I haven’t written in a LONG time. Mostly, because I have just had a
same-old, work, sleep, work , sleep lifestyle. There aren’t too many updates
right now but I miss having my blog as an outlet, so here goes.
Since the last time I wrote I spent a week in Fiji with Tarik, and then
took three weeks off to travel up the east coast of Australia.Fiji was one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever had. Other than
our drunken nights, most of our days, Tarik and I spent lounging on the most
beautiful beaches. We only spent two days on the mainland in Nadi before we
started our island hopping adventures. Our first stop was Mana Island. We
stayed in a little cabin type villa right on the beach and met some awesome
roommates. We originally were only supposed to spend 3 nights on Mana Island,
but shortly turned into 5. One of the days Tar and I spent about two hours
walking along the coastline of the island. We had a few hurdles along the way
and good sunburn at the end of our trip, but it was one of the best excursions
ever! Hands down the best part of my trip was spending time with my brother…
but I think our favourite part of the week was learning how to dive together.
Tarik has always been a little fish in the water, but I on the other hand,
would never have thought to go diving. I would rather curl up with a book on
the beach anyday. It was our roommate Chelsea who really convinced me to do it.
We had gone snorkeling right off the shore of Mana and saw so many awesome fish
and coral. The dive instructors said the snorkeling there was about 20 times
worse than diving…. So it was a no-brainer. We spent the morning doing basic
skills and simple exercises in the water right off the shore and then took a 20
minute boat ride out to Cast Away Island. If you didn’t get it by the name, it
was the island Cast Away was filmed on. We got to do a 25 minute dive… and I
even got to tip backwards off the boat like in the movies! I spent the first 20
minutes freaking out underwater. No one could tell, but I just spent 20 minutes
telling myself it is alright, breathe, blah blah blah. Its so weird being down
there, just you and the water. If, god forbid anything were to go wrong … good
luck, Tara. Anyway, our instructor took us down on a rope, had us clear our
ears and all that good stuff. Then we were free to roam the ocean. This was the
best part. Tarik took off immediately, obviously. And I opted to stay close to
the boat, searching for coral and giant fishies. Needless to say, we had such a
great time and experience doing this together. I was not confident at all in my
underwater abilities, and to be honest I don’t think I would have ever gone
diving without Tarik there holding my hand. He even gave me warnings before the
skills in the shallow water that I would hate it and just to calm down. Ahhh,
seeing my brother was such a breathe of fresh air. If I could relive that
vacation 1000 times over, I would. I just miss them so much!
I got back to Australia with a few days to work, unpack, and repack.
About four days later, Kenny and I started our trip up the east coast! First, Kenny
and I flew to Brisbane, where I got to spend some time with an old friend …
Miss Lizbith Baugh. I had such a great time. It’s so nice to have friends that
you don’t see for years and you are able to just pick up where you left off.
From Brisbane we rented a campervan for 21 days and started to drive up the
coast. We went about 2,000 km’s in total. Our first 10 days were pure rain and
clouds. We didn’t see the sun once until about day 11. BUT, when the sun did
come out it was like a whole new vacation. About two weeks into the vacation,
Kenny and I went to Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville
Australia. The island was a different world than that of Australia. It had a
western vibe, obviously, but was laid back and just so beautiful. We spent
three days here, enjoyed the sun shining, and did some exploring. Our last day though, Kenny and I were
meant to return our rental car at 5pm. We were only 3 kilometers from the
rental place, when we got into an accident. The roads on Magnetic were similar
to the roads in Bermuda. It’s like driving on a mountaintop, with one side a
cliff and the other a rock wall. Pretty exhilarating to drive down these
winding roads. BUT… Kenny and I had the music blaring, my hands in the air,
when an ambulance came shooting past us. We moved over, a bit too far, and
ended up riding the railing right on the cliff of the road. Because we were so
close to the edge the back end of our car caught some gravel, lifted off of the
ground, and shot us right into oncoming traffic. I don’t know how it all
happened but by some grace of God the oncoming car was just a little sedan.
