1 month in Australia

Well, I've been here for a month now. The first 2 weeks were busy with sister Eilidh and niece Kyla. Lots of family time. The three of us visited more relatives in Sydney for a long weekend. Since Eilidh left I've been on more of a mission. I've been trying to kick start all areas of my life, one part at a time. I've been playing the harp quite a bit. It's amazing how much my fingers can remember! I've made a basic website to try and improve my chances of getting hired for weddings and functions on the gold coast. All the other harpists have one, so, I feel like I'm ready now, if I need to become a harpist overnight!!
I've been searching for jobs in the sports industry - a huge vague umbrella covering all sorts of roles. But I did find a job on the Sunshine Coast - 2 hours north of Brisbane - the job is Regional Coordinator, Active After-School communities. This involves working with primary schools and hooking them up with the local community sports providers to try and encourage inactive children into sports after school. Sounds like a perfect job for me...but if I don't get it, it's not the end of the world - at least it's forced me to crack on and get my CV in order and the letter writing process under way. The next letter will be easier! The search continues!
Sports! Sports have been keeping me going through this strange time. I've been swimming most days, there's a pool in the garden, and a 50 metre outdoor pool 5 minutes away, so that's brilliant. I've been cycling 2 different routes - the first is a 40km valley road - out and back. The 2nd route is a 70km loop, going up into the mountains - a beautiful ride, but massive elevation, hills galore. It's currently taking me 3 hours...hoping to gradually speed this up. It's a tough tough ride at the moment. Need to find a cycle group. I saw a group of girls this morning on the valley route, but I was going the other way. I'm thinking of turning around next time, joining their pack and find out what the deal is!!
Running. I've been running along the beach - with no shoes...it's been good for my running I think. Then I found the bike shop in Coolangatta - they are about to set up a whole new triathlon training scheme. The first run was that very same night, so I managed to get a group run in - the hills were harsh though! Training buddies! There were only 3 guys, 2 of which used to be on the pro olympic triathlon series, now overweight and trying to get fit again! The third guy does sub-10 hour ironman distances, so pretty quick. Really fun to find a good bike shop anyway. At the moment, they only have super fast bike ride groups...a little out of my league at the moment, but hopefully I'll get fitter and faster!!

So, I have just over 2 weeks until I head to Canada, my friend Hannah from my Japan years is getting married! Hooray! So, the McRazy travels continue!!

Life with mum and dad is pretty chilled and relaxed. The kookaburras are on the balcony from about 6 am until 8 am and again from 5 pm...funny things. We're having BBQs almost every night! The house is amazing, the view of the ocean is stunning. Sunrise from my bed isn't too bad either.

I have been missing my friends and Andrew a LOT. Having no routine and no job...it's a weird thing - but everything will come together eventually. I have the luxury of hanging on until the RIGHT job comes along. It's all very exciting.

Seeing 2 of my best Japan friends next week. Dona lives an hour north of here on the Gold Coast. Jaimee lives further north but is back in Brisbane for Easter holidays. Great to have such good friends so relatively close!

Time to put the BBQ on :)
Happy Easter everyone!