Same goes with Sydney.
If you live in the city or Eastern Suburbs, the thought of
crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge and relocating to the North Shore is almost as
mad as choosing to get a coffee from
Starbucks. And if you’re a North Shore or Northern Beaches soul, moving back to
the city side of the water is something you only do if you’re and looking to
escape home.
As a Bondi-ite, I have to admit that, even though I traveled to Manly for work every day, I was definitely a member of the anti-north crew.
Why would I want to be that little bit further away from the buzz of Sydney? Slightly
more disconnected and away from the action. I was an Eastern Suburbs girl and
that was that.
Then months of commuting two hours in each direction every
single working day, not having any time to do anything extra-curricular, and spending
99% of my day sitting down, finally caught up with me.
My shoulders have never been so tight and tense. My back
hurt and my lunch breaks were my only opportunity to see daylight. In short, I
was miserable. This was not living the dream.
Then as fate would have it, just as I started to consider relocating,
a friend of mine who lived just outside of Manly mentioned that her flatmate
was moving back to UK in a few weeks. Fast one month and here I am, moved in. A
fully fledged Manly-ite!
I've swapped one beautiful beach for another equally (and
possibly slightly better) one. My home is right next to the harbour – I can
hear the clicking of moored boats when I have my window open – and I’m 20 minutes
walk from my office.
We have resident penguins here. I walk to work along the
edge of the harbour, past little coves and beaches and this is my back garden:
Something tells me I may have been wrong thinking I was
living the dream in Bondi…
