Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Amazing strangers

Hi Chia!

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been both busy and unsure of what to write for our blog.

I hope you had a good Easter break! I loved catching up with you and having our girly dessert date! :)

One of the things that happened this weekend included meeting this wonderful couple at my beach on Friday morning.

I had gone for a run and went for a quick snorkel. The water wasn't the greatest as I was thrashed around the reef a bit and there was poor visibility. I pulled myself out of the water, camera and snorkel in one hand, and my other hand stabilizing myself from the insistent waves and the soft sand beneath me which sunk at each step.

I was a little sad that it wasn't a great session but I was happily buzzing from the adrenaline and chilled water.

I spoke to two fisherman who showed me their catch (3 whitings), a nice man in speedos who told me that the water should be better in the following days (he was an experienced diver), and a kayaker who had no luck in catching any fish and whose friend got stuck in his kayak in the middle of the ocean and threw the biggest tantrum on water that I've ever seen.

While I was talking to the Friendly Kayaker, the two fishermen called out to him saying that his friend may need some help. As we looked to the flat horizon, his friend was swiping and waving his arms up in the air, and angrily threw his paddle into the ocean on more than one occasion. The Friendly Kayaker just laughed and his good nature encouraged me to laugh too.

'Should you go help him?' I asked.

'Haha.... Nah. He should be fine out there,' he laughed as we looked on.

After a few minutes he sighed and said 'Yea, I better see what's going on,' and he laughed to himself as he pushed out his kayak.

It turned out that his friend ended up being caught on something, and resorted to cutting his anchor. When they returned to shore, the Angry Kayaker unintentionally caught a wave which tipped him over. We all laughed as we saw his angry head pop up from the water, hat soaked over his face and his fishing gear bobbing away out to sea. As the Angry Kayaker started swearing and shouting in frustration, the Friendly Kayaker kept laughing in good spirits as he swam out to help collect the escaping equipment.

It was a very humorous morning.

After that, I was getting a little cold and hungry so I turned around to walk back home. As I climbed the stairs I approached a couple enjoying breakfast with their dog on the look out. I smiled to them and the woman asked me if I saw anything out in the ocean during my snorkel.

'Nothing,' I sighed, 'It was just too murky out there.'

We then started talking about the stingrays, dolphins and sea lions that we all had seen out there. At some point in our lively conversation, Mr T pointed that he could hear a slight American accent in my voice. I then told him that my Dad was from the US, to which Mrs T excitedly claimed that she too was from the US.

We then went into our backgrounds and life journeys. It was an inspiring and exciting conversation. They both were such lovely and warm hearted people. So open and so engaging.

Mrs T then invited me to come visit them and meet their son who had a similar life journey as me and that it would be wonderful to exchange further experiences. I thanked them for their generous invitation as we exchanged contact details.

It was an amazing experience. I am truly in awe at the kindness of strangers. I find that the more I open up to people, the more I learn about other experiences, appreciate how there are so many different opportunities out there for the taking and I really feel the 'magic' of coincidences or things that 'happen for a reason'. It also helps me remember that there are people out there who genuinely do want to connect and help others. That desire for a genuine connection and finding it in the most random situations is what makes people and life amazing.

I ended up visiting Mr and Mrs T on Sunday and met their son who is an amazing musician.

I hope to find time to visit them another time in the future.




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