Working for the Dream

After a lot of grief and drama, I have finally lined up some work in Australia. I'll be working in a pub in a town called Condobolin, about 6 hours west of Sydney, not quite the "outback" I had dreamed about, but secluded enough that I won't be spending money, which is good, quite a change from life in Sydney, where all I do is spend money. It just leaks out of me, I can't help it. $4 for a bus ride, $5 for a drink, $30 for groceries. Reviewing my bank account has made me realize just how lucky I am that I have this job now, and it's also making me rethink a lot of my "travel options". I had this grand adventure planned, allowing me to do all the things that I wanted to do, but now, I certainly need to make a choice between some things. My two biggest dreams were to go to Uluru, otherwise know as Ayers Rock, (you know it, it's the big red monolith that adorns all Australia travel brochures) and to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Both are expensive, but both would be the experience of a lifetime. Luckily, I don't have to agonize too much over the choice of it. Global warming and pollution are quickly leading to the bleaching of the corals, which could completely die within the next 20 years, though there is huge environmental overhauls to protect the reef now, it is still in danger. At 530 million years old, Uluru is the oldest monolith in the world, and well, it's not going anywhere. So now I know where to focus my energies and my money, but let me tell you, I feel a little betrayal to my geology teachers. No telling them please! I am a little nervous and excited about starting to work, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm sure it's going to have an impact on me. I have a romantic image in my head of sharing a pint with a crazy old Crocodile Dundee who will have all these insane stories. Probably it won't be that interesting, I'll probably pull pints and clean and make beds and mop the floor. But it will all be towards a glorious hour or two in an underwater dreamland that I will never forget. So for that it is all worth it.
Also: New Years Eve is just a day away, and I am so excited, I heard this is going to be the most fireworks that has ever been set off. EVER ANYWHERE. But I heard that from a guy in a hostel, so, who knows.