I had the best intentions to blog once a week, not to
mention wish everyone a MERRY cyber CHRISTMAS! & HAPPY 2014! Yet even
though I started writing this entry between Christmas and New Years Eve
(un)fortunately life got in the way. So here I lay, now 27 years old (I
celebrated my birthday between blogs, went to a few wineries but didn’t taste
too much as I had tasted plenty at the previous nights wedding…) thrown upon a
stranger’s bed, handwriting my first blog of the New Year, needless to say 2014
has brought some changes. Allow me to rewind and recap starting with
Christmas.
As usual in the Dartnell house the whole ’12 o’clock the
champagne pops’ rule is thrown out the window, and we take our now traditional
pancake breakfast with a side of Chandon come 10am. Naturally I love this, as I
should, this particular tradition is my stroke of genius; it’s the perfect
start to a stress free Christmas and it makes peeling all those goddamn
vegetables far more exciting – peel all the potatoes and have another glass
HOORAH! Another tradition in our household is that everyone contributes a fancy
bottle of wine, and lets face it no one can deny the smile that comes with a
good old pop of the cork. This year we threw Margaritas into the mix, it
was that ready to go crap so I can’t say I fancied it – I could
feel it on my teeth – but I powered through and was happy to breakout my cactus margarita glasses
(cheers Nan).
Like every year there was five types of meat for the
boys, seafood for the ladies, and mum outdid herself by stuffing a pumpkin with
quinoa and other delicious bits for me. Once again I played Santa and handed
out all the gifts, to mix it up from previous years I decided to yell
everyone’s name obnoxiously, my pop & dad still didn’t hear me… I
LOVE CHRISTMAS! Unlike previous years I had my long-board that I'd brought
back from the States and since I hadn’t used it yet I figured what better time
than after a Christmas feast, so we took to the street. My first attempt at
skateboarding wasn’t quite successful (aka: I was too scared to bring my other
foot onto the moving board), I bailed on riding it the regular way and
arse-rode that bad boy like a champ! Word to the wise, if you’re going to ride
a skateboard on your bum, don’t do it in a short skirt. You will get butt-burn. Totally worth it though.
New Years Eve was the most relaxed it had been in many
years, I jumped in my ‘new’ car and drove 6.5hours with my mate, well it was
suppose to be 6.5hours. The idea was that we would follow our other friends’
car but traffic lights and speed limits prevented that smooth scenario, so
even though it may have taken an extra hour or so – call it the scenic route –
we did manage to arrive in Robe, South Australia by making our own way there. One could say it wasn’t the best start to our mini road-trip, but it wasn’t a complete loss
as we managed to see one of the most amazing starry nights; I could have stared
for hours, it blew my mind. We also had a few ‘exciting’ run-ins with Kangaroos, thank god Nick was driving, those bastards are either stupid or suicidal.
In the few days we were in Robe, we lay on some picturesque
beaches, caught up with our lovely mate whom is lucky enough to live by all
these beaches! And played an EPIC game of Scattergories, because no game is
more fun than one in which you can bullshit your way to success – I did not
win. On New Years Eve itself I forced myself to stay awake till midnight but
fell asleep straight after, I guess laying outside and watching that one
shooting star was way too much excitement for me, that and the fact that I’m 27
now – if I try and bust a move I might brake my pelvis. It was embarrassing to
later hear that my grandparents were up till 1am! Eating their wieners and
potato salad (it’s a German thing).
That brings us to January 2014, and my brother getting a job
in Adelaide, South Australia, he started yesterday. And here’s me back
from overseas with no real commitments, so I decided to pack up and move to
this place I’d never been to that everyone in other states of Australia refers
to Radelaide – not because they think it’s radical – yet I figure New Year, new
state, why the hell not? I threw my gear in the car, even managed to squeeze my
bicycle in (alongside that pesky skateboard, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!) and I followed
my brother for some new adventures.
I’ve been in Adelaide a week and we’re getting close to
finding a place to live, in the meantime we’re using air bnb, thus explaining
me laying on a strangers bed (not so juicy an explanation). Furthermore the
lady we’re staying with doesn’t have unlimited Wi-Fi access (SAY WHAT?!) so I
figure why not use the old pen and paper and soak up the sun outside awhile, and with a bit of luck you’ll be able to read this in the next few days or at
least by Januarys end. Meanwhile I’m going to network for a new job, meet
new people, explore my new city, and soak up that beach lifestyle I hadn’t even
realised I’d been craving. Until next time, y'all be good now.
Postscript: I hope everyone had a fabulous silly season, and made it
into 2014 in one piece! Because it’s going to be a good year if you let it be,
in fact it could even turn into a great one, because we don’t know what's going to happen and that’s what
makes it such a delicious adventure. Own it.
[Please note no Kangaroos were harmed in the making of our
road-trip]
&.the.bohemian.girl.xx.
