11..., Experiences, Lifestyle, Travel

11[ish]… Pictures I Love from Melbourne and the Sapphire Coast

Last month, I went to Australia for the second (technically, third) time since August. I was there for two weeks, which is longer than I was there the first time by a week. The reason? When I was in Melbourne in August, I met the most amazing woman and fell in love. We decided to give this a try before I even left the country. 

So I returned two months after our first date to be with her as my girlfriend for the first time. Gay, so gay, but we’re gay, so it figures. While I was there, I was exploring the city that could end up being my home. As much fun as this distance thing is, I really can’t wait to not have my girlfriend 15 time zones away in another hemisphere. 

An important part of falling in love with a city, for me, is photographing it. If I take in a city as a tourist, I enjoy it deeply; know my way around; familiarize myself with its facets; but I don’t carry it in my soul. To really have a place etched on my heart, I have to perceive it as art. So I slow down, keeping my camera strap wrapped around my hand, looking. I find the beauty in the natural, the hope in the pristine, the history in the dilapidated, the humor in the contiguity, the love in the people. Through a lens, I try to capture places and humans in the way I see them. Beautiful and unique in the minutiae to the sweeping. 

I have always loved pictures. Taking them. Looking at them. It’s been only recently that I’ve even thought of myself as a photographer rather than someone who takes pictures. I love the photographs as much for the art as the memories they contain. 

I’ve been home from what feels like my second home, Melbourne, for two weeks. I didn’t just fall in love with Melbourne and Australia because I fell in love in Melbourne and Australia. Though, that is a massive part of why it feels so immediately like home. It’s a beautiful city in an exceptional part of the world. I took a lot of pictures in the beginning, and then I spent a lot of time being present without my camera or phone, learning what life with my person actually feels like. So, now that I’ve been home long enough to go through and edit my favorite pictures. I give you: 11[ish]… Pictures I Love from Melbourne and the Sapphire Coast. We are going in chronological order.

  1. Elmer!!! This is my girlfriend’s cat. He is such a handsome man, and, honestly, one of the most incredible cats I’ve ever met. Sorry to all my friends. He’s a ragdoll and the love of my girlfriend’s life. I’m not even upset about that. He knows how to sit and paw on command. What a dude.

2. Moments Along the Yarra One (two) taken along the Yarra, flowing through Melbourne. My first full day in Australia, I had a lazy morning before Kate had to work in the CBD. While she was in meetings, I wandered along the river, taking pictures of things I liked. This boat and a walking bridge connecting the two sides. 

3. Brighton Bathing Boxes I spent a morning exploring the iconic 20th century bathing boxes at Brighton Beach. It was a chilly, overcast day, which is my favorite for exploring and photographing. There are fewer crowds and better lighting. There were so many cool bathing boxes, each painted a different color and even theme. 

4. Tathra Beach Over a long weekend, we hopped in the car and headed to the Sapphire Coast—Tathra, New South Wales to be specific. It’s a beautiful part of the country, and there were so few people there. It made a lovely place feel even more special. This canoe was just sitting there, and I loved it. 

5. Mimosa Rocks National Park Oh what a beach this was!!! I absolutely fell in love with it. Kate and I both love the sea and quiet moments by it. So while she watched the surf and the horizon, I climbed rocks, took pictures, and prayed I wouldn’t slip in and ruin my camera. I didn’t. I really love this picture. It might be the most screensaver image I’ve ever taken.

6. Sapphire Coast Though you can’t tell from this picture, the water is a stunning shade of blue. I get why it’s named such. There was something incredibly powerful and peaceful about the waves crashing into the rocks. I’m a bit obsessed.

7. Echidna A swift pullover with no warning, drew my attention to the spikey boy crossing the road. Kate had stopped the car quickly so I could get out and snag a portrait of this distinguished gentleman. I didn’t even think about hoping to see an echidna, but I did. They’re neat!!!

8. Beans Whenever I travel and find out about a lesbian bar in a city, I do my best to visit. I didn’t even plan this, we met up with a friend at Melbourne’s lesbian, nonbinary, trans, neurodivergent bar in Fitzroy. It was cool! 

9. Cheese Counter at Preston Market Preston Market is my new happy place. Partially because they have amazing arepas. Partially because I can have any food I crave plus coffee in one space. Partially because I love authentic, diverse markets. Partially because seeing how happy it makes Kate makes me happy. On a Saturday, we woke up and walked to the market (it’s so wild to exist in a walkable space), and I, of course, made my way to the cheese counter.

10. Holding Hands I love holding her hand. It’s exciting and grounding, and I do not get to hold her hand whenever I want to… yet. On the way to the airport, I took this picture surreptitiously. There is something so remarkably intimate and vulnerable about reaching for someone’s hand. 

11. California Mountains This isn’t in Australia but the view after taking off from San Francisco on my way back to Texas. The view was absolutely incredible. I couldn’t fall asleep, but my brain wasn’t working enough to write or even read. So I took pictures and edited them. I do love this one. 

Travel, Travel Guides

Cozumel, Mexico

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I really do love staring into the ocean. | Bikini top. | Bikini bottom.

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I can’t believe my dad is in the ocean with me!!!

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Hammock at the pool bar. | Sunglasses | Top | Shorts

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Three generations sipping on drinks at the poolside bar.

