New beginnings

There is something about new beginnings that I find refreshing. It is a chance to start new and reinvent yourself. I had outgrown my role in Sydney, so when an opportunity came up elsewhere, I jumped on it. With that came long, agonizing waits (3 months to be precise!) but it finally came together and on Sunday 14th May, I did the 12 hour drive from Sydney to Melbourne with amazing Rio.

I left around 8ish (yes, was a bit emotional) and started off slow and easy. The roads are good, the scenery is nice, the music pumped and I was having a good time. I stopped a couple of times, for tea (lovingly prepared in my thermos by Babou) and lunch and 7 hours after, I was in Albury. I still felt ok, so I kept going instead of stopping for the night and did the additional 4 hours over the Victorian border.

It took me 12 hours to do the long trip - not as bad as I expected. I took it easy, stopped a lot (thus the 2 extra hours) and all in all was quite alright by the end.

Road trips in Australia are the same. For the first hour or so, you are amazed by the incredible scenery and vastness of the place. It is acres of farm, hills in the background, greenery and all windows-desktop photo countrysides. After the first hour, it's the same - more farms and more greenery. And after the next 5 hours, it's still the same - more farms and some more hills And after 10 hours, it all blends into one another. In all fairness though, it is a beautiful drive with picturesque countryside. My highlights were the windmills farms as you drive past Canberra and the incredible sunset over the Victorian alpine region (I was there at the right time - shame I couldn't stop for photos). Plus it was autumn, so I was in for a treat with the colours of the trees.

I didn't get too many photos - being focused on driving and what not - but here are a couple.

My first week in Melbourne was mellow. I spent a lot of time in my favourite cafés having (soy) hot chocolates and brunch and just doing nothing - and actually got bored! But I managed to catch up with some people and set up a bit.

We are now a bit more than 2 weeks in and I am having retrospective thoughts about what it is about the new beginning that I was seeking for. I miss the warmth of Sydney, comfort of knowing what I was doing and the social support that I had in place. Part of me is  kicking myself for making things harder than they should be - in the pretense of a challenge - well, with that also came the pain moving houses, setting up from scratch, learning a whole heap of new things and fending for myself - all very challenging and exciting in theory (which is what I was after!) but was it really necessary? Maybe I am just getting too old for this re-inventing myself excuse or maybe it's just the cold of Melbourne getting to me as I write this in a packed city bound train. Either way, stay tuned to see how the coming 12 months go.

P.s: I know this post is a lot more "in contemplation mode" than the rest of the adventure/travel post but I wanted to include all of it - cause like everyone else I have moments of reflective thinking :)