6 December- 21 January: Our last few weeks in Sydney – the long goodbye

Author: Mr A

Location: Curl Curl, Sydney’s Northern Beaches, NSW, Australia

In a few days time (February 1st) Catherine and I will be, hopefully, showing our way one tickets to a check in desk at Sydney Airport, and then boarding a plane to London. Twenty five years in Australia for me, twenty three for Catherine, so most of her adult life.

The last three months back in our house on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, have been a blur of preparations to wrap up our lives here, and prepare for new ones in England. The friendships we will leave behind are the greatest wrench. We have been spending as much time as we can, Omicron permitting, with our nearest and dearest.

Some pre-Christmas catch ups with Owen and his family
A hot and humid Christmas day with 10 of us for a fabulous feast
Giant Jenga, fine wine and the odd shot helped make for a wonderfully fun day

Catherine’s photos as usual tell the story better than I can in words.

We’ve gone out for fabulous food and wine, and stayed in for the same. Friends have come to visit for a few days, and one couple (Jenny and David) for several weeks. They have sold their apartment and are also moving country, back to New Zealand, so we have combined households. We feel so lucky to be able to spend time with friends that we know we are going to see a lot less of going forward.

A fine New Year’s Eve – oysters, prawns on the BBQ and a roast lamb
Welcoming in 2022 with a fine view of Sydney Harbour Bridge
The sparkling lights of Sydney, the booming fireworks and the smell of gunpowder will never be forgotten
Friends from Victoria come up for a tour of Sydney, allowing us to return to some favourite locations
A splash of colour and wildlife in the Botanical Gardens
Friends Michelle and David with their young pup Olive come for a walk and a refreshing beverage at a local brewery
Delicious Mexican food with our ‘flatties’, Jenny and David, in our local village, Freshwater (Freshie Mex)
Jenny and Catherine had a night away in the city – a room at the Sofitel in Darling Harbour and a night out at Hamilton (the musical)

It’s hard not to feel the sadness that comes with saying goodbye. To be honest, I’ve felt it to be quite draining. To think of all of that time over the years here that has gone into building those relationships. Then I have a call with my daughters, or see Catherine chatting to her mum or sister, and am reminded why we need to move on and start a new chapter of our story. We always took for granted that we would be able to jump on a plane to see them, now, not so much.

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Our house is mostly packed up, lots of possessions sold off or given away. It feels quite liberating to just have the “good stuff” going into our 20 foot container next week. We really don’t know under what circumstances we will be unpacking it. Into our new forever home? Or a rental while we continue to house hunt? Housing stock in the area we are looking (Somerset in the south-west of England) is pretty limited, so let’s see.

With Omicron infections rates skyrocketing here in Sydney over the last few weeks, it has been a juggle between the desire to see friends, and the need to keep healthy. We had our boosters last week, to be at peak immunity just before our flights. We are limiting our time inside any crowded areas, and keeping our catch ups with close friends to limit our exposure risk. We have some pretty important things happening when we land in London, and we need that negative test result to do them. Fingers crossed.

We are surrounded by beauty here and have been reminding ourselves with regular walks – rain or shine (got to get into training!)

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Moving to England doesn’t mean though that our wandering days are over. Quite the opposite. We have told our families to not expect us to be around for several months of the year, as we continue to explore the UK and Europe in our motorhome. You can be sure that we will be in search of winter sunshine this time next year! But hopefully some of those holidays in the sun can be shared with our respective families. Thats our goal.

So how do you sum up a whole chunk of your life lived large? I’m finding it pretty impossible. I can only thank the people who have shared their time and friendship with us over the years here in Australia, and tell you that we will miss you being in our day to day lives.

For both Catherine and I these have been amazing years. For a start, we met here, and married here. We built our careers here, and enjoyed success in very different ways. We adventured here, exploring as much as we could of this vast country. We developed new interests together here, like sea kayaking, bird watching and for Catherine capturing them on camera with her sharp eyes in beautiful detail. Then for me a spate of bike packing trips through huge tracts of wilderness. Its just been a complete blast. And I can’t wait for what comes next. It will be different for sure, and thats also good. We both have long lists of what we want to do together and separately.

For now though, its back to our packing, and as the departure day approaches, trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep our stress levels down. Fine wine helps, and understanding friends. Until we meet again. Be good to each other.

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When it all gets too much, spend some time in nature – or stroking Princess Tassie…!

7 Replies to “6 December- 21 January: Our last few weeks in Sydney – the long goodbye”

  1. Wow you guys have an amazing life really but fully understand the call of family in these stressful times!
    Just want to wish you both all the best in your future endeavours I am sure it will all work out eventually and we can look forward to your adventures again!
    Xxx Jo & Scot

  2. You’ll love Somerset…..not quite the Northern Beaches but a beautiful county nevertheless ? ( we love the UK show ” Escape to the country ” which features Somerset quite often ) …. Rossie and I are glad to know you and hope to keep in touch ( especially as we have family in Dorset and Cornwall ) . Travel safe and keep your Aussie passports ?? Rossie and Ricky.

    1. Thank you – Aussie passports well and truly kept – we have explored many of the Somerset beaches in 2020 when we were there – agree, not quite the same as Curl Curl, but wild and stunning all the same. We no longer are into sunbathing, so no requirement for soft sand! Let us know when you’re over and we look forward to catching up xx

  3. Lots of luck with you new adventures! Hopefully the next place we meet will be a beautiful wilderness spot, next to a fjord and we can do some paddling together. ?

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