Really home
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
Mildura, Australia
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
The Dust Storm
Looking out the plane window over the green patches of citrus trees and vines that surrounded the curvy, dreamtime snake of the Murray River and the red dirt was magic. I could feel home seeping into my bones.
On the other side of the plane, the yellow and brown wheat paddocks were the foreground to a dirty big dust storm coming our way.
As the plane landed I was filled with excitment as I we trundled in front of the terminal. Hauling my heavy carry on luggage the wind whipped around my ankles and lifted the hem of my skirt. I searched the gates for my family but no one came out to greet the plane as it was too windy. Just inside the terminal was a big line of family, starting with my sister, one of my brothers, my parents, grandparents and family friends. It was big hugs all around and then out to the bag cart and a big bag for everyone to carry to the car.
I didn't have much to say really. They had all read my travelpod, they all knew what I'd done and their questions were all too hard. "What was your favourite place?" "What did you like best?"
The best thing was my bed. My body melted into bed and didn't want to move. The second best was the smell. The familiar smell of my family and my house that I grew up with was so comforting and welcoming.
Unfortunately the 3 days of dust storm put a very lethargic and depressive tinge on things, but eventually the sun came out to shine hotly on me and my mood picked up.
What next??
A real job. Something to pay the credit card off and start a new travel fund with.
My brother Ben had the solution. I could drive his tractor and look after his pickers while he worked on the vintage and earned 3 times what he was paying me. He also worked a trillion hours more than me, so I suppose it wasn't like he exploited me too much.
New plans were being formulated. New ideas. Working in the snowfields. Working on a resort up the East Coast. Going to the UK. Travelling in Australia.
As fate would have it, I got myself an awesome job without even trying. It didn't quite beat getting a job whilst underground and wearing a miner's light, but it came pretty close.
My aunt managed to put in a good word (ie "my niece Camille has a marketing degree and has just come back to town") for me with a few people and an interview for a marketing position at the most prominent hotel in town arose. I managed to impress in the interview and started almost the next day.
To call it a hotel isn't quite the truth. It's an empire. Created with the vision of my boss, Mr Carrazza, and it is called the Mildura Grand Hotel Group. It is famous, with a celebrity cook, Stefano de Pieri, whose TV show A Gondola On the Murray continues to be screened around the world (currently airing in Afghanistan). And my job is to make sure that the Mildura Grand Hotel, Stefano's Restaurant, DR1 bistro, The new Spanish Bar and Grill, Avoca paddleboat, 27 Deakin Good Food Store, Pizza Cafe, Mario's Sportsbar, Grand on Deakin Bottleshop, Mildura Brewery and Mildura Brewery Pub all get promoted. Oh, and also to be Stefano's personal assistant.
Highlights include having dinner with Paul Mercurio and Andrew Daddo in Stefano's restaurant, winning lots of awards and getting lots of publicity in national publications, getting to eat great food, having meetings in the pub and loving it to pieces. A far cry from dorm rooms and street food.
So I'm settled. I have my own little shack on the river, a great job, a social life as busy as I want it to be. I also still have a credit card debt, but lots of shoes, so it's okay.
I haven't given up the world yet. I'm still single, although not as prolific a kisser as I was last year. I have new plans. Everchanging plans. But they involve travel and working holiday visas and meeting so many more people.
But right now, it's time to enjoy HOME.
