the first time...

I was just about to get back to revising drama, when I remembered my first time going to the Byron Bay area with my mum, to see Mieke and Hans and their two daughters, Tess and Yarrow.
Mieke picked us up from the airport, got to the house at dawn, as the sun was just rising. Breathing in the fresh air and wanting to take in every bit of the scenery that flashed by while we were in the Subaru.
When we arrived at, erm, very early.. like 4am?, Yarrow was up, my mum immediately asking her if she was so excited to see us. of course, she wasn't. she'd just had a nightmare about kangaroos. which is common, in Australia, as Kangaroos are extremely scary (just type in "kangaroo" on google and see the drive to kill in their eyes, and if not that, they are just very stoned, which is also quite scary.. no sarcasm here).

Anyway, the house was massive, their 5 acres, seemed massive, although it was nothing compared to the 100? acres of their neighbour, where we could go horseriding. I was in heaven. and I was loving every minute of it.
So after a few hours of sleep.. you see, I actually was excited to be here (ok, slight sarcasm?) and jumped out of bed, waaaay to early and went to see the horses. soaking up the sun, diving into the icy cold pool for a quick swim, the horses calling me. Was this real? or was I actually dreaming...

That morning, Mieke said something along the lines of: "Here Martina, this is Cooper, he's an Australian stock horse, he'll be yours during your stay here.
I had my OWN horse .. WHAT?! and Cooper was an amazing horse at that. Already quite at age but still powerful as anything. Then Mieke put a strange saddle on his back.. an Australian stock saddle. seat was dreamy.. like you're sitting in a chair, with rests for your knees. and you just hobble away. yes!

Mum and I stayed in "The Dairy Bails" it smelt nice and damp and lovely .. I didn't like the mosquitos as much, nor did I particularly warm to the spiders. but nevertheless, I learnt to live with them, and guess what?! the spiders are pretty cool (in 2008 I shared my room with a huntsman spider, and didn't freak out. I was quite proud of myself)

I also remember their cat, Oliver, who has sadly passed away... He would always be pouncing about trying to catch birds and always failing, because Mieke and Hans (oh the evil people) had put a bell around his neck.. ahw...
and then there was their other cat, Jeremy, who got run over by a car Jeremy was one of those cats that would sit on your lap.. it didn't matter what was on your lap (tea, lunch, laptop, people) he would decide to sit on that lap, and that was exactly what he would do. sit, on your lap- push all other things out of the way, annoy you, ignore you trying to type a blog.. that sort of thing.

and their little pony Zeffy, just to get back to the horsey stuff. Such an adorable pony! Yarrow rode him like it was nothing, the little stubborn pony with the puppy-eyes. oh yeah, those horseypeople out there know what kind of a pony I mean. he was cool.

then there's the more obvious stuff like the pretty waterfalls and the awesome beaches, the good-looking surferdudes, the fish that I happened to stand on. the high waves that made me do somersaults..
and of course there's more that I remember.. but just that drive, to their house.. sucking in all the prettiness of the area. I fell in love, this is the ultimate holiday paradise. and this will be my forth time going to that place.
So much has changed since this first time that I visited them there... Yet it's all still as pretty every time I go. The people are all still as nice and friendly and good-looking as before.

And although I miss it every time I leave... and get over-excited at the thought of going back, it is still my holiday paradise, where- if I had the money - I could spend every single holiday of my life, and not get bored.

so, having said this, I hope to have convinced you all to visit this amazingness some day, in a near future, where you will find happiness, feel at peace, have so much fun, have the most insane things happen to you, and feel the soft breeze of the wind running through your hair as your feet crush the sand and you feel like you're walking in mid-air.
It is where I found confidence, love, dreams, reality and all that "stuff".. it's where I've learnt so much about life, by just living, and not fussing...
I mean, you never know when you might run into a blue fiddle or why someone hits you because they've seen a "punchbuggy" or a suzuki swift.. or a yellow car.. (honestly, how many excuses does one need to hit someone?) crashing into Australian native rainforest treest, have people do striptease shows with them "only wearing a breadbasket" or gallop off on a Brumby (Australian wild horse-breed) bareback through wide open fields..
you see, Everything can happen. and this is where I realised just that. you only live once, so you might as well enjoy it to the full hey ;)

and it's almost time for me to go back there,
I'll miss you guys in Amsterdam (en omstreken), but you're in luck! I'm only gone for a month.
you shall hardly notice I'm not there !

see all you Dutchies in August, I love you.
And can't wait to see you Aussies in a few days, I've missed you..!

now, back to revising Drama.. meh.

XX
Martina