Chapter 8: Late Twenties, Here I Come!

A new entry...great, I hear you say! Yes! This post is different to the usual narrative of my stay in Australia. Truth be told, I don't have a lot to record at the minute. I'm preparing to take a trip to Auckland, New Zealand in a week so I'll get back to my travel experiences after that. Hopefully, I'll be able to share some exciting news with you then too!

So, yesterday I got an early birthday message from a relation of mine in England. Completely out of the blue - especially since my birthday isn't until next week haha! Two simple words:

But, it inspired my way of thinking and propelled me into a wave of extreme positiveness that made me the happiest I have been in a while. The fact that I'll be starting off a new birth year always has great significance for me. Mainly because it's a chance to start afresh. The last 6 months has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. I have uprooted myself from my life in Ireland, quit my job, broke up with a great guy, and travelled half way around the world. It's been a bit of an adjustment. I'll admit, it hasn't been easy. I've felt isolated, afraid and insecure at times and sometimes I've felt like I was stuck in a waiting rut. Waiting for things to happen. Waiting, yes, I find myself waiting again.

However, thanks to that message, I'm not thinking in the same way as before. I mean, I'm in Australia. Not exactly doing what I want to do yet, but I have all avenues open to me! I'm not afraid of what I might or might not do. I'm looking forward to all possibilities that may come my way. Getting older for many people is a negative experience and most of us associate negative connotations with getting older. Some focus on the bad things that have happened in the past year and that in turn sets you up for disappointment or low expectations for the coming year.

In my opinion, that's a waste of time. I'm happy to be getting on in years haha! My birthday always sparks happy thoughts for me. Turning twenty-seven (late twenties, here I come!), gives me great hope. I'm that much smarter (maybe), wiser (also, debatable) and more aware of what I want for myself. As I walked home in the beautiful Aussie evening, I realised how lucky I was (and am) to be where I am, to have all these great opportunities in front of me and most importantly, to have the wonderfully wacky support system I have behind me.

Briefly, my thoughts turned negative as I thought of how little I had going into the new year and also how much I missed people, my friends especially, back home. But, then, this idea, a revelation one might say, came to me - that no matter where I went, no matter how far away I was, that, it didn't matter how long I went without seeing them; I would be friends with these wonderfully flawed perfect people until the day I die. That thought was the reason for my happiness yesterday and it continues to fuel the bubbling fire in me as I write this. So, a thank you is due to that individual (you know who you are) for kindling such positiveness and for making me smile like a fool as I walked home. I also thank you for the weird looks I probably got from passers by - not that I noticed or cared!

This leads me to introduce my next piece that I wrote six months ago from a rain ridden, cloudier, frustrated me, waiting for her life to start. Yes, waiting! She seems, now, like a completely different person to me as I write this. I feel more myself and mature in many ways. However, that same girl is in here somewhere too, as a reminder that waiting is only a limitation that we put on ourselves. She was right, the waiting period is over for me! I will post it directly after this and I hope it sparks positive thinking and inspires you as it did me as I re-read it!

Love Tasha x

Chapter 5: Tis the season.....Merry Christmas!!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates this past while. I've been slacking off - haha! We've been getting all set for Christmas here in Oz. What else has been happening, I hear you ask?! Well, Dad's been sick and he's hurt his back. Didn't last too long thankfully. He still managed to take us ice skating one of the days. No skating for him though. His back still isn't 100% yet but he's getting on okay. He blames his old age - I think he still sees himself as being in his 20s.

I'm not as bad at the old skating as I make myself out to be. Ice skating is one of my Christmas traditions so it was nice to be able to do that over here. I can't honestly believe that it's Christmas Eve.  It's not the same here without the cold weather. I don't mean that in a bad way - I love the sunshine, and I certainly don't envy everyone in Ireland right now with all those storms and weather warnings. I hope everyone is doing okay! Most of the shopping has been done and wrapped. There's a Christmas tree, lights decorating houses all over the neighbourhood and beyond and Rose is excited for Christmas morning already. But, there is something to be said for being huddled beside a live fire in your pjs and dressing gown, drinking hot chocolate and watching old movies!

 Louise and I took a trip into Brisbane last week. It was a beautiful day, cloudy to begin with but clear blue skies had invaded by lunchtime. We surveyed the city from the Wheel of Brisbane and climbed up into the Memorial Garden on South Bank. We ate ice-cream with mini m&ms and tim tams while watching the ibis ( a species of bird). We got some good photos too!

On Friday morning, Dad, Louise, Rose and I went bowling (or 10 pin bowling as the Aussies call it). Now, I'm not particularly good at it and I played pretty poorly in the first game but, I won the second. Not only did I win but I got a few strikes/spares and I also beat Dad which was awesome. He wasn't too happy about it - haha. I don't think he expected it after how I played during the first game. Neither did I, if I'm honest!

That night, we went into town. Brisbane is lovely at night. It was packed of course, being that it was the Friday before Christmas. there was a Christmas Parade starting from Queen Street Mall. It rein-acted the nativity scene and scenes from the Nutcracker ballet, encompassing live animals and performers. After that we walked down to Town Hall where there was a lighting performance displayed on the outside of the building. It was beautiful. I'm hoping to upload a video of it with this entry so fingers crossed that'll work okay! (Edit: I'm sorry to say that the videos didn't turn out well so I've uploaded a fair few photos instead.)

In this last shot, I think it looks like there's snow. I love the lighting in this photo too (below)

Obviously, I can't say that I'm not having a good time. I've been  looking into possibly staying on or coming back in the near future. Seems stupid not to take advantage of the freedom I have now - I won't have it forever! I've made New Years plans too so I'll be moving on from Brissy soon. Down to Melbourne and I'll meet up with a few friends who are lolling about the place! And then, somehow I'll make my way up to Sydney from there. Can anyone say they've survived twelve hours on a bus??! I'll let you know how I get on  with that!

We're expecting a bit of a heat wave here over Christmas. That'll include sunshine, possible thunder storms and temperatures of up to 35 degrees in QLD. It's hotter down in Melbourne at the minute -about 40 degrees. The one thing I regret is not being able to drive over here. If a genie approached me and offered me three wishes, my first would be to be able to drive and have a car to drive over here. Oh the adventures I could have!

Anyway, I'll do my best to be a better correspondent from now on. Thank you all (whoever you are) for reading this. I'm amazed that so many read it!

Happy Christmas and I'll be taking to you in the new year!

Love Tasha x