wakey wakey blog..

well hello world.. I am awaking from my hibernation (at least in this blog).

Although Melbourne seems to have not gotten the memo that it is now actually spring and temperatures are supposed to be rising to sundresses and cardigans weather, I will take the lead and Spring back to life. The clocks have changed an hour early to accommodate more of the daylight so this blog should now skip to its task of recording the things that I have been getting up to and random thoughts and rambles.

Posts are soon to come mouthing on about:

• the Northcote High Vibes
• Jean’s visit to Melbourne
• Mitch and my holiday to Sydney & Canberra

slowly but surely, I promise I will go through them like someone actually cares.

For now I will leave you with this beautiful poem my dad posted on my sister’s facebook wall (she just turned 27, which explains why we braved the cold force field that is Canberra).

Dad writes: I will share the poem i gave to mama on her 27th birthday. I guess this was the clincher for her. Naaks.
_____________________________________

SOME THOUGHTS FOR BENSON GREEN ON HIS TWENTY-SEVENTH BIRTHDAY

Having just gone through the year myself
I know that twenty-seven can be hard.
But there are Sunday breakfasts

and April fields
and blue on blue
and green growing things
to change all that.

I know that spring is hard because you wait
for summer
and fall is hardest of them all-
because you must not be alone
when winter comes.

I know
that love is worth the time it takes to find.
Think of that

when all the world seems made of walk-up rooms
and hands in empty pockets.

I know your smile
and it is much too warm

to waste on people in the street

(though smiles are plentiful)
and I know
that if you keep the empty heart alive a little longer
love will come.

It always does,
maybe just at the last moment, but it will come

You must believe that
or there isn’t any reason to be twenty-seven.

- from “Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows.”
Written in 1961 & first published in 1966

And one that I scribbled on my notebook at the break of dawn while trying not to wake Mitch

When morning is about to wake

And  the night is yawning

The soul stirs

Rousing memories

Somewhere in the middle

Of asleep and awake

Are the things left unsaid

Feelings that are kept

Between the slits of the blinds

Lines of light make their way to where I lie

As my heart beats

As a tear slips

Sleep reclaims the right

To let past emotions lie

Where it is doused

By the morning light

When morning is about to wake

And  the night is yawning

The soul stirs

Rousing memories

Somewhere in the middle

Of asleep and awake

Are the things left unsaid

Feelings that are kept

Between the slits of the blinds

Slivers of light make their way to where I lie

As my heart beats

As a tear slips

Sleep reclaims the right

To let past emotions lie

Where it is doused

By the morning light

That is all.

For now.. keep calm, carry on.

X

Photo Friday: SEASIDE

I have been getting a weekly email from Photo Friday for a long time so I’m guessing at one point I subscribed to its mailing list. When I finally clicked on the link to unsubscribe to it I read what it is about and how to participate and I said.. well that’s easy enough to do!

So here’s the first and hopefully not the last Photo Friday.

SEASIDE: Nambawan Cafe, Port Vila, Vanuatu

these boots are made for walking …

One night, while walking along Brunswick Street I showed Jack the boots that my heart is aching for through a shop window. I told him how they stopped me on my tracks and made me block the walkway for about  10 minutes while I stared longingly at them. How when I walked away from them with tears in my eyes, I heard them calling out to me. (yeah.. i get a tad melodramatic about footwear and other wardrobe staples)

So he asked (as a boy would) “why didn’t you just buy them”.. I gave him a withering look and commenced a long rehearsed speech that I repeated to myself the whole day to stop myself from running out the door of my flat to the 2 short blocks where the boots were waiting to be rescued with a quarter of my monthly budget in hand. So my whiny retort to his question consisted of these very mature reasons:

They’re expensive ! If I buy them I’m going to have to eat 2 minute noodles for a week!

Winter is almost over. I won’t have much use for them in about a month!

I really don’t need ANOTHER pair of boots (but one can never really have enough pairs of boots. really.)

I’m a big girl. I know now that not everything you want, you get.

He shrugs, continues on and that was the end of that.

Or so I thought…

he came over on his lunch break the next day and told me to open his bag and there my booty babies emerged.

I was so shocked (and secretly ecstatic)!! I couldn’t believe he bought them for me! But I couldn’t accept them 9r could I? I told him to return it, he said he is most definitely NOT going to do that. I said I can’t possibly accept them and won’t wear them, he said fine I’ll throw them in the bin then. I couldn’t let him do that….

THE MAN IS A FRIGGIN LEGEND!!!

They are beautiful… I couldn’t get enough of them! I wear them to Coles, to go to the post office and even to take the rubbish down.

One bright windy wet Friday I took it out for a spin in the city. Jack was paparazzi taking photos of my bootyfull boots. So here they are..

trodding that arcade between bourke & little collins

suburbia

Mitch and I went to St. Albans so I can satiate my craving for Filipino food. We found an Asian grocery store that stocked mostly Filipino products and then was directed to a Filipino fastfood place where I had lechon and sisig (two really delicious traditional Filipino pork dishes).

I realised I haven’t really been exposed to the suburban part of Melbourne. I live in Fitzroy which I stay close to. I study in and explore the city. I’ve been to St. Kilda, Albert Park, Kensington, Clifton Hill and opshopped as far out as Preston. But going on the freeway and taking an exit and seemingly being transported to Suburbia was a bit eerie for me.

To see houses in big blocks I suddenly missed the congestion of my tiny suburb, the constant (and often colourful) foot traffic and the ramble of the trams. I could certainly understand the appeal of the suburbs for families: the quiet, seemingly safe neighbourhoods are ideal places to raise kids. But at this point in my life, I’ll only come here for when my homesick tummy wants Filipino food.

*I am learning the art of op shopping! This dress was bought at a church op shop in Preston for $8!!!

Hiding Away on his last day

On his last full day in the islands, I decided to take the boy to Hideaway Island. He’s been there for almost a week and he still failed to tan. So off to Hideaway we went with my brother to make a final attempt at getting some colour on this half pom, some snorkelling, lots and lots of lounging around and of course taking loads of holiday shots that we can look back on with longing when we are freezing are arses off when we are back in Australia.

Mitch

Chay

Rex

Jack and Jill went up the waterfall..

Even before he decided to come to Vanuatu, Jack has become familiar with the must-see sights in Port Vila thanks to my screensaver/slideshow that shows my adventures from last year. He’s always been intrigued by my photos in the waterfalls and my smug boasting that I prefer to climb up the waterfall as opposed to using the sissy mud paths that were made for the tourists being herded in and out of the place.

So when we went on a beautiful Monday arvo, he was insistent on climbing up the falls despite the slippery rocks, gushing water and precarious paths. Good job Jack. Neither of us fell and our cameras didn’t even fall in the water and we went up right up close to the twin falls where even I didn’t dare to go before.

The Mele Cascades is about 10 minutes drive from town (don’t quote me on that). You pay Vt1500 (about A$15) per person for entrance fee which they claim they use for maintenance and security.

Don’t be discouraged when you see the puny falls for the first five minutes of the walk. After the long haul up the rock stairs and the little trickles of streams the rock pools and Cascades await..

Don’t forget to have a photo taken in the giant bamboo poles

And climb other things that come your way for wacky poses..

Don’t be shy.. ask the American Dude to take a photo of you. He went to a waterfalls and didn’t bring bathers.  We might as well make use of him.

Lelepa Island Day Tour

We meant to go to Nguna or Pele or some other island overnight. But our schedule was tight and catching the flu and the sporadic downpours hampered those plans. I still wanted to take Mitch to one of Efate’s smaller outlying islands and going on the Lelepa Island Day Trip came highly recommended and fit snugly with the rest of our holiday plans.

The tour costs Vt7,600 (around $A76) and includes a pick up and drop off at your hotel, 40 minute land trip to Havannah Harbour, a 10 minute ferry ride to the island, snorkelling gear, a very short guided bush walk, a cave tour, lunch and morning and afternoon tea. Best of all they give you lots and lots of time to just relax in the beautiful powder white sandy beach of Lelepa Island.

Here are just some photos (out of the hundreds) we took  on that relaxing, breathtaking, perfect day.

1 of 3 ferries that took us to Lelepa island

lelepa island from the ferry

mitch meeting the shore

waiting for the tour of the scary creepy cave

Eton Beach, Efate: where waters meet. .

I still wasn’t feeling 100% better on Saturday, but I knew Jack only had less than a week in Vanuatu and I really wanted him to see as much of the island as we can fit in. I was determined to bring him to one of my favourite spots in Efate, so with a slight fever, a vague idea of how to get there and my mum’s car we headed to Eton Beach, about a 45 minute drive on unpleasant roads but beautiful scenery.

Eton Beach is spectacular. It’s a small stretch of white sand beach that is protected from the crashing Pacific waves by rock shelters. A clear water spring from in land empties into the cove allowing for a unique experience of swimming in freshwater and salt water. When you stand there, you can feel the warmer freshwater from your feet to about your thighs and the colder ocean water from your waist up. Sit far below underwater and you can drink the sweet spring water.

Not to mention the sight is just spectacular. When you stake your claim on a spot on the sandbar you are caught between the Pacific Ocean

and a the small freshwater river

Come on a weekday and you get the beach all to yourself. On weekends, chances are, there are tourists and locals enjoying the beach with you. But there  is a whole lot of sand and sea for everyone.

Hanging Out Island Style

Mitch was booked for 3 nights at Moorings Hotel, a small boutique hotel on Lini Highway right on the edge of central Port Vila.

It’s a good sized resort, not too big that you are inundated by running children and screaming families. There are plenty of pool lounges and beach towels to go around. The room is just right, nothing fancy, but definitely adequate. Location is also ideal because the town is just a lazy 5-10 minute waterfront walk. It also has a bar & grill and a night club attached to it.

What I like most about it (and the main reason I recommended this to Jack) is that is right on the water unlike most of the smaller resorts in hotels in Port Vila.

I woke up on Mitch/Jack’s second day in Vanuatu with a flu – fever, colds and cough. The other activities lined up for the trip required leaving the resort for long periods of time or a lot of holiday energy which, in that state, I didn’t have.  So we decided to stay at Mooring’s and exploit the beautiful view and the infinity pool.

We sat on lounge chaises overlooking the Port Vila Harbour while the sky turned from this:

to this

drank Tusker and took photos against the breathtaking background

kites, crabs & carefree

After a morning in Iririki, I took Mitch to meet my bestest friends in the island: crazy/beautiful Rusty, Will my yoda & Polina the lovely. After the usual lunch of inappropriate, life stories and shit talking Mitch and I were invited to tag along to witness the breaking in of Rusty’s new kite surfing gear. So tag along we did to Mele Bay. About a 10 minute drive outside the town right where you go to catch the ferry to Hideaway Island.

The wind was not good enough for Rusty to surf in but it was a beautiful Vanuatu afternoon spent with my most beloved people.

rusty unfolding his 9 meter kite

poli learns to fly the smaller kite

and it soars while i dig my feet in the sand

the sea and me <3

will takes a turn