Time to think
I've been meaning to put up a posting on the blog for days, but somehow haven't managed to gather enough time to think about it! Despite the fact that we're new here, haven't settled in yet, don't know what we're doing, don't have a social life, the fact is that I seem to have plenty of things to do.
I suppose that one thing that is definitely different about living here and that has a certain impact upon my day is that one has to drive everywhere, and I worked out that I'm racking up at least 40 kilometres (25 miles) a day, just driving to and fro the shops and Ella's pre-school or taking Patrick to his Thursday night fencing sessions or to surf school... On days when we decide to 'go somewhere' it can be 70 or 80 kilometres a day. Perhaps it's not much, but it's so much more time than I am used to spending in a car!
We're all acclimatising slowly. You probably won't want to hear that a day with temperatures of 18 degrees Celcius merits the gas fire being on and the wearing of long trousers, jumpers and shoes with socks! The average temperature here at this time of year seems to be in the mid-twenties. It must be warm because I'm wearing shorts! Not a pretty sight, I grant you, but certainly an unusual one. I'm still finding some days chilly, though, and appear to be the only person in the house who's putting on a cardigan in the evenings - but then, as my mother-in-law would say, I'm a cold frog!
I've just read an interesting article in the Coffs Advocate, a local paper, advising residents of what to do in the impending storm season in terms of precautions and a 'storm kit'. Strangely, the "storm season" is another of those things - like the fact that Coffs Harbour is the tick capital of Australia - that no-one saw fit to mention to us until we'd arrived! Anyway, we're advised to prepare an emergency kit containing stout shoes, waterproofs, a good torch and batteries and various other items, and to ensure that our gutters and eaves are clear of leaves, our garden is free from loose debris that could be hurled around in a tropical storm, and that we should keep a list of emergency numbers IN the fridge... I guess I'll start putting that together, then!
We were talking to our friends in Holland, Andrea and Tim and their children (my godchildren) about the emotional journey one makes when moving countries. I do feel quite strange at the moment - neither 'in' nor 'out', not sure of where I am in fact. Andrea reckons that there's a real trough that hits one at about three months, which will be mid-January, just after Ella's birthday and the excitement of Christmas and just before I go back to the UK. I wonder how I'll feel...
In some ways it's funny how fast one adapts: Michael and I can find our way to half a dozen local beaches, several restaurants (although we've only been out to two!), various useful retailers and the local shopping mall, the bank, the library, the doctor's surgery, the vet, and various local attractions. We're able to find what we need on the supermarket shelves and at the chemist, we've adopted Australian brand names to replace similar products we used to like in the UK, and we know the comparative price of petrol at several petrol stations. We've got an internal compass that tells us which way is 'home' and whether things are north or south of Korora, east or west of the Pacific Highway, and we can work out roughly how long it will take us to drive from A to B. I find it quite amazing that we've assimilated so much information in such a short space of time... But this isn't 'home', really.
It's been strange and interesting making our first visits to properties through estate agents ('real estate' agents, over here). We've only been to see two, and our timescales are fairly laid back so we're not desperate to purchase anything before Christmas at the earliest; we're just trying to get a feel for what's available, in what areas and at what price. The first one was at Bonneville, which is 10 kilometres or so south of Coffs Harbour city centre, but on the coastal side of the highway. It was 5 acres with a house - more than we wanted to spend, and the house was too recently renovated for us to have wanted to knock it down and start again, so it really wasn't what we wanted. What was interesting, though, was the reaction it provoked in us - fresh out of city living as we are! We were unanimous that 5 acres is a minimum amount of land for what we want here, and that the house we saw was too close (i.e. half the length of Woodfield Road) to our neighbours! Knowing us you might wonder how we could possibly adapt to the sort of semi-rural living that all of this implies, but we're going back to Michael's roots and no sooner has he set foot on a property than he's talking about dams, bore holes, decent fencing and the dangers of bush fires with trees too close to the house... My interests are different: I want to fall in love with the immediate countryside: my soul (if I have one?) and my artistic interests require a view - proper countryside - something to stir me! - and no near neighbours because I'm fed up of living with them, cheek by jowel.
Today we went to see a different property, up the Bucca Road, which is about 8 kilometres north of where we are so it's a good half an hour drive into central Coffs Harbour. The layout was much more what we want: a good half kilometre between us and the nearest house! But the pricetag was hefty given the condition of the house on the property - which would need demolishing and rebuilding completely. Outside I could see rotting roof timbers, holes in walls, broken glass and signs of termites. Inside was like my nightmare of Patrick's room, at its worst, multiplied throughout the whole house! It didn't surprise me to discover that the current tenant is a single bloke... let's leave it at that.
I'm hoping that we'll visit a property that we can afford that also excites us - that makes us think of possibilities and has a view and enough flat land for a horse, and maybe some fruit trees. Ideally we'd also still be in the catchment area for Kororo Public School, but maybe I'm hoping too much! As and when we find such a place I might start thinking about what 'home' is. Meanwhile, all this is fine but there is a slightly surreal aspect to life. It isn't hard to cope with, just strange.
