Designing a Life
I have now been at home here in Norway for about a month. It's pretty good to be back,
but at the same time I really miss Oz. I sure miss my office down there, the climate,
my friends and the entire life really. go figure. :-P
After my return I have seen both my parents, helped my brother move into his new
house. He bought a very nice house together with his girlfriend. a very adult thing to
do. Whats even more adult is the fact that their having a baby in about two weeks. its
gonna be awesome! Our dad tells us that its only the first twenty years that are the
worst. I'm sure they'll do great.
After seeing my family for a little while I returned to Trondheim to find myself a
job. The last week before easter I got myself a part-time job as a driver for a
chinese restaurant. It will provide some cash, but its only temporary.
During this coming week I have three interviews for "real" jobs. It's going to be
interesting. The two dive centers in town also want me to work for them.
so at the moment there are no problems in getting a job here in Norway.
Its quite cool to be in this postition really. I have now the opportunity to design
the life I want. Do I want to work with kids in a kindergarden, or do I want to be the
manager of a housing complex for students? Do I want to work as a waiter and a
bartender, or work at one of the dive centers in town?
There are so many possibilities at hand, but the big question I'm struggling with is
what do I really want to do with my time? what goals do I have? Where do I want myself
to be a year from now? or five?
I've toyed with the idea of working here in norway for a year tops, before setting out
on the next world adventure. I really want to go and see latin america and maybe pick
up spanish. that would be awesome. And I still havent been to south east asia. or
Germany, France, Spain, Greece or most of Africa. not to mention Canada. would love to
see Canada, but I have a hard time in deciding which coast I should see first.
suggestions?
There are so many places to go, and so many things I want to experience,
and I'm not sure where to start.
Right now I'm borrowing a friends place while he's on easter holiday with his parents.
He'll be back by wedensday, and by then I will have to find somewhere else to live.
I'm a little concerned, but not too much really. I have plenty of friends in town, and
I will be able to crash at different couches until my jobs pay off. no worries, mate!
:-)
So thats my life at the moment. uncertain conditions, but I'm mostly happy and well.
Returning to the old country
I've now been in Norway for about two weeks now and it is a bit weird. Everything seems to be very much the same since before I left. Even so there are subtle differences that shows that things have changed after all. Or maybe I'm the one who's changed. I've seen and done great things, not to mention that I've met alot of really cool people.
My home town of Notodden has got a new football field. They recently placed four huge towers with enough lights to power a small latin american country. These lights are causing major discussions and there has been an outcry in the local paper Telen. So there's alot going on in sweet old Notodden.
The last leg of my journey was from London to Oslo, and due to alot of air traffic we had to fly north up to Stavanger. From Stavanger we flew over the mountains and it was really cool stuff. I looked out the window and I suddenly recognized Tinnsjøen (Lake Tinn). I could see Rjukan, and further south I saw Tinnelva, Notodden and Heddalsvannet. It was awesome. I ran across to the other side of the aircraft and was mesmerized by the landscape. I'm sure the other passangers wondered what kind of weirdo I was, but I didn't care. When we got closer to Oslo Airport I could see the oslo fjord all the way past Drøbak and further down the coast.
Its probably a good thing I'm not a pilot cause I'd be delayed all the time. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. due to unforseen events we will have to cruise around this mountain and over the fjord for about half an hour. A drink will go to the first passanger who spots any raindeer or whales." hehe...
My plan for the near future is to go back up to Trondheim again. The plan for now is to get a haircut and a job. I've applied for a job in a company that needs staff who can speak both swedish and norwegian. It will be great if I get it, and if I don't I'll find something else. no worries, mate.
I'm really looking forward to seeing all my friends up there again. I've been missing you guys. And believe it or not I have really missed the diving in Norway, too.
Drunken nights in Adelaide
Alright. The last two weeks of my stay here in Australia I have spent down in Adelaide, South Australia. This is where my brother Björn lives and studies, and he will be here for another year. I have been here two times before and its always a blast. We hang out on the beach, do some juggling or acrobatics and generally behave like we normally do. Other days we go to the pub and try to find out what is hiding in the bottom of all those pints. a great past time if you ask me.
