Finishing Up

My apologies on not posting the remainder of my trip to Australia. After my last post, we flew to Cairns and spent the next 3 days on a dive boat and got our open water scuba certification diving the Great Barrier Reef. Once we got back, we checked into an eco-resort that was nestled in a rainforest that rolled down the surrounding mountains and ended abruptly onto a gorgeous beach with the warm Coral Sea to swim in. It was in the ocean that I had an experience that fundamentally changed a part of my Being. I was given insights into my self and all of existence that I look forward to attempting to convey to my readers (some of the concepts were indescribable and could only be experienced rather than verbalized). We stayed at this magical place for 3 days before flying down to Brisbane where we spent the remainder of our trip; our last day was spent on Moreton Island, the 3rd largest sand island in the world. We snorkeled around ship wrecks, rode around the island 4-wheel drive style, and eventually tobagganed down enourmous sand hills. It was exhilerating and I came back home feeling reawakened in every way. I rediscovered a part of my Soul and found some of the balance I've been searching for my whole life. I want to describe this time in much richer detail (and believe me, I will) but unfortunately, I was hit hard when I arrived back home.

My website was "upgraded" just before I left and went down hard when I got back. This wreaked havoc on clients trying to order sessions and book appointments and is still getting fixed. There has been a host of other things along those lines go down; it's that kind of stuff you can easily deal with if it's just one or two things but not dozens. The hardest thing is that in the time since I've been back, we have found out that my father, who I'm very close to, has advanced cancer and things aren't looking great for him. He is in the hospital as I write this and I am preparing to leave AZ and head to NC to be with my family for an indefinite period of time.

The balance and clarity that I found in Australia was the biggest gift the Universe could have given me and is the thing carrying me through this difficult time. Although I am very emotionally devastated right now, I feel the loving presence of Spirit around now more than ever. I know that whatever happens, all things will be in their Divine Order. Today, I was told by Spirit that the upcoming times are going to take me to depths I have yet to traverse but that my family and I would be loved, carried, and supported all the way. I was told that when I feel the most alone and cut off from Spirit that it's actually the time Spirit will be the closest to me, so close I may not be able to sense their presence like usual. If you are going through a tough time yourself, please try to remember that it's the times you feel the most alone and afraid that Spirit is holding you the closest.

Thank you for reading my blog; there will be more about my Australian adventure in future writings.

Day 6: Dolphin Day

I awoke very early this morning to get ready for our dolphin excursion. I was feeling like I didn’t do well enough a job of staving off my impending illness… oh let’s keep it real; I felt like shit. And I was a little freaked out by the prospect of swimming in the freezing cold waters (at least at this time of year) of South Australia where Great White sharks are known to inhabit. But nothing was going to stop me from having my dolphin experience; I’ve been waiting to swim with the dolphins for years. It feels like their delightful little spirits have been beckoning me to come and play with them ever since I knew what a dolphin was. I have yet to see them up close, let alone have a swim with them in their element, so naturally my excitement overruled my excruciation.

I took another handful of herbs and got a coffee from downstairs on our way to catch the cab that would take us down to the harbor outside of town. We were running late (not because of my coffee, thank you) and rushing to catch a cab to take us down to the harbor in Glenelg approximately 20 minutes away. I was ready to ask for a paper bag to hyperventilate in because I was so afraid of missing the dolphins! Wouldn’t you know it? The taxi driver had no idea where he was going; what cab driver doesn’t know his way around?! The one we chose, obviously.

“Call the sailing company and tell them we are running late,” I said to Keevin.

“No, we will get there in time. I don’t like calling unless I know for sure I’m going to be late,” he replied.

“Are you CRAZY?! The boat leaves in 20 minutes, we are supposed to be there 20 minutes ahead of departure, and we are a good 10 minutes away… we are late, CALL THEM,” I said.

He didn’t call them (ugh, men). We finally got to the harbor and could see the boat we were supposed to catch was still docked (thanks, God) but it was a long walk from where we were. I wasn’t going to wait for Keevin to handle it anymore so I grabbed the phone and called them myself. The phone rang a few times.

“Temptation Sailing, how may I help you?”

I vomited the words in a flurry of nervous excitement mixed with a dash of poorly disguised annoyance at the whole situation.

“Hi, this is Jaena Moynihan and we are supposed to be on the boat that’s leaving soon and we are late but we are here and the taxi driver didn’t know where he was going and I can see your boat but I don’t know how to get to it and I want to see dolphins; pleasedontleavewithoutus!”

“I’m sorry, ma’am we tried to call you earlier. Didn’t you get our message?” he asked.

“What message?” Trepidation mingled with relief; perhaps they bumped the time back? It was pretty windy after all.

“We had to cancel the sail due to the weather. We tried to get in touch with you but weren’t able to. We do have another sail tomorrow that you could take and it looks like the weather will be shaping up. Would you like us to put you on that one?”

Moisture glazed my eyes and tears began to well in them. Crestfallen, I said, “No that’s ok. We are leaving Adelaide tomorrow and won’t be able to reschedule. No worries; please just refund our deposit. Thanks.”

He could hear the disappointment in my voice and tried to offer a few pointless solutions for things we could do in Glenelg as to make our trip down there something less than a total bust. I just hung up. I wasn’t going to meet the dolphins. Again. Shit. Images of them water-dancing began to swim through my mind and a bitter anger began to replace the disappointing sadness currently in occupancy. How could it be that yet again, I wasn’t going to meet the dolphins? They’ve been calling to me my whole life but is it just a farce? Like one of those things you’re supposed to just want but never have? Is it the Universe’s way of taunting “Nah-nah-ne-boo-boo”?

A voice spoke in my mind.

“It’s just not the time, Jaena. The right time will present itself and you will encounter your dolphin friends in the future but not now. Your vibration is currently being shifted in ways other than what the dolphins can help with so just accept it. Look to things as they are rather than how you wish they were. All things happen, as they should and in Divine Right Order; you know this. Waste your energy not on resentment; focus it on acceptance instead. All is well.”

I agreed with the Voice; the same voice that has guided me ever since I was a child. Some call it the Voice of Reason, or the Inner Voice but I think it’s the Voice of Spirit. It always rings true and is always lovingly detached from any outcome for it seems to know that the High Will is going to be brought forth no matter what. I like to ask myself, “Is this My Will or the High Will?” in times of emotional stress; I find it helps me let go of my control-ridden agenda and simply surrender to Spirit (which is essential for me to do what I do). So that’s what I did; I let go. I wasn’t going to meet the dolphins and it still sucks, but it is what it is for a reason so… ok. Deep breath… and we’re back. But I had something left to say to that Voice.

“Oh, one last thing, Spirit… since I don’t get to meet the dolphins right now I trust that you are going keep me healthy and well for the remainder of my time in Australia? I am going to dive on the Great Barrier Reef and have a fabulous, meaningful, experience for the rest of my time here without health or environmental-related complications arising to steal any more of my thunder, right? I mean, you gotta give me this, yes? You didn’t bring me here just to write about getting sick and bitching to my readers about it, did you?”

Normally, I don’t get an answer to these questions. I usually just get this feeling of someone looking at me with their eyebrows raised like they’re telling me that I know better than to project my personal agenda to the Universe; that I should trust I’ll end up where I need to be and that I’ll find the medicine I need in that moment. But dammit, I need a little more than that right now and I guess Spirit thought so too.

“Yes; you will remain in good physical health and there will be no further interruption to your itinerary. You’ve learned what you needed from this; enjoy the upcoming surprises.”

I trusted the words at once and breathed in relief knowing without doubt that I am going to get better and still be able to scuba dive, which you just can’t do if you’re sick. Total silence filled my mind and I knew the transmission had ended. I know better than to push for more when I feel that kind of silence; there’s a finality to it that dares you to break it at your own risk. We hopped on the train back to Adelaide and spent the rest of the day doing laundry, re-packing for the 2nd half of our Australian excursion, and just resting. Honestly, I felt grateful for the day of repose from our busy travel schedule, once I got over the dolphin disappointment that is. We had lunch at Bliss Café again where I got some more of that outrageous medicinal tea. Later, we went to the market, cooked dinner in the apartment, and headed to bed early so we can be fresh for another day of travel to Cairns in Queensland.

I understand that my reason for coming to Adelaide was to nurture myself and listen to what my body is telling me and to accept things as they are (including myself) rather than how I wish they were. I’m halfway through my time in Australia and I’ve already had some breakthroughs. It makes my mind reel to think about “the surprises” yet to come so I’ll just stay in the moment for now, secure in the truth that they’ll benefit me in whatever way I need.

Day 5: Barossa Valley

The tea and herbs must have done their magic because I awoke this morning feeling pretty darn good, all things considered. I got up around 6:00 a.m. took another handful of herbs, made some tea (I wish I had some more of that stuff from Bliss Café!), and said some prayers for continued health. We then got showered and dressed and headed downstairs where they have a coffee shop connected to the lobby (thank you, God!). I got a soy ‘flat white’, which is basically a latte with less milk, to buzz me awake so I could taste wine all day that would make me sleepy later (funny, huh?).

Our driver, Tracy, was waiting for us in the lobby. She seemed slightly miffed with us but perhaps that was because we were a couple minutes late getting down and then I had to get a coffee before we got going. Well, I figured that it was our day to go and do what we wanted so if I felt like spending a little extra time at the place I started from, so be it. Tracy turned out to be very amiable and not miffed in the slightest as she explained how it was in fact, our day to relax and go where we liked. I was all-too happy to let Tracy do the driving and she was a very capable conductor on our tour of one of the world’s best-known wine regions.

The morning air was crisp as we drove out of town into the lush hillsides of South Australia. The smells of river, forest, and mist clung to me like morning dew to the tree leaves of our surrounding landscape. The road was ours alone and it felt as though we driving through a secret as the quiet peacefulness of the environment enveloped us. The countryside felt hushed, like the earth was holding its breath and would only exhale once we passed. I didn’t feel like an intruder per se, but the message to tread lightly was clear. It was a perfect transition from cities, airplanes, hotel check-ins, and the general hustle-bustle of travelling. I breathed in, it seemed for the first time since I’d gotten to Australia, and exhaled while dropping my guard and allowing the day take me, moment-by-moment, wherever it wanted to.

We saw rare albino wallabies hopping along as we drove past a wildlife sanctuary that raised them. We must have sounded like little children to Tracy as we looked doe-eyed at the animals and the landscape while cooing and ooing at “how purdy” everything was. Before hitting the wineries Tracy took us to a place called the “Whispering Wall” which was a large retaining wall for the Barossa Reservoir. The unique acoustics of the wall make it so that if two people stand on opposite sides, you can hear each other speaking as though you were right next to each other. We truthfully joked that we got better reception on the wall than with our cell phones.

We made our way to the first Cellar Door (a.k.a. wine tasting room) soon after and grew back up from our reverted childlike states to the sophisticated, classy, wine connoisseurs that we wanted to act like; yes, that act was dropped like a hot potato as our true identities of the grape-ignorant emerged. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate a good glass of wine; sometimes the whole damn bottle gets caught up in my affections, but I am a far, long, and distant cry from any level of wine expertise. I decided then and there to allow myself to get comfortable and be a child as far as the wine world was concerned.

The wine steward at our first winery was a friendly young woman with a good sense of humour and God bless her for it. My background in restaurants has made me a tiny bit more versed in wine than my beer-drinker-to-the-bone boyfriend and as I’ve said, I love the stuff but Keevin… not so much. He would only drink sweeter whites and well, I’m a “big reds” kind of girl. Keevin tried the reds but it’s just not his thing so he stuck with the sweeter, dessert-oriented whites. I suppose I won’t be painting new spots on that leopard anytime soon and that’s just fine by me; I’m happy to take my own private delight in the secret realms of red. I enjoy white wine in warmer weather; give me a nice glass of pinot grigio on a summer day and call me a happy girl. But I was very impatient to get through the white wine tasting and climb all aboard the Big Reds Train; after the 2^nd Cellar Door, I skipped the white wine warm-up altogether.

I have never felt so vitally present with wine as I did in the Barossa Valley; I realized that wine is not only a gratifying exploration of the grape but also a virtual meditation-in-a-glass that approaches transcendence. If you shut everything else out of your mind except all things concerning your vino, you will find that an entirely new Universe teeming with diverse life forms opens up to you. Waves of flavour-filled sensation carried me upon rapturous currents as my palate, like the grape, was plumped and ripened by the fruits and cask woods of the winemakers’ handiwork. The wine actually began to take on various personalities to me; by the end of the day I wasn’t describing the flavours as “herbaceous” or “up-front Black Forest fruit with heavy tannins throughout” but as “seductive”, “cheeky”, and sometimes downright “bitchy with a middle finger flipped at the finish”. I marvelled at this discovery while Tracy and the wine stewards gave each other a knowing nod that said, “She’s been initiated; it’s official now… she’s hooked.” The layers of experience from nose to finish were rich to say the least and I can’t wait to further my study of The Grape; I feel she has more secrets to reveal and if you’re reading this, Ms. Grape, I promise not to tell ;-)

The day left me feeling like one of Bacchus’ dancing maenads, aplomb in my grape-induced ecstasy that bordered Divine Madness. After a few more rounds of wine tasting, coffees, food sampling, and more scenic driving, we were finally taken back to our apartment in Adelaide. Exhausted, and basically drunk, we zombie-walked our way into the building and finally shuffled into the bedroom where we performed simultaneous nose-dives into bed. It was an incredibly delicious spiritual journey, traversed along a route of gustative rapture. Although the wine’s flow has ceased, the gratitude for my experience with it continues in an onward pour.

Day 4: Arrive in Adelaide

We left Sydney and flew into Adelaide, South Australia today. We told a few locals in Sydney that part of our trip included Adelaide and each time we were met by a bewildered look that said, “Why would you want to go there?” A few people directly asked this very question and our answer was something to the effect of “Why not? It’s part of Australia!” It seems that the general consensus is that there’s not anything in South Australia except some great wine country (about 80% of Australia’s wine comes from this region).

Honestly, after the fast pace of Sydney, I’m looking forward to things slowing down a bit. And it was a slower pace; almost glacial. It’s a good thing too because the day we left Sydney I was starting to feel sick. Last time I came to Australia with Allison DuBois, I fell ill halfway through and was miserable the rest of the time. I came prepared this time with an arsenal of herbs for immune fortification and Adelaide became the battlefield for my assault on viral threat.

I’ve found myself bargaining and pleading with body using mental dialogues something to the effect of: “Come on, Body, please fight this. Please let me stay well enough to swim with the dolphins. Please don’t get sick… we have to dive the Great Barrier Reef later this week; if you stay well through Cairns you can get sick in Brisbane. Never mind that, I need to stay well the whole time. Can you just save it until we get home and then you can take me down?”

Then I got angry and began threatening my body: “Alright, bitch. You WILL NOT get sick, do you hear me?! If you take away my experience here I will never forgive you and you have to live with me forever, remember? Don’t you DARE get sick!”

Then on to apologizing: “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean that. I love you. Can you forgive me?”

And finally, coaxing: “C’mon, Body… that’s a good Body. You can do this; I’ll treat you to an early night or a lovely tea. Remember the Little Engine That Could? I think I can… I think I can… That’s a good, strong, body.”

