Monthly Challenge

Nothing Went to Plan, but I Had a Wonderful Time

Sometimes we just need to go with the flow, and it’s when we experience the most beautiful moments

This is the first time I’m participating in a writing challenge. I had no idea what I should write about. Yes, surely, though I am a mountains’ girl (not the beach but the mountains stole my heart), I’ve some experience with water, as we all have. In the end, water is the source of life; it has the power to heal and the potential to kill. There is no life without water, but too much water will kill us.

Should I write about my experiences in sailing? Or maybe the 2-week long kayak trip organized by our school when I was a kid? Or should I write about the countless holidays at the seaside or in the wilderness of the lakes district? Or maybe about the time when the rain brought life back to my farm after five years of drought? This really showed me the power of water — the brutal death caused by lack of water and, after that, the destruction brought by floods, which led to the beautiful life we have now?

I had a look at the publication and what other writers wrote. My attention caught an article written by Alex P.

This gave me another perspective on this topic. I thought to myself: “Yes, our life is like a river. We have the choice to swim with the flow (accept our situation and make the best of what we have) or go against the current and try to fight it (getting angry life isn’t fair, it isn’t as it ‘should be’)”. We can perfectly plan our life, our holidays, our usual week or day, but life hardly ever goes to plan, and it doesn’t mean it isn’t great. We just have to learn to go with the flow and enjoy the beauty of now.

Last week I had to go to the city. My plan was to meet with some recruiters on Monday, then apply for more contract jobs, and maybe get a few more interviews before coming back home on Wednesday.

Sunday, 11 pm

“Ding!” a sound of an incoming message woke me up. It was John. “Hi honey, are you still going to the city tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have the interview, so I need to go”, — I replied, half-asleep

“On Tuesday, I could have a job on the south side. Would you like to come with me? We could camp there and come back Wednesday. Or would you prefer to come back the same day?” — John continued

“Camping would be lovely!” — I replied, getting excited.

“Great! I will confirm tomorrow. I’m sorry to wake you up. Sweet dreams, darling!”

“That’s okay. I understand your/our situation, and I don’t mind. I miss you so much, John. I can’t wait to see you!”

“I miss you too… You have no idea how much I miss you!”

After that conversation, I was very excited and struggled to get back to sleep. The idea of camping with John sounded great! The place we should go was actually 500 km away from the city, but… still a couple of hundred kilometres closer than if I went from home.

I know, for “normal people”, driving hundreds of kilometres in one day sounds crazy, but for John and I, it’s normal. I had no problem riding my motorbike for a couple of thousand kilometres over a long weekend, just to check out some places.

Monday

I left home at sunrise, and the drive was magnificent! I stopped a couple of times on the way to cherish the moment, the stunning views, and let the wave of emotions pass through my body. Yes, I know, for those who don’t know the area shown in the photo, it’s just another landscape, nothing special.

Three years ago, this scenery didn’t look anything like what you see now. For years we were tormented by drought, heatwaves, and bush fires. This was nothing but an ocean of dust; dry earth burned by the relentless sun. Then, finally, in 2020, the rain came, and it has been raining ever since.

Less than a month ago, I stopped at the same place, wondering which roads I should take to get home and if I would make it home before the bridge through town got flooded. Everything was covered with water. It was getting dark. I drove through the flooded roads; traffic in the opposite direction was causing waves so big that sometimes it felt as if I was driving through waterfalls. I was lucky; I made it. The next day the town got cut off to the north, and I would be stuck 40 km away from home.

Yes, exactly, the power of water, there is no life without water, but too much water is devastating too.

I kept driving, and I arrived at my motel without any bigger events. After a short rest, I walked through the beautiful parks and city gardens to the place of my meeting with recruiters. Passing by the little lake, watching the various water birds trying to catch some snack or preening their feathers, was so calming and relaxing.

The interview went all right, and I decided to get a few things done in the city before going back to my accommodation. It was when a message from John came: “I’m so sorry honey, but my job got postponed, and I won’t be going this week.”

“That’s all right, John, I understand, but could we at least meet. I miss you so much, and it feels like ages since I saw you last,” — I replied, disappointed and hopeful at the same time

“Yes, of course! As I said, I miss you too, honey; I want to see your smile, hold you, just be with you,” — replied John, and we agreed we would meet on Wednesday and spend some time together.

Tuesday

I woke up early and felt somehow lost. In the motel, there was not much view from my window, so I couldn’t watch the sun rising above the hills and enjoy the moment. I read some articles on Medium, but it didn’t take long, and I started to feel trapped. I decided to go to the library and, on the way, enjoy nature in the city parks. Doesn’t the fountain look gorgeous?

