Miss you already

This kiwi...in flight, New Zealand bound. More of a premature return than expected from my incredible European adventures. Exactly one month before this journey home today, the possibility of a job in New Zealand came to my attention, throwing my plans completely. It was kind of like having an amazing menu in front of you and it being so hard to choose because all the meals look so good and you want it all!

That reminds me, went to a Brazilian grill in London for dinner the other night, amazing food. They asked if we would like to see the dessert menu and as I had seen some delicious chocolate mousse displayed in the cabinet when I walked in we thought we would take a quick squiz at the menu.... The menu came on a trolley... Every single dessert made up in dishes for display. Brilliant idea. We had to order now with that scrumptious deliciousness right in front of our eyes as opposed to just words or pictures... Genius idea and I bet they get double the dessert sales to any other restaurant. It's like dangling string in front of a kitten.

Anyway, I have loved my job as a European tour guide.

It has been the best experience of my life. To learn so much - history, culture, art and architecture (a touch of language - would've loved to learn more). To make life long friends with the people I went through intensive training with. To have my eyes opened to so many things that have led me to feel more sure of who I am. To have all sorts of crazy adventures from adrenalin rushing activities like skydiving and canyoning to going to shows, long bike rides, running and hiking all in different settings. To then take others around Europe and share that passion and love for life and travel with them and to then see those people have defining life changing and memorable moments.

A whirlwind of interviews, thought processes, a job offer, more thought processes, decision making exercises now find me a few weeks later, on this plane zooming towards the Southern Hemisphere far away from Europe. My heart definitely torn! But I do love life - Drew this in the sand Feb 2014 West coast, NZ.

I want to be everywhere and with everyone! I'm going to miss waking up in a different European city every second morning, I'm going to miss my friends I made within my colleagues like crazy. I'll miss moments when I'd meet locals from a different country and culture and they would inspire me or widen my view of the world in some way. I can think of a million examples, like the happy, gorgeous 9 year old Albanian girl I met and played with at our hotel swimming pool reminding me to keep having fun, not to be shy and not to take life to seriously or the cheery elderly Georgian couple so much energy, so many jokes, so high on life I got the pleasure to meet on top of Gellert hill, Budapest when I was running in the early morning inspiring me to be the same when I reach that age. They were the epitome of the quote "you are only as old as you feel".

On the flip side I am going to a new, different, dream job that still allows travel, is all about travel and encouraging others to take part in this beautiful thing as well as being a career advancement. Not only that but I will be living in my beautiful home country nearby my Grandparents, parents, siblings and friends and especially my little nephews who are growing so fast!

Super excited to be heading into another summer, time to try pick up surfing again? BBQ's with my beautiful friends, sunshine, lollipops, rainbows and spinning tops! I hope to have lots of my Aussie and European friends visit! I will have a home..... Strange concept. A home with a kitchen (uhh... Possibly need to sign up for cooking classes... It's been awhile...), a bedroom where I can unpack my suitcase completely for the first time since early 2013.

For those who have not yet ventured to the gem of the pacific yet, I leave you with a few thoughts and photos from my travels in my own backyard.... To hopefully inspire and to see you soon ;)

New Zealand is the birth place of commercial bungy jumping.... So if that's on your bucket list, you should do it here.

Also, New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the sunrise for a new calendar day.... Perfect place to be for New Years celebrations.

Worlds away

I have a few hours to kill in the truckers lounge on the ferry from Scotland to Nothern Ireland. Naturally, there have been a few strange looks cast my way as I'm the only female in site. I certainly don't look like a driver, they probably think I got lost and ended up in the wrong part of the ship and are too polite to tell me to sod off. In fact, I am allowed there being a courier (of people)... I go for the free feed.

There are people talking around me... No clue to what they are saying... apparently it's English. So I think it is time to catch up on recording important memoirs. 

I have had the pleasure of taking literally 100s of people around Europe over the last couple of years now. It is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done - taking people on the holiday of their lifetimes, something they have saved so hard for and been counting the months and days until it started. Seeing them be excited and discover new things just like I did. 

