Day three in Perth. My roomies travelled on to Fremantle this morning so it was a short friendship. I have to think of stuff to do…
I wanted to go to Rottnest Island, but when I looked up the prices for the ferry to get there, I immediately changed my plans. $80 for a return ticket to Rottnest Island. No way a backpacker is ever going to pay that amount of money for a boat trip to an island – yet they call it ‘backpackers paradise’. Yeah right.
So I decided to go to the beach, City Beach, but first I had to go to the bank to go get myself an Australian debit card. All set and done – very friendly personnel at Commonwealth Bank, thanks!
Now off to the beach. A 30-minute busride later I was laying down on the beach, looking out over the Indian Ocean. I read my Monty Roberts book and chilled out a bit, looking at all the 10-year-old kids that are way too good at surfing, absolutely not getting jealous. Then around 4:30PM, a group of kids gathered at the beach with one grown-up leading them; they had surfing lessons! How awesome is that! Instead of going to soccer practice, these kids grab their surfboard and head to surfing practice after school! Wish I was a kid born at the beach in Australia. Took the bus home around 5PM and in the meantime I received an email from the ranch. They suggested I would call them instead of travelling the distance to come see them. They just wanted to make sure that I don’t travel the distance for nothing only to find out that it’s not what I’m looking for.
I get home and then I get really nervous to call this ranch, but I have to. I have to do this if I want to reach anything in my life, and it’ll all be over in a couple minutes. I picked up the phone and made the call. Brent – that’s the dude’s name – asked me what I wanted, what my dreams were. I told him – with my heart pumping in my throat – and waited for him to say anything. The silence – that probably only lasted a second – seemed like forever, but what he said made me jump of joy. He said that I was pretty much what they were looking for! We talked on for a little bit, talking about my options and my ambitions, and came to the conclusion that the best thing to do is for me to come to the ranch with all my stuff and then ‘the script will write itself’. His words, not mine. So I’m going for a test drive for my dream job! This is amazing. The way he talked about that the most important thing is that I am happy and that I can make them happy with my work and that happiness is so important made me feel comfortable in no-time. I can’t wait to get there on Monday.
Alright, now I’m gonna go cook myself some ravioli with bolognese sauce while I’m still shaking on my feet because of excitement.
Celestine in Australia 