Today we are going to go south to Victor Harbor and do some surfing. I have never tried surfing before so it will be interesting. Björn has done it a few times (surfing you perverts), so he will show us the ropes I guess. We've rented a van, some boards, and a couple of wetsuits. It is comforting to know that there are Great White Sharks in these waters. It will keep us on our toes for sure. haha..
A couple of days ago we left the brand spanking new appartment that Björn and his friend got the same day. we were just going to get something to eat so I didn't need proper clothes. I therefore strolled off in my singlet, a pair of shorts and a pair of thongs (australian for flip-flops). We ended up on a street side cafe where we met some of their other friends from school. We had a pizza and the beer jugs kept on coming. One of the girls had her parents visiting, and they shouted us the beer all night. horrible people. So needless to say we got rather smashed by the end of it. My brothers housemate went home cause he was not feeling very well. too much alcohol will do that to you. my brother and I stayed out a bit longer, and returned maybe an hour later.
My brothers friend, whose identity will be protected, had passed out on the floor of their new appartment. Björn and I knocked on the door, banged on the windows and shouted his name, but to no avail. he did not react. Björn called him, and we could actually see the display of his phone through the window. he really was passed out. luckily for us the window was open, but we could only open it a little bit. we pushed the fly screen in, and it fell down on to the floor. The friend did not react. Björn picked up the fly screen and preceded to hit him with it. several times. most people would wake up at that stage. but our friend? no no no... he was still passed out. well. he did move a little bit and started to moan. but he was still legally unconscious.
We had to do something else to get in. Björn started to squeeze in through the window, but it was really tight. he could barely get his chest through, but only when he had totally emtied his lungs. the stomach was easy, but then he reached the hips. his belt and pants got caught on the window, and to get in he had to take them off. We were both laughing our heads off, while he fell butt naked into the room. I'm sure our parents would be proud of us. I'm really glad none of the neighbors saw us, because it would be difficult to explain to the cops. Three drunk guys, one passed out and another one butt naked found in a totally emty appartment.
Since they hadn't gotten their stuff yet we just slept on the floor. Good times.
Thoughts....
roof is deafening. The streets are quickly turning into rivers and the visibility is down to less than 200 meters.
The thunder is rolling across the land some distance away. quite impressive really.
Almost a year ago I left Norway after enjoying lunch with a good friend of mine. after a rather uneventful journey I
landed in Cairns, and the humidity and heat was like walking into a brick wall. I did a little bit of diving before
traveling south. In Airlie Beach I met some dive instructors from Hamilton Island. we had a nice night out and I
continued down to Adelaide the next day.
My dad and another brother joined us in Adelaide and we traveled around for a few weeks. we went to Kangaroo Island, Barossa Valley and we also did a road trip to Bathurst among other things. The owner of a dive center on Hamilton Island called me and offered me a job, even though I hadn't applied. they needed instructors and they liked what they saw.
I went up to Hammo, and basically worked there for six months. I made lots of new friends, learned alot as an
instructor and had a great time. Torkel even came down to visit. I had a great time. Björn was also able to come
visit. great stuff. really appreciated that guys. The owner of H2O Sportz hated to see me go and offered me to stay
even though I really wasn't allowed by my visa.
But it was time to move on. I wanted to see more of Australia and not to mention the Great Barrier Reef.
I applied for jobs up in Cairns, the dive capitol of Australia. Some companies were interested and I quickly
accepted the job as a dive instructor on the Spirit of Freedom. Especially when they told me about the diving and
the fact that we were going to do shark feeding. Sharks have always fascinated me and I am always glued to the television when there's a documentary about the predators of the sea. This time I was going to interact with them for real.
My good friend Vegard came down to visit me in Cairns. he was on his way to go to Canada with his girlfriend and
another mate. He took and extra week off work and decided to come and see me as well. It was great to see you pal, even if we didn't do much becides drinking beer, playing poker and chatting to women. But that can be fun its own way too.
