Back in Finland there was no way I would have gone to work without any make-up, never. And if I was going out I definitely had my make-up on too. There were a few days off when I didn’t bother with any make-up. And now I’m the total opposite. My face has hardly seen any make-up in past eight months I’ve been here, none for past two and a half months. When it’s hot, humid and you plan to jump into the water there’s not much reason to put any make-up on, at least not for me. I’ve seen girls have a full eye make-up when going snorkelling, I couldn’t bother. I haven’t even bothered with any make up when going out. And what comes to my hair, my friends would be happy to see me not spending much time with my hair. For my friends’ irritation I was always really precise about my hair. My hair had to be exactly right. If there was even one hair out of place I just started all over again until I was satisfied that my hair looked good.  There was absolutely no way I could let any hairdresser make my hair, not even for my sister’s wedding. I’m not so sure about letting anyone else make my hair, but I definitely don’t care that much anymore. Nowadays there are often hairs out of place which might have something to do with the fact that my hair hasn’t seen any hairspray in past two and half months! :D

The best place to walk to
in Townsville.

My travels through Townsville and Mission Beach went by in a small haze. After saying goodbyes in Ayr I didn’t really feel that much travelling. I felt sad. And I didn’t have that many things to do in those places to put my mind into something I was doing so that I wouldn’t recall goodbyes over and over again in my head.
But as always when possible I had to find the highest place and walk up to enjoy the view. It definitely was worth all the sweat in the midday heat! I could have sat at the top forever. There's no place like high up where the wind blows in your ears and everything looks tiny somewhere below you.

But when I got to Cairns I started to enjoy travelling again. There wasn’t much in Kuranda itself but the Skyrail and the scenic railway made it all worth visiting. It was amazing to sit in the gondola all on your own and look at the scenes below you with breathtaking views. I could have sat in the gondola for the whole day. You sat high up there and you were actually able to hear the sounds of the forest. A couple of white cockatoos were flying above the trees - awesome sight. And on the way back to Cairns on the train I couldn't stop looking at the view of those bright green hills.

 

Trip to Green Island was great! I didn’t really see much of the tiny island itself since I practically spent all possible time in the water snorkelling. And it was great! There were so many fish and nice looking corals. The best moment was definitely to see a sea turtle! An amazing sight.
The island itself was far too crowded with tourists for my taste but luckily I didn't have to spend much time on the land. And even though there were lot of people, not that many seemed to be in the water. Or at least they were not that far out on the reefs as I was with a fellow traveller. It felt like we were the only ones really snorkelling!

My trip to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas was great too. We saw a couple of crocodiles while on a cruise on Daintree River and then in the rainforest we saw a cassowary – loads of luck we had. I was surprised how many people tried their luck by swimming in the waters in Cape Trib. For me my life is more precious than cooling myself in the cool water.And since I’m in love with snorkelling I had to book myself one more snorkelling trip before leaving Cairns. I went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and it was amazing! The visibility was so good and the variety of fish was amazing. And the confidence I have when I’m snorkelling is amazing. A couple of months back I was so unsure when snorkelling and now it’s impossible to keep me out of water! :D I wish I lived at the edge of reef and could snorkel every day. No words can explain the feeling of getting a glimpse of the underwater world.

                             



When I started to think about staying here longer than I’m meant to my first thoughts were: what about my friends and family? What are they going to say if I want to stay? Do they want me back that badly that I would go back just for them? I hadn’t decided anything even though I was quite sure what I wanted to do and I wanted to hear my friends’ and family’s thoughts as well. The hardest part was to write and tell what goes in my head. I felt so terrible. I felt like I was betraying them because I even contemplated on staying longer. But my worries were blown out of the window when all my friends and family were so supporting. “It’s your life and if you have a chance to stay don’t think twice!” “Absolutely stay if you can!” “You have to do the decision with your heart.” “Whether it’s after a year, three years of five years I’ll be waiting to see you when you get back.” I must say that I have truly special people in my life. I couldn’t wish any better friends. ♥

"Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I'll miss you
Until we meet again."
- Author unknown -

 

I may have to give up eating these. :(
But no way I'm stopping to bake them!

