A Solo Travellers Mind

After my contract in Narrandera finished, it left me 3 weeks in no mans land. Week 3 of 3 was in Sydney, which technically meant I had 2 weeks in no mans land. I made my choice to head back to Newcastle, work a little, and relax a little.

My first week in Newy was nice, the first few days were spent working on a very busy ward in the hospital, with covid making a huge reappearance in NSW, it meant my days were spent back in the alien suit praying I also wouldn’t catch it! I also had 2 lovely room mates during this time, Leonie and Melia, we got up one morning to watch the sunrise and drink tea, and we sat up in the evening telling our life story. It’s not often you meet people where you can so easily discuss life politics, war, and personal battles, and although we all did not share the same opinions, we valued the input each had. It was also the first time since being in Australia that I discussed in depth my life back home, specifically my family life, with someone I wouldn’t have classified as a friend (of course i do now though). I think it quite beautiful when you meet someone and you can talk about the deep and meaningful in life while sat on a bunk bed on a Tuesday night, and discuss the different paths that have brought you to the place you are now. Leonie is probably not reading this, but in case she is, I’d like to mention how much of a beautiful human she is, both inside and out.

My weekend was a slow and very relaxed weekend. I completed my final training run for the half marathon, hitting 18.5km with a good enough pace. I was due to work Sunday but quickly cancelled this shift at 1 am after experiencing my first strange night in the YHA. With a male staying in a female only dorm (a computer error) but one that lead me to leaving my dorm and camping in a friends room as the man snored louder than an actual train and meant little sleep was occurring. I didn’t mind too much, as I spent a rainy day with Bryce, chatting shit, watching films and painting my nails.

The following week I met up with Michael, we took a break for a few months recently, but it appears, as always the string that holds us together has continued to do so, even during this time. Some people are simply meant to be in your life, in one capacity or another. We spent 2 lovely days together, having hot drinks by the beach, watching the new bad boys film at the cinema, eating tasty food and going on a whale watching tour where we got to spot at least 10 whales up close. The following 2 days, I worked before heading back to Sydney for an exciting evening.

My first evening in Sydney began with a concert, watching The Dreggs with Sarp. They had 2 support acts, one of which was called This new Light, an up and coming singer from Australia, and he was very, very good. The evening was an overall success, minus the parking ticket! The following day, I took my new hiking boots for a test ride, completing the spit bridge to manly walk, one of my favourite coastal walks in the city, which never disappoints! I also completed a lot of shopping this weekend for things for my up and coming trips, including some new and very cool hiking sandals that I am slightly obsessed with! On Monday, I worked a quick shift to cover the week’s expenditure. Tuesday – Thursday was very slow, the weather was not ideal, I took advantage of the periodic sunshine and did some quick 5k runs to prep for the race and also headed to town to get a new phone (this wasn’t something I wanted to do, however my battery was now lasting a total of 3hrs with no usage so it was time to say goodbye unfortunately! 4 years of being dropped, damaged, and soaked in the rain, and it was the battery life that killed the S20, pretty impressive). Friday morning was an early start, with the 777 marathon! Sarp dropped me off at race time and was there to meet me at the end, I completed the half marathon in sub 2 hours and was pretty impressed with this time! I spent the rest of Friday resting as my legs had taken a beating, and it’s fair to say I was pretty sore! On Saturday, I decided I would take the opportunity of the sunshine (during a week of rainy days) and went for a hike in the morning on the Two Valley Trail local to Sarp. It took 3 hrs in total, with the first hour and half being deep in the national park. A very beautiful walk with some time to spot birds, a black cookuborra, and some flying bats! I then spent the day baking brownies and painting, a wholesome day indeed! Sunday was a sloth day, I had a very sore neck, and a very sore knee (potioanlly over doing it on the 13km hike after a half marathon lol), so I spent my day watching romcoms and melting into the sofa, a cloudy day well spent in my opinion. My final evening in Sydney was spent with friends having a BBQ before heading to the airport to begin the next adventure!