(Photo sourced from the internet)
Going to Australia on a Working Holiday is something I absolutely have to do in this lifetime.
And since Australia is so huge, of course there are many, many more things I simply have to accomplish there during this Working Holiday! Andthe list just keeps growing, too~ So I’ll update it whenever I think of something new, and once I’ve completed each goal, I’ll add photos and links to the blog posts!
Setting goals is very important to me. It gives me a clearer sense of direction, and once I know what I want, I can achieve it one step at a time and make the whole trip worthwhile! Though I suppose you could also say I just want too many things~ Hahaha. These goals are really the result of wanting to do everything and try everything!
This is the first page of my notebook. I’m starting to think of it as my wish book—and the things I write in it really do slowly come true, one by one! But if the list keeps growing like this, I think I’ll fill the whole page one day, and then… it’ll probably be covered in red circles marking everything I’ve completed, too! Yay~
Fun and Adventure
1. Go toUluru, the famous giant red rock from Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World, watch the sunrise and sunset, then explore Central Australia by rental car or Greyhound bus and visit the legendary town where aliens supposedly landed!
2. Go toSydney for the New Year’s Eve fireworks. It’s such an iconic event—definitely one of the biggest celebrations you have to attend while in Australia!
3. Besides that,attend at least three major Australian events or festivals. However you look at it, Australia hosts far more world-class competitions than we ever get the chance to attend in Taiwan. Even Australia’s own major domestic events are very different from Taiwan’s, so I absolutely have to join in and experience them!
4.Go skydiving in Cairns. Skydiving is the kind of thrilling activity you can’t do in Taiwan, and beautiful Cairns seems like the perfect place to try it~ I’ll get an amazing view of the coastline from high above. If I have enough money, I’d also like to go diving there and try scuba diving.
5.Take a helicopter ride. Expensive! But I’ve never been in one, so I want to give it a try~ Hahaha. And taking a helicopter ride somewhere with gorgeous scenery would definitely be worth it.
6.Travel to New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand are so close, so flying there from Australia saves both time and money. Taiwanese visitors can now enter New Zealand without a visa, and every honeymoon photo my former Chunghwa Telecom colleague took there looked like a painting. How could I pass up the chance to travel somewhere so beautiful?!
Animals
1. Seewild kangaroos. Zoo animals don’t count as animals. A wild kangaroo you can see without spending a fortune—that’s a real kangaroo.
2. Seewild koalas. Zoo animals don’t count as animals. A wild koala you can see without spending a fortune—that’s a real koala.
3. Seewild penguins. Zoo animals don’t count as animals. Seeing wild penguins actually come ashore from the sea and waddle into their burrows—that’s seeing real penguins.
4. Seewild dolphins and whales. Back in Taiwan, I always wanted to take a whale- or dolphin-watching boat trip. But in Australia, there are more places and opportunities to spot dolphins and whales with the naked eye right from shore. And I absolutely love dolphins!! I have to see them!
5.Feed wild dolphins. I want to join CALM’s dolphin-feeding program and get up close and personal with dolphins!
6.Be a kangaroo mum. I once saw someone who joined a work-exchange program and got to help a kangaroo carer, feeding baby kangaroos milk every day. I want to be a kangaroo mum, too!
7. Findan alpaca and take a photo with it. Before leaving, I even made an alpaca picture for this goal XD and listed all the places in Australia where I’d heard there were alpacas. I don’t think there are any in the wild, but I know there’s an alpaca farm in the Snowy Mountains, so I’m sure I’ll find a way to get there!
Work
1. WorkRoyal Showthere. It’s one of Australia’s classic major events, with all kinds of games and food stalls. I’d like to try a short-term, amusement-park-style job at this Royal Show.
2. Work asa shop assistant, server, or in another job that requires me to use English all the time. This is my ultimate work goal in Australia: to improve my English enough to find a job like this and be capable of doing it well.
3. Try to finda job at a zoo. I know this would be difficult, but I heard that a friend of a friend, who was also a backpacker, managed to find a zoo job near Cairns. I want to get up close to the animals~
4.HouseKeeper. I actually added this to my wish book after arriving in Brisbane, because I’d planned to find a housekeeping job but couldn’t get one anywhere. Then it came true! Amazing~
People
1.Really spend time with Australians and live alongside them. Experiencing and becoming part of the way real Australians live is a very important goal! Maybe I can achieve it through work or by joining a work-exchange program~ Ha.
2.Make at least fifty friends who aren’t ethnically Chinese. If possible, it would be even better if they were all from countries outside Asia! I want to experience genuinely different cultures, understand what it’s like to interact with people from different countries, and truly broaden my international perspective.