It’s was like that most of the day and after a delayed flight, I was anxious to get into the room and create a safe haven of preventative healing. We checked in and made our way up to our apartment. We didn’t have a hotel room to my surprise; it was a bloody apartment, complete with full kitchen, washer, dryer, and a couple of bedrooms! Even though the place is named Franklin Central Apartments, I didn’t make the connection until I got in here. I’m ecstatic about it so pardon my enthusiasm…

I pulled out the industrial bag of herbs I brought, downed heaps of them, and set out to find lunch. Everything is so close to us here; restaurants galore, an awesome and huge marketplace (reminds me a lot of Pike Place Market in Seattle) with lots of organic produce, and Chinatown (there’s a Chinatown here?) are all a 5-minute walk from our place. We walked down a few blocks and found a delicious vegan restaurant called Bliss Garden Café. They had a very strong, spiced concoction of a tea that was specifically designed for cold-busting. It took about 20 minutes for them to prepare it and arrived with our food. The smells of cloves and exotic spices danced their way to my nostrils where they stung a bit before hitting my brain, creating a sense of cranial expansion. I knew this sensation was indicating that my prayers were answered and Spirit (perhaps along with my coddled body) had directed me to exactly what I needed in order to kick out whatever has begun to root itself within.

This curative tea ironically smelled and tasted very much like a spiced orange tea my mother made every winter growing up in North Carolina. She called it “Russian Tea” and it was essentially Tang (an über-sweet, orange-flavour powdered beverage for those who don’t remember it) mixed with cloves, cinnamon, and sugar to make it sweeter than it already is. The tea at Bliss was twice as spicy and just as sweet as the one Mom used to make; I enjoyed the evocation of such a pleasant childhood memory and the way it made me smile on the inside as I every drop descended down my throat, charged with its purpose of eradicating sickness.

Feeling fortified, we went back to our room/apartment and rested for an hour or so before I had to go meet with a client and her friend for coffee in the late afternoon. First, I have to stop and say how much I appreciate that any time of day is coffee time for the Aussies. I had already sort of met Rachel (my client) over the phone in a previous session; she has this lovely, quiet, and soft demeanour that doesn’t fool me one bit. I know that this is also a girl who loves a rollicking good time and when I met Annie (her friend) I saw the mirror. The people we hang around often reflect different aspects of ourselves so I always look at who a person associates with to learn more about their character. It’s true that Annie has a warm, nurturing, and joyful energy (much like Rachel). In fact, I wanted to give her a hug before shaking hands, that’s how instantly comfortable I felt her (both of them really). But Annie definitely carried this vibe about her that also said, “I love a good laugh and I want to laugh with you, but if you mess with the people I love I will make you cry.” I respected her instantly and we all became fast friends; it was no time before we were in hysterics while talking about the “Oh-crap-oh-shit-oh-crap-oh-shit!!!” moments of our lives. It was fantastic and the time flew by. We hugged at least 3 times before saying our goodbyes and I headed back home-for-now to dose on more medicines.

It was a great day despite feeling a little immune-compromised; I hope I feel better tomorrow as we have a private tour through the Barossa Valley for a day of wine tasting and I don’t want to miss out on it! Good night, morning, afternoon, or whatever it is where you are.

Day 3: Blue Mountains

Our final day in Sydney was filled with a bus tour through the Blue Mountains and surrounding area. We were picked up at the hotel and entered a bus full of tourists who all had the same look on their faces (that Keevin and I probably shared); excitement and uncertainty mingled together to form an expression that said “I’m not in control right now and although I have an itinerary, I don’t really know what to expect.” There was an anticipatory edge to the air that smacked of adventure and discovery; I had little sleep the night before but became instantly buzzed in a way my two coffees prior hadn’t managed.

