They Met at a Pub While Crisscrossing Australia
Lisa and Thomas met on vacation. (Lisa Murphy)
Who: Lisa Murphy (early childhood teacher, 27) and Thomas Murdoch (plumber, 25)
Where we met: Cairns, Australia
When: October 2011
Relationship status: Engaged
(As told by Lisa to Ko Im)
I was at home in Dublin and really wanted to travel, but I didn’t have anyone to go with. One day, I was on Facebook and saw that my friend Gemma was online. I told her that I really wanted to visit Australia, but was reluctant to go on my own. We discussed all the places we wanted to go, and as it turned out, they were pretty much all the same! So, Gemma and I decided to travel together. Neither of us knew that we would both meet the loves of our lives on the trip.
Thomas and I met in the Asylum Hostel in Cairns, Australia. I remember thinking he had the most amazing blue eyes and I loved his Northern Irish accent — even though at times he was hard to understand! He was kind, funny, friendly, and so social, everybody knew him! During a night out to the Woolshed Pub, we clicked immediately.
As we were going back to our hostel that night he picked me up, ran into some sprinklers, and stayed there while we got soaked! It was so funny and a welcome relief from the heat of cairns.
Lisa and Thomas (Lisa Murphy)
On another night he took me fishing and taught me how to tie a knot and cast the fishing rod. The setting was like something from a movie, and the two of us just talked all night. We finally kissed and thus began a beautiful relationship.
We left Cairns separately, two days apart, I think. Thomas left in a camper van with his friend Steven, and I bought a bus ticket with my friend Gemma. We somehow managed to visit most of the same places about a day apart (and kept missing each other) and even ended up on Fraser Island at the same time. Still, we were unable to connect with each other. I wondered if we would ever meet again.
Related: I Met My Husband on to Girl’s Trip in Thailand
The entire time we were traveling, we talked constantly on the phone (much to our traveling buddies’ frustration, I’m sure!). Finally by chance, Thomas left something behind at Rainbow Beach and we had a short half hour together. We continued our travels down the coast and finally arranged to be in the same places at the same time, Brisbane and Byron Bay, which were absolutely beautiful.
The couple moved to Sydney so they could be together. (Lisa Murphy)
I settled in Brisbane and Thomas in Narrabri. We continued to talk constantly on the phone, and at the end of the year we decided enough was enough — we needed to be in the same place. We moved to Sydney together, spending New Year’s Eve watching the fireworks over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We spent a couple of months there, then moved on to Perth, where we have really settled down. We’ve been here for two and a half years now and still love it. We’ve had a couple of visits home to Ireland and a couple of holidays to Thailand, which were lovely.
This year on the fourth of August in Bali, Thomas proposed. I said yes, of course — and now we’re engaged! We’re going to get married in Dublin (where I’m from) and I’m so excited for our future together!
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