Day Sixteen – Townsville – Happiness is Both Alone and Together

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I spent the day by myself today with a car. I had to get up early to take Emily to work and to go to my doctors appointment so it meant that I had a perfect fresh start to have a full day. This is definitely something I needed after all the lazy days.

After my appointment finished I went to the rock pool for a good swim. It felt so good to have some proper exercise and to just swim up and down like I’m used to and I know I’m good at. After this I drove up to Castle Hill overlooking Townsville. I climbed over the railings and down to a rock outcrop far away from the path. I sat there for two hours by myself and looking at the phot above you’ll know why. I could sit there all day.

I had to leave this gorgeous view to go meet Matthew for lunch. We went back to the place we had cocktails the other night for a greasy pulled pork sandwich. It was good, I really like the hipsterisms in Townsville. I just didn’t expect them to had made it here and I like it. I think out of all of the fads there have been, emo, punk etc, hipsters is the best. We may have to agree to disagree.

After lunch I headed over to the aquarium and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Aquariums are some of my most favourite places in the world. I sat for a good hour watching this one fish. He had so much character and he seemed so happy and lively, he was very entertaining. I could definitely relate to him and I think he liked me to. Just before I left I checked out the turtle hospital where they bring in sick turtles and nurse them back to health before releasing them into the wild again. It made my heart break. There were turtles who had swallowed plastic bags which makes them float and if they float they can’t dive down to collect food so they start to starve to death. Other turtles had been hit by boats cracking their shell. A turtle shell is connected to their spine so it’s like a boat hitting you in your back and snapping your spine, paralysing you. It was nice to see people doing something for these turtles but there was only enough room for ten turtles in the hospital. There must be so many other turtles who are also being affected by man made issues. I just wanted to write about this here to raise a little extra awareness around the world.

We went out for dinner tonight as it was my last no to in Townsville. We went down to a surfbar on the seafront where it was nice to here the sea waves as we ate. Another one of my favourite places is the sea at night, it’s so calming and romantic and reminiscent of good times in my youth. After dinner we headed to the new chocolate shop which had opened in town. The queue was pretty massive but we waited anyway getting plenty of free chocolate samples. I bought some chocolates for us and for myself I bought a small pot of liquid chocolate. Why not indulge?

We then went home to nurse out chocolate comas and had a little play on Emily’s new PS3 playing buzz. I was much better at it than I expected to be.
Today was an absolutely quality day. I loved every minute of it, packing it full and exploring as much as I could in Townsville and ending it happy and safe with my family. Let’s hope there are plenty more of these days in the next week.

Day Six – Cairns – Contemplation and Revelation

Today was even lazier than the last. I woke up late then went down to the lagoon for a swim and a walk and then went out in the evening.

While I was at the lagoon I took a little time to sit on the sea front and contemplate my trip. I always think that the sea is a good place to think of the future. It was so nice to sit there and just think and feel. After so much time spent with anxiety and depression, it’s actually nice to be able to sit at the waters edge and be alone and feel happy. This really is the first time in a long time that I actually am aware that I feel happy. I don’t think enough people actually sit and ask themselves if they’re happy. It nearly makes me cry just thinking about it, I don’t want it to end, I don’t want the people to leave. But it has to come to and end and that’s the key, just don’t let it get sour before it does.