GOLD COAST –no man’s land…no job no licence no gold.

Been back in the ‘REAL WORLD’ or lets say back on mainland for just over 2 weeks now I think. During which time, I have now experienced the biggest FAMILY Christmas my little life has seen, got a shock back to reality with PAYING for things which I might have taken for granted…WINE? And also well, HOLDING myself back to not go too crazy in BUYING things… I have also just landed myself a job up in some of the most BEAUTIFUL mountains, I have bought a car..yes…my first car (that I have bought with my OWN money –here comes responsibility...) and ooo the stories I will be able to tell you when me and this guy (my car) go on adventures.


I’m not sure what you see in the news but the WEATHER is a little CraZZZY, half of Aus is FLOODED…when I say flooded I mean FLOODED… on our trip today we had to detour 3 or more times to get across a river after which we crossed it anyway, with water up to the sides of the doors…(Toyota landcruiser…I KID YOU NOT!)

So the word is out, my new friend, the car, is a SUZUKI, Jimny…silver, second hand…it has a TAPE player…CUTE!

SO as the SUCCESS story goes… I CAN.. do many things..BUT dear friends the REAL joke is on me… here it is…I’ll say it out loud here online…something that most of my family don’t even know…yes, I, Ilse Maritz, have already failed my Learners licence twice… I can get a job and I can buy a car, a garmin, a camera, I can pass an interview and can work on an island, BUT…a learners licence in aus…. I, once again, KID U NOT!



2010….YOU BEAUTY!!

So as the weather continues to be MISERABLE on the ‘gold coast, and all of the Eastern Australia, where cyclones are up at Lizard Island, I found myself being EXTREMELY nostalgic… missing the snow and America, the Island and the sun, and just life in general at home…looking at pictures of everyone and everything and just realising WOW… what a year…what life… 2010..aaa...what a BEAUty!!! (said like Steve Irwin)

I must say I look back at my friends that I studied with and to all of you, I say WELL-DONE and congratulations… you might not know it but I am so proud of all of you ( I know what you’ve done and where you are at-never underestimate the power of a motor mouth everything tends to come my way ;-) ) on a year of GREAT success…on weddings and travelling and settling and success. Cheers to you, 'Heijke op die maan’! i.e enjoy some cheese and drink a glass of bubbly on the moon ;-) … you deserve it…its 2011 soon and we all survived.

So Christmas this year, I made a ham, yeah MADE it…made it beautiful, and also a little cold soup, which I garnished with a piece of parsley…all I could find… what went through my head…'oooeee…Hennie sal my DOOD maak as hy dit sien!’ ;-)

And to everyone else, I know, 2010 has been a year of AWESOMENESS…new friends, old friends, MORE friends, friends for life, snowing and islands and bush and animals, love and peace, peace and heartache, employed and unemployed. Travelling. Living and longing. Crying and smiling. But most importantly remembering and laughing – laughing laughing and laughing.

I drink ANOTHER glass of Champagne yes, (I have become a champagne Fanatic, morning noon OR night –it just works! ) but yeah (aussie TwAnG!) I drink another one on 2011…on the adventure that it WILL bring us all!!! Hold on kiddies its gonna be SICK!

I pray for your joy, happiness love and success this year, may you chase your wildest dreams and reach your highest goals, and drink champagne while you doing it!


Love. Peace and HaPPiNess.

2010...in a nutshell - it's been real!

Through the eyes of the lizard.

So I first and foremost apologise…for being a weak blogger…seeing that its been something absurd like maybe even a MONTH since my last blog… and WOW has a lot happened in that time...


I guess that’s possibly WHY I have not been so active on my blogging and then also well…I’m pretty sure I have mentioned before that when you are on an island, one tends to NOT want to spend too many hours of your day on the computer typing about life when you could be LIVING it up…yeah?

Water under the bridge, I’m writing you now, so let me set the scene… I have now worked 10 days straight, my last day off was Wednesday a week ago, and the following day my written resignation was in the pigeon hole (more to follow). Right now, I am sitting here, 00:30, Saturday evening Sunday morning, with a glass of Amy’s 2008, cab sav, petit verdot, malbec, merlot blend. I am Off tomorrow.

In the time I have not ‘written’ I went marlin fishing, I worked my ass off, I cried at work, I’ve been invited to house all over the country by guests, I served a beachside dinner in the pouring rain, with an umbrella – pants, shirt, socks, shoes panties, bra… all DRENCHED, but the guests were happy, I’ve turned friends into foes and I have given up my job in paradise for a bigger challenge, for a life experience and for endless opportunities, in short as I have told many of my friends, in one week I feel like I have grown up so much, I feel in one week everything that I have learnt on this island has hit me, and because of that I am a better, stronger and wiser person, NO jokes though, I can even feel it…

For 4 months I have now been a food runner, server, server assistant, roomserver, floater etc… but mostly a food runner, everyday every night in the kitchen, taking the shit and dealing with it, it’s when one day you wake up go to work and realise in yourself, it’s not the same anymore.
Anyway marlin fishing was an ULTIMATE experience, how lucky can I be, we didn’t catch any marlin, but it was just way too much fun. Went out to the marlin bar, our local public ‘pub’ and met a few boaties there, how much fun, ‘boaties’ are supposed to be pretty scandalous and as a resort employees…tisk tisk..you choose to not get too close….uhum… or you tread closely with a gentle foot…be scittitish. Anyway, HALLOWEEN is HUUUGE on this island…. Boats gather in the bay next door, JUST for the party…its awesome and the costumes OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Literally… what fun, met more boaties had too much fun as the two die-hards left at the party were OBVIOUSLY the only two South Africans on the island…. BOOM…keeping the name high….

BREAK, so that was maybe even a month ago, now I sit here, bags all packed, as I reach the final countdown. This week has been pretty amazing, so much fun, my mom and dad were here for the weekend a week ago, that was a pleasure and then on top of that even so many laughs as we got slaughtered in the restaurant, with heat, humidity, POURING rain, lack of staff and guests that are so in sync they all come to dine at the same times! Yes – it was FUN, it was a push and I loooooved it!!! On top of that had the most amazing family here at the resort, Beau Bridges and his family dined here as I served them everyday and just got new faith in humankind , what a beautiful family, such beautiful people, well mannered polite and just downright a perfect image of a perfect family. I wish that anyone could have the opportunity to serve them and just realise how normal they are, I thank them for that, this morning as I heard there plane I almost felt a little sad, they made my job easier and fun and their presence was AWESOME –Beau and family, you are LEGENDS and it was an honour.

My legs look like a battle field… last night I was on the phone and at one stage I had 4 mosquitoes sitting on my leg…MICRO nature….SOO over it!!! On top of that the lizards on this island are OUT TO GET ME…hiding in the bushes claiming my clean balcony, waking me up from needed sleep, nightmares, I squeeel when I see and hear a lizard hiss…squeeel and JUMP!

Anywho, so internet has been off for a week and a half now and as such obviously have not posted this yet, but now it is in Sunday and I leave on Thursday, my friend Tara leaves tomorrow and Chantelle next week Wednesday, Andrew the week after and Paul also tomorrow.


Lizard….its bee a PLEASURE!!!! You have taught me so much, basic career skills but fundamental life skills.

Peace out – it was good, it was real and emotional!