Hey, what's going on?
The last post was a bit cryptic. Too much reliance on songs, I fear, and not enough words and photos.
So here again, done properly.
Now starts the time when it's getting interesting for you guys, for you blog readers, eager to hear about crazy adventures, memorable experiences and traveler's anecdotes or whatever shit you might call it :D
The day came when I left my beloved home on Point Cartwright on the Sunshine Coast to finally embark on that big roadtrip I have always been talking about - remember? Yeah, that's why I bought and painted that car in the first place.... that's why I came to AUSTRALIA in the first place!
I think I'm prepared for the worst but hoping for the best.
So, there is Angel, this lovely one
she was in the wonderful fencing pack down crew in Woodford and just recently moved into her "van of Destiny" to go festival hopping and traveling. :)
She was the one who told me about the Wanderlust Festival on Cockatoo Island in Sydney, and that they are still looking for volunteers, AND that Nahko & Medicine for the People is playing.
That sounded like the call to me - it had been lurking around the corners for a long time, waiting to catch me in a moment to just go snap! and end my wonderful time on the Sunshine Coast, so I finally grab my car, waiting for me in the driveway, to take it away and on that big Australian road trip I have always dreamed of.
The date was set, preparations were made, and last suppers were held. With only the best memories I think of the last day of grape picking, followed by an evening at Ian's place with him, Anthony and Maryline and my humble self. While Maryline whipped up this vegetable lasagna with salad and raw food chocolate dessert
I got motivated to add my artistic touches to Anthony's painting of a car on the kitchen door...
The intention was good, the process was the most fun and happiness, but the outcome is a bit disputable in my eyes... Wish I could wipe it out and do new, oh well. :D
That day was so fun. Goodbye Maryline and Anthony, you are awesome and I will see you again! :D
Back on the coast I produced a bit more art to leave behind.
Then I packed up and left all them dear friends. My Kitty and Mow Mow, my frangipani seedlings, the beach and the house with the glass mosaics, Dom and his kids. Ian, his dogs and his house full of art on beautiful Mt. Mee. I spent the last bit of my Queensland time with Sonya and Russell in their by the Kumbarcho Wildlife Sanctuary in Brisbane. And for once, I got a photo of them!
I must mention the wonderful evening we had before, when Sonya, the Queen of raw delicious foods, made up a "quick dinner" for me.
And, of course, for dessert I was spoiled with some more raw chocolate, yumm.
Thank you so, so much, everyone.
Cozy, hm?
To save on fuel money, Angel and me picked up two British girls as car poolers, and because they preferred to arrive in Sydney on the same day - we drove the whole frickin distance in one day. 1000 km in one day!
I can promise you, that was the first and last time I did something like that. Never again. Not only is it such a strain on my car and one misses out on all the things to see on the way, it's also just so exhausting and by the end of it I felt like I was driving in a dream and that was definitely everything else but safe. After midnight we arrived in Chatswood, and I went to sleep feeling like a zombie.
And then... Sydney. We were lucky enough to be invited to stay with Angel's uncle in Chatswood and from there caught the train and ferry everyday to Cockatoo Island.
Sydney Harbour at dawn, at night (huge cruise ship on the quay!), and on a sunny afternoon.
That eerie tunnel is on Cockatoo Island.
Dustiiiiin! Hey isn't he so funny. And always in the middle of all party, trouble, or whatever is happening. Gonna listen to your CDs on my trip :)
Then, Saturday night, one more time right there on the stage - Nahko & Medicine for the People rockin' it away for us with all our favourite songs.
The cherry on top of the cake that day was a campfire jam with Nahko and Chitty (the drummer), who's got an amazing voice and guitar skills as well! This whole band seems to be made up of people who are already absolutely stunning and talented by themselves...
On Sunday then, I also did some yoga classes. The first one was blindfolded yoga, which sounds just as interesting as it is.
There was just one problem: I couldn't hear what the yoga teacher was saying. Although he spoke through a mic and I sat near the speaker. How can that be?
