I’m mixing it up today & have posted a mini blog post on the Seren Holistic Lifestyles FB page. It’s all about communications. Have you felt challenged in this area of late? Head over to FB & take a look…
Have a wonderful day, K xx
Posts Tagged ‘love’
The Final Chapter of my Eastern Adventure
After going a bit left field last week & mixing up my posting schedule I feel it’s time to finish my story. The aim for this trilogy was to record a travel diary so in years to come I can look back & relive the happy time I had on this trip.
My final night on the Indian Pacific was lovely. I’m very happy to report the dinner service was spot on. The vegetarian option had changed for the main to a very nice, fresh, hot & tasty tagliatelle. Gluten for punishment I ordered the mushrooms again. I think I got a bad batch the first night second night was vastly improved. Dessert was a very delicious almond chocolate cake. How I over looked that the first night I do not know.
At dinner I experienced hospitality at it’s best. A French couple were shown to the table next to us. They had enough English to get by but they didn’t need to worry as one of the staff conversed fluently in French with them. Such a nice touch. I’ve found in Australia that this is very rare. We are an English speaking population. Everyone is expected to fit in with this & speak English. It did make me smile that the train did have at least one-second language speaking staff member. I’m sure this skill goes to long way to get great gigs.
Arriving in Adelaide at 7:20am Tuesday morning meant an early start. A morning tea style breakfast was being served between 6 & 6:30am. With no phone signal my alarm didn’t go off. My mum tapping on my door woke me. Leaping out of bed thinking of my stomach first of course I was ready in a matter of five minutes. I was super impressed with the food. Muffins, pastries, breads & scrolls a plenty. Towards the end of the service there were still loads left.
The train drew in ten minutes early, the luggage arrive ten minutes afterwards, three minutes later we were in a taxi heading into Adelaide city. We’d booked a city sight seeing tour to fill the morning, as our hotel wouldn’t be ready till 2pm.
It’s been about nine years since as was actually in the city centre & I couldn’t remember any of it. It’s bigger than it seems. Our three-hour tour was going very quickly & it felt like we’d not really seen too much. It was great to just be driven around & take it all in. I was getting very used to being chauffeured.
Adelaide has a lot of churches. I mean a lot, one on nearly every corner. Our first stop was well a cathedral that boasted some very impressive stain glass windows. One window was fairly new & depicted the story of Mary Magdalene. I’m always drawn to visit temples when in Asian countries but I never seem to take advantage of what I have on my doorstep in regards to churches & cathedrals. It made a peaceful change to just sit in the huge, quiet space for a while.
The Magdalene Window, St Peter’s Cathedral Adelaide
The Haighs chocolate factory was of course fantastic. You can only get Haighs in South Australia in their own stores as they do not ship. Haighs are famous for their chocolate frogs as well as their Rocky Road. They make their own marshmallows. Being just after Easter there wasn’t much action in the factory as the staff had been given ten days off after making a quarter of a million Easter eggs this year. The chocolate is rather nice & we bought quite a lot of it. Hello chocolate macadamias!
After the tour is was time to pick up the hire car & head to Glenelg our home for two nights. I’ve stayed in Glenelg before, it’s a cosmopolitan beach side town that is known for it’s jetty & laid back atmosphere. Being a bush rather than beach kid I decided the ocean was calling us to be close by. Perfect choice the sunsets were spectacular.
Glenelg Jetty, SA.
The car we hired was a Toyota Yaris. Hilarious! I’m used to driving a big old sedan so to get in this tiny buzz box was so much fun. It had a real kick to it for a small car. It was a dream to park even so my Dad was super paranoid about me scratching. We couldn’t get the GPS to work properly so we ended up taking a different way around than I expected to after reading the map. It felt strange to be in the driving seat after being transported around.
The next few days were delightful. I really like Adelaide. People bag it out for being boring but it has a great energy about it. I feel this is because it’s not as over populated or such a tourist hot spot like Sydney & Melbourne. Sure there is plenty to do that is touristy! How can anyone be bored here. I’d happily have stayed a while longer if time allowed. Thinking about it I live in Perth & many people ask ‘what’s in Perth, isn’t just really remote with nothing to do?’ Maybe I’m just attracted to the non mainstream.
