Being home

It was relaxing and refreshing being back in Newcastle.  I didn't want to do too much.  The simple tasks of life and living were what I wanted to experience.  It was what I wanted to show to Veronica whilst she was here.  We went about life as I had hoped.  We visited the local restaurants.  I took her to the markets and shops.  Something as simple as the wonderful produce in Australia, I wanted her to be able to see and experience all of that.

At home, we enjoyed and embraced the simple delights.  The fruit was fresh and sweet.  The dairy was rich and thick.  My parents had bought six enormous mangoes for Veronica.  When she first saw them, her eyes widened with delight and surprise at their sheer size.  She lifted up the platter that sat on and breathed deep, with their fragrant smell filling the kitchen.  Outside, we walked in the nature reserves and out around the neighbourhood.  The familiar sounds of the birds made me think of childhood, but they were all new and novel to Veronica.  My parents went outside to the balcony daily to feed some of the visitors they had.  After some encouragement, Veronica also happily joined in to feed these cheeky new friends.

Most importantly, whenever there was any spare time, I took Veronica to the beaches and the water.  My best memories of life in Sydney and Newcastle were always near the water.  This was what I remembered the most and I wanted to show this lifestyle to Veronica.  I had described it to her, but my words weren't enough.  You had to experience it, the power of the waves, the strong cool winds blowing across the water.  There was nothing like it back in the enclosed islands and harbours of Hong Kong.

Taking Veronica into the water was also a hilarious, but fun experience for us.  She was only used to swimming in the warm waters of the tropics and was shocked by the cold.  It was warm outside, but the waters of the Southern Pacific still held there bite for a few more months.  The shock of jumping into the water was invigorating for me, but it took a bit of coaxing to get Veronica to join.  Eventually, after a lot of convincing, she joined me and the rest of the swimmers in the water.  She had never gone wave jumping before and delighted in this new activity, though not without some first time difficulties.  After one particularly big wave, I turned to check on her and saw two upturned feet as she was swept back towards the beach.

We kept enjoying this lifestyle for days.  Sitting in the cafes seemed to be particularly enjoyable.  It was something so part of the day to day life that I didn't think I would miss so much.  There are now more and more cafes in Hong Kong and the coffee culture is growing, but there aren't too many places in the world where I can so happily sit with a coffee looking out towards such a soothing view.

On our last night in Newcastle, I took everyone out for dinner.  Some of the restaurants I had wanted us to go to were closed over the Christmas period, but there was one new restaurant which was still open during this period.  We drove into the centre of the city.  Unlike most cities in the world, parking is never an issue in Newcastle.  Even if you park "further" away, you're never more than a five minute walk away from your destination.  

It was an odd feeling to be sitting in a fine dining restaurant overlooking the harbour in Newcastle.  The city has changed a lot from when my family first moved there.  I still remember the first time I visited after my parents moved there.  It was a sleepy little town and very much a bit behind in terms of development.  To now be sitting in such an upmarket and fancy restaurant made me think about how far this place had now come.  Much of the downtown had been redeveloped and many of the rougher edges were being polished out.  Closer to the water and the harbour, it was all becoming quite nice.   I could never have imagined that my parents would end up staying so long or that it would become my defacto home in Australia.  For a place I have never actually lived, there was a strange sense of home to being in Newcastle.