I just completed the biggest trip I have led in my time with Topdeck travel, 36 days around continental Europe. It was amazing to say the least. Happy happy.

Within this trip I went a little bit further east than the usual path that I'm used to. I got to explore more of Greece and more of the Balkans and go back to one of my favourite cities, Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

I have always wanted to go to Athens since I was a child, back when I wanted to be an archeologist... Yip, for a wee time that was my career of choice. To discover the ruins of Ancient Greece! I thought that would be fabulous.... Marry a Greek Demi god?!... Although from what I have seen ladies, there are no more Demi gods in Greece! Just going to put it out there.... Possible myth?!

I made it to Athens! I was so excited to climb the acropolis and look out across the city.

Across the water we had been to the Greek Island of Myoknos!! 3 sweet nights, relaxing by the pool, being at the beach and riding a quad bike. Checking out the windmills, little Venice and getting lost, exploring random bays!

Riding that quad bike around was definitely up there with one of my happiest days! It also included one of my scariest moments...when we encountered such a steep hill I was hesitant to go down.... Alas we committed and on our way we went. The view was STUNNING, I can't describe it and even if I'd thought to take a picture in my moment of terror, it would not have done the beauty justice. A steep hill side of Mykonos dotted with blue and white buildings plummeting towards the sparkling blue sea which stretched out endlessly only reaching the clear wide endless sky with a golden ball burning high. 

Two emotions at play as we move down this hill 1. In awe of the beauty in front and below me and 2. Fighting my vision of seeing this quad bike flip us forward turning this from picturesque to grotesque. 

I live to tell the tail but I tell you what... Relief was not had by the bottom when we realised there was no way out but back up that hill! Is this even going to be possible?! These quads were good but not so sure there was enough power to conquer this mountain... Luckily I had been training a bit lately to strengthen them... And as for the quad bike, much the same, gutless really. Especially with the two of us on board. Well all we could do was try... I opted not to be driver, letting my friend take control (as he had half way down the hill when I panicked). He is a driver of a massive coach after all, this quad would be easy right?

Allowing as much of a run up as we could before we attempted our ascent we kept moving forward up this hill... Until halfway... Until the quad bike stopped moving forward anymore... Yip, what I had feared. This baby wasn't going any further. Thankfully we did not go backwards in any way, shape or form. We managed to safely get off and push the bike to a flattened driveway entrance from where my friend restarted the attempt to get the bike up the rest of the hill while I ran behind working out my own two quads. Whilst this occurred a few others on quad bikes were coming down the hill looking skeptical of their choice when they saw our events occur. Fun times. The stories your parents like to hear you have survived.

Further north in Greece we visited Meteora. Monasteries upon pinnacles! Such a magic place. It was in this moment I wished I was a BASE jumping wing suit pilot. I wanted to fly through the pinnacles! 

Two big drive days in a row from Meteora, Greece to Tirana Albania and from Tirana to Dubrovnik, Croatia (via Montenegro). These are made longer with hold ups at the borders. 

We encountered large ques at all of them but we made it eventually. The police at the borders can be quite rude sometimes and search the coach for alcohol or some sort of beverage to take for themselves but the Albanian police before entering Montenegro was more than friendly, even wrote down his number incase I had any troubles when I came through next time and needed to call him... Below this work number were a few more digits with 'personal' written beside it... Interesting. 

The customs man on the Montenegro side was also friendly, I didn't think so at first, when I went to get the drivers document stamped he asked me to sit down because he had a few questions. This had never happened before. I quickly realised there was no real problem when the questions started to flow - 

How old are you? Where are you from? Do you like wine? Would you like to try wine from Montenegro? Are you staying in Montenegro? When will you be back in Montenegro? Trying to be friendly despite my zero percent interest in order to keep this border check smooth. I was quite glad when I saw my drivers head pop into the office to see if we were all good to go as this ended the conversation and we were on our way! 

