Monday morning I arrived at the bus stop, not knowing what to expect for my next 21 days...I felt really happy to get out of Sydney, I don't love Sydney, and can honestly say I have crossed it off my list of possible choices to live. Its a beautiful place, but expensive and just a vibe I dont really feel, especially after living in Manhattan, but I can enjoy it for what its offering me at the moment.

the bus rolled up and a guy tumbled out of the bus with dread locks down past his shoulders, stuck his hand out and told me his name was Shreck..."i'm Ilyssa...but seriously whats your name, we are spending the next 21 days together.." "Shreck, my name is Shreck.." Ooookay..not a great beginning, but we got 13 people on the bus, mostly 20 year old boys and 3 21 year old girls. Shreck decided to start the tour with telling everyone about the 8 deadly snakes, and spiders we would probably be seeing along the way up north, he hopped into the drivers seat of the bus, opened the window to let his dreadlocks get some air and turned on the song "You and me baby aint nuthin but mammels, so lets do it like they do on the discovery channel"...I was so ridiculously uncomfortable looking at him, that I just broke out in hysterical laughter...he looked at me out of the corner of his eye...smiled and said "IT's FULL ON MATE!! LET's ROCK UP THE COAST IN STYLE AYE?" We turned on Bob Marley after that...and sang together for an hour or so, while they all slept in the back of bus.

We made a few stops along the way, coffee, bathroom, what I find to be fantastic about australia, is that everyone is going somewhere or doing something different, and very friendly to talk and tell you a story. I've met a bunch of people on public transportation, rest stops, very interesting people. As for the tour group, my favorite so far is a 5'4 irish boy named Gavin, who is 21, plump and has reddish hair. He got on the bus, and while I was checking him in, he wanted me to check on his status for the whitsailing trip...I asked him what he meant, he said he won a free trip because he stripped at the bar the other night...then looked at me quickly and said "don't worry it was all about attitude"..Ah hahaha!!! He is my favorite on the trip, and he was correct, he won a free trip sailing...

When we arrived at surf camp, and I got off the bus, I felt like I ws in a completely different world. There are 2 rules at surf camp. 1.Look cool, respect the other surfers. 2. Do not pee in your wetsuit. so...really it's 3 rules, but I wasn't gonna tell them that..apparently if you follow these rules, anything goes. literally anything goes atthe camp. The director took us around and told us..."if your gonna get naked, thats cool mate, but the oldies go to bed at 8, so run nudy around the other way." nudy? For a hot second I truly thought he was talking about when you get undressed after surfing and find the bathroom? NO..I was very wrong, and feeling REALLY old at the camp! hahaha. Nudy was the bonfire we had that evening, and the party that lasted till about 4am, surf was at 6am.

The pit was filled with a bunch of different tour groups from all over, I ate dinner with an italian guy who had been traveling for a year now around oz, he let me practice some italian, but was more interested in speaking english, because he just started taking english classes twice a week. I met more people in an hour then I have in NY for 5 years. All walks of life, all different ages, everybody had a different story, and everyone was equally fascinating to me. Although I dont feel my age, I act my age, so my nickname was "surf mum", as holding little girls hair while they threw up was not on my agenda...I did it anyway, cause i know...and I remember...oh boy do I remember...

I met a few others who were 30 and up, and we ended up having our own evening, waking up at 6 was brutal, but surfing was amazing. I can see how one could get addicted to this sport, moving along effortlessly by the power of the ocean...

I went for a run after, and ran through this amazing development, that was filled with kangaroos! Everywhere! I spent more time taking pictures of them then running, but enjoyed both just the same.

I woke up on the beach, and feeling the sand beneath my feet I felt a happiness I haven't felt in a really long time. A woman brought her dogs out to the beach, and was playing stick ball with them, I thought about Dolce and how I wish sometimes things were different right now and we could live on the beach and play ball...and then I thought, we can. Just not right now, but one day we will...I noticed sitting there watching the waves that I really didn't miss NY, and for the first time I was actually okay with that, and I just let it be that way, cause i'm happy where I am.

I should probably clarify, that while I've spoken a lot about meditation, or astrology...I dont have a 1800 number psychic i'm calling every morning for advice...just in case this was misunderstood at all by anyone...

Shreck and I have formed a great relationship, he is trully hilarious. In fact he reminds me a lot of someone I dated once...He has a very kind heart, and he looks out for me which is nice, he has more experience obviously growing up in the bush... I am amazed at the ages of some of these people I have met, Like Johnny in Italy who was 21, Shreck is 24 and very bright, I have learned a lot in the short time I have been here from the people I have come across.

The english school called today, I passed the exam.

Back on the road tomorrow....