Here are my Adelaide highlights:
- Staying by the beach in Glenelg. Long afternoon walks on the seafront & great sunsets.
Sensational South Australian sunsets!
- Having an in person mentoring session with my Soul Mentor Elizabeth Peru. It’s always great to connect in person. Just being around people of higher & pure vibration can be very healing in itself. It makes me feel very supported & not alone in this lifestyle I’ve chosen to live. Elizabeth’s energy is contagious I always leave our sessions with such clarity, confidence & love. Brimming with new ideas & inspiration to bring home to action.
- Driving round the hills in the buzz box. Due to a road closure we ended up taking a very long way round to Mount Lofty. GPS was not happy.
- Mount Lofty on a clear afternoon. Spectacular views over Adelaide right down to the coast. Also got to catch a bit of the Royals visit on the news when we stopped for lunch. They were just up the road in the SA town of Elizabeth.
The view from Mount Lofty
- The German town of Hahndorf. A very quaint & picturesque town in the hills. Loads of unique shops to explore. I found some great hand made organic beeswax products. The architecture was stunning up the main tree lined street.
The charming & quaint German town of Hahndorf.
- Meeting new friends. Connecting over yoga & organic food. I was blessed to meet a fellow Bikram teacher & Bright Eyed & Blog Hearted course mate. We took a yoga class together at the Glenelg studio followed by a lovely chat over breakfast afterwards at the Organik Store. It’s awesome when you just ‘click’ with someone. No awkwardness or long silences. Meeting your ‘tribe’ of like minded people is so important. Again no one is ever alone, there will always be others on the same wavelength & they will appear when needed.
Amazing apres Bikram organic breakfast
- Crystal shopping! With a few hours to spare before our flight I’d Googled a metaphysical shop near by. Crystal Wave is amazing. Mum & I spend nearly an hour working our way through the shelves. I picked up some great pieces to bring back. Including my first Merlinite. Mum found the most beautiful Baltic Amber pendant. A great pick. The staff were very helpful & friendly. One complimented me on my massive selection & gave me some advice on making grids.
Stunning Baltic Amber pendant.
- Saving Mr Banks movie. To round off the trip I got to see a movie I had wanted to watch for ages on the flight back. I’m a huge Mary Poppins fan & thoroughly enjoyed watching Saving Mr Banks. It was so tempting not to sing out aloud with the soundtrack!
I thoroughly enjoyed my time away. I could quite happily have stayed in Adelaide a few more days but my parents had to get back for their flight home. There was a lot I learned from this trip looking back now. A change of space can really freshen you up & bring in new lighter energy. A whole new blog post in the pipeline I feel…
I’d love to hear your experiences of how a travel trips have freshened up your Soul & replenished your mind. Please feel free to share in the comments below.
Till then, love K xxx
It’s okay when plans change
Hello there dearest readers. I’m sure by the time this post gets ‘pressed’ it will be way out of my usual posting schedule. Over the past year I’ve been pretty good at showing up on time Tuesday & Thursday every week. Consistency is key to building an online presence, making it easy for those who follow to know when to check in. It also assists in building relationships. But you know what sometimes things just don’t happen the way you planned all the time. That is why I’m posting on a Wednesday!
I’m currently working my way through an amazing online course ‘Bright Eyed & Blog Hearted’ with the super coach extraordinaire Rachel McDonald. I’m learning so much about blogging & running an online business it’s kind of ironic I simply can not get online to implement my course work right now. This site is a visual ‘mess’ (to me anyway!). I’m itching to get to know what I can do now I’m ‘self-hosted’ in WordPress, think custom themes, plugins, spam filters, no adverts!
Over the weekend I struggled to get a post together for today. It’s OKAY though! I’m fine with the way plans & scheduling can change quickly at the moment. I can fully accept that sometimes other aspects of life need to be dealt with first. The ‘me’ of three years ago would have been stressing & straining. Staying up late to bang out ‘something’ to post the next day. The inner control freak would have been beating herself up, feeling like I was letting my readers down by not delivering. Sometimes that approach can create a surprisingly good post. That wasn’t an option this time.
