WHERE WE WERE AT

It’s really been long since I last wrote to you. looking at the dates, it’s been years!

I will try to squeeze in this post what the heck happened in OZ  to super Cris… OK, I see the last news you had of me were talking about getting 457 sponsor visa and starting a new serious life in Sydney, with a real job and responsibilities.

A lot happened ever since. Below a short list:

1. most important: I have became an Australian Permanent Resident! Yep, mission accomplished. A dream come true. It’s been exactly a year since this great news. I cannot describe in words my happiness and excitement when my immigration agent called me to tell me that I had been granted a permanent residency visa.
2. There have been many other Vivid festivals in between and also numerous travels around Asia, Australia and the pacific… I will start with the first one: Fiji. Impossible to squeeze on a few words the beauty of Fiji: wild, authentic, unique, breathtaking… solo traveller again, I met so many great people along the way. And I saw a turtle! You may say what a big deal is this? well, they say that seeing an ocean turtle in Fiji brings good luck so there you go! Ah, also it’s one of my tattoo too but I will come to that in a second… In Fiji I also faced one of biggest fear of all: dive. Yep, I got certified Padi Open Water Diver whoop whoop! and I have discovered a whole brand new world and what a world! colours are amazing down in the ocean! I am so proud of me for doing it! and yes, I have also seen a turtle so I went back home happy with two promises made to myself: one to keep diving while in Sydney – I still haven’t done so thou – the other one to go back to Fiji one day – this one too still WIP. By the way, if any of you wants to go to Fiji and you got no travel companion, then give me a call ;).
3. OK, let’s move to next ones: Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong. I must say all business trips but still worth mentioning. Singa is the least “asian’ if I can say. Very young with a big expats community still fascinating thou. Crazy busy with its gardens by the bay with its surreal giant metal trees. Great street food and cafes and full of my old friends. The Clark quay is always buzzing with tourists and people going for after work drinks. The weather is always warm and humid and sometimes I found it unpleasant – let’s face it I have been spoilt in Sydney with its beautiful dry heat! Jakarta is madness! I couldn’t stand flying to JKT and spend 4 hours to travel from the airport to my hotel…. other than that it’s a big city that I didn’t have the chance to visit properly. one, maybe, I will find the courage to go back there! Kuala Lumpur with its Petronas Twin Towers.. terrific! standing at the bottom of the towers is something impressive, you feel very small! great people I’ve met in KL, great stories I have heard too. yet again thou, it’s a big city that I haven’t explored enough. Last,  but not least, Hong Kong in a word: fascinating! yes, another big crazy city but, somehow, different. Time dissolves in HK, at anytime of the day that city keeps moving and moving very fast: people running here and there in malls, restaurants, everyone that tries to sell anything, houses resemble to little boxes. there is very limited space in HK and everyone surrend to live in a little cement box in the heart of the city. would I go back to HK for a couple of days? definitely!
4. let’s move on to Bali, Indonesia. I don’t think I would need to say much about Bali as, I am sure, everyone knows or hears about how beautiful Bali is! and it’s true! Bali is AMAZING! again, I went to Bali as a solo traveller and I have enjoyed every single day I have spent there.. Landed in Semynyak for a couple of days, I spent most of the time between Ubud – where the jungle is – and Uluwatu – on the south-west cost. what can I say? I would go back to Bali thousand times! Its temples, history, costumes, food, colours and so on are simply stunning.
5. Lastly, I finally accomplished a lifetime dream: a road trip on Sunshine Coast and, in particular, sailing in the Whitsundays islands, QLD – Australia. Now, for anyone of you who don’t know much about Australia, let me tell you that, beside being a beautiful wild place on earth, it’s also bloody huge! Two sisters and a Nissan Pulsar driving along the coast of the sate of Queensland… priceless experience, from Byron to Cairns and then a flight to the red hart of Australia: Uluru!!! yes, the big fat red rock in the middle of the desert. I couldn’t stop feeding my eyes with the beauty of such remote places, isolated and wild.
6. Other news that it’s worth to mention, a new job yet to start, new friends, music festivals and some trouble here and there… but overall, I can say out loud that I have a pretty happy life, fulfilled with joy, sun, ocean, friends, health, good food, experiences and life lessons.

Ubud, Bali

Semyniak Beach, Bali

Ubud, Bali

Ubud, Bali

Electric Gardens Festival, Sydney

Electric Gardens Festival, Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Somewhere on the Sunshine Coast, QLD Australia

Whitsundays, QLD Australia

Whitsundays, QLD Australia

Whitsundays, QLD Australia

Uluru, NT Australia

Uluru, NT Australia

And that’s all for now folks.

I will be back soon.

Cris

ABOUT MY LAST 72 HOURS

Such is the way of the world, you can never know

Such is the passage of time, too fast to fold..

Music’s playing high in my ears. The flight attendants are passing by, clearing all passenger’s seats. Jeff Buckley is now playing Last Goodbye and I am thinking over and over again about last night. The red wine I am drinking and the altitude are making me high, somehow and I like the feeling…

Bologna is now 932 miles away but today it feels closer than ever. Tears run down my face. Too much what I left behind this time. My niece is a grown little girl, she is the cutest and smartest human being I had the fortune to know. She has big blue eyes and golden curls. she is tiny but she has the energy of a tiger already. She speaks only few words but the sweetest ones, she calls me auntie and I melt. She wants to play and make coffees for mum and grandma, not for auntie Cris thou. I look at her, trying to catch every single expression of her face, every little sound she makes so I can pack my bag of memories of her smile, her big blue eyes and her little voice. Last supper, three weeks have gone so fast, too fast… time has slipped off my hands like sand. It’s time to say goodbye again, once more.

Time to rush at the airport. I look at my mum… she is still the strongest and yet sweetest of mother anyone could ever want, only with some more wrinkles and grey hair… and I think how much of her life I am missing out. I would love to tell her how much I love her but I have never used to show my feelings and I try to stay strong. She cries while she sees me walking through the gate at the airport. I try to keep it together and hold back my tears until they can’t see me. I can’t show her my weaknesses.

Dad tries to hide his sorrow by singing out loud. He picks the worst songs of all time, he makes me laugh. My old man is funny… roles have evolved, we now teach each other new things about life. The most entertaining moment of the last 3 weeks, it’s been teaching dad how to use spotify… watch this space, he’ll get better than me!

And then there’s one of my two beloved sisters.. the mother of my little blondie niece. Her love for me hasn’t change, she loves me even more. Since I was a wee girl, she’s taken good care of me, she’s protected me and she’s wished only the best for my life. I wish to have the same big heart that she’s got.

So I drink to you, destiny. I drink to you, happiness, madness and passion. I drink to you all dreamers out there… never stop dreaming bigger and bigger, the only limit is the sky.

See you soon

Cris