Random Musings

I think I'm ready to come home now.

I've spent the last two days sorting through all my stuff, getting rid of a serious amount of crap, and re-reading all the letters my friends have sent me throughout the past eight months.

I've sent in my paperwork to be re-instated at the School Board. I don't know where I'll be teaching in the fall, but that doesn't really matter right now. I'm just glad I have a good paying job to go back to.

I've taken out a considerable amount of trash, which sadly had a few beloved items in it. My canvas hat, which I've had for upwards of 20 years, did not survive this adventure. I put it through the wash when I got back from the Red Centre, and alas it came out in pieces. When I tried to salvage the bandanna that's been decorating its brim all this time, it shredded in my hands. Likewise, my blue sandals have also died. I ripped one of the straps out at Uluru. They're still wear-able but only just. They won't be coming home. I'm trying to squeeze a last few miles outta them before they join the hat in the Great Dustbin in the Sky.

I've realized that my ever-planning brain has now shifted full-time to planning all the stuff I've got to do during the Canadian summer months, including buying a car, finding a place to live, moving all my stuff back to Toronto, taking canoeing courses, and of course summer camp. But even that's changed. For those of you who haven't heard yet, Vicky and I are no longer the Summer Camp Directors at Woolsey. We decided that a change of pace (and scenery!) was needed. We are returning to camp this year, but as the canoe tripping staff. This will provide me with a totally new set of challenges. Ah well! I've known all along that this would be a year of change. Guess this is just another part of that process.

I return to trampolining class tonight after a six week absence. (I'm gonna die.) With any luck I'll be able to roll myself out of bed in some sort of shape at some point tomorrow morning, but don't hold me to that.

Oh! And here's something completely random! Remember how I went on a bit of a rant about the problems that Jen and I encountered at the resorts we stayed in at Uluru and Kings Canyon? Turns out that Janet McGarry, the Marketing Manager for YHA, came across those blog entries. (And now I know how Google Alerts work, ha ha!) So she forwarded my complaints on to her associate at the resort company on my behalf. Thanks Janet! :-)

I also feel I should put a little bit of a positive plug in here for the YHA. I didn't know anything about hosteling when I came to Australia last September. Thanks to my friends Ruth and Carroll, I got introduced to the YHA and its network of hostels across the country. What with all the adventures I've been on this year, I've stayed in a LOT of hostels. Not all of them have been YHA's, and Jen and I have noticed a distinct difference between YHA and non-YHA hostels. The YHA hostels have a set of standards they must adhere to in order to maintain their accreditation, and it shows. The only hostels we've had problems in this year have been non-YHA hostels - to the point where it's become a bit of an in-joke: "Wow, you can tell this place isn't a part of the YHA!". I have preferentially stayed in YHA hostels all year long, and will definitely continue to do so in these last few weeks. So Janet, I don't know if you'll get a chance to read this, but please pass on my commendations to the YHA team. If I hadn't discovered your organization, this year might have been very different!

OK, gotta run to trampolining, trying not to think about how much I'm likely gonna hurt when I get home tonight...