Dubrovnik was another massive highlight of this trip as we hired a jet ski for the entire day and oh my word was that fun.

Zooming along the sparkling waters of the Adriatic Sea and around the rocky cliffs and islands of the Dalmatian Coastline was invigorating! Felt like a dolphin dancing through the sea's surface. Passing by the city wall surrounding the old town of Dubrovnik. Ten am til six pm tearing up the waters with a few rest stops along the way - amazing! Sore muscles and even a small part on my thumb rubbed raw. Fell asleep as soon as I got back to my room, woke up about 10pm looking for dinner.

On to the beautiful Bosnia and Serbia still scarred with visable wounds from the Balkan wars. Bullet holes decorating the  buildings, some bombed out and abandoned. We stopped for lunch in the gorgeous town of Mostar, famous for its bridge. Built by the Turks in the Middle Ages, home and the spot of the oldest diving competion in the world, going for around 500 years until the bridge was destroyed in one hit during the Balkan wars of the early 90s. It was rebuilt and the competion has resumed in July every year since 2004. You can pay to do the 21m jump yourself or watch the locals do it! I'll jump out of a plane any day but that is one thing I would not be brave enough to do.

We arrive in Sarajevo for the evening and we walk to the Latin bridge where the assisination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife occurred 100 years prior on the 28 June 1914. I found it airy standing in the spot of an event I have studied so much about which was the trigger that set off the fall of those standing dominoes leading to the beginning of the Great War.

We then wander into the old town and it reminds me of a mini Istanbul with the markets and strong Turkish influence. It is crazy seeing the blend of culture and religion in the one city, mosques and cathedrals, an area you can drink alcohol and the Muslim area where you cannot.

Driving down the main street (home to the first electric tram system in Europe) of Sarajevo, is itself an eye opener. Buildings with bullet holes or the visble patch work where bullet holes were, nicknamed sniper ally after all the snipers that had been positioned on the rooftops shooting at locals as they attempted to go about their business during the siege of Sarajevo in the beginning of the 90s. Standing in Sarajevo and looking up to the surrounding hills was daunting as I thought about the Serbian tanks that were positioned on the outskirts aiming into the city. I can't really comprehend this reality. To be walking to work in the morning with the real possibility of being shot at! I went for a run the morning and passed by a girl about my age and thought how different our childhood realities were... While I was playing in the sandpit, sucking lollipops and picking my nose, here she was living in nothing short of a nightmare! An overwhelming sense of gratitude and a feeling of being so blessed filled me. 

So many stories and adventures, I wish I could record them all, if I can at least capture some, I can read and remind myself when I'm old and grey... Of course I'll be that crazy old lady still up to shenanigans and writing memoirs but just in case I feel the urge to reflect on 'the good old days'.... :)

All in a days work

As I begin to write this I am driving through the Austrian Alps in the pouring rain on the way to Mauthausen concentration camp. Preparing to deliver my WW2 and holocaust spiel gets no easier each trip I do. In fact it almost gets harder because no matter how many times I repeat it, I can't change what happened and the story always has the same ending. It's the most somber part of my job but such an important visit for people who had family involved in this shocking event that cast a shadow over European history. Others who have no family connection, but were taught of it in school, are simply in search of answers and comprehension of something that will just never make sense.

The stark contrast in my day to day life with touring around Europe is mind blowing sometimes. A week ago I went from the majestic Swiss alps, running along a stream in a valley past cute Swiss cottages, going up mountains and hanging out in the snow to then drinking Chianti Classico under the Tuscan sun (I soon realised I sat in the right place when a couple of girls on my table didn't like wine, so being the good tour leader I am I saved them any embarrassment and polished off each round of their tastings). Each round of wine tasting came with a different plate of home cooked food (absolutle luxury in my line of work) - each round could be described nothing less than heaven in your mouth. 