I suppose that one thing that is definitely different about living here and that has a certain impact upon my day is that one has to drive everywhere, and I worked out that I'm racking up at least 40 kilometres (25 miles) a day, just driving to and fro the shops and Ella's pre-school or taking Patrick to his Thursday night fencing sessions or to surf school... On days when we decide to 'go somewhere' it can be 70 or 80 kilometres a day. Perhaps it's not much, but it's so much more time than I am used to spending in a car!
We're all acclimatising slowly. You probably won't want to hear that a day with temperatures of 18 degrees Celcius merits the gas fire being on and the wearing of long trousers, jumpers and shoes with socks! The average temperature here at this time of year seems to be in the mid-twenties. It must be warm because I'm wearing shorts! Not a pretty sight, I grant you, but certainly an unusual one. I'm still finding some days chilly, though, and appear to be the only person in the house who's putting on a cardigan in the evenings - but then, as my mother-in-law would say, I'm a cold frog!
I've just read an interesting article in the Coffs Advocate, a local paper, advising residents of what to do in the impending storm season in terms of precautions and a 'storm kit'. Strangely, the "storm season" is another of those things - like the fact that Coffs Harbour is the tick capital of Australia - that no-one saw fit to mention to us until we'd arrived! Anyway, we're advised to prepare an emergency kit containing stout shoes, waterproofs, a good torch and batteries and various other items, and to ensure that our gutters and eaves are clear of leaves, our garden is free from loose debris that could be hurled around in a tropical storm, and that we should keep a list of emergency numbers IN the fridge... I guess I'll start putting that together, then!
We were talking to our friends in Holland, Andrea and Tim and their children (my godchildren) about the emotional journey one makes when moving countries. I do feel quite strange at the moment - neither 'in' nor 'out', not sure of where I am in fact. Andrea reckons that there's a real trough that hits one at about three months, which will be mid-January, just after Ella's birthday and the excitement of Christmas and just before I go back to the UK. I wonder how I'll feel...
In some ways it's funny how fast one adapts: Michael and I can find our way to half a dozen local beaches, several restaurants (although we've only been out to two!), various useful retailers and the local shopping mall, the bank, the library, the doctor's surgery, the vet, and various local attractions. We're able to find what we need on the supermarket shelves and at the chemist, we've adopted Australian brand names to replace similar products we used to like in the UK, and we know the comparative price of petrol at several petrol stations. We've got an internal compass that tells us which way is 'home' and whether things are north or south of Korora, east or west of the Pacific Highway, and we can work out roughly how long it will take us to drive from A to B. I find it quite amazing that we've assimilated so much information in such a short space of time... But this isn't 'home', really.
It's been strange and interesting making our first visits to properties through estate agents ('real estate' agents, over here). We've only been to see two, and our timescales are fairly laid back so we're not desperate to purchase anything before Christmas at the earliest; we're just trying to get a feel for what's available, in what areas and at what price. The first one was at Bonneville, which is 10 kilometres or so south of Coffs Harbour city centre, but on the coastal side of the highway. It was 5 acres with a house - more than we wanted to spend, and the house was too recently renovated for us to have wanted to knock it down and start again, so it really wasn't what we wanted. What was interesting, though, was the reaction it provoked in us - fresh out of city living as we are! We were unanimous that 5 acres is a minimum amount of land for what we want here, and that the house we saw was too close (i.e. half the length of Woodfield Road) to our neighbours! Knowing us you might wonder how we could possibly adapt to the sort of semi-rural living that all of this implies, but we're going back to Michael's roots and no sooner has he set foot on a property than he's talking about dams, bore holes, decent fencing and the dangers of bush fires with trees too close to the house... My interests are different: I want to fall in love with the immediate countryside: my soul (if I have one?) and my artistic interests require a view - proper countryside - something to stir me! - and no near neighbours because I'm fed up of living with them, cheek by jowel.
Today we went to see a different property, up the Bucca Road, which is about 8 kilometres north of where we are so it's a good half an hour drive into central Coffs Harbour. The layout was much more what we want: a good half kilometre between us and the nearest house! But the pricetag was hefty given the condition of the house on the property - which would need demolishing and rebuilding completely. Outside I could see rotting roof timbers, holes in walls, broken glass and signs of termites. Inside was like my nightmare of Patrick's room, at its worst, multiplied throughout the whole house! It didn't surprise me to discover that the current tenant is a single bloke... let's leave it at that.
I'm hoping that we'll visit a property that we can afford that also excites us - that makes us think of possibilities and has a view and enough flat land for a horse, and maybe some fruit trees. Ideally we'd also still be in the catchment area for Kororo Public School, but maybe I'm hoping too much! As and when we find such a place I might start thinking about what 'home' is. Meanwhile, all this is fine but there is a slightly surreal aspect to life. It isn't hard to cope with, just strange.
posted by Sara Bowen at 9:13 am
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