Having booked my flights to leave Broome before Christmas it
wasn’t long before I started to question my actions. I had intended to stay in
Broome until mid January but then I hadn’t counted on being invited to stay
with my east coast friends for the holidays. Also despite my best intentions I
really was ready to move on. In fact I was considering moving up to Darwin but
the fact that I had booked my flight to Sydney from Perth and that I had a few
counselling sessions booked in stopped me. As our customer base switched from
tourists to local the hours at work became scarcer and our busy periods fell in
to those of a normal restaurant. Whereas before there was barely time to catch
our breath between breakfast and lunch then lunch and dinner I found myself
taking 1-2 hour breaks. One day I even volunteered to take a 3 hour break as
that way at least I could go for a swim. Most of the backpackers had moved on
and the remaining staff were all looking for hours. The first time I found
myself fighting for hours I went home and had a think and decided that it
really wasn’t worth it. I had studies to do and enough money in the bank that I
could call it a day at any time. I even spoke to my boss, half hoping that he
would cut my hours so I had a reason to move on but though we had slowed down
there were still hours to be had so in the end I stayed.
I can’t say I regret that decision. It’s a good place to
work and I enjoyed my time there however as December arrived and the
decorations started to appear I knew it was time to call it quits. My boss beat
me to the conversation asking me a few days before I planned to speak to him
what my plans were. I said I wanted to head east before Christmas and we agreed
that I would leave on the 20th as then he would not have to employ
anyone else to take my place. It was later than I was thinking but since it
seemed to suit the business I no longer felt bad about leaving before I had
originally intended and was happy to stay knowing I would soon be on the road
again. Having quit my job going back east had become a reality. I set about
booking my dive course and hostel in Cairns for January and started to look
forward to catching up with my friends on the east coast and travelling again.
I got really excited when I booked my dive course but part of me won’t believe
it’s really happening until I’m there learning how to dive. I don’t know yet
where I’ll next stop for work. I’m fortunate enough that I should have enough
money to travel a bit first and hopefully stop somewhere I want to stay rather
than need to due to lack of funds.
For now I am still in Broome which is a record since I
started travelling. When I leave I’ll have been here for four whole months with
only one night away from the hostel when I went camping up to the gorges. The
studies are on hold as I embrace the holiday spirit and enjoy the time I have
left here. For one thing it is way too hot and humid to study and for another I’ve
discovered that hanging about chatting with the folks who are left is way more
interesting. It’s a good thing I didn’t
discover this earlier or I suspect no amount of good intentions would have kept
me sober, dieting and studious. Now though I am in the mood to be led astray a
little, I may even have a few drinks along the way.
Enjoy and be safe Lyn....I love following your travels...
ReplyDeleteIt would have been Sam's 32rd birthday 17th December....we've just been told that his inquest will be held in Sydney 11th Jan 2013.
I believe Lara and Azad are hoping to attend.
Have a good Christmas Lyn and a great 2013 xx
I hope you had a good Christmas Sally. I'll be thinking of you and Sam at New Year also xx
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