Mar 2007

12 Thousand Kilometers! Driving into Brisbane was the strangest feeling. I guess I'm still in shock that the past 3.5 months were not just a dream...

Two days of driving and one night at a rest stop near South West Rocks saw me to the hostel where I would meet Susi, engine reving to announce my arrival. As expected, Susi was consumed with laughter as she sauntered out of the room to see me pulling in. And rightly so. To see her old roomate rock up on a motorbike loaded with gear was the icing on the cake of oddity that the two of us would meet halfway across the world in sunny Byron Bay. Our two days together were fabulous, with the two of us plus her friend James lounging on the beach (or rather, I lounged while they surfed), dancing to oldies at the club, drinking beers on the hostel patio, and catching up with each other's tumultuous lives. Myself reluctant to return to Brisbane, where I would resume school, and Susi reluctant to return to Vancouver, where she would resume the nightmare of "life after graduation", we did our best to relax and enjoy the time we had together.

After seeing her off to the airport, I hopped back onto the road. I stopped in for a night at the Loncza's haven in the hills, where a visit to the swimming hole with Matt, Sam and Camilla was more than welcome. Again, making the best of the time I had to do as little as possible, read as much as possible, and relax to the extreme before uni would rear its ugly head in less than a week.

Friday came, and I returned to Brisbane to meet my new roomates and move into an appartment in Taringa, near the Univeristy of Queensland. Like I said, the week since then has just been shocking. But after such a fantastic summer one could only expect to "hit the wall": where I would normally be excited to get back to school and work, neither captivated me. Although it was amazing to see my friends again, somehow I found it difficult to motivate myself. Perhaps I'm just recovering from the intensity.

I know that things will get better, that my passion for studies will return, but right now I just don't feel ready to get back to it. Not that I'll ever be without fond memories of my summer in Australia with a great little motorbike...