Right after I started working up here I got some good news and some bad news from back home. The good news was that my brother Tomas is going to be a father. The bad news was that my dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Suddenly my life in Australia felt very unimportant and I felt very far away from my family.
Not long after that I was offered a sponsorship. That means that Spirit Of Freedom will sponsor a four year work
visa, and in return I will have to work for them for another two years. What a dilemma! I have a great job that I like but at the same time I'm very far away from my family back home.
My family wanted me to come home and after thinking about the pros and cons I decided to go home. For this time
anyway. I might come back to Australia, who knows, but I doubt if I will work here again.
Even though I really don't know what I will do in Norway I will be alot closer to my loved ones. There are two
simple options as I see it. get a job in Notodden where my dad and brother lives, or get a job in Trondheim where I
have all my friends. I might also do a year of teacher ed and in that case I will be a qualified teacher. At the moment I favorise Trondheim because thats where I've been living for the last seven years. This last week I have been registering my CV in several different places and I have started to look for a job.
I'm quite fortunate to have friends who have offered me to come stay at their place for a while.Several of my
friends in Trondheim have told me that it alright if I want to go to Notodden to think things over for a while. as
long as I don't spend to much time thinking. If I do, they will come down, pack my things for me and take me up to
Trondheim. You just have to love friends like that.
I have seen and done some amazing things here in Australia. I have seen more sharks and whales than I could count, I have been swimming right next to huge turtles and I have been bitten by an eel. I've had a penguin on my shoulder (alright. technically that was in New Zealand), and I have been in my first and only fight. I have seen huge
spiders, almost stepped on snakes, and I have cuddled koalas and kangaroos. I might also have encountered some interesting women. It's been a great year. But now it's time to go home.
Klas
Leap of faith
It was done at AJ Hacket just outside Cairns, and it is beautifully located in the rainforest. I would pay money just for the view from the tower. emotionally I was scared but logically I knew it was safe (enough). I got myself psyched up, ran up on the tower and was the first to jump. It was awesome. I will definatly do that again.
anyway.. without much further ado... I give you Bungyjumping!
Another thing I do on a regular basis also requires some faith and trust in that everything will be alright. Out on Osprey Reef we organise shark feeding every saturday morning. Its pretty damn awesome I must say. I also think it is one of the most exiting things you ever will do under water. (sex included). haha...
Tomorrow I go out on the boat again and won't be back until monday the 24th. have a merry xmas everyone!
I'm still alive
Last week we had a large school of barracuda circling under the boat. The visibility was at least 40 meters and we also had lots of sharks in the area. words seem so inadequate to describe it all. I truly feel lucky to be able to experience what I do.
The coolest thing we do must be the shark feeding. every saturday we go to the North Horn of Osprey Reef. We position the guests in a semicircle with the coral wall behind them. When everyone is ready we lower a trashcan filled with tunafish on a chain. At this point there are at least 30 sharks circling us. When we open the trashcan and the tuna are exposed the sharks go into feeding frenzy. At that point the number of sharks probably doubles. White tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, and silvertip sharks. Sometimes we get the occasional hammerhead as well. Potato Cods the size of small cars cruise in an give the sharks a run for their money. It is a gladiatorial spectacle with no comparison, and is probably the most exiting thing you can do under water. There are no cages, fences or anything like that. The sharks go after the tuna and we take photos. It's awesome. When the tuna is all eaten and the sharks swim away we can go in and collect the shark teeth that fell out during the fight.
enough about that.
I will be returning to Norway in February and I'm not sure if I look forward to that or not. I really like Australia, but at the same time I miss my family and friends. My family is in Notodden and most of my friends are up in Trondheim. Maybe I'll have to settle somewhere in the middle?
Tomorrow I go out for another week at sea. I'm sure it will be alot of fun. If you're lucky I'll tell you all about it when I'm back again.
