The past few days have been crazy I don't even know where to begin! Yesterday I began the day in Brisbane with my family before catching my flight out to Airlie beach. My two uncles took me to the Brisbane botanical gardens, and then we drove up mount coot-tha - a giant mountain that offers a 360 degree view of Brisbane. It was absolutely stunning. We decided to have brunch up at the top as well and I was quickly reminded that saying "no" to having a drink with lunch while out with this family is not an option. An hour later I was happily stuffed with eggs, toast, sausages and beer, and I was definitely feeling more relaxed about leaving my fam and going to my first hostel. This family treats me way too good! They're incredible.
The flight to Airlie beach was quick and easy. My hostel was about a half hour drive from the airport, so I decided to hop on a shuttle. The driver's name was Scott and (just like a friend of mine, my angel up above) he was big, tall, talkative and so friendly with the kindest heart. He gave me clear directions and some tips and tricks for the area, and gave me a kind farewell as he dropped me off at my hostel.
I definitely did not prepare myself for the hostel life. I expected to meet people easily and right away, however, that was not the case with this hostel. It's quite small and relatively quiet - people tend to keep to themselves, which is not ideal as a solo traveler. After a few sad attempts at making friends with some of the girls in the dorm, I gave up and decided to take on the day in my own - which turned out to be great! I explored the beach, got some groceries, and found a little pub to sit myself at for some dinner.
I also should mention - when I arrived to my hostel room, I immediately searched behind curtains and under the bed for any unfriendly creatures (that museum in Brisbane really freaked me out lol). As I looked under the bed, my worst fear came to life - a spider the size of my palm (called a huntsman spider) was under my bed. I calmly went to the reception desk and asked her how dangerous they are/what I should do, but right away she saw me shaking and knew she'd have to deal with it. She looked at it and grabbed a broom and a box to sweep it in - she told me even she was scared! She quickly swept in into the box and took a look at it - and lo and behold, it wasn't a spider, but just a giant hairball with equal resemblance. Needless to say, it was obvious that I was a first time backpacker. I've never felt like more of a princess!! Very embarrassing but ah well, what can ya do. Back to my first solo day in Airlie Beach -
On my way back to the hostel I told myself to just be outgoing and tontry once again to connect with some other backpackers. I found a table with two friendly looking guys, so I approached them and just said "hi, do you mind if I join you?" and they happily offered me a seat and a drink! It ended up being a fantastic evening. We shared some wine, had great conversations and were up until 2am down at the beach. Our group grew throughout he evening and I met some great people! It's really amazing what happens when you just put yourself out of your comfort zone and tell yourself to be outgoing!
Day 4 (today) was a little bit more difficult. The friends I had made the previous night were off to their new destination, so I was back to square one with connecting with people. As outgoing as I told myself to be, I just couldn't quite find any other people to connect with. There was also a massive thunderstorm today - which, being in a small town where the only thing to do is either drink or go to the beach, was a big buzz kill. It was even harder to talk to people today since most everybody holed themselves up in their dorms. I was feeling quite lonely, but these are the struggles that I expected to happen during my solo trip! I sucked it up and told myself to take advantage of the day, rain or shine, company or no company. I went out to the local pool and swam in the rain, went to a cafe to do some journaling and grab coffee, I sat outside with my favourite book, and had another really yummy solo dinner.
Tomorrow at 8am I'm off on a boat to Whitehaven beach! So, I'm okay with a low key evening of blogging tonight. This trip is going to be full of ups and downs, and today was a learning experience. As hard as it is for me, I'm loving learning to to just be with myself, and to get rid of the feeling of needing to be with a group. It only gets easier from here!
Until next update,
Shay
No comments:
Post a Comment