Two days ago I was in 30+ degree temperatures sunbathing and swimming at Lido beach, Venice. 24 hours later, in a wet suit in 5 degrees, splashing about in mountain water as I abseiled and jumped my way through a canyon in the Austrian alps with my crazy group of passengers. Bringing me to this point of visiting a concentration camp before heading into the beautiful Czech capital of Prague where I'll enjoy a great dinner and a fun night out with over 40 people who have become like a family in the last two weeks. Bitter/sweet is life and of course I then sadly have to say goodbye to them in 6 nights before I meet another group of individuals I'm yet to know. I love my job as the day to day differences keep my senses and emotions sharp making me feel alive.

I have become so grateful when I am surrounded by positive people and happy go lucky humans, as I've had in the past, when Mr difficult and his sidekick, moody girlfriend are on board (and the likes) who struggle with life and negativity is king of their aura, it is amazing how a couple of people can effect the mood of many.  Some people just need to stay home for the good of human kind or learn to suck it up and enjoy this beautiful life. The stress of trying to please the unpleasable literally causes me a tension headache. The sharp tongue that I was "occasionally" told off for as a child, I have definitely had to tame. My Mantra to stay professional with difficult people - "Patience is a virtue and the comeback for negativity is best conquered with positivity right back in their faces!"

I love observing the world. The difference in landscapes, food, architecture and most certainly the people. The way we are all so different. Not one particular thing is right. There is just such a wide variety of opinions, tolerances, languages, habits, behaviours and any combination of the above. It all comes down to what we are taught as we grow up and our personal/family preferences. I love the free days I have in they cities I take passengers to but I also love the drive days where I watch the world go by, the beauty in it, the differences in it, the history in it, the buildings in it and the people in it. 

So I pretty much have the best job in the world for myself right now. I am super happy except for these few issues -

1. No matter where I am in the world I am always missing someone. Even if I went home (what and where is home?) my loved ones are scattered across Australasia. As well as my dear friends living on the northern side of the globe. 

I must say I miss seeing my nephews grow and spending time with my elderly grandparents.

2. I meet an amazing group of people for a limited time and then we say goodbye, never to be one group again. Next group syndrome starts to kick in fearing that this next strange mix of people won't live up to the last group.

3. Some people are idiots, who are miserable and can't see the beauty and positivity in what's around them and that makes me sad. It makes me sadder when others are effected by their negative attitudes. 

On a lighter note... talking about my need to bite my tongue earlier... I have had numerous, embarrassing Freudian slips this year. Completely unintentional sexual innuendo popping out in front of passengers. We reach the Trevi fountain in Rome, mention it's at the end of the 2000 year old aqua duct called the Aqua Virgin, if you drink from the fountain on the right the myth is you will become a virgin again. I talk more about the aqua duct and fountain. I also mention tossing coins into the fountain and the "meanings" or "myths" for doing so. I wind it all up saying "10 minutes to go toss in your coins and de-virginise yourself!" My passengers didn't move to quickly instead they stood laughing asking if I meant to say re virginise!

Another time, I was doing my Germany introduction and I was getting to the matter of food. I mentioned there are many types of sausages and various ways to have them done. As I like to ad-lib to keep my spiels natural, what followed was taken completely the wrong way by a bus load of young adults.... "So this means you could have a sausage a day in a different way!"... 

Might leave sausages out of it from now on. Alas, got to keep the entertainment up somehow. 

Speaking of sausage, that's my on the road tradition when I arrive in Dresdan, Germany each time I get a €3 bratwurst sausage. They just tastes better over here! 

Now that I am finishing writing this I am a few days along from when I started and have passed through the Czech Republic, trying my first absinth shot and carried on into Germany where as well as the sausage, I indulged in some more German meat and had pork knuckle for the first time.

Reason being the first time, I have never been a fan of eating meat off a bone... This makes it seem more like eating an animal than having a nice fillet.

Today I topped off this meaty two day visit to Germany with the biggest schnitzel I think I have ever eaten in my life. 

Off to the land of cheese, weed, clogs and bikes tomorrow - Holland bound.