Taking the Ali Out of Australia

Anyone still with me? Well we've come to the end of the road. I would like to begin this final post by thanking everyone who has followed my adventures through this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I would especially like to congratulate anyone who has read all 65 entries. In other words, well done Mum and Dad.

Back in December when the Sydney Opera House first came into view, it felt amazing to actually be there. Here was a place I had seen so many images of throughout my life, but it always seemed so impossibly far away, on the other side of the world. So it was almost surreal to be seeing it with my very own eyes. Returning to Sydney and gazing at the Opera House again, it also felt amazing to actually be there, but for a very different reason. It felt incredible to be standing in that same spot almost six months later after everything I had done and everywhere I had been. Strolling around the city on that first day in Australia, taking in the sights and basking in the sun, I had no idea that I would work in a timber yard, take charge of a dairy farm, play tennis on four different farms in Western Australia, participate in a dance party on a small island during a cyclone, hitchhike to a billycart derby...to give just a few examples of the many crazy events that unfolded.

I thought back to that first day in Australia and remembered being amazed by the long-beaked birds that strutted around the Botanic Gardens like a pigeon would at home. These creatures were unlike anything I had ever seen before, let alone in a public park! But that was before I had seen a kangaroo. Before I had seen dolphins, pelicans, parrots, cockatoos, kookaburras, flying foxes, wallabies, emus, possums, little blue crabs, the most colourful fish imaginable, koalas, dingoes, a reef shark and a whale. Before I had come face to face with a wild cassowary. This weekend, I didn't bat an eyelid when I walked past those birds in the Botanic Gardens.

 I remembered going to Bondi Beach and being awe-struck by its majesty. But that was before I had seen the white sands of Western Australia, the tropical bays of Magnetic Island, the 70 mile beach on Fraser Island, and the spectacular sunsets over the beaches at 1770 and Byron Bay.

Lastly, I remembered those initial conversations with fellow new arrivals at the hostel. Would we find work? Where would we travel to? Would solo travelling be ok? Would we have fun? Looking back, I never imagined it would all go so well.

Reflecting on my long journey around Australia, I thought about whether I could go for another lap, and a route quickly formed in my mind consisting of some of the many places I didn't visit. I could go trekking across the Great Dividing Range, explore Tasmania, check out Adelaide and other parts of South Australia, then fly to Perth, but this time hire a campervan and drive north up the sparse West Coast to Broome, then travel across to Darwin, journeying through remote towns and bizarre geological features. From there I could head south through The Outback of Northern Territory to Uluru, and then fly back to Sydney from Alice Springs. En route there would be interesting helpx placements to be completed, jobs to be found, great hostels to stay in, and friendly people to be met. Australia is a fascinating place of infinite possibilities.

Has my time in Australia changed me at all? Will there be any lasting effects? It's hard to put my finger on it, but I like to think it was more than just one big holiday. Maybe I'll be more laid back, perhaps sometime I'll use some of the skills I learned such as milking cows, Aussie phrases such as "too easy" and "no dramas" might slip into my lexicon, hopefully I'll see some of the many friends I made again. In fact, it's possible my outlook on life will be altered and I won't even realise. But there is one thing I can say for sure. The memories of this great adventure - and they are innumerable and hugely varied - will stick with me forever and no doubt grow sweeter as the years roll on. So although Malaysian Airlines flight MH122 is about to take the Ali out of Australia, the Australia will never be taken out of Ali.