It has, somehow, already been a month since I got to Australia. Hard to understand where the time has gone, especially since my days are very unstructured here, but at the same time I have been somewhat busy and kept things moving.

The first major development is that the Moss outpost in Syndey has a set of hair clippers and thus enabled me to continue to pursue a lifetime of bad decisions, in this case shaving my head completely bald. Mike’s woeful comments about how nice my hair is couldn’t stop me, and we ended up doing it family bonding style, with each of Aaron, Ben, and Emily taking a turn to help shear me. Mike, as always, documented the process. Opinions will vary but I have to say, I’m not as disappointed with the results as I perhaps expected to be!

Now that we’ve got the important stuff out of the way we can move on to ancillary issues. I’m all set up as an assistant freediving instructor! So far I’ve helped out with two courses, each with a different school. The experience has been just as exciting and satisfying as I’d hoped. Getting in the water is always nice, but the crux of teaching is the students’ experience. It’s just an unbelievable feeling to see students’ faces lighting up when they achieve something they never thought possible. Even when they’re blocked because of nervousness or sticky ears or something else, they’re grateful for whatever extra attention, listening, or tips you can give them, and so far every student has left with a smile on their face, whether they completeled the certification requirements or not. And as an instructor, that feels amazing! Furthermore, it’s just not a feeling you can get sitting behind a computer. So we’re only two weekends in, but I’m feeling great about this new direction in life. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that all of the instructors I’ve worked with on the courses have been amazing – supporting me, giving positive feedback, organizing and directing the courses smoothly, etc… I am stoked!

The other big news is that, after a full month of mooching, I finally just moved in to my own apartment (with a roommate). I’m living in a neighborhood called Coogee, in an apartment above a smoothie shop that is a literal stone’s throw from the beach. Pretty much the dream! I’m still settling in, picking up a few essentials, and in fact am writing this post from the laundromat where I’m washing the brand new sheets I just bought. There are one or two minor downsides, in particular that there’s no surf at this beach, but overall I really can’t complain. The Moss clan took excellent care of me but it was a bit tough to settle in feeling that the situation was temporary (more temporary, I suppose, since my entire lifestyle is largely temporary), and also tougher to get out and about from the suburbs. The good news is I didn’t quite wear out my welcome so I’ll still be over to see them all the time, in particular for Sunday dinners, where each week Mike smokes some different meat to perfection. I suppose people would probably like to see pictures of the apartment but frankly I don’t think it’s that interesting and I’m too lazy, so, sorry. Here, at least, is the view from our living room balcony. If you look behind the tangled mess of telephone pole, that’s the beach!

Beyond that I’ve been slowly working to find activities and settle in more. There’s a beach volleyball club that plays directly in front of my apartment, so I’m considering spending the couple of hundred Australian dollars to join and just live the Beach Volleyball Lifestyle. I was able to jump in a game the other day when I picked up the apartment keys and that was quite fun. I also played pickup soccer last week and am playing again tonight, which I’m excited about. That game may be in jeopardy because daylight savings here is this weekend and it may start getting dark too early, but we’ll see what happens. I’ve also played padel a couple more times and my skills are growing in leaps and bounds. It’s quite expensive to book courts, so I’m on the fence about throwing myself fully into the Padel Lifestyle, but it’s certainly tempting.

This weekend I’ll be taking a vacation from my permanent vacation lifestyle and flying up to Cairns to meet up with my friend Sam. We’re going to start our romantic week together with a 3 day, 2 night liveaboard on the great barrier reef, where you sleep on the boat and SCUBA dive 3 times a day, with 2 night dives as well. That should be an incredible experience, especially since the liveaboards have the time to go to some less-visited spots on the outer reef. After that we’ll be heading up to Port Douglas to do some hiking in the Daintree, apparently the oldest rainforest in the world, and maybe more diving. It should be an amazing trip, and it’ll be really good to spend some time with a good friend from home (that’s a not-so-subtle hint to the rest of youse).

So that’s pretty much where things are at. I’m already on the freediving schedule for basically every weekend through the beginning of May at least, and hoping to get in more classes after that. My next moves are going to be looking to buy a surfboard, maybe a bicycle, and a vehicle, likely but not necessarily in that order. Sydney public transit works… well enough, but it’s a large, spread out, and odd-shaped enough city that it’s never fast to get around on the bus. That on top of the fact that I’m often traveling with dive gear gives me some incentive to look for a vehicle sooner rather than later, but in the meantime I may see if a bike helps me get around well enough.

It’s been an interesting and occasionally challenging transition to this phase of the journey. In New Zealand it was very easy to stay busy, basically just picking a long hike to do every single day, and then really savoring the lazy days off. Here, even though I’ve made some considerable progress in setting up my life, I’ve also had a lot of time sitting around without anything specific to do, and struggling to get motivated to do useful or fun or interesting things, as is my wont. That struggle is a big part of what got me to leave a permanent address behind in the first place, but I’m hoping to find a better balance with it here in Sydney, especially since I’ve got lots of time to put into activities and since I know the situation is temporary. Further reports to follow!