Manly

I rarely went to Manly when I lived in Sydney.

Living in Coogee, there never seemed to be much reason to go North of the harbour.  I had everything I needed in my self contained suburb, so the idea of spending over an hour and a half each way to go up to Manly seemed unnecessary.  The few times I was in Manly was for a specific event or because there was a particular reason.  Otherwise, I was perfectly happy to stay in the South.  On this trip, there was more reason to make this treacherous journey North of the Bridge.  One of the best things to do when visiting Sydney is to spend some time on the ferries in the harbour.  Riding on the ferries give some brilliant views of the whole city, as well as the Opera House and Bridge.  Going further out into the Harbour, you also get the impressive view of the Sydney Heads which guarded the entry into the Harbour from the Pacific Ocean.  Since we had the time, I thought a ride out to Manly would give us the best views we were looking for.  We jumped on one of the fast ferries, and after only half an hour we were at Manly.  When you arrive at Manly, there are some small beaches next to the ferry terminal.  I remembered years ago that my old housemates had made a trip out to Manly and complained that the beach there was "so small".  I was confused by that, until I realised that it was this small beach next to the ferry terminal which they thought was the "famous" Manly beach.  Thankfully, I knew that this was not the big beach.  We went for a short walk through the Corso and were soon standing on Manly's long beach.

The beach at Manly really is incredibly long.  It doesn't have the same size and scale as Bondi, but it stretches out to be an even longer beach.  It was a very full day down at the beach.  I had been quite surprised this summer by the newfound love of the cabanas.  Being sun smart had always been an important part of Australian culture since I was a kid, but the next step had clearly now been taken.  It had been a strange sight to see, the Australian beaches covered with the cabanas instead of the beach towels.  It was probably a good thing all things considered. 

We went for a swim, though with the tide out, we had a wade quite far out before the water started to rise up enough for us to enjoy the wave jumping.  The waves were rough and inconsistent.  I wanted to go a little bit further out, but I was worried about Veronica who was still a novice at dealing with the Australian surf.  We decided to head back in and found a nice cafe for coffees and some very late breakfast food.  Eating my bircher muesli full of fruit felt nourishing and satisfying.  Everything just tasted so fresh and I was already starting to dread the thought of going back to Hong Kong, with everything shipped in.  After this relaxing time, we decided to head back to the city.  We took the slower ferry this time.  We switched back and forth between the front and the back, looking out towards the Heads and into the city itself.  The sky was blue and the views were uninterrupted.

It had been a nice day out in Manly.  I enjoyed the trip, but I remembered again why I used to never visit.  It was such a long distance to travel.  I thought about friends like Jon who used to live out in Manly and who would do the daily commute into the city.  These long commutes were something I didn't miss about Sydney.

Reunion tour

Being back in Sydney was lovely.  The weather was good and the air smelled fresh and sweet.  Walking around the city with Veronica had been a great trip back to my past life in this city. It was nice to see how Sydney looked, but at the same time I only lived in the city itself for a brief time.  There had also been quite a lot of changes to the city centre which made it less like the Sydney I remembered.  The removal of traffic down the middle of George Street was a positive change, but it wasn't the memory of Sydney I had in my mind.  In any event, most of my time had been spent out in Coogee and along the coast.  I wanted to show Veronica a glimpse of the life I once had so I thought a mini reunion tour of my old home was in order.

We woke up mid morning and took the tram towards Coogee.  Taking the tram out towards Coogee was already a strange enough feeling.  I left Sydney around the time when the construction started and so I missed all of the pain suffered by residents.  The tram itself seemed to take a good route, but it was slow.  It took us past Royal Randwick racecourse where we would go for some days out, past UNSW where I did my masters and then past Prince of Wales Hospital where I once ended up.  It was already a nice little tour down memory lane and I pointed out each to Veronica.  She gave me a wry smile each time, as it really wasn't that interesting.  Once we arrived at Randwick junction, we started to walk towards Coogee.  The first stop on the tour I had planned was the Spot.  I spent countless hours lounging around the Spot, usually at my favourite cafe Kurtosh.  We sat down outside at my "usual" table and ordered some coffees and cakes.  Looking out at the familiar view, this felt more like home.

After this break we continued to walk towards the beach.  I took us down the side street rather than down Coogee Bay Road.  This took us directly past my old apartment.  I looked up and pointed at the top floor to Veronica, to this place that I spent so many formative years of my life.  My old housemates were now all gone from Sydney, so there was no link left with the apartment.  It was strange to think that I had now been gone from the apartment as long as I had lived in it.  I had some amazing memories from that time there, there were tough points and disappointments in life then, but living in this locations was always a positive point in life.

We kept walking and we were soon at Coogee beach.  This truly did impress Veronica.  To be only 400m from such an amazing beach was something most dream of and it was the life I used to live daily.  I thought back to the summer days living in Sydney, waking up early for a swim before work and the constant feeling of salt in my hair.  It was very appealing thinking back about it and I started to think about whether returning to Sydney was something I wanted or not.

I took Veronica into the water.  She still didn't like the cold, but she was more willing to jump in now to enjoy the waves.  The Coogee shore break dumped like it always did and Veronica was soon covered in sand.  We stayed in the water for a while before I decