it's time to sleep. Hopefully I don't wake up at 4 in the morning rearin to go. I don't really wanna take a sleeping pill but might need to tomorrow if I can't sleep through the night.

I am so grateful to be here. This trip is such an awesome gift and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. I plan to milk it for everything it's worth. I hope to continue to focus in on what my intentions are for the experience I want to have so I don't get lost in the magic of it all to the point I end up, well, lost! What an amazing place I am in for this adventure! It's pretty amazing to me how perfectly aligned everything CONTINUES to be ( the last month has felt this way, to the extreme!) My heart is so happy and flowing with love and appreciation for this world and this life and the people in it! <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="br">Big Love to Everyone in the StateS!

Hello From Oz!

This is the email I wrote to my family from the plane and the airport and was going to recreate it as a blog but my new friend Jet Lag is telling me if I want to write about today then I should call up my old friend Copy and Paste. :D

Hello!
I'm writing this at your 11 o'clock, my 4 am. This flight is definitely a long one! Sleeping was okay but definitely squished! We're about to fill out the forms to get through customs and I'm trying to finish my incredible chocolate birthday cake and auntie k's cookies so they don't get taken away! Steph has lots of things planned for this weekend and I imagine I'll be pretty dang tired at the end of our day but I'm so excited for it!!
We flew over some island a while ago and it was so cool to see so few lights clustered together out in the middle of so much darkness! This is all pretty incredible and still soo surreal.
Haha. I just noticed I'm using an excessive amount of exclamation points. Can you tell I'm excited!? It's amazing just being in this space with no real idea of what's ahead and at the same time not really trying to figure it out, just knowing it's going to be an incredible adventure! True nature of living in the moment <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="br">


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It's your 12:30 my 5:30 :)
And there is an incredibllllllle sunrise out the window!

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We've landed safely! 6:30am Sydney Australia
We're on another continent, in another timezone, in the opposite hemisphere!
I'm sitting next to the window where some of the bags are being taken out from under the plane. Ben and I guessed about 700 people on this thing~ crazy! This whole machine is crazy to think about, also, that was the smoothest landing ever. It feels strange to not be moving after all the jostling of the last 14 hours! Well we're off to meet up with Steph and start the day!

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I was hoping to connect to airport wifi but it didn't work. So now we are with Steph in her cute place with beautiful views from the windows and Steph has making us quinoa flakes ("porridge" ~ very delicious) and tea. Then we'll start our day!

Turning the Page

6 years ago, when high school was finally over, I chopped off my hair, accepted my diploma and drove 350 miles in my first car to my new home. I brought with me the "important" things from my bedroom as well as some new goodies, like a set of personalized Care Bear bath towels, a blender "for smoothies," and lots of gift cards to use in the life of Ashland Oregon.

I gently held the gems of my experiences: love, trust and friendship. "This above all, to your own self be true, be your own closest friend and be gentle with you," is the quote that has held my hand through every transition since wandering from under the wing of my mother. With those first steps out into the world I was holding onto the idea that miracles are everyday occurrences, all I had to do was look for them. The book Small Miracles proved to be a reliable friend to turn to when in need of reassurance.

It was amazing to me how easily and smoothly I transitioned into my new life. There was heartache and homesickness, especially for my incredible friends and the family I grew up with but I soon developed an Oregon family as well. I met some amazing people who have certainly helped shape my views on life. I discovered the incredible oceanic depths of love from the constant rolling waves to the deepest caverns and crevices where it waits quietly to be found. I plan to know some of those people forever and others I will hold in my heart as part of our incredible experiences together.

In preparing for college I took and passed basic tests, gracefully skipped out of others and was awarded scholarships. I was embraced warmly by a community of preschool children and their parents as well as an administration who took me under their wing and encouraged me to use all my amazing talents. I came to grow close to family I'd missed when living in California and learned what the love of a father is like through my grandpa. Eventually I also felt safe enough to reach out to my own dad and reconnect with him. I'm learning how to relate to each member of my family as a person, an important person in my life, not by my choosing but by the amazing gift of an incredibly loving family.

I mapped my own way through school, across town and into the hearts of new friends. Becoming a part of student government and getting involved with theater led me to some amazing experiences! I found my passion for creativity, a love for spontaneity and allowed myself to open with flexibility to each moment and let it come to it's fullest potential. Learning to free myself and let go through snowboarding with hardcore boarders, trying out for a talent show but helping run it instead and coming to deeply appreciate the incredible passion of a musician, have all been strengthening to my sense of being in this life.

It's so wonderful to look back and see the people I shared all these experiences with, especially those who are still with me today, even if hundreds of miles away! This life has been full of gifts and I believe now more than ever if I open my heart and mind with love and acceptance, the world has amazing things to offer. I am so grateful for where I am, who I am, and where I'm going. Some days I find myself bubbling over with love and want so much to figure out how to share it with everyone! I know I have so much ahead of me and I just had to stop and embrace this day with gratitude, love and an offering of my own presence, for whatever that's worth, to the greater soul of existence.