For me now though I don’t want my posts to be forced, ‘mend & make do’ style. It’s not who I am. Everything I post I wish to be authentic, from my heart with meaning & resonance. Not nobbled together just because I need something up on the blog.
That is why part 3 of my Indian Pacific adventure is not up online this week. It’s not even close to being ready. Sure this has upset the flow of a three part series. I could have spent time right now putting that together instead of this post for consistency value. It just didn’t feel right. I felt I needed to let you all know I’m not super women & things do change. And it’s okay to roll with these changes. Especially this past two weeks, things are moving, changing & shifting at an accelerated rate.
Why haven’t I had time to blog?
Since returning from my trip to Adelaide my business has sky rocketed. Everything is the result of my solid efforts, hard work, beliefs & determination. I had three presenting events last week, in person healing sessions, marketing, design work & my usual (but reduced) yoga classes to teach. Hosting a workshop at my house meant cleaning, tidying & preparation needed to be made time for. I simply could not fit in blog writing. A lot of other important paid jobs have been put aside too to this week which is filling up fast as well. It’s fantastic, just where I want to be. I’m so grateful everything is taking off & heading in the direction I wished to manifest. It just means no time for writing.
Guidance
On Monday in my true style I asked my Angels for some quick advice as to my current situation by pulling an Angel Feather oracle card on a phone app I have. I was looking for reassurance that everything, all this plan switching & swapping, was all in my best interests. Here’s what came up:
BUSINESS GROWTH. Enough said. It’s exactly what I had intuited for myself & my mentor had told me so as well. Now my Angels had confirmed my full packed schedule is because my business is growing.
Where is this all leading?
My point here is that it is okay when your planned schedule changes. Just re-prioritize, write lists of what must be dealt with first & cross them of as you go. I have fully trusted the plan changes I’ve had this past fortnight are fully in my best interests. Despite having a major bought of overwhelm getting ready for my speaking commitments (whole new post of that coming soon, eventually in the future!) everything worked out, better than I could have hoped.
How did I deal with all this change?
Just by staying present in that exact moment & dealing with what needed to be done then & there. Not worrying or focusing on what I hadn’t achieved or what was waiting for me later on. All this without running myself into the ground or missing out on all important down time & self-love. Okay I haven’t blogged but writing could still be classed as ‘work.’ Taking the afternoons off after both presentations to sit & chat with a friends for ‘hours’ served me so much better that rushing home to work on my next event.
My message is:
Its okay when plans have to change, let it be, it is what it is right now. Presence is everything. Breathe, smile, relax, give gratitude & surrender to the flow life is.
With love, K xx
An Indian Pacific Adventure Part Two
Day Two Monday 21st April 2014
Sleeping on a train is rather interesting. In India I don’t think I really ever slept on the trains all that well. The train was constantly stopped & starting causing a fair bit of rocking. It was quiet nice actually. I woke up a few times but fell straight back asleep again. My bunk was super comfy. It was made up whilst we were at dinner. Each bed has thick doona & crispy sheets, even a pillow chocolate.
Left: my bunk for the night. Right: the Outback Explorer lounge
Dinner last night was slightly disappointing after such a good lunch. My entrée of field mushrooms & haloumi cheese was soaked in far too much balsamic vinegar. I feel it had been sitting on the warmer for a long time, as the cheese was bone hard & cold. I appreciate there are a lot of people to serve in a short time but haloumi needs cooking & serving immediately. At least all the courses came quickly. (In Perth last week the average wait for lunch was 40 minutes) My main of vegetable lasagne was nice but was cold sat on top of a searing hot plate. My mum’s roast pork was tough & the crackling inedible as it was cold & dried out. My dad’s lamb was nice, cooked right & warm.
I skipped the Kalgoorlie tour as I fell asleep waiting to arrive. (I’ve been there three times already anyway.) The tour left at 10:30pm for two hours so I opted for an early night instead. Sleeping served me far better!
