Last week I finished working in Hervey Bay. But no, I didn’t leave right away. That week I spent my time with people that are important to me and whom I’ve got to know better during past few months. It was sad and hard to say goodbyes on different days to different people, some of them leaving as well.  But I’m glad I got to know them all, some of them better than others. It felt like leaving home again and no wonder since all those people were like family to me. How I miss going for a coffee and cake, having ice creams, talking about everything, listening to good music, watching movies, just sitting at the breakfast eating pancakes, having someone to talk to.

Last Monday I arrived to Great Keppel Island and I fell in love with the island straight away! The island is stunningly beautiful and there are so many trails you can walk and see new places as you go. My first thought was to stay for three nights but it just wasn’t enough so I extended my stay for three more nights. The island life is just so relaxing. I sleep in a tent, in a bed though and during the night you can hear possums wondering around, bats screaming up in the trees, curlews calling to each other. The electricity is on roughly from 6 am till 11 pm and it suits me just fine. To walk in the darkness you just use your flash light so you won’t run into anything, possums for example like I almost did last night. On Friday we had a really nice bonfire at the beach and we sat there for hours. There are no roads on the island, just tracks and trails going from place to place. The beaches are stunning and snorkelling is a good way of passing time but so far I’ve just walked and enjoyed the sun. After darkness there isn’t much to do but to sit around, eat, talk with people, play cards and since it gets colder during the nights everybody heads to bed fairly early, cos in bed it’s nice and warm at least! There are no proper shops on the island so you just bring all your food from mainland with you.

I know I just finished working in Hervey Bay but I just fell in love with the island life so much that I’m going to work there for my accommodation for a while. I just don’t want to leave. Well, I had to come to mainland today to get food cos I barely had anything left. It’s hard to try to think what all I will need for the whole time but I’ll try to get the right amount of food. I know I definitely need cookies, sweets and chocolate! :D

When you travel you get to meet a lot of different people. We’re all used to different things depending where we’re from. Some miss proper bread, some miss good Italian food in a restaurant near their home, some miss good cakes, some miss good chocolate. I miss proper rye bread, and some good sweets you can’t get here. But I guess you kind of replace them with different things or you just get used to eat a bit differently while you’re travelling. And people do get creative when travelling. It’s possible to bake bread or make a pizza without oven!

While travelling you meet a lot of new people and you get some new friends too. But being away makes you appreciate your friends back home, or at least it’s the way I feel. I miss my friends and sometimes their words make me cry because the words mean so much. And like one of my dearest friends said: “These kilometres between us don’t change our friendship - at most they will make the friendship even stronger.”

"It takes a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye."
- Anurag Gupta -

It is often said that men are better drivers than women. But what I’ve experienced in past couple of months disagrees with that statement badly. I’ve witnessed a guy trying to get out of the parking space by going back and forth several times when there were only two other cars in the whole car park! The van I was driving was next to his and then there was a car on the other side of the driveway behind him one space to his left. But if you decide to reverse just to the driveway not to the empty space behind you I guess it can be hard to get out! :D I so wished I had my camera with me – it would have made a funny video on Youtube! Oh, and last Friday! I had been watching football and when I got back to the car park, what did I see? A campervan partly parked in the space I had the car in and not much space between the cars. I was just thinking how someone could park a van so badly, and my first thought was that it must be a woman! But then I saw a guy by the van getting out and obviously planning to just walk away. I asked:  “Are you really leaving that car like that?” “Yes, I’m not good with this camper van. I’m not used to driving such a big car.” “Well, I’m not used to this small car and I need to get out.” I was driving Bill’s BMW deluxe convertible so I was a bit terrified to drive it! The guy: “Well, you can get the car out, can’t you?” “Well, I don’t seem to have an option, do I? I really need to go.” And I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut: “You’re a man and you should be able to park a car!” My friends (both male) were just laughing and listening to the conversations. That guy shouldn’t be driving since he doesn’t even know how to park the car!

I’m not that much into football but it was nice to go and watch the match Germany vs. Italy last Friday. And since I was watching it with Germans I supported Germany of course. It would have ruined the whole atmosphere if I had been supporting Italy. The previous night when I was talking about watching the game with a friend I said if I was in Finland I would support Italy. He said: “Ok, now you’re not allowed to come and watch the game.” The comment came with a laugh and I promised to support Germany so I wasn’t excluded from this early morning game watching – luckily!

This is my "home" beach. :)

Sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with me cos I feel comfortable here on the other side of the world and I don’t seem to miss home. I do miss people, don’t get me wrong. But it seems I’m adapted to be away and I’m not letting myself to get depressed or anything just because I don’t have my friends and family here to talk and spend time with. I’ve made some new friends and life is very different here for me but I don’t seem to need much to be content and happy. Dreams don’t come true without a price. And I knew the price I was going to pay to be away from everyone.

Sometimes I’m sad when I see other people skyping with their family and friends. I’ve skyped probably three times in past three months. So no wonder I’m starting to “lose” Finnish words and I feel weird if I speak Finnish with Finnish travellers. I may be rude but I must say that luckily I haven’t had to speak Finnish with travellers for a while! But at the same time I’m a bit sad that there aren’t more Finnish people travelling cos I already prefer English now, what will it be when I’ve been here for a year? I already have to look up in the dictionary a little too often for words – Finnish words!

My mum is coming to visit me in November and I’m so excited! I just want to plan our trip together when I actually should be planning my own travels starting in about two weeks when I finish working here in Hervey Bay. I’ve been invited to Noosa so I’m going there first but then I should be travelling up north towards the warmer climate. I’m both excited and sad to leave. I’m so happy to go and travel to see new places but also sad not to have the familiar friends around to talk to anymore. I know I’ll meet new people, I don’t have to be alone, but it’s not the same as talking with people you’ve got to know a little bit better.

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world."
- Lois Wyse -