I’ve been allergic to this and that for most of my life but I’ve never minded that much. I’ve just learned to avoid those things that give me allergic reactions. And back in Finland my reactions were mostly really mild, itching throat and mouth, skin rash in worst cases but that happened rarely. I came to the other side of the world and thought that I could eat the same way I used to but couldn’t have been more wrong! And the reactions I get – way worse than back in Finland! It isn’t really a great moment to wake up with extremely swollen upper lip and swollen eye when you need to work, you don’t really feel pretty. And I must admit that I was really upset first few times. Now it’s more just irritating cos I still can’t say which all ingredients give me the allergic reaction. Just when I think I have left out all allergenic ingredients I find myself in starting point again. And when salads and lemonade are the only things you’ve eaten you really can’t think of what’s giving the allergic reactions. But I’m determined to figure it out, sooner or later.

Nice snorkelling place.

Who says you need tv, movies, cafes, pubs, gyms, shops and so on to occupy your free time? Most of us probably think that life would be really boring without all those. Living on an island definitely shows that you don’t need all that to occupy your time. Instead of watching tv you watch the sun setting over the mainland. Instead of going to a pub you go to the deck on the beach and have good time with friends. Instead of a gym you go for a run on the beach and have a nice refreshing swim in the ocean. Who needs a fancy swimming pool to be able to jump into the water when you have your own natural deep pool right at the beach? Instead of sitting in a noisy night club you sit by the fire with friends drinking whatever you have and join for a shot of tequila straight from the bottle. Instead of meeting a friend in a cafe you have a cuppa with friends several times a day. Instead of wondering what to do on a nice day you just grab your snorkelling gear and get into the water.
   Living on an island is definitely an experience. You are living in a bubble. There’s no hustle and bustle of city or town. There’s no rush of working life. There’s never a dull moment. The time just flies by and days come into a blur, it’s hard to keep up with the days. Bogged cars on the sand are normality as is just hopping onto the back of the truck. If we had dinner for twenty people it meant washing up the dishes the old way, no dishwashers. You never got tired of watching sunsets, it was awesome every time. It made you speechless to walk on the beach under the night sky with countless stars above your head and being able to see the Milky Way up there too. It was entertainment to watch a huge barge come in with trucks and see if they get bogged or not. Film crew definitely gave the island a little bit more liveliness and it felt horribly quiet and empty after the crew was gone. Snorkelling was just amazing on the island. It took me a while to get myself into the water but there was no stopping me when I got the hang of it!
    But everything comes to an end and so did my time on the island as well. I did extend my stay quite a few times, never quite felt ready to leave the idyllic island life. And it was sad to leave the island and all nice people behind after six weeks. We were like family. We laughed, cried, talked and had fun together. We were all very different people but we just got along really well. And I do miss them all.


My trip to Whitsundays was just awesome! Good boat, great crew and awesome group of different people. We all got along really well and there weren’t any small groups, we all spent time together. And spending time and having fun didn’t end when the boat came into the harbour. Some of us ended up on the beach together and lunch afterwards. And in the evening it was party time – big time! :D Thanks to a great Scottish couple no one’s drink had time to get warm. And the night ended up being quite a pub crawl! Junk food and pies ended the evening fairly early at 2am. The next day we weren’t that lively but still ended up having a drink while watching a rugby game. But no partying – I was bed by ten o’clock! :D

Whitehaven Beach

 Goodbyes, the worst part of travelling is really to say goodbye. You’ve met someone and you’ve just let that someone get close to you and then it’s already time to say goodbye. It’s not fair. We all have our plans to do this and that and when our paths cross it’s usually too soon that we say ‘see you later’. The worst part is not to know when you’re going to meet again, if you’re going to meet again. And you just wish you could stay a little bit longer so you wouldn’t have to say goodbye just yet. And if you’re lucky to meet again it’s even harder to say goodbye cos you’ve let that someone get even closer to you. And after you’ve said goodbyes once again and left to continue your travels you wish you could just turn around and go back if even just for a little while.



"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
- Thomas Meehan -