That’s one huge train!
Breakfast made up for the previous nights dinner. Hot & freshly cooked eggs Florentine, toast, cereals & lashings of tea! Very impressed with this.
We have a few more hours till we cross over to the South Australian boarder. After a lovely meditation back in my cabin it’s time to watch the world go by.
The Nullarbor plains are vast, flat, baron outback bush. Just watching thousands of miles of red land flying by against the blue sky is mesmerizing. The first time I crossed the Nullarbor in a truck I got very motion sick & missed most of it. The next few times I was so doped up with travel sickness tablets I slept all the way. This time it’s great to actually sit back & take in the landscape.
I have a whole day ahead of me now to relax & write. Napping, herbal tea drinking & more eating will feature too. We’re just pulling into the Ghost town of Cook, population of four. Time to get off & get some fresh air!
Highlights:
- Being rocked to sleep in my bunk under a thick, snugly doona.
- Having a few glasses of crisp WA sparkling wine, a nice treat.
- My cabins picture window. It’s right by the fold out table so I can type & view simultaneously.
- The hot, freshly cooked breakfast of eggs, toast & tea.
- Having a shower whilst moving, kind of fun rocking & rolling having a scrub. (Shower is awesome, hot & powerful, I’m not one for hanging around but I did in this one)
- The classical music channel on the sound system, no need to use up my iPod battery.
- Turn down & turn up bed service. My bed is made for me whilst at dinner & put away again at breakfast the next day.
- A staff member speaking fluent conversational French to some European travellers. (Usually the rule is when in Aus speak English)
Not so highlights:
- The air conditioning being on full blast I’m freezing! (Solved by leaving the door open to let some out. Less private but get a view from the corridor window too)
- The above is drying out my nose & throat, just like being on a plane. Kleenex is my new best friend.
- No fresh air. I’ve been sucking some in from the interconnecting carriage bit but we’re not supposed to loiter there, bit dangerous. None of the windows open. For someone who rarely sits in A/C & is used to fresh air it’s challenging.
- Disappointing evening meal.
Day Two continued:
Around 11:30am we pull into the ghost town of Cook. Its only purpose really is a stop for the trains to refuel, dump waste & raise money for the Flying Doctors. We get half an hour to look around the deserted town. We see the old school, swimming pool, houses & gaol huts.
Cook, South Australia. Population: 4 who seem to have a good sense of humour!
I’m itching to get outside for some fresh air. It’s a balmy 27 degrees & the flies are friendly. It’s good to have a walk & suck up some oxygen. Cook is an interesting place, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Hard to believe it had enough occupants once to service a school & hospital. Now only the caretakers, a family of four, live there.
Getting back in the A/C doesn’t seem so cold anymore! I shouldn’t complain it’s easier to rug up than cool down & we were told to pack warm tops.
The landscape has changed now we are in SA. It’s getting hilly; the dirt is redder & the vegetation more dense. The young waiter at lunch exclaimed his excitement at seeing the hills “it means I’m getting nearer to home.” The crew members are based in Adelaide, which is the central point for all the interstate rail routes.
My mobile office, what a view!
Lunch is the same as yesterday & just as nice. There are four choices of mains to choose from. I sample the Tasmanian salmon today. The combination of A/C & planetary activity is bringing on a head cold I’m craving some denser protein. After we’ve eaten we sit a while in the lounge to enjoy a drink & the view.
There are a fair few single travellers on board. The majority of people in the Gold Class are over 50. I am very much in the majority. Our observation is because Australian pension cardholders get a hefty 50% discount on fares it attracts the silver surfers. You can spend the day relaxing reading or kicking back in the bar. I know where my other half would have been happily parked up for the afternoon if he were with us. It’s a safe & luxurious way to travel solo.
Back to my writing & workshop planning. Swing music is on the sound system this afternoon to entertain me whilst I sip my peppermint tea. This is a very decadent way to travel for sure. Soul cup is brimming to the edge.
Swing by next Tuesday for my final installment of my train travel adventure as we reach our destination the magical city of Adelaide.
Love K xx