Our Last Day in Australia

Today is a sad day in the history of Globetrotting. Today is our last full day in Australia.

We woke early this morning feeling only slightly rough from last night, and left the hostel with a new girl in our room called Cassie to get the train and bus to Bondi Beach for the day. We spent a few hours lazing in the sun (catching our last rays and trying to reclaim our lost tans!). I went in the sea only to cool off - it was a gorgeously sunny and hot day again - and the sea was lovely and refreshing. That's something I'm really going to miss - just being by the coast and being able to lie on the beach and play in the sea all day. Bliss! I only came out of the sea because I was anxious about getting hit by a surf board!

I left Cassie and Claire on the beach to go and salvage my last Boost - a Pure Passion which I downed I was so thirsty! And I even stretched and had a regular this time instead of my usual small since it was our last day. I had a brief browse of the shops and bought some sunglasses (something I intended to do in our first week of being in this country!), then we travelled back to Central Station to post our last blogs.

I really can't put into words how I'm feeling right now. It doesn't feel right that I'll be getting on a airplane tomorrow, not knowing for certain when I'll be seeing this amazing country again. It just feels too soon, like we haven't really done Australia justice. The thought of leaving makes me feel extremely sad. I've now set my heart on coming back sometime after university with a working visa, to experience working and living here before I consider applying for residency. If that goes well I would move here in a heartbeat. The only thing hindering my decision would be the fact that my family would be on the other side of the world. That would be a hard decision to make.

Don't get me wrong - I am looking forward to going back to Bolton (and the 'Real World'!). Especially to see all my family and friends again and spend some time at home (without plastic-bag rustlers in the night, without having to get ready for bed in the dark if you come home late, without mangy drain hair, without dirty, messy and noisy kitchens, without pasta for tea every night...!). However, I feel this trip has somewhat turned me into a dracomaniac ('travel addict' - for all you laymen!), and I'll now be forever planning my next travel venture. That's something else that would stop me from moving here straight after university - the fact that there's still so much of the world to see.

In fact, I've been thinking about coming here again and encompassing a few countries into the journey (to justify going to Australia twice!). My vague plan is to work at home for a year or two after university, then make my way back to Australia via South-East Asia, taking in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. Then, after working in a few places in Australia for a year, returning home via New Zealand, Fiji and maybe South America. Sounds like a plan hey! We'll have to see.

Whatever happens, I know that I'm going to feel an empty space once I leave Oz. At least I can rest assured in the fact that I can, and will, come back. That's for certain.