Luckily for me, D although VERY different to me in so many ways was shared my feelings of discontent and we knew there was something more out there for us. I believe that although a lot of things in life come from chance or luck, you can't sit back and expect things to happen for you. So we both decided to take action... major action. We decided while we were still young and relatively free (ie no mortgage, no kids) we wanted to experience a life that was nothing like what we'd been living. Somewhere far away. Somewhere exciting. Somewhere with a heartbeat!
D had a goal to finish his apprenticeship in Boilermaking before we did anything, and that was nearly 2 years away, so we knew we were in for a long wait. It wasn't easy. We moved home to save money and counted the days until we could be free. During this time we also managed to visit Japan, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji - these short breaks kept us sane while we worked towards our ultimate goal.
Finally after nearly a 2 year wait, sacrifice and endurance D's apprenticeship was finished and it was time. We quit our jobs, sold our cars and a bunch of other stuff (thank god for Ebay!) and said our goodbyes. I packed my life into a single suitcase, grabbed my carry on (the usual - passport, laptop, camera, husband) and was the way to my future... CANADA. I left behind everything I had ever known - my family, my friends, my job, most of my belongings and my son (10 year old Mini Fox Terrier).
As I stood in line to board the plane, one way ticket in hand, I realised what a giant leap of faith this really was. Not only was I leaving everything I knew and cared about behind, but we weren't even sure if we would actually reach our destination. No, I wasn't thinking about the possibility of the plane going down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - although I know there is always the chance of that happening due to my obsession with the TV show "Aircrash Investigation". What I mean is that we were leaving Australia before my D's Working Holiday Visa approval into Canada had come through.
D was initially considered 'inadmissable' to Canada due to a traffic infringement on his driving record that occured in his youth. Just our luck that on this particular type of infringement they are extremely strict. I remember the day we found that out was heartbreaking. I felt like my dreams were over. I was crushed (as was he). After some enquiry we found that he was able to apply for what is called 'Criminal Rehabilitation' which was another avenue for him to gain entry to Canada. It was a drawn out and costly process with a lot of paperwork and stress on our part, but we wanted it so much that nothing was going to stop us from at least trying.
The timing of our departure was as good as it was bad. One of my favourite cousins was getting married in the States and it was an event I was not willing to miss. Due to the related costs of 2 trips across the pacific we opted to 'chance' it and leave prematurely knowing that if the Visa was wither not yet processed or declined we would have to return home and start again. It's a risk we were willing to take for the adventure and opportunity of a lifetime.
Luckily for us we had a window of about 5 weeks before we were hoping to enter Canada which in turn gave us the opportunity to have an extended holiday with our family in the States, during which time we had hoped to have our entry approved. So we boarded the plane, held our breath (and each other's hands) and hoped that for once the universe was on our side.....
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| Goodbye past, hello future |
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