West coast; best coast?

Made it back to Australia about a week ago. Still getting my bearings out here in Perth, the "most isolated city in the world." It's a bit colder than anywhere I've been since Beijing and Korea (going into winter here these days), but I have ferociously been applying to jobs, had an interview yesterday, and got the job today. Orientation tomorrow and then I start a week from Tuesday. Not sure how I'll plan and live out my life with this FIFO (fly-in-fly-out) type of work, but I'll find how to make the best of it. I'm thinking if I can continue to live out of a backpack (or two) I can have a week-long adventures during my off time. I'm getting ahead of myself, let me see what's in store for me at the orientation first. 

Working-holiday's mini-vacation

Enjoyed a very inspiring meditation course a bit north of Brisbane and then caught a ride a bit south to Byron Bay, spent a night in a noisy dorm and left at 6am to try my luck at what multiple people said was a safe and worthwhile endeavor on Australia's central East Coast: hitchhiking. With a cardboard "Sydney" sign and big smile on my face I waited hoping my new friends weren't pulling my leg. 30 minutes later I get a ride with two Punjabi Indian guys who are going an hour and change south towards Sydney; "great!" I say hopping into the back seat. On the outskirts of Ballina, I wait some more and after another 30 or so minutes get picked up by an Australian woman going to Port Macquarie, maybe just more than half the distance to Sydney. I wasn't earnestly expecting to get a ride and then found it extra surprising to get picked up by a woman. At Port Macquarie I got some lunch and hid from the bright Australian sun for a bit before trying my luck again on the on-ramp. Not long later an older gentleman picked me up, and unfortunately dropped me off at an exit that wasn't much closer to Sydney and had almost no traffic coming on the freeway. A mild sunburn and contemplating where I'd spend the night if no one picked me up later, two young shirtless hippies stop on the shoulder of the freeway to give me a lift. They're not going far, but I felt sure any place is better than this one for a driver to see, consider, and stop to give me a ride. I was right; only waiting 10-15 minutes a little down the road I caught a ride all the way to Newcastle, a city connected to Sydney by lengthy commuter trains. My last driver picked me up a few minutes after sunset, which relieved growing nerves, though I can say the person driving was the oddest fellow I'd met that day. He dropped me off in Sydney (which is a vast suburban sprawl surrounding a riverside skyline), and I took a bus and walked to my hostel. What a day!

Sydney was gorgeous, definitely a first class metropolis. Pictures are up (or will be up) on Flickr, and I was fortunate enough to walk and absorb much of the central regions of the city.

Many minutes, or perhaps hours were spent in Sydney trying to figure out how to reach my original planned destination: Perth, Western Australia. After considering flying directly, flying indirectly, taking a train, ridesharing, transporting a vehicle, and anything else I saw I'm my research, I opted for a round-trip hitchhiking adventure and an indirect flight, with a pleasant stopover in Bali, Indonesia. For an extra ~20-25% of the cost of the direct ticket, I was able to come to another tropical paradise in a country my almost-full passport has never gotten the stamp of.

It is a highly-anticipated day where I start working and making back the money I've spent on my travels so far, but this opportunity was not to be passed, and well worth every iota of effort, at least so far.

Brisbane and beyond

Worked a lot the last two weeks; sore thumbs and a new familiarity with my massage technique (can do almost all of it with my eyes closed), and I'm moving on. The money I've earned should get direct deposited on Monday, but today I'm going to Pomona, Australia to attend a meditation course for almost 10 days. It's the same school or style as the ones in California that I've taken, but this one should be a bit different as it is said to teach the literature that gives rise to the practice (instead of just the practice and some summaries and stories from the literature). I'll not use my phone until April 8th, and then don't know what I'll do after that. Hopefully there will be some people going to Perth, Darwin, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Melbourne, or even Sydney that I can catch a ride with. If not, I will fly to Perth (or Bali and then Perth) and continue from there. Happy Easter everyone!!!

A rhythm

I've just about got my Australian life all set up. My bank account's debit card came today, I got paid my first Australian pay check yesterday (102 AUD), and even the hard copy of my ABN (Australian Business Number) arrived, which I needed to be some kind of independent contractor at the massage parlor.

I have a Brisbane City library card now, which allows me to use a fast, large, and versatile computer for 1 hour per day per library, though I've discovered if you ask nicely, and don't have a stickler dictating the computer lab desk, you can get another hour. It's been surprisingly efficient to have a countdown timer in the corner of the screen to keep me focused. How many resumes can I submit, cover letters can I write, and job websites can I browse in 60 or 120 minutes exactly.

Anyway, off to bed now. No work until Friday and then sometime next week I'll leave Brisbane and continue the journey.

Australia - A land of opportunity

Landed in Gold Coast, enjoyed a warm beach with amazingly clear water. Went south to a little hippie town called Byron Bay; scenic, wonderful, I just wish I'd had a surf board. Came to Brisbane a week or so ago and immediately started looking for work. Massage Therapists have no government regulation here, so I managed to get an on the spot interview at a parlor, and started the next day. I don't have many hours so far, but that will hopefully change next week.

At the end of the month, I'll go up north a bit to Pomona, Australia and attend another course on meditation (same style/teacher/etc. as the courses in California). After I'll start my travels out to Perth. Still not sure if I'll fly, bus, or ride-share, but it should be my last adventure before settling a bit in Australia and looking for the most serious and ideally highest paid job I'll have been going after in a long while.