Both cars weren’t drivable in the end, but we all walked away with only a
little bruising and some sore muscles. The next four hours after the crash were
a blurr.. a blurr that ended up costing about $2000. Lucky for us, we only had
a few days left of our vacation. We got right back out there, finished our trip
and spent our last day on the Great Barrier Reef. Throughout our trip we went
snorkeling three times and diving once. Our dive in Carins and the great
barrier reef was the most amazing experience. A small boat took us about 50
feet from the yacht and we were able to just float and swim back with the
current. We saw HUGE fish that came right up to our faces, really big turtles,
and two sharks. Yep, sharks. We came to one really big reef … I figured this
was where the turtles live, so I swam right up to it. Little did I know, a
shark would come out of the reef and swim right underneath me. I think I was
peeing my pants at the time, and trying so hard not to hold my breath. Either
way, it was a big big biggggg step for me and such a great way to end our
holiday.
Since we’ve been back we’ve
been working a LOT and have been focused on spending more time with
friends in Melbourne and doing more Melbourne exploring. We realized when we
were traveling that we haven’t done most of the “Must do” things in Melbourne
and have just been working and living inside our little bubble too much. We
have been on a roll until last week when both of us had the winter sickness.
(yes, it is winter in Melbourne, yuck). We were both coughing, sneezing,
fevering and nasty for about four days. I finally started to feel better and
get over it and life hands me another smack in the face. I’m sure if you read
my blog, you may have come across my facebook or some sort of social media –
and already know. If not, this past week my grandpa went into heart surgery.
The surgery went really well, according to the doctors, but when he was
supposed to wake up about 4 hours later, he never did. It took another whole
day to figure out what went wrong, was he going to wake up? When? Will he be
okay if he does wake up? .. In the end of things, grandpa had suffered a
massive stroke during or just after the surgery and if he did wake up, he would
have severe brain damage and limited mobility. Obviously, with me being as far
as you can get from Canada, I had to hear all of this via facebook, voicemails,
the whole bit. My whole family gathered at the hospital and decided it was best
to cut life support. It is all just happening really fast. One minute I have an
email from his saying “see you at Christmas”, the next minute I am seeing
articles about his legacy in the Windsor Star. (http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/08/23/terry-murphy-musician-and-firefighter-dead-at-78/) It’s a lot to handle from
9237401703 km’s away, and I am dealing with it the best I can. My family
probably won’t be happy I am posting my life story on the internet, but being
so far away I don’t have many outlets. I just wish more than anything that I
could be home. I looked up flights the moment I found out, and the shortest
journey was 26 hours just one way. To be honest, I probably would have made it
just in time for the funeral, but would have missed the showings, and traveling
26 hours in my state probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Despite my anger and
confusion with the whole situation, I am overwhelmed by the amount of love and
support that I have received. The Windsor community and people I have never met
have sent me messages about my grandfather and what an inspiration he was. It
is really an honour to be his granddaughter and I am really so proud of him. I
just wish that I had some closure. It feels like we are planning a birthday party, or an anniversary party for grandma and grandpa. There is almost no part of me that thinks of what's happening as grandpas funeral. Even when I write it or say it out loud, not one ounce of me believes that... Its so weird. Maybe one of these days I will wake up and
realize he won’t be home when I get there… Maybe I won’t understand until I go
home in December. Everyone has their own process, its just that most often the
process is helped with the funeral, showings, and family by your side.
Unfortunately, in my case I have to adjust and grieve in an unorthodox and
unfamiliar way. If anything, I feel grateful that I have such a close-knit
family and such a strong bond with so many people back home. I am going through
the day to day motions here, but my head and heart are all back home. It will
take time I’m sure, but I will be just fine. Thank you to everyone for
supporting me and helping me through yet another one of life’s hurdles. I
appreciate now more than ever the relationships I have and all of the people in
my life. I only hope I can impact the world like my grandpa did. Here are some photos of us in the last year! They make me smile. ..
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| Gma and gpa. |
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| All the cousins! |
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| These are just the best grandparents in the world. |
Till Next Time …
