What do I do with my Drunken Sailor?

I’m in love, yes. It’s happened. No, this is not a poor attempt at writing a fiction novel; this is real life. As I said before, a few weeks after my birthday, we decided to head down to the Boundary Hotel. This is a Bar located in an area, known as the West End in Brisbane. It is currently known as ‘the place to be’ for a ‘Sunday session.’

Apparently Australia missed the memo on quiet Sunday afternoon Roasts and DVD’s prepping for work the next day. Sunday to them is THE night to go out and get smashed, regardless of the fact that work occurs bright and early on the Monday morning.

I myself personally would prefer not to feel hung-over and useless at the beginning of the week, however on this odd occasion, I decided to join my cousin and her boyfriend for a few festive bevs. 

So we headed into town, and met up with a few friends, chatting away. The best thing I’d say about Australia, is that for some reason, everyone is your friend and it’s standard for a person to sit and start talking to you as if they have known you for ten years !? In the beginning I found this particularly odd, like if I was to pop into the local shop to grab a fix of Red Bull or Gum, the shopkeeper would just start a conversation usually along the lines of “Hi, How you going?” or “What have you been up too, any plans for today?”…

As you can imagine, my initial reaction was like ‘what the hell?’ I guess in London, speaking so informally to someone who you don’t know, especially whilst you’re working just simply isn’t the way.

Moving on, the place was pretty crowded, full of all sorts of different age ranged people, so we found a place to sit at the opposite end of the bar. This is where I met my sailor. Him and his friends came over and asked to sit at the same table as us and due to the fact the bar was overflowing and we occupied I’d say at least a 10 person table, my cousins boyfriend more than happily offered the seats.

Despite the fact that I was completely naïve to the fact that this was a pick up line, my sailor started a conversation asking if it was preferable for his shirt to be buttoned up fully or half way done. Me being oblivious to whole Pickup one liner, happily stated my opinion, however also suggested that he asked my cousin across the table as she is go-to girl for fashion advice.  We got talking for the whole night and learnt so much about each other in such a short space of time. Not thinking that this could be anything more than ‘just another guy you met at a bar’ I was enjoying the company. As the night went on, we exchanged numbers and discovered that we both have a major passion for a good steak. My Sailor mentions a great Steak place that he said he’d take me to. I was a little tipsy at this stage so without thinking I agreed that I’d love to go.

Monday morning hits and I receive a text from my sailor saying:

“I’m taking you for a steak on Tuesday if you are down.” Typical Australian laid back attitude if you ask me. I was a bit taken back, but went along, as I was a bit curious and sort of thrilled by the forcefulness of the text message. The date was nothing short of magical, full flowing conversation through out the whole night, the steak was AMAZING- Cha Cha Cha’s in Brisbane CBD near the river on Eagle Street Pier, if you make it to Brisbane and have a few cents to spare, GO THERE. After dinner we walked along the river then drove up to Mount Co-tha look out, where we swapped stories and I was taught a few star collations such as the Southern Cross and the Saucepan.

My sailor was a complete gentleman and got me home by midnight. A few weeks had past and I had been on four or five additional dates including, go carting at Kingston park – biggest race course I’ve ever seen, the power in the cars was incredible, and ok I know it’s not the same, but to feel the thrill of driving after so long felt so good! We also went out for drinks, dinner and picnics. I found myself spending a lot of time with this one person that I had only met for a few hours in a bar, then before I knew it, we were boyfriend and girlfriend, I’ll admit, at the time I was a bit foolish as I was fully aware that I am only in Australia on a 1 year working holiday visa, so entering into a relationship with someone who wasn’t travelling sounded bizarre.

Usual boyfriend/girlfriend events occurred. Meeting each others friends, laughing, talking ect. We’d be spending so much time together it seemed strange to be apart. I imagine my sailor must have felt the same, as he mentioned to me that he’d be off work for a while so he has some free time, and said that he would come up the coast with me! Well! This was a surge of mixed emotions overwhelming my body. 

It was still early days as we weren’t planning to leave for coast for another few months or so, so I happily acknowledged the idea, however not fully taking it on. We started to get fairly serious, I mean I was showering and straightening my hair at his place, which every 15-23 year old female must understand, is a big step. There came nights where there was no make up. He would drive me to work every morning and drop my things off to me in the evening should I need them the next day. We began to spend more and more time together, and I found myself being by his side for the majority of my free time.