Next stop Coral Sea
until next time...
:-D
Haircut and a job
I got up here to Cairns early sunday afternoon and I had quite a few butterflies in my stomach. no not literally, but the imagined feeling of having butterflies flying around in there. smartass....
Anyway. I got the bus into town, found a hostel and checked into a dorm room. I immediatly got along well with the guy in the reception, him being canadian and all. I always get along great with canadians for some reason.
After checkin was complete and I got all my bags into the room I went for a little walk. went to the local market and bought some rockmelons and some pineapples. great stuff! I came back to the hostel and found a hammock on the balcony. I must admit I fell asleep there for a few hours and it was great.
At night I went to the local pub and befriended some navy divers. pretty cool guys I must say. several of them had been to Iraq and all over the world. now they were on their way up to Torres Strait (the strait between PNG and Australia) to change some moorings or something.
Yesterday I got up early and got myself a haircut before I went back to the hostel and slept some more. Afterwards I called Tusa Dive, the dive center behind Spirit of Freedom and organized an interview. And two hours later I was the newest crewmember on board. I start next monday. I am just too handsome. haha...\
I will work one week on and one week off. that means I will be able to travel around and see some of Australia on my week off. good thing for sure. but the job it self is pretty sweet. We cater for the upper end of the diver market. There will be only certified divers on the boat and my job will simply be to guide them around the dive sites. We will go to the best sites and experience shark feeding and lots of other cool stuff. I cant wait to get out there.
This morning I was down in the reception talking to the friendly canadian when a familiar face walked in through the door. It was an old mate of mine from Norway. It was Rasmus from Dykkergruppa. He was just down here on a conference with his job. how cool is that? The world is a tiny place.
I am now on my way down to the lagoon to read a book and relax in the sun.
Do you hate me even more, Torkel? :-D
One adventure ends, the next begins
This morning we went up to the northern tip of whitsunday island for a little snorkel safari. I was responsible for taking the trained divers and two introdivers. I must say that todays conditions was the worst I've experienced in the six months I've been here. We had quite a big swell with large waves, and the visibility was less than 2 meters. The low viz was caused my a massive rain storm we had yesterday. Luckily I had two really good introdivers so the conditions were just barely acceptable. we saw heaps of fish and on the way back we even spotted two bottlenose dolphins.
I have learned alot from working in the Whitsundays. I was an experienced diver and instructor when I got down here, but I knew little about the resort life and how a dive center works. That bit has changed for sure. I have certified twenty-something open water students, a handfull Advanced students and also three Rescue students. Not to mention the about fifty introdivers I have taken diving.
I have also completed several courses. Recreational Boat licence, Elements of Shipboard Safety, Senior First Aid, and DAN O2 Provider. I have also accumulated a little more than 100 days of seatime. That will come in handy if and when I can do the next boating course.
More importantly I have made lots of friends down here. Not just on the island but all over Australia. I have also been invited to go to Canada, Finland, Reunion Island (East of Madagaskar), US of A and France to name a few places. It would be cool if I could visit just a few of those countries sometime in the future.
It will be a bit sad leaving the island but I am more exited than anything else really. Even though I don't have a place to stay, no friends and no job in Cairns just yet. But thats no problem. Who can resist my charming smile?
:-D
Sunday morning I am flying to Cairns. I have three companies up there who are all desperate for instructors. Spirit of Freedom is a liveaboard boat, Coral Princess is a cruiseship and ProDive is the largest dive center in Cairns.
The job on the liveaboard boat will consist of mostly guiding certified divers around some awesome divesites. No courses except for the occasional Advanced course or Nitrox course. It is a boat that concentrates on the upper end of the market and will offer some incredible diving.
The Cruiseship will also offer some pretty good diving, but will consist of more snorkling and introdiving. maybe even the odd Open Water course. and if there are a group of trained divers I guess we'll take them diving somewhere. It is a larger ship and also for the upper end of the market and I anticipate there is a pretty good chance of some large tips. The down side of this one is definatly dealing with overweight unfit (rich) people who want to do introdives. I have been doing that here on Hamilton for the last six months so it won't be a problem. It will still be frustrating at times. I think the cruiseship is the most desperate company because they have called me several times. they even asked me when I could start working before they had seen my CV.