After a couple of hours in the library, I started to feel trapped and bored again. Cities are so boring! When I work, it’s all right; I can get through the days; work keeps me busy and distracted, but without work… What should I do in the concrete jungle? I was scrolling through Instagram when I noticed a post about a beach. “That’s what I could do! I will go to the beach! It’s only about 70 km away from here!” — I thought to myself and walked promptly back to my motel to get my car.

It was almost 4 pm when I arrived on the island’s west coast. It’s winter here, so sunset is around 5 pm and completely dark before 6 pm. “I could go around the island!” I thought to myself. Why not? It’s only 34 km long! I had plenty of time, didn’t I? (Sometimes I’m surprised myself how irresponsible I can be)

I started walking anti-lock-wise. I passed the mangrove trees reaching into the ocean. Sometimes they were thick, water all around them, and it was challenging to get through them, but I managed. I continued walking along the beach, with the ocean on my right-hand side and the mangrove forests on my left. The moment was spectacular — the sun setting down, the sound of the waves touching the shores, and a family of whales passing nearby.

Suddenly I heard a message come through. It was John: “Hi honey, just confirming we are catching up tomorrow at noon at the animals’ farm?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m looking forward to seeing you! Guess where I am? On the beach! And whales are swimming by!” — I replied

“That’s great! I’m happy for you that you are having a good time!” — replied John

“I’m going to go around the island!” — I replied, full of excitement

“What?! Honey, you can’t go around the island… Anyway, you have 30 min, and it will be completely dark! Just go back to your car! Please!!!”

“I can’t. I’m past the mangrove trees. There is no way I’m walking through them in the darkness. Don’t worry; I have everything under control!” — I wrote back

“Yes, I know, darling, and that’s the problem. It’s exactly why I worry about you!” — he replied.

And so John checked for me the tides (I completely forgot to check them… I was lucky, the water was retreating, and low tide was coming; otherwise, I would probably spend the night on some tree waiting for the low tide to come) and he explained the safest way to get back to my car.

I loved the 9 km walk along the beach, though almost half of this was in complete darkness. I have to admit, however, there were moments when I felt slight uneasiness because of the wilderness surrounding me and some unexplained noises. I walked, hoping I wouldn’t step on some sharp shells, or any of the exciting poisonous creatures inhabiting the Australian coast, be it in or out of water.

I was getting closer to civilization when I noticed a twinkle far ahead of me. It was shining brightly for a couple of seconds and disappeared, only to magically appear again. “What could it be?” I wondered to myself. When I got closer, I could recognize a vague silhouette of someone enjoying a drink out of the bottle and smoking a cigarette. This made my heart race. I was so relieved when I finally saw some lights of civilization and found myself in the town, which at that time of night felt like a ghost town.

There was one more challenge I needed to face. I had to cross the island, from the east to the west, another 6 km walk. The path through the bush is gorgeous — during the daylight, not so much at nighttime when the only thing you can see are the stars if you are lucky enough to find a break in the thick trees.

“Do you have a torch?” — John send me a message

“Kind of… I mean, I don’t have a torch as such, but I have a phone, and there is a torch,” — I replied and didn’t add that my phone was about 50% charged. I knew he wasn’t particularly happy about my adventures, so why should I add to his stress? He couldn’t help me anyway.

Finally, I made it to my car. John was more relieved than I was. When you think about it, the walk wasn’t too bad. There were no people (well, in Australian country towns, the people go to bed as soon as the sun sets down), I didn’t walk into any trees or other objects (or creatures) which could cause me some harm, and actually, I walked into only one enormous spider web (I dislike the feeling of the sticky stuff on my face, but… when you live in a rural area in Australia, at some point, you get used to it). And I got plenty of exercise. That day altogether, I walked 29km.

I think if I want to survive, I should take the job hunt seriously and sign a contract as soon as possible. This will keep me out of trouble — I don’t have time to look for other adventures while working.

Wednesday

In the morning, I went to the city markets to get my favourite German bread, packed my car, and drove off to meet John.

When I arrived at the destination, he wasn’t there. “Oh no, did I confuse something again? Should we meet in a different park?” — I started to worry. It wouldn’t be unusual for me to end up at a place with the same name but in a different town (I leave this story for another time).

Luckily I was in the right place; John was just running a few minutes late. When I saw him, I got so excited that I ran and jumped at him, almost like an excited teenager.

We went for a walk on the animal farm (he is an animal lover like myself) to admire all the big and little creatures. Then we had lunch together and went for another walk to a lookout. Actually, it didn’t matter where we were; the best was to be together. The simple things are the most beautiful, like walking and holding hands, chatting, laughing together, and sharing the moment.

Maybe I could be disappointed we didn’t go camping together, maybe even upset about all our situation — will it ever change? But I chose to go with the flow and enjoy what I have instead of worrying about why life “isn’t as it should be”. I have love in my life; I had a wonderful day and felt happy.

If you enjoyed this story, maybe you will also like other of my travel stories, example my travels through Australia

Or across Canada

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