As some of you know, I had a little food poisoning when I was in Sri Lanka that triggered a condition that is called Reactive Arthritis. It's an autoimmune reaction and that basically means that my own immune system got very confused and started attacking my perfectly healthy left knee joint. It flared up and was stiff and painful for almost one year until I found a rheumathologist who put me on immunesuppressive tablets. That was last June, and since them tablets started working, my knee's been great, almost normal again, it's an absolute joy. On the other hand, since those tablets (jou Mama look it up: Methotrexate) work by making my immune system weaker, I've been battling colds, coughs, worsened hayfever and minor infections ever since I started taking them. I'm the girl with the permanent tissue in her hand!!! *cries*
So about four weeks ago I caught another cold in the air conditioning when I went to the movies ("A Theory of Everything", highly recommened, will be a favourite of mine), and since then got the cough and stuffy nose and blocked up ears! So I hear myself really loud and everything else really quietly. People have to yell at me in conversations, almost funny. As it doesn't seem to get better by itself I'm on friggin antibiotics now and hope to get my full hearing capacity back! :D
Back to the blindfolded yoga - I sat there blindly and half deaf and almost cried because I couldn't hear what the yoga teacher was saying. Therefore I was and still am endlessly grateful that another yoga teacher lady asked me what's up and then took over the microphone with a loud energetic voice that even I could hear...
And the rest of the class got really awesome then. After some simple yoga exercises that showed how much we rely on our eyesight for balance, we all were asked to start crawling on all fours and blindly feel ourselves a way to one of the room's walls. After a lot of giggling everyone had found a wall, and we we're asked to find the middle of the room. I was a massive room and I believe it didn't really matter where the middle of it was, but eventually all of us blind yogis sat huddled together and almost on each other's laps somewhere on the carpet. The next task was to find a partner, sit opposite each other, take the blindfolds off and then, after only being able to feel your partner before, look into her/his eyes for 3 to minutes.
I found that super interesting because I had been reading about a psychological experiment similar to that just a couple of weeks ago. How is it to stare in to a total strangers eyes for several minutes?
My stranger was a lady maybe 10 years older than me, with small, warm hands, black cotton tights and beautiful greenish eyes. We smiled in the beginning and then only a little bit, trying not to get distracted by all the people around us and hold eye contact. She blinked a whole lot while her eyes moved across my face. I was wondering if she felt a little bit uncomfortable and towards the end, was really waiting for the teachers to end this minutes-lasting-moment. Not that she didn't like me, she didn't even know my name and I can say that for a change I didn't even have pimples on my face. Probably it can be really hard for most people to hold eye contact with someone for so long, especially a stranger.
Was it hard for me? I didn't need much willpower to keep my eyes glued on her eyes, but I think I used some tricks. I'm pretty good at goo goo eyeing with people I love; it's like I talk to them in my head and imagine they can hear my thoughts. I almost know how they would answer so it's really funny. With that stranger lady, I had no clue what she was thinking, so I just "told" her my story so she didn't have to "answer". Also I tried to study all the little details around her eyes as if I was going draw her.
Afterwards, I found out that her name was Suzanne. I told her that her eyes are very beautiful, and she told me that my eyes are very dark. Then we went our seperate ways.
The second yoga class I did was called "The Yoga Chill-Pill" and that was quite exactly what it was, in a good way. We put our bodies in weird and stretchy poses and then almost fell asleep like that. Came out of that thing as relaxed as anyone can be.
Angel being so photogenic !
Sunday afternoon the Festival closed with a DJ blasting his beats and basses over a soft grassy slope on top of the island, where the wind blew and the views over Sydney Habour made up the most stunning setting for a last dance-off
As long as there are trees I will always have something to cuddle with.
You might have noticed how much I love Ed Sheeran lately. Oh my god. The CD is spinning and spinning in Laurie's stereo. In my eyes his album x is genius from first song to last!!
