I’m sitting at the gate lounge, ready to board the flight, but I’m early, so I have time to write a note, a post to mark the end of one era and the start of the next.
As I started writing, out came a bit of a melancholy post about leaving, about closing the door on my old flat on Thursday, and every time I got to the end of that paragraph I ran out of places to go. My time in Sydney was really summed up in the previous post, in the farewell speech; my time in Sydney is a time that is marked simply by incredible people. The place I lay my head every evening is/was no more valuable than the people who were ever there with me.
The little flat on Sydney Road is a poky little place, dark, damp, and little, did I mention little? Two rooms and a bathroom, sufficient but in terms of having people over to stay, restricted. Which isn’t to say people never stayed… but it’s challenging to rearrange the furniture every evening in order that the sofa-bed can be unfurled…
Once upon a time I had a dining table and friends would come for cards, or dinner and then I started working from home and the table became a desk and formal dining went out the window in favour of Pad Thai eaten off our laps on the sofa. Sufficient, yes, but more casual than I like, and the number of people who can fit on my sofa was limited to 2… so eating out became more normal than eating in when there were friends visiting.
I’m completely happy to have spent so long in an awesome city, one that I love and that I now know so well that I can recommend so much of it to all those who ask me what’s great about Sydney.
In looking forward, I think the things I think I’ll love about the new place are the space, the light and the room. Room for people to stay, room for people to eat from the dining table, room to move, room to grow. Room for the cat to exhaust herself zooming from the bedroom to the office in her late afternoon bursts of high energy antics.
So, this afternoon I’ll touch down in the state of Victoria, tomorrow the cat will, and at some point this week, hopefully earlier rather than later, my furniture will also arrive.
I’m so looking forward to getting acquainted with Melbourne, and being able to introduce my Sydney friends to her as well.
But for now, see you soon Sydney.
So long, and thanks for an amazing 14 years.
Good luck with Lulu ;) What does she do when she is upset? Lol
I honestly think, as I’ve been thinking (praying, pondering) about it, that as good as Sydney has been, and we know it’s been great, overall (there’s going to be a lot of commas in this, just so you know), that Melbourne is actually going to end up showing that Sydney was just the jumping off point for something quite remarkable … so, I think this is fair warning, hold on to your hat my dear, you better hit the ground running!!