The ice wasn’t broken but shattered by our tour guide Steve (or Steve-o as per our education on Australian name adaptation) as he began cracking jokes (think dingo mating with a wombat to birth a “dingbat”… corny Aussie comedy at it’s finest!) that had everyone smiling with the assurance that indeed, today was going to be fun. His dry and slightly sardonic humour was tempered by educational trivia about everything from the eco-system to aboriginal art; he was fantastic and helped us feel like, “Yes, we are the most touristy of tourists but we don’t need to feel bad about selling our first-born for a picture of us feeding kangaroos.”

Once we left downtown Sydney, our first stop was the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we were allowed to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s best-known wildlife; kangaroos, koalas, and wallabies (oh my!) among many others. It was all ooh’s and ah’s as we entered the enclosure boasting over 2000 species of local wildlife and immediately saw little wallabies freely hopping about all over the place. I was instantly reverted back to feeling 6 years old with a powerful urge to grab one of them up in my arms, squeeze him, hug him, kiss him, and call him ‘George’… then smuggle him off to keep as a pet forever. Fortunately, I do possess a modicum of restraint and managed to let my better judgment rule out the aforementioned possibility.

Everyone knows how much I love animals (you know, with the whole refusal to eat them and all) so I really did light up as I pet a koala, fed a kangaroo, got giddy over a wombat (they are SO much cuter than I thought they would be from their name), and marvelled over a dingo. When I hear of dingoes, immediately I think of the line, “A dingo ate my baby!” (from “A Cry in the Dark” with Meryl Streep) and the image of a pack of dirty-yellow, salivating, mangy, Cujo-like hounds of hell comes to mind. So I was surprised by how beautiful, proud, and almost majestic I found the dingoes to appear when I saw them live.

We left Featherdale and drove to a breathtaking lookout that boasted an incredible view of not only the Blue Mountains (so named for the molecules of eucalyptus oil that dissipate into the air creating a bluish haze across the valley) but also Wentworth Falls. After a butt-burning hike down to the viewpoint and back up, we drove to a place called Scenic World (and yes, it is an entire world of scenery) where we viewed a famous rock formation known as The Three Sisters. They also had a glass-bottom sky tram I rode before heading down to the valley floor on the world’s steepest railway where I then walked through the temperate rainforest before riding back up the mountain on another sky tram that was made me think of what it must be like for Glinda the Good Witch bobbing along in her transportation bubble. Keevin isn’t a fan of heights so I went this portion alone, but I didn’t mind.

We left Scenic World and stopped at another awe-inspiring viewpoint for afternoon tea and an impromptu didgeridoo-playing lesson (I was the only one in our group successful at producing anything near the intended sound, thankyouverymuch). Exhausted, we were driven back to Sydney to catch a boat from the Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, which was very cool. We cruised down the Paramatta River, under the Harbor Bridge and back into the Circular Quay as the sun set on the first leg of our Australian adventure. What a full and incredible day!

I believe there is a spiritual purpose in every journey we take and I believe that my purpose for coming to Australia is many-fold and that each leg of the trip will reveal a different truth for me to take back. My time in Sydney reminded me to appreciate the moment for what it was even if it wasn’t what I planned. I was also reminded that even in the best laid of plans, there is always an unforeseen caveat to explore and discover. I can sum all of that up in one statement: Just when you think you understand something, you find that you really don’t and if you’re very lucky, you’ll be delighted by that fact.

Day 2: Sightseeing without seeing sights

Day 2 was a blast and we hardly made it out of the hotel! Let me explain; we are staying in a combination hotel/brewery. End of explanation; need I say more?

I suppose I do need to say a bit more ;-)

Upon waking after a full and wonderful nights sleep, we made our way to a hip vegetarian cafe reputed to serve an incredible vegan breakfast. The place is named Badde Manors (cheeky, right?) and is located in the heavily student-populated area of Sydney known as Glebe. Ironically, it was just a couple doors down from another Iku Wholefoods (which I found out is pronounced ee-koo, so apologies for saying you sounded "icky", Iku). I'm happy to report the breakfast lived up to it's reputation; two lattes and a full belly later we went back to our hotel while marveling at how worldly we were for being able to find our way around Sydney (this was after asking a half-dozen bus drivers and convenience store clerks for directions mind you).