ProDive is the largest and most busy dive center in Cairns. They have just certified their diver number 90 000. They are a factory producing divers every day. There will be ALOT of courses and even some trips on a liveaboard. They usually do all the classroom and pool training on land and finish of the open water dives out on the reef. They are supposedly very professional.
I'll tell y'all more about Cairns when I get up there.
Departure from the island
Today I sent an email up to five different dive companies up in Cairns applying for a job. I will leave Hamilton Island in three weeks and head up there and hopefully I will have a job waiting for me when I arrive. I'm not to worried anyway, cause friends have told me they always need dive instructors up there. If there is a problem somewhere I can always return to Hammo. The boss here told me he'd be happy for me to come back if it doesn't work out. But I see no reason why it shouldn't.
It will be a bit sad leaving the friends I have gotten to know so far, and at the same time very exiting to go to a new place. Not to mention that it will be great to return to the real world again. cars, supermarkets, movie theatres, KFC and not to mention lots of people. it is going to be great!
I'll hopefully know more about job opportunities within a couple of days.
The day I almost met Steve Irwin
Today I could have met Steve Irwin. If the poor bugger didn't scare that stingray last year that is. When we came back from an excellent afternoon snorkeling up at Hayman Island we saw "Croc One" in the marina. That is the boat that Irwin used when he filmed many of his documentaries from the ocean. It might even be the one he used when he had that accident september 4th last year. The boat just berthed as we came back and recognised their boat from the documentaries. It was really cool! After I had checked in at the dive shop I went over and had a little chat with two of the crew members. They let me take a picture or two and were very friendly. I even got a tip for where I should get a job after I'm done here. I was a bit dumbfounded and couldn't really speak properly.
I mean.. Steve Irwin , among other things, inspired me to come down to Australia in the first place. and now I saw the boat and met a couple of the guys that had worked with the man himself for many many years. The passion for nature portrayed by Irwin, Sir David Attenborough and Jaques Yves Cousteau , has in fact inspired alot of my interest for the wildlife, nature and not to mention the ocean. It was a great ending to an already very good day.
Last week I had an interesting dream. I dreamt I was at a large shopping center somewhere. All the people were gathered right in the center of it. It was a political rally and we were all waiting for Barack Obama. For some reason I knew him and I didn't really talk to any of the other people waiting. Before he went up on stage I had a little chat with him. I remember asking him what the difference between Clinton, Letterman (yes. Dave Lettermans son was also running for president) and himself was. He smiled to me and replied:" there is no real political difference, so I'll have to win it with my charm and my wit." I don't think I hung around to listen to the rally.
hehe...
Any suggestions on what this dream may mean? I know Vegard used to interpret my dreams back in the day, and it was always interesting to listen to what he had to say. hint hint....
Where am I now?
Well..tomorrow I have been away from Norway for 6 months and I have experienced alot. I have seen a little bit of Cairns and the dive industry up there, I have seen my brother in Adelaide, Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia, and I have worked in the whitsundays for almost five months now. My good friend Torkel, and not to mention my brother Björn have both been here to visit.
Diving wise I have had 100 dives down under so far, I have also certified 15-20 open water students and probably around 30 introdivers. I have done a course that allows me to drive a boat (recreational boat licence) and also completed Elements of Shipboard Safety.
My work experience has been a learning experience for sure. I have been diving for many years now and have been very active in the dive club back home. I have was also an instructor for almost a year back home before I left for Australia. Even though I had lots of previous experience with diving, I felt like a complete newbie when I started working here. Beeing a dive instructor and working with paying customers on holiday is very different from what I was used to. We have to deal with people with bad or no swimming skills, being understaffed on the boat, making and serving food, and we have to do this in an efficient manner. and aways with a smile. the last part is not a problem because I do love talking to people.