And not only me thinks that - John Mayer, and Nahko on the fireside, shouting out loud how much h loves Thinking Out Loud.
Just look: Passenger covers a Mark Knopfler song, passenger who comes from the same town as Ed Sheeran and they've been friends for ages, Nahko and Jack Johnson are friends too, Nahko who is a fan of Ed Sheeran who is performing with John Mayer...
I can promise you, that was the first and last time I did something like that. Never again. Not only is it such a strain on my car and one misses out on all the things to see on the way, it's also just so exhausting and by the end of it I felt like I was driving in a dream and that was definitely everything else but safe. After midnight we arrived in Chatswood, and I went to sleep feeling like a zombie.
And then... Sydney. We were lucky enough to be invited to stay with Angel's uncle in Chatswood and from there caught the train and ferry everyday to Cockatoo Island.
Sydney Harbour at dawn, at night (huge cruise ship on the quay!), and on a sunny afternoon.
That eerie tunnel is on Cockatoo Island.
So the Festival - was very different from all the other festivals I've been to. It was not so much about music. It was not so much about party. It was not so much about great camping and outdoor community living, not about great varieties of food and drink, or just about variety of people at all. More than anything it was about YOGA!
When I say this I have to listen one more time to what Jason Mraz has to say about YOGA
Oh yeah... that old laugh.
Anyways, the people at the festival: mostly fit and stretchy looking chicks in tights with yoga mat under their arm, waterbottle in their hand and glittery stickers all over them. All of them seemingly always smiling, chatting, beautiful and seriously looking as if they are capable of putting their feet behind their heads every day. Like models out of the Yoga magazine, if there's such a thing...
Okay, my perspective is probably a bit onesided. I admit, there were guys, too, (you know the spiritual yoga guys...) and most likely not all of them yogis can put their feet behind their heads.
But it was obviously a Yoga Festival and the majority of the people there were well, just yogis being yogis. I will stop making fun of them now and assume that no one will be offended.
My job as a volunteer was neither spectacular not hard - picking up rubbish, making sure people go the right direction, sticking yoga mat stickers on the floors... (?!)
But I got a T-shirt and free entry to the music and yoga classes, and let's be honest, as I am a kid with stiff joints, jeans shorts and headphones on my head - the music was the main reason I was there!
So Saturday afternoon I sat down on the grass in front of a little stage to watch Dustin Thomas (Medicine for the People's bassist and a singer-songwrite himself) play a delightful little gig. During the last song, a little brown-skinned, black-haired and tattoed bear ran up to the stage from behind me (Nahko) and started having a dance off with Chitty (the drummer), pulling all the people up from the grass until everyone was bouncing around for Dustin with his biiiiiig smile on the face...
The cherry on top of the cake that day was a campfire jam with Nahko and Chitty (the drummer), who's got an amazing voice and guitar skills as well! This whole band seems to be made up of people who are already absolutely stunning and talented by themselves...
On Sunday then, I also did some yoga classes. The first one was blindfolded yoga, which sounds just as interesting as it is.
There was just one problem: I couldn't hear what the yoga teacher was saying. Although he spoke through a mic and I sat near the speaker. How can that be?
As some of you know, I had a little food poisoning when I was in Sri Lanka that triggered a condition that is called Reactive Arthritis. It's an autoimmune reaction and that basically means that my own immune system got very confused and started attacking my perfectly healthy left knee joint. It flared up and was stiff and painful for almost one year until I found a rheumathologist who put me on immunesuppressive tablets. That was last June, and since them tablets started working, my knee's been great, almost normal again, it's an absolute joy. On the other hand, since those tablets (jou Mama look it up: Methotrexate) work by making my immune system weaker, I've been battling colds, coughs, worsened hayfever and minor infections ever since I started taking them. I'm the girl with the permanent tissue in her hand!!! *cries*
So about four weeks ago I caught another cold in the air conditioning when I went to the movies ("A Theory of Everything", highly recommened, will be a favourite of mine), and since then got the cough and stuffy nose and blocked up ears! So I hear myself really loud and everything else really quietly. People have to yell at me in conversations, almost funny. As it doesn't seem to get better by itself I'm on friggin antibiotics now and hope to get my full hearing capacity back! :D
Back to the blindfolded yoga - I sat there blindly and half deaf and almost cried because I couldn't hear what the yoga teacher was saying. Therefore I was and still am endlessly grateful that another yoga teacher lady asked me what's up and then took over the microphone with a loud energetic voice that even I could hear...