I met with a client at the hotel, did a reading, and went downstairs to collect Keevin from the bar area where he was patiently waiting for me to finish with my session. We had a lovely day of sightseeing planned that never stretched beyond the doors of the bar:

I found Keevin engaged in conversation with an Aussie gentlemen over a pint of in-house brewed beer (which I have a new respect for). They looked happy, so I figured, "What the heck? Let's do this 'no worries' style and have a pint in the middle of the day before we go on a walkabout around Sydney." So I ordered a beer and wiggled my way into the conversation that became it's own sightseeing tour as we heard about all the fantastic spots to visit and places that "we just had to see while in Sydney". I must confess that once I've gotten a couple of beers in me I can get a bit philosophical and found myself educating our new friend about the Other Side, talking about Spirit, and eventually reading his palm (everyone needs a bar trick, right?). One pint turned into another (and another) as the landscape of our conversation morphed itself to new vistas of laughter, spiritual discovery, and cultural acquainting. Before we knew it, the outside light had turned to dusk and our bonding time began to experience it's own sunset.


The Aussies have a reputation for being hearty drinkers; this is not to say that Australia is a country of raging alcoholics mind you, but simply put, they know how to relax and be in the moment. In fact, it seems that they've managed to take enjoying a good pint to a near-artistic level and I personally find this to be an admirable quality of great note. I generally find most people take themselves too seriously and spend an abundance of time worrying about things out of their control (I'm guilty of this myself at times). Therefore, it's quite refreshing to meet people that can take time for a drink on their lunch break and then allow the day to unfold itself one moment at a time. My guides in Spirit have always told me that the key to enlightenment is lightening up a bit, so any opportunity to live in the moment and toss out a day of plans for a day of light-hearted laughter with a new friend is in itself a day of spiritual growth. By the way, our running joke was that I am the "Queen of Justification" and we were in near-hysterics as I kept offering practical reasons for our plans continuously getting tossed out the door.

Something very interesting on a mediumship level did happen that I haven't experienced since I was young; throughout the day I noticed that a man was sitting at a table in the corner of the bar. He was dressed in full nautical attire down to his sailors cap and neckerchief. This man kept catching my eye and nodding at me while tipping his cap in a familiar way that made me feel like he either knew me or was flirting with me. I had no idea who he was or why he kept gesturing to me, and I was getting a bit uncomfortable with the attention, so I eventually ignored him and completely focused on our conversation. I looked back to the table at one point and he was gone. He was in my direct line of sight so if he had stood up and walked out, I would have seen him. But that wasn't the case; he was simply gone. I finally realized that this was a man on the other side acknowledging me as someone who could see him but the thing that was so unique about this situation was the fact that I had absolutely no clue this man was deceased. I can always tell; first, the dead generally appear more in my mind's eye rather than my physical sight but when I do actually see them, it's blatantly obvious that they aren't among the living. It's not that they look dead per se but it seems like the light hits them in a totally different way than it does others, which is (pardon me) a dead giveaway. That wasn't the case with this spirit; he seemed so... alive. I still don't quite understand it but I'll explore it more later.

Anyway, the day ended and we left the bar to find dinner at a vegetarian Thai restaurant; spicy Thai food and beer don't mix well, in case you didn't know. We used our own form of wind-generated power to propel us back to the hotel where we promptly fell into bed, half-dressed and half-asleep (some people may call this "passing out" but I prefer to call it "spontaneous acute narcolepsy"). I awoke with a start around 3:00 am and remembered that I hadn't blogged my day! So now it's 5:00 am (I did a little web-surfing too) and now I have 2 hours before we get picked up by a tour company that is going to take us to the countryside of the Blue Mountains for a day of actual sightseeing (I think... I hope!). I suppose I better get back to sleep so good night (afternoon, day, or whatever it is where you are)!