Ideally you would like to use the correct amount of weights on introdivers and open water students. the right amount would be just enough weights to make them float at eye level with an emty BCD and a normal breath of air in their lungs. We just don't have the time to adjust the weights, so therefore we overweigh all of them to make sure that we'll get them to sink. This is just one example where we have to prioritise efficiency or economy above ideal diving. There are many more.
Another issue is the Hamilton Island as a whole. The island is very much the paradise resort. The real world does not exist here. There are no normal people just doing their own little thing here. You are either a guest on holiday, or you work in hospitality taking care of the guests. It's also a very small place, where everyone knows everyone. ut gets a bit claustrophobic after a while.
I am thinking about leaving the island and going somewhere else. somewhere I could learn more as a dive instructor, see more of Australia and last but not least I would like to work in the real world somewhere. somewhere with more than one general store and one bar.
We saw more whales yesterday just as we were leaving Bait reef. There were five of them and they came right up to the boat. There were two adult bulls harassing a female with a newborn calf and a yearling. They were all over her, trying to seperate her from her calfs by pushing themself in between. it was quite dramatic with alot of rolling and splashing. They almost pushed them up on the reef it self. The guests on the boat said things like "oh look.. they are so beautiful.. they are playing with eachother... thats so cute..."
I don't know, but two 35 tonne animals trying to rape another one, while almost drowning the calf is not very cute in my book.
hehe....
Sharks, progress and life in general
"aren't you afraid of the sharks?" This is a very common question people ask me, both friends back home and guests on the dive boat. I simply tell people that I am not to worried. After all... The crocodiles usually get them. :-P
On a more serious note I do see sharks from time to time. Around the islands I have seen sharks twice out of parhaps 40-50 dives, and around the outer reef I see them on 2 out of 3 dives. So they are around. We usually see white-tip reef sharks, but every now and then we see other species like blacktips, bronze whalers, lemon sharks, and wobbegongs. They are all pretty much harmless. There are also some other sharks around who are not quite as placid. There are tiger sharks, bull sharks and hammerhead sharks around here, too. They are however rarely seen, and therefore people forget about them. But they are around for sure. Two weeks ago they closed down the beach here because a large hammerhead came cruisin into the shallows. They tried to chase it away with a dingy, but the shark kept coming back. small incidents like that sure makes the diving around here a little more exiting. But I'm not worried. the last shark attack in this area happened almost ten years ago.
I posted an entry about goals for this year a while ago. among other things I want to get into better shape and learn how to drive boats. The last week or so I have noticed that I have lost a fair bit around my waist and gained some muscles. Yesterday I weighed myself and I have lost in total 4 or 5 kgs. I now weigh a healthy 80 kgs, and will probably loose a little bit more. I feel stronger, faster and more fit than I have done in a while. good feeling.
Last saturday I was over to the mainland and did my recreational boating licence, and I am going over there again. This time to do a course in Elements in Shipboard Safety. its mainly about how to prevent problems with fires, pirates and giant sharks. or something like that. I will let you know more after I'm back.
Tuesday I went out for a second day trip with the french guys. This time we had a really good BBQ for lunch. The dives were also really good. we heard whales, saw a couple of barracudas and even had really good visibility. The french guys have also become really good under water. so my job was easy. great day!
Private charter
The last weeks have been awesome. I have had a bunch of good dives where I've seen sharks, rays, lobsters, and nudibranchs. Not to mention the fact that the divers I've had lately have been pretty fit and of alright skill level. My favorite encounter was probably the Magnificent Chromodoris. I think I have the name correct on that one, but I'm not sure.
My underwater camera has a problem with reading the memory card. I'll try to sort that out as soon as possible.
In the meantime you'll have to be satisfied by checking out my friend Torkel's videos from his visit Down Under.
Enjoy!
Impressions, goals, and the next port of call
Today I flew back from Sydney to Hamilton Island. It was a two hour flight, and even if I slept some, I also did alot of thinking. I've done alot of that lately...
