The first week in Australia

View from the Opera House

I arrived in Sydney on October 23rd at 9:30 a.m. When I checked into the YHA hostel in downtown Sydney at noon, the temperature was already 30 C. I have always dreamed about traveling Australia; when I walked down to Sydney Harbour and saw the Opera House, I almost couldn’t believe that I was actually here. The Opera House, designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, made its debut in 1973. The building was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June of 2007 thanks to its iconic design, instantly recognizable the world over. I marveled at this structure for a while before cruising through the beautiful botanical gardens located next door.

Peace and Tranquility downtown Sydney

Then I caught a bus to the famous Bondi Beach, where I sat back and watched some of the best surfers in the world. It’s kind of crazy how a thirty-minute bus ride can take you from the downtown core of one of the busiest cities in the world to a laid back beach community filled with health food stores, a variety of strip malls, and incredibly unique restaurants.

This beach is home to some of the most talented surfers in Australia

I made time during my week in Sydney to visit its aquarium, Taronga Zoo and the Sky Tower. The aquarium has an amazing variety of aquatic life found in Australia’s surrounding coasts. The zoo was impressive and presented me with my first opportunity to see koala bears, kangaroos and several other species native to the continent. My visit to the tower gave me the best view of the city anyone could ask for; I made my visit at night and was amazed to see how far the city sprawls in every direction.

Australian people are very diverse, but it is easy enough to pick out the archetypal locals with their strong accents. Everyone has been really friendly so far; the city also has tons of tourists from every corner of the globe. It’s fairly hard for anybody to stand out in a location as heavily populated as Sydney, which makes the city great for people watching, especially around the wharf.

Nap time

Ready to bounce!

From Sydney I flew to the Whitsunday Islands for a three-day sailing adventure. The tall ship “Solway Lass” is an amazing vessel to sail around the area of ocean first explored by Captain Cook in 1770. The ship was built in 1902 and has since had an extensive history, including involvement in both World Wars and ownership by both the British and Germans. Later in its career it was used as a cargo ship that was sailed through the Panama Canal. The five-member crew was so friendly and welcoming that I felt like I was receiving service from a five-star hotel.

Rae from England and Rachelle from Sweden. Team effort to raise the sails!

The food was great; it was awesome to get a daily morning and afternoon snack. During the trip we took the opportunity to scuba dive and snorkel amidst the Great Barrier Reef. Ever since I first learned to scuba dive in the Turks and Cacaos Islands, I have been hooked. The feeling of breathing underwater is surreal, and being down there is one of the best forms of meditation I have ever experienced.

Three Clown fish chillin in an anemone!

Meditation is a very interesting concept. When I first heard about it I assumed that it was something only monks or spiritual fanatics do, definitely not something that is achievable for the average person. As I gradually learned more about meditation and began to practice it on a daily basis, I have come to realize that my first impression of the subject was somewhat ignorant. The definition of meditation that I have most identified with is its capability of bringing full awareness to whatever you are doing. When you are fully present in the moment, any distracting thoughts temporarily subside, enabling you to act out of complete awareness. When I first started practicing meditation, I thought that in order to do so successfully I would have to sit silently and observe my breathing while still concentrating on the random thoughts that so often enter my mental space. This form of meditation is the hardest for me. I soon came to realize that I actually practice a lot of meditative habits; I just wasn’t conscious of this fact until I started paying more attention to my activities and began to live fully in the present, without allowing a continuous stream of random thoughts to burden my concentration.

Weight lifting has always been a great form of meditation for me. I have enjoyed this form of exercise since my early teens, and I have always left the gym with a sense of relaxation that has helped me manage some of the most stressful times of my life. All board sports bring me fully into the moment. When I am about to hit the wake before starting a trick on a wakeboard, or when I am cruising down fresh powder on a mountainside or jumping over a set of stairs on my skateboard, my mind stops thinking and allows me to successfully complete the action. Should I actually try to think about the action while I am performing it, I’ll inevitably land in a painful wipeout.

After studying the health benefits of meditation, including stress and anxiety reduction, decreased blood pressure and reducing insomnia, I saw how all of these benefits came true in my own life after consistent daily practice of meditation. I started to learn about how I can incorporate meditation into my daily routine by eating mindfully, taking a deep breath when angry or stressed, being fully present in a conversation…and the list continues. There are so many ways to meditate. When you find a way that is fun and works for you, you will be able to enjoy so many daily activities that you previously missed out on due to anxiety over things that are often beyond your control.

Meditation is kind of like brushing your teeth. If you have never tried it and your life seems fine without it, like so many people believed before this hygiene practice became commonplace, it would likely seem ludicrous to perform this tedious task on a daily basis. If, however, you began brushing your teeth and discovered the benefits of good dental hygiene, you would likely never again go to bed with a grungy film on your teeth. This example is how I view meditation. It’s hard to notice any benefits immediately but over long periods of time the rewards are amazing. When I sit quietly and focus on my breathing, the first few breaths will come easily before my mind will start to wander and I’ll have to gently focus it back on track. But after a while, I’ll start to notice my random, chaotic thoughts are calmer and further spaced apart. Just like brushing your teeth, meditation will become a habit you’ll value thanks to the greater sense of health you’ll enjoy. Next time you are running late, or perhaps waiting on somebody else who is, try focusing on your breathing and notice what happens to your stress level. You might be surprised at just how quickly and easily you’ll feel the benefits.