First i want to apologise (again) for neglecting my journey. It's been a time in between. A time of thoughts, dreams, ideas and love. But here am i again. Writing and updating.
Back to the red dirt after seeing only concrete and people, having a splendid time in my previous home country. Stepping of the plane after a 25 hours flight and travelling forward in time.
First golf, the sport you can play in every town you go to. I had a little break in Upwey , a little town close to melbourne. Seeing a good friend, Koen. He picked me up at the airport and i was staying a few days there before heading to the red centre again. Seeing friends i hadn't seen since the time i immigrated. Relaxing playing golf in the hills of Dandenong, seeing your golfball disappearing in the horizon of the mountains and hearing the kookaburra laughing at my golf play. And after a good time getting used to the australian way of life again, back on the plane.
Arriving in Alice. Mmmmmmh, a lot has happened. A holiday that changed the plan you careful had made up. First things goes first, a place to stay. Luckily i could stay with luke and Byanca. They had a little shed were i could make up my little home. So this would be my home for the next three months. And a swimming pool, whats not to bad. Back to work, yep, something we all are obliged to do. I started back with my old company. I hear you thinking, what about the Kimberly's. What about the rooftop tent , what about fixing up Mrs D. ,what about the exciting travels ?
No, it's a time in between. A time that life is on a crossroad and the light on red. The plan is to go back to Europe with Xmas and new year. To catch up with my piece of heart that i left behind.
I installed myself in the shed, with all the technology to stay in contact with Europe. I-phone, whatsapp, Skype , ims, e-mail, webcam. Amazing how small the digital world has become. You almost forget there is 16000 k's between. Only the time makes it all real. 8 hours of difference is not that easy to communicate with each other. A wake up call becomes a good night. And to say sweet dreams is an afternoon thee. But we managed, and it was a nice feeling to share with someone. Most of the time i was out bush. Doing 11 hours a day, mostly to the place where i spend the last 2 years. Yep, the rock was still there. so was the pond with fish, strangely alive. Strange to go to a place you just said farewell too. Let you think about how you walk trough life. Its almost if life is mocking you. I went from my little shed with swimming pool and pool table to the rough and uncomplicated life in the desert. Seeing only the open nature , oil, pipes and machinery. And of course the technology of communication. It's really is a contradiction. Working with basic tools and finding prehistorical solutions to work related problems while at night typing on a phone that functions as a typewriter, photo album and much more.
It's a time of counting the days, hours and minutes. 12 weeks before i could head back to rejoin. To go back to Europe and to see where i belong. The first time that i ever had doubts about Australia. There were certain things that i missed from Europe. Of course , in first place, was that piece of heart that i was missing. But there were other things too, the more than delicious food. The really nice taste of the local beer. Family , that has become united again. The diversity and possibility to do what you choose to do. Life in Europe is so full of choices and possibilities that are easy to come by. The always changing climate, you have to know, 12 months of seeing only sun gets boring too. Friends that you can reconnect too. The possibility to meet people on every corner.
But the only problem is the instability of the European economy and the over-population of space. Driving 20 k's takes as long as driving 200 k's in the outback. Driving is a survival of the most aggressive egocentric racer. Going to the shop is a day task and a bumper-trolley fight between the food. Finding smiling and polite people is a quest for the holy grail. If they do it's just related to money or business. Only seeing the same specie over and over, till you close your eyes. The absence of all kind of natural noises and the stank of the air. The choose would be easy f i could just mix all the positives together. But hè , that would of course been my own egocentric view of living.
I would call it Austrope. A place where species and space are equal balanced. A place where people are still people, with a name , giving without taking, helping without a hidden agenda. Mmmmh , i'm trying to write down what philosophers and sociologist are breaking there head on since the arrival of mankind .
Let us just stick by my own anonymous live, and hope the world is not gonna end in a few months. Back to my own journey trough my egocentric existence . Driving just around 3564 k's to pick up a part to solve a problem at work. Stepping in a car in Yulara. Getting behind the steering wheel, brain functions reducing to almost zero and eating the k's . Arriving at the place of pick up in Adelaide, and noticing that the part not really fits in the back. But who cares, everything is possible, just drop it in the ute and w'll see. We need that part to finish the job. No pause, back on the road, direction where we came from. One straight road , no turns to the left or to the right. Oh , i would be lying. We did take once a while a turn to the right or left. To take a piss, to grab a feed, to fill up and to bunk down in a desolate roadhouse. After a road trip in the true meaning of the word . 67 hours, 36 min and 12 sec. later , we are back at the place of our departure with the package. Unloading with the crane and after a while noticing that we really didn't need that part to do the job. So we left the package unpacked on the side and finished the job. Asking myself what the meaning of life is.
One more week to go, and back on the plane. Time to pack up the things. It's a good thing my life fits in the back of Mrs D. It's really practical if you don't have a home for the last 4 years. No chances to collect things and to gather stuff. A few hours, not even, and i was ready for my next step. Having a private and emotional moment standing in front of my life packed in my old lady. No certainty if i would ever come back again, or that i would see Mrs D. again. Who knows, i thought i would never see the rock again nether.
The day of departure , finally the light changed to orange. Time to start the engine and to see witch direction life is gonna take me. Come what comes.
(i know, no exciting pics, but that's a bug to fix up later)