And the rest of the class got really awesome then. After some simple yoga exercises that showed how much we rely on our eyesight for balance, we all were asked to start crawling on all fours and blindly feel ourselves a way to one of the room's walls. After a lot of giggling everyone had found a wall, and we we're asked to find the middle of the room. I was a massive room and I believe it didn't really matter where the middle of it was, but eventually all of us blind yogis sat huddled together and almost on each other's laps somewhere on the carpet. The next task was to find a partner, sit opposite each other, take the blindfolds off and then, after only being able to feel your partner before, look into her/his eyes for 3 to minutes.
I found that super interesting because I had been reading about a psychological experiment similar to that just a couple of weeks ago. How is it to stare in to a total strangers eyes for several minutes?
My stranger was a lady maybe 10 years older than me, with small, warm hands, black cotton tights and beautiful greenish eyes. We smiled in the beginning and then only a little bit, trying not to get distracted by all the people around us and hold eye contact. She blinked a whole lot while her eyes moved across my face. I was wondering if she felt a little bit uncomfortable and towards the end, was really waiting for the teachers to end this minutes-lasting-moment. Not that she didn't like me, she didn't even know my name and I can say that for a change I didn't even have pimples on my face. Probably it can be really hard for most people to hold eye contact with someone for so long, especially a stranger.
Was it hard for me? I didn't need much willpower to keep my eyes glued on her eyes, but I think I used some tricks. I'm pretty good at goo goo eyeing with people I love; it's like I talk to them in my head and imagine they can hear my thoughts. I almost know how they would answer so it's really funny. With that stranger lady, I had no clue what she was thinking, so I just "told" her my story so she didn't have to "answer". Also I tried to study all the little details around her eyes as if I was going draw her.
Afterwards, I found out that her name was Suzanne. I told her that her eyes are very beautiful, and she told me that my eyes are very dark. Then we went our seperate ways.
The second yoga class I did was called "The Yoga Chill-Pill" and that was quite exactly what it was, in a good way. We put our bodies in weird and stretchy poses and then almost fell asleep like that. Came out of that thing as relaxed as anyone can be.
As long as there are trees I will always have something to cuddle with.
After the festival I met up with Daniel, another wonderful woodford fencer, psychology student, future Europe cycle traveller and a very cool dude.
The next evening I caught Morgan after her work, Morgan from Colorado who lives in Sydney now and hosted matt,Austin, Anna and me in december 2013 when we passed through Sydney on our big roadtrip.
With both I shared soy hot chocolates, stories of life and just a great chat.
So lovely, big thanks and hugs to both of you.
Now I'm on my way south and I'll let you know what is awaiting Laurie and me there.
You might have noticed how much I love Ed Sheeran lately. Oh my god. The CD is spinning and spinning in Laurie's stereo. In my eyes his album x is genius from first song to last!!
And not only me thinks that - John Mayer, and Nahko on the fireside, shouting out loud how much h loves Thinking Out Loud.
Just look: Passenger covers a Mark Knopfler song, passenger who comes from the same town as Ed Sheeran and they've been friends for ages, Nahko and Jack Johnson are friends too, Nahko who is a fan of Ed Sheeran who is performing with John Mayer...
How long you leaving?
Well dad just don't expect me back this evening
It could take a bit of time to heal this
It's been a long day
Thumb on side of the road way but
I love him from the skin to my bones
But I don't wanna live in this home
There's nothing to say 'cause he knows
I'll just run away and be on my own.