The surroundings here in the whitsunday islands are truly spectalular. I've had some really good dives during the past two weeks. I've seen a black-tip reef shark, barracuda and lots of different nudibranchs. we've had good visibility and its been really good in general. We've also had whales right up to the boat. again. On wedensday we had a female humpback and her calf play less than 25 meters from the boat. it was pretty cool, but I must admit that the novelty has worn off a little.
But then again there are som sides that are not so good. Hamilton Island is a tiny island with only a couple of thousand people. There are only a few restaurants, two pubs and one nightclub. not that I'm the one who will run around the nightscene all the time, but it gives you a picture on how small this place is. Everything on this island revolves around the tourism and there are not alot of the real world present. I miss things as a movie theatres, martial arts and other things from the real world.
My working holiday visa entitles me to work in Australia for a year. But only for a maximum of 6 months for the same employer, so my time is here is up the 21st of october. supposedly. BUT I have been offered to stay longer. The guy who owns the dive shop has several businesses and he told me he would gladly pay my wages through one of his other ones. That way we would go around the visa rules and regulations.
Australia is on the other hand a large and diverse country, and it would be a shame to stay in one place my entire stay. There are lots of other places which I could go to. Cairns and Port Douglas for instance. they have lots of dive companies that offer much more diverse jobs. everything from open water courses to day trips to liveaboards. Cairns is also a city of about 150 000 people and have lots of stuff you'd find in any normal city.
But then again there are other places that could be interesting too. I checked out Padi and they are looking for a swedish or norwegian dive instructor in Thailand. I have also been told the diving in New Zealand is supposed to be really good. The world is huge and the opportunities are everywhere. if you can see them. Even though I would like to see the south eastern part of Asia I think I will stay in Oz for now. the wage is better here, and I will only have this visa once in my life. So the question remains. where do I go next? There are also the possibility of going south instead of north. Like Sydney.
I just spent a weekend there visiting a friend of mine. not just any friend, but a cute canadian one. :-D She came up here a little more than a month ago and went out on the dive boat with us. she invited me down to sydney and I took her invitation seriously and went down there. The weekend was great. she took me to the aquarium and a zoo and I used a fake ID for the first time in my life. She works as a teacher and teachers get in for free, so she had borrowed the ID of a friend of hers so I also would get in for free. I'm a rebel. wuhuu.. We also went to Manly, a suburb to the north of downtown.
The nerd within me thought it was hilarious that alot of things in Manly is named after the area. Like the beach. Manly Beach... now say that again.... Manly Beach... and try imagine what kind of beach it could be.hehe.. I laughed my head off reading all those signs.
Anyway.. we also checked out a dive center down there and they said I might be able to work for them during weekends. they will need more instructors towards summer, but we'll see what happens.
Another thing I have on my mind is what I will do after this year in Australia is over. again there are lots of possibilities. My dad is offering me a job, but I'm not sure if I like the idea of working in and around Notodden (my home town. . Another option is to go to Trondheim. In Trondheim I have lots of friends from my study years, but I would need to find a job and somewhere to live. managable challenges for sure. And the diving up in Trondheim is alot better than Notodden for sure.. hehe...
I had this conversation with my mother not so long ago.she quickly replied: "do you have to come home then?"
Her point is that if I like the dive industry down here I should stay here. and not worry too much about what to do in Norway. she has a valid point I must say. Diving was a hobby before I came down to Oz, but now I realize that people actually make their living from it. maybe it is something for me? Time will tell.
Want to know what my favorite poem is? alright I'll tell you. It's "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.
Oh yeah... another thing
I have been bitten by another fish again. this time it was a White Damsel, and it was protecting its little nest in the sand. Normally I see them when they swim towards me and shake their little heads in a general threat display. I just shake my head back at them, and keep swimming. this time I didn't see it coming and suddenly I felt a little bite on top of my head. I looked up and saw this little bugger swim off with a confident sway. hehe... funny little fellow.
