Hello
all! It's time for me to start a new journey, and with this new journey I
wanted to start a blog to let you all know how it is going. Here is a little
background I have been living in Australia for a year. For the first 9 months I
was working as an au pair (a live-in nanny) for an amazing family in Manly.
Manly is a harbor and ocean side suburb of Sydney, it is a 30 minute ferry ride
to the central business district. It has lots of cafes, restaurants and
shopping. I lucked out big time and ended up with an amazing family to au pair
for. They are easy going, generous, funny and really helpful. The parents, Tom
and Lorraine are from Canada but are Australian citizens now and I have been
living in Manly for 8 years. They have two daughters, Ripley who is three and
half and Taylor who is 11 months. Taylor was born about a month after I came to
Australia. I love them like crazy! (I have recently started referring to
them as “my babies”, which I realize is creepy but I can’t help it).
Taylor
is such a fat happy baby with the most amazing blue eyes and fat kid giggles.
Ripley is silly, caring and cutest three year on the planet. She loves
attention and has recently developed some sweet dance moves (as seen below).
The
time has gone by so quickly, I can't believe I am leaving at the beginning of
September. But my visa is over and I can’t help but feel it’s time for a new
adventure. Three months ago my original plan was to head right to New Zealand
from Australia but the day Alison, the new au pair (or as I like to call her,
my replacement) arrived from the US I realized I didn’t want to leave Manly
just yet. Since my visa isn’t up till September there was no real reason I had
to leave. I didn’t want to leave because I have made some good friends here and
some of them were just returning from traveling around Australia when I was
planning to leave. I also didn’t want to leave because Ripley and Taylor are so
darn amazing and cute and I LOVE them so much! And finally, I stayed
because, I just like it here and living right next to the beach is great!
I quickly thought of a new plan instead of going
to NZ right away. Originally, I thought I was going to do a yoga teacher
training course after NZ and before I went home. But, when I realized I wanted
to stay here I decided I should do a yoga teacher training course before
NZ. Then teach yoga in NZ while I’m there during working-holiday visa. So, when
I decided to stay in Australia for a litter longer, I just needed a couple
things in order to stay; a new job and a place to live. Easy-peasy right? Well
actually…yes. I was planning to stay with Diane, an American friend I met in Australia.
I was just going to stay with her for a couple weeks before I was due to go to
NZ. It turns out she got more than she bargained for, because two weeks has
turned into three months. She is amazing and has been letting me crash on her
air mattress in the living room of her apartment! It turns out getting a job
wasn’t too hard either. I got a job at the Manly Grill, a steak and seafood
restaurant on the water, that’s only a minute from the apartment. Amazing
right? Well, it would be if they didn’t require a 45 hour work week, with
12 hour shifts. In addition to working at The Grill I have also
been babysitting one to two days a week. So, I’ve been working a lot the last couple
of months but it’s all for a good reason: saving money for my yoga teacher
training course and traveling in INDIA!
This last month I have been researching yoga
teaching training programs in India, getting my visa all set and getting things
together. The yoga teacher training course that found is three and half weeks long, through the Himalayan
Yoga Institute and is in the Kullu Valley.
The Kullu Valley is in the Western Himalayas and located next to the Beas
River. Yay Mountains! and not just any mountains the Himalayas!
My friend Carl from Colorado will be meeting me in India so we can travel before and after my course. When I told him that I was going to India in September, his exact response was “I will meet you there!!!!!! Where should I
meet you??” I am excited to have someone to travel with and I
can’t imagine anyone better to travel India with because he is so magical and
funny. Carl won't be doing the teacher training course with me but I am sure he will find something amazing to do while I am busy learning how to teach yoga! More on Carl later :) I have to leave Australia by September 3rd because of my visa and Carl is going to Burning Man so he won’t
arrive in India until the 8th. So, I will have a couple days by myself in India before
Carl arrives. I will spend those days getting accustomed, practicing yoga and
doing the required reading for my course.
Everything is coming together. I put in my notice
at work and bought a cheap sleeping bag to take with me. Also, I bought a used $25.00
backpack from the Salvation Army today, which was totally score, because it’s
nice, and it is only slightly used AND it had a couple pairs of
dirty undies in a plastic bag in one of the pockets, double score!!!!?!
Below are some pictures from my time in
Australia.
 |
| A selfie with a kangaroo and my friend Gina |
 |
| Diane and I at a wine tasting in the Hunter Valley |
 |
| Princess Cozy |
 View of Manly and the ocean from Tom and Lorraine's house  |
| Malin and Emmeli (friends that came back to Manly at the time I was suppose to be leaving) and me on Fraser Island |
 |
| Sydney Opera House during Vivid |
Please Please comment or email (carastampfle@gmail.com) me if you have questions, suggestions, or commentary !! I would love to hear from all of you if you are reading this!
योग which is Sanskrit for yoga.
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