Wednesday 1 August 2012

Moving to the Dark Side...

Since moving to Sydney, one of the main similarities to London I've picked up on is that there’s a very strong north/south divide. In London, if you live north of the Thames you are programmed to dislike the south, and if you live south you’re programmed to dislike the north. I've never really figured out why it’s like that but it is.

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…