Moving back to the “real world” has been relatively painless. Australia, despite the current caretakers, is still one of the best, if not the best, places in the world to live. It’s clean, and most things work. The technology leaves a bit to be desired at times, but we are on the NBN (which was a minor buying point for our house) and, touch wood, so far so good.
Where we live has surpassed our expectations, even though we are really only into our second week of actual residency here. Almost everyone is friendly and helpful. Our first choice of town to live in wasn’t quite what we expected, in a number of areas, and, luckily, a friend suggested that we check out Sawtell. It is a delightful place, with coffee shops and restaurants to rival those in the major capital cities.
The beaches, particularly the one in front of the surf club, are fabulous, although the wind springs up in the afternoon. The air, sand and water are extremely clean, and people are running, walking, swimming, surfing and sunbathing at every opportunity.
Of course, moving back to the first world entails doing a whole lot of things for yourself, such as cooking, cleaning, ironing, mowing, well, everything. Although it can be a pain sometimes, it is actually satisfying, as long as there are not too many setbacks. Solutions to problems are usually much more expensive than back in Indonesia, so one has to be a bit more careful with one’s material possessions.
Even though we are in a residential area, it is sort of rural. We have a 60m strip down to a creek that divides us from the golf course which needs a fair bit of a clean up (our strip, not the golf course). It has been fun discovering plants and wildlife, except for the mozzies.
We have only had time to do one short drive to the hinterland, but we discovered a nice, cheap nursery and a passable winery. There are many small towns and other attractions up in the hills, and, further afield there is all of New South Wales.
We haven’t even scratched the surface yet, and the local area, and Australia, will take time to explore.
Andrew's Blog 