I booked a spontaneous trip to Byron Bay the day after I got back from a cruise around the Pacific Islands and the flight coming back to Sydney was an average, not too expensive price but the flight going to Byron was dirt cheap, so I took that as one big sale and went for it.
The flight departing was evidently cheaper due to the lack of passengers. I remember hoping on the flight and not seeing anyone on board except just one lady. Granted, there probably was a few more than that but to my memory, I can only remember the one. And the seat on my ticket just happened to be next to that only person on the plane. I walked toward the seat but thought “well obviously I am just going to sit somewhere else since there is no one else here and no one will care”, but then the elder lady at the window turned around had the sweetest smile on her face! So I thought, why not sit here anyway. She had a warm energy about her and I like being around good energy so I was drawn in.
When I sat down I pulled out my Harry Potter book but before I could begin reading, she started talking about how she loved flying. I agreed. She was asking why I was travelling and we exchanged all the details and as we were getting higher and higher, she was pointing out the Georges River and other locations she could recognise from a birds eye view. We finally exchanged names and our reason for travelling and only an hour later we arrived, parted ways and wished each other the best.
I messaged the group of friends I made from my cruise trip straight away about my sweet encounter with Sue and how it made the travel even better.
After my trip in Byron, with a brief stop in Nimbin (the weed capital of aus and where you bet your ass I got some weed cookies off a hippie who owned an art gallery – but that’s another story)… It was then time to go home.
As mentioned, the flight from Sydney was basically empty and this flight heading back home was nothing of the sort. I was late for my departure and evidently the last passenger on to board the flight, and it was packed!! Every single seat I could see was occupied and as I am squishing and “sorry”-ing and making my way through the aisle with my duffle bag trying not hit peoples ears as I walk by, I come closer and closer to my allocated seat and would you beleive it, there is Sue sitting at the window seat with a smile as sweet as the first time I saw it and a look of utter surprise and releif.
We were both in shock and couldn’t help but giggle at the situation. We had not discussed what day or time we would be returning home and the chances of us being on the exact same flight, let alone seated together again was astronomical. And I was grateful.
She had told me that when she got off the plane the couple days before and called her daughter (whom she was visiting), she let her know about a nice exchange on the plane with a sweet young lady seated next to her. We had both clearly left a similar mark on one another…
The funny thing is on the cruise ship I had just been on a couple days prior to this trip, I was doing the rock climbing which the ship offered on the top deck. As I was climbing and reached the top of the wall, I look over to my left and I see a boy who I recognised and I said I knew him from somewhere. He asked if I was from the Sunshine Coast (where he is from) and I replied no but the questioned triggered a memory. As I am being lowered down and start unclipping from the rigs, I remember a couple months prior on another spontaneous trip that I took to where a cousin of mine lives in the Sunshine Coast. When I visited she let me borrow her car and explore since she was working most of the time. It was hot and sunny and since I was on the coast, I bounced around from one beach to another but on one of the days, I decided to explore more of the National Park instead.
I found a secret waterfall location that someone had posted about online and followed the instructions to make my way there. I followed the park trail, eventually found the waterfall and it was split into two parts, one higher up near the actual fall and one lower where the water would flow down to. I was swimming around in the big, top pool of water for a while, enjoying the cold water and sunny day, then noticed two young guys in the lower body and thought, as fun as this is, why not make it better and have some company. So I went down, introduced myself and I joined them in trying to spot a water snake slithering through the rocks and sand in the water at our feet. We spent the day together, never exchanged details or anything but just parted ways with nothing but a cool memory and day well spent.
Now cut to – me on the top of a fake rock wall on the top deck of a cruise ship and I see whats-his-face and recognise him as one of the guys from the waterfall!!!! What are the chances right? Over 6,000 guests on this vessel where you sure as hell won’t meet every single patron and I just happen to come across old mate from that one time. So just after experiencing that to the encounters with dear Sue, I since then no longer say goodbye or dread a departure but instead send off with an “i’ll see you later” because you really never know do you. This big world gets smaller and smaller, the more you explore it.
And with that,
I’ll see you soon.