The Adventures of Sunshine Gypsy: Merry Melbourne New Years and Goodbye Australia

After Hawaii I flew to Melbourne to spend New Year's Eve with Will (pseudo cousin), Sandy (Will's partner), and Rick and Audrey (Sandy's parents). Will and Sandy recently got a kitten, Syl, which was wonderful because I was having Kitty Cat withdrawals. Syl and I got some good cuddle time in. She's an excellent cuddler.

Syl and Bongo are pals

For New Year's Eve Rick and Audrey got us tickets to a cocktail party at the Aquarium. At first I thought it was a curious place to host a New Year's Eve party. But the closer the day came the more excited I became. New Year's Eve at the Melbourne Aquarium turned out to be the best New Year's I've had thus far. There were parts of the aquarium that were roped off and no-go zones. Will found a ramp that led to the underground tanks that wasn't roped off, but the stairs to the same place were roped off. Going down the ramp technically wasn't breaking the rules, right? As the clock struck midnight everyone went out onto the balcony to watch the fireworks and I ran downstairs to the shark tanks. WHOA! So insanely amazing! I laid on the ground under a glass archway and watched sharks, sting rays, and fish swim by for 20-30 minutes. It was peaceful bliss. Not a single soul wandered down my way during this time. It was just me and the sharks. Such a great way to ring in the New Year. Big thanks to Rick and Audrey for that gift!

Isn't that how you iron??

Rick, me, Sandy, and Will

Audrey, Rick, Sandy, Will, and me

The only picture of the shark tank I have (thank you Audrey)

After about a week with Will, Sandy, Rick, and Audrey I went to stay with my friend, Kevala, for about a week. It was great to catch up with her and a couple other friends while I was in Melbourne. Kevala had to work during the day which left plenty of time for wandering. One day I went out and did another tour of the street art. I was curious to see how much of it remained the same over the past year and how much of it had been covered in new art pieces. There were a number of pieces I expected to remained the same while others I expected to change simply based on location. The higher up pieces are harder to get to therefore it makes sense that they remain the same while the lower pieces are easier to paint over. Some had changed and some remained the same. It was cool to see a small part of the cycle of the evolution of the Melbourne street art scene.

Those are several different rooftops
covered in street art

To the Bat Cave!

This coffee shop was set up and run by the Homeless yYouth
Project. All the proceeds go to funds to help homeless youth.

Sneaky self portrait

One of my favorite pieces... getting
high on love

Another sneaky self portrait. I loved the reflection of the art
on the glass doors of a business.

"Imagination outside of capitalism"

"How long you been on the streets?"
"Bout five years."
"Does it get any easier?"
"What do you call easy?"

I sat in this spot and took in the beauty that is the Melbourne
Botanical Gardens while having a lovely goodbye phone call
with a friend. It was the perfect end to a day.

Then just like that the holidays were over and it was time to head back to Newcastle to finish packing up my temporary home and say my goodbyes. It's a strange feeling planting roots and traveling at the same time. Australia was home for a year. I took a bit of a break from consistent travel and settled down, but at the same time I knew that settling down was temporary. Pulling up those baby roots was harder than I expected. It was sad saying goodbye to people I've grown to love.

For my last day Bee, Beps, Ester, Rubin, and Simon (Beps's kids), and I went to a wombat sanctuary. It was an adventure getting there but it was certainly worth it. Wombats are the most adorable little creatures! I want one! They're really friendly and playful. They're almost like dogs. They'll chase you and chew on your shoe laces and love belly rubs, but they'll also curl up for cuddles. It was the perfect way to end my time in Australia. The next day I was off to Sydney to say one last goodbye to a few friends there then the following day I was off to Singapore then Thailand.