It seems like everyone has been to Mexico. Definitely not everyone, but a whole bunch of people. The closest I had been was Calexico, California, which is literally on the border, but it’s still not Mexico. On my cruise last month – I am so behind on the blog posts – I ported in Cozumel. The thing about cruises is that you don’t really get to experience the destination. I was only there for seven hours give or take.

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My parents are always up for fun in the sun. | Bikini top. | Bikini bottoms.

The ocean was so blue. I can equate it to blue Gatorade. My time in Mexico was spent at a day resort: Nachi-Cocom. Pretty much the thing of dreams. I was ready to move in. I think it was $50 for the day, and it included all food and drinks. I think I drank them out of virgin mango daiquiris. I can’t describe the amount of joy it brought me to sit on the beach drinking a fruity drink and eating french fries brought to me. Joy. The resort had huts on the beach and lots of chairs. There was also a restaurant and bathrooms. A pool and hot tub with a swim up bar was also enticing. There were beds to lounge in. A bar by the beach. Hammocks hanging between palm trees. Really it was fabulous.

I spent the day at the resort with my parents, great aunt, and cousins. I went parasailing for the first time with my seven and fourteen year old cousins. They had both been before, so I’m the old lady. It was quite the experience. Not cheap but super cool. Worth it once, I think. It is a really pretty vantage point to look at the ocean and the island. It was beautiful.

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Parasailing was wonderful.

My poor mom had a restless night on the cruise ship because there was a lot of motion. She was exhausted the whole day in Cozumel. I’m so glad she decided to come with us. Growing up, my dad was never a huge fan of the water. I really only remember him getting in the summer kiddy pool once when I was four after a very long bike ride in the heat. My dad ran into the ocean in Cozumel before I did. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Watching my dad laugh and play in the ocean with my seven year old cousin and 80 year old great aunt was worth the trip. He and I played and waded. It was an amazing few hours in Mexico.

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Goodbye Cozumel! | Top | Shorts

If you’re ever in Cozumel, I would highly suggest stopping by the day resort. On top of the stunning scenery, there are also massages and spa stuff to enjoy. It is a great place to relax and read a book or catch up with friends. They have a cap on how many people are allowed a day, so you will never be too crowded. Though Nachi-Cocom was something full of dreams, I would not consider it an immersive or even real experience of Mexico.

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The bikini I wore is on super sale on Asos. I love it. It was so comfortable. I could eat fries and not feel expose because of the high waisted bikini bottom. There are low waisted version, which I also own. (TMI warning) The bikini top was comfortable and made my boobs look great!!! I bought all three for under $14 combined. I am obsessed with the lavender sunglasses from Target. The lavender backless shirt is amazing and so soft. Perfect for summer, working out, or sunburn. The high waisted shorts are a favorite.

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There is something wonderful about the ocean. | Bikini top. | Bikini bottoms.

Books, Fiction

The Veins of the Ocean

Read: Yes
Difficulty: II
Length: III
Genre: Fiction – Novel
Quick Review: A young Colombian woman struggles with finding herself amid healing from a life burdened with tragedy and guilt as an immigrant, daughter, sister, and woman.

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Patricia Engel is an award winning author, and she doesn’t disappoint in her novel The Veins of the Ocean. A beautiful novel about a young woman who emigrated from Colombia to Miami as an infant with her family. Mere months later, a tragedy strikes her family, which changes her future forever. Engel captured my attention within the first page with her dark yet enchanting style and content. The first chapter is stunning while setting the mood with a unique cadence, style, language, and enough clues to let you know you’re in for a story about gender inequity, culture, family, and so much more.

Reina is in her mid twenties. Her brother Carlito is on death row. Her life has been nothing but reactions to one tragedy after another. She struggles with being a daughter in a traditional latino family, where her brother received all the attention and praise. When there is nothing left for her, she picks up her life in Miami to start a fresh in the Florida Keys. Along the way, Reina grieves and finds love, passion, acceptance, and forgiveness.

It’s hard to describe the depths Engel reaches in her novel. She explores sexism, immigration, communism, religion, grief, the prison system, ecosystem, guilt, sexual assault, and so much more. The characters are beautiful and flawed and relatable. Dealing with Colombian and Cuban characters, Engel brings cultures seldomly discussed.

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There are seven parts comprised of many chapters, which vary in length. Along with the compelling narrative, the chapter lengths make you say “just one more chapter; it’s only two pages,” and next thing you know, you’ve read fifty more pages. The story is beyond compelling, and I finished the novel in a day because it was so interesting. It’s beyond quotable about love and pain and loyalty. Engel draws beautiful parallels between life surrounding the characters and their own.

One of the things I enjoyed most about The Veins of the Ocean was the lack of dialogue. The vast majority of the story is Reina looking backward and her thoughts on the present. It’s a stunning look into the mind of someone coping with pain. For me, I found it relatable. I think most people can relate to working through grief and guilt. There’s a unique cadence to the language that is so engaging.

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Memorable Quotes:
“It’s good for you to dream about things that will probably never happen.”
“We thought it hysterical that there is an industry of artificial horror when real life is so much more lethal.”
“Making friends with danger is the only way to survive.”
“… the love of a mother is not unconditional or eternal the way they say.”
“I am mourning my sadness.”

Title: The Veins of the Ocean
Author: Patricia Engel
Publisher: Grove Press
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9780802126740