Rachel lay on her stomach the sun beating down on her back. It had been a great weekend, spent mostly at the beach. Liz was great company, Rachel was glad she had decided to go into the common room instead of straight up to bed that first night. She could feel the sun starting to cook her skin and knew it was time to apply more sunscreen to her back, the only problem was she was feeling too relaxed to move. Settling for a compromise she rolled onto her back and put her hat over her face.
A part of her couldn’t believe just how good a time she was having and it occurred to her that for the most part she hadn’t thought about her parents but she supposed they weren’t giving her much thought either so it was all equal.
The guys were a lot of fun too. Last night the four of them had gone down to the nearest pub. Briefly Rachel was worried she’d be asked for I.D. and then kicked out because she didn’t have any, she knew a credit card simply wouldn’t cut it in that situation. She needn’t have given it any thought. The bouncers on the door knew the other three so didn’t even give her a second look. Well maybe a second but not a third. She was introduced to some interesting people including some who were also staying at the hostel.
One of the girls working behind the bar, Emma, had been staying at the hostel but was now living with her boyfriend. She told Rachel it was cheaper and she was lucky he wanted to travel with her because she could only work in each place for three months. Unlike Liz, Emma appeared to think she had found someone special. Rachel was sceptical but she wished the other girl the best anyway.
Nothing she had seen in her life made her believe a steady relationship was a great thing. Her parents may have been still together but in her book that didn’t make them well rounded people, especially considering they always seemed more interested in themselves than their only child. That is of course until she started doing things to tarnish their pristine reputations.
Quite a few of the kids she’d gone to school with had divorced parents and her past relationships or interactions with the opposite sex had done nothing to show her why you would want to tie yourself down to one guy. Still everyone was different Rachel reasoned and as long as Emma was happy it was none of her business. Then again it wasn’t even her business if Emma wasn’t happy because Rachel didn’t even really know her.
A shadow blocked her sunlight. Rachel lifted her hat, Liz was standing above her.
“So what’s it like being a lady of leisure?”
“Oh you know.” Rachel tried to make it sound as if it was all she ever did.
“No actually I don’t.” Liz plonked herself down on the edge of Rachel’s towel, kicking her sandals off and burying her feet in the warm sand.
“Alright, so you’ll know in a couple of weeks.” Rachel put the hat back over her face.
Liz took it off. “That doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could spend the whole day at the beach like you.”
Rachel sat up. “No you don’t, you’d get bored.”
“Like hell I would, have you not noticed some of the bodies down here.
“Have you not noticed the other ‘somebodies’?”
Liz looked around, it didn’t take many seconds to realise what Rachel was referring to. “You mean the attachments. Surely some of them are single.”
“Probably but trying to figure that out sounds like too much hard work to me.”
“So maybe I could buy a magazine or even a book, the speed I read that’d keep me busy for about a month. Seriously though, what are your plans?”
Rachel looked around the beach for a few moments and then looked back at Liz. “You know, I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I’m still a bit amazed I’m here actually.”
“It’s a bit like that when you first travel.”
“Hey?” Rachel spoke before she thought.
Liz lifted her sunglasses and really looked at her. For a minute Rachel thought she had stuffed up and Liz was onto her, but Liz put her glasses back on and turned to stare out at the surf.
“I just meant it does sometimes take a while to adjust to the feeling of being somewhere new. I suppose the big difference between you and I is you’re still in your own country. When I was getting ready to come over here it was so weird. I was doing all the planning, sorting out my visa and everything but it was like it didn’t really register that I was going to another country to live for two years. People kept asking me if I was excited and I wasn’t, even though I thought I should’ve been. It wasn’t until I was here, on an Australian beach, in this wonderful weather that it really hit me. That was when I first got excited, up until then I think it was all just a bit too surreal.”
Rachel let Liz’s words sink in. She really wanted to tell Liz the truth, she just wanted someone to know but she still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. Instead she took a side issue. “Why did you pick here? Most people pick the bigger cities, you know on the east coast.”
“Honestly, the beaches. About a year ago an Aussie girl named Kate started working at my favourite pub back home. She was the reason I decided to travel. Anyway Kate was often talking about all her travelling and she’d tell us about what it was like back here. She seemed to be having so much fun. She would work for a while then take off for a couple of weeks and travel. Then she would come back to England and find another job somewhere else.
“I started to think it sounded like a great thing to do. So I asked her about places she had been and places she would recommend. She sold me on the beaches of Western Australia and she wasn’t wrong, I mean look at that,” Liz stretched her hand out in the direction of the ocean.
“Isn’t it just amazing. When I leave here I’m going to Kate’s home town of Esperance for a couple of weeks. I’ll be staying with a friend of Kate’s. She’s promised to show me some of the best beaches I’ve ever seen, including some places they apparently don’t tell regular tourists about. I suppose she could just be yanking my chain but I don’t care. After that I’m going to head up north, you know do the real tourist thing, dolphins, Monkey Mia and the like. I’m hoping to get some work in Broome and I’d love to see the gorges, I’ve seen some great pictures of them.
“Then I’m thinking Darwin and Alice Springs, but who knows, something may happen and my plans may change. I kind of like that aspect of travelling by myself, it means I’m not tied down to any particular schedule and I can change plans whenever I want.”
“Wow,” said Rachel. “You really seem to know what you want out of life.”
“You’re kidding right?” Liz couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Why do you think I’m travelling? It’s because I don’t know what I want. What I just told you about is probably less than six months of my life. I don’t even know what I want to do after that, except maybe to spend some time in New Zealand. There are other places I’d like to see, but who knows how I’ll feel in six months time. By then I may want to go home.”
“I don’t ever want to go home,” muttered Rachel.
Liz gave her a questioning look but didn’t press the issue. When Rachel didn’t elaborate she just continued on as if Rachel hadn’t said anything.
“That is of course if I don’t get kicked out of the country first.” She paused staring out at the ocean. “So what are your plans?”
“What do you mean?”
“Work my dear. Unless of course you are independently wealthy, or your folks are forking out the money for you to slum it around the world.”
“Yeah like that’d happen.”
“Well then you are going to need an income even if you are staying somewhere as cheap as the dump we are in. Don’t get me wrong some of the best places I’m likely to stay would be considered dumps by more than a few people, but that aside, they still cost money.”
Rachel sighed. “I know,” she paused not sure what to say next, “but I’m trying not to think about it. I figure I have at least a week’s leeway before I have to do that kind of thinking, maybe it could be stretch to two if the weather stays this nice.”
“Oh so you really are a lady of leisure.”
“No not really, I’d just been planning this for a while so I have a little money put aside.”
“I wouldn’t let the guys know that they’ll try and hit you up for drinks and stuff.”
“Why, they work.”
“Yeah but they also drink and smoke a lot, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
The two girls sat on the beach in silence watching the breaking surf. Eventually Rachel spoke, “I guess we should head back.”
“Why?”
“I’m starting to feel hungry and I could do with a shower before trying to decide what I want to eat.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
A part of her couldn’t believe just how good a time she was having and it occurred to her that for the most part she hadn’t thought about her parents but she supposed they weren’t giving her much thought either so it was all equal.
The guys were a lot of fun too. Last night the four of them had gone down to the nearest pub. Briefly Rachel was worried she’d be asked for I.D. and then kicked out because she didn’t have any, she knew a credit card simply wouldn’t cut it in that situation. She needn’t have given it any thought. The bouncers on the door knew the other three so didn’t even give her a second look. Well maybe a second but not a third. She was introduced to some interesting people including some who were also staying at the hostel.
One of the girls working behind the bar, Emma, had been staying at the hostel but was now living with her boyfriend. She told Rachel it was cheaper and she was lucky he wanted to travel with her because she could only work in each place for three months. Unlike Liz, Emma appeared to think she had found someone special. Rachel was sceptical but she wished the other girl the best anyway.
Nothing she had seen in her life made her believe a steady relationship was a great thing. Her parents may have been still together but in her book that didn’t make them well rounded people, especially considering they always seemed more interested in themselves than their only child. That is of course until she started doing things to tarnish their pristine reputations.
Quite a few of the kids she’d gone to school with had divorced parents and her past relationships or interactions with the opposite sex had done nothing to show her why you would want to tie yourself down to one guy. Still everyone was different Rachel reasoned and as long as Emma was happy it was none of her business. Then again it wasn’t even her business if Emma wasn’t happy because Rachel didn’t even really know her.
A shadow blocked her sunlight. Rachel lifted her hat, Liz was standing above her.
“So what’s it like being a lady of leisure?”
“Oh you know.” Rachel tried to make it sound as if it was all she ever did.
“No actually I don’t.” Liz plonked herself down on the edge of Rachel’s towel, kicking her sandals off and burying her feet in the warm sand.
“Alright, so you’ll know in a couple of weeks.” Rachel put the hat back over her face.
Liz took it off. “That doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could spend the whole day at the beach like you.”
Rachel sat up. “No you don’t, you’d get bored.”
“Like hell I would, have you not noticed some of the bodies down here.
“Have you not noticed the other ‘somebodies’?”
Liz looked around, it didn’t take many seconds to realise what Rachel was referring to. “You mean the attachments. Surely some of them are single.”
“Probably but trying to figure that out sounds like too much hard work to me.”
“So maybe I could buy a magazine or even a book, the speed I read that’d keep me busy for about a month. Seriously though, what are your plans?”
Rachel looked around the beach for a few moments and then looked back at Liz. “You know, I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I’m still a bit amazed I’m here actually.”
“It’s a bit like that when you first travel.”
“Hey?” Rachel spoke before she thought.
Liz lifted her sunglasses and really looked at her. For a minute Rachel thought she had stuffed up and Liz was onto her, but Liz put her glasses back on and turned to stare out at the surf.
“I just meant it does sometimes take a while to adjust to the feeling of being somewhere new. I suppose the big difference between you and I is you’re still in your own country. When I was getting ready to come over here it was so weird. I was doing all the planning, sorting out my visa and everything but it was like it didn’t really register that I was going to another country to live for two years. People kept asking me if I was excited and I wasn’t, even though I thought I should’ve been. It wasn’t until I was here, on an Australian beach, in this wonderful weather that it really hit me. That was when I first got excited, up until then I think it was all just a bit too surreal.”
Rachel let Liz’s words sink in. She really wanted to tell Liz the truth, she just wanted someone to know but she still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. Instead she took a side issue. “Why did you pick here? Most people pick the bigger cities, you know on the east coast.”
“Honestly, the beaches. About a year ago an Aussie girl named Kate started working at my favourite pub back home. She was the reason I decided to travel. Anyway Kate was often talking about all her travelling and she’d tell us about what it was like back here. She seemed to be having so much fun. She would work for a while then take off for a couple of weeks and travel. Then she would come back to England and find another job somewhere else.
“I started to think it sounded like a great thing to do. So I asked her about places she had been and places she would recommend. She sold me on the beaches of Western Australia and she wasn’t wrong, I mean look at that,” Liz stretched her hand out in the direction of the ocean.
“Isn’t it just amazing. When I leave here I’m going to Kate’s home town of Esperance for a couple of weeks. I’ll be staying with a friend of Kate’s. She’s promised to show me some of the best beaches I’ve ever seen, including some places they apparently don’t tell regular tourists about. I suppose she could just be yanking my chain but I don’t care. After that I’m going to head up north, you know do the real tourist thing, dolphins, Monkey Mia and the like. I’m hoping to get some work in Broome and I’d love to see the gorges, I’ve seen some great pictures of them.
“Then I’m thinking Darwin and Alice Springs, but who knows, something may happen and my plans may change. I kind of like that aspect of travelling by myself, it means I’m not tied down to any particular schedule and I can change plans whenever I want.”
“Wow,” said Rachel. “You really seem to know what you want out of life.”
“You’re kidding right?” Liz couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Why do you think I’m travelling? It’s because I don’t know what I want. What I just told you about is probably less than six months of my life. I don’t even know what I want to do after that, except maybe to spend some time in New Zealand. There are other places I’d like to see, but who knows how I’ll feel in six months time. By then I may want to go home.”
“I don’t ever want to go home,” muttered Rachel.
Liz gave her a questioning look but didn’t press the issue. When Rachel didn’t elaborate she just continued on as if Rachel hadn’t said anything.
“That is of course if I don’t get kicked out of the country first.” She paused staring out at the ocean. “So what are your plans?”
“What do you mean?”
“Work my dear. Unless of course you are independently wealthy, or your folks are forking out the money for you to slum it around the world.”
“Yeah like that’d happen.”
“Well then you are going to need an income even if you are staying somewhere as cheap as the dump we are in. Don’t get me wrong some of the best places I’m likely to stay would be considered dumps by more than a few people, but that aside, they still cost money.”
Rachel sighed. “I know,” she paused not sure what to say next, “but I’m trying not to think about it. I figure I have at least a week’s leeway before I have to do that kind of thinking, maybe it could be stretch to two if the weather stays this nice.”
“Oh so you really are a lady of leisure.”
“No not really, I’d just been planning this for a while so I have a little money put aside.”
“I wouldn’t let the guys know that they’ll try and hit you up for drinks and stuff.”
“Why, they work.”
“Yeah but they also drink and smoke a lot, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
The two girls sat on the beach in silence watching the breaking surf. Eventually Rachel spoke, “I guess we should head back.”
“Why?”
“I’m starting to feel hungry and I could do with a shower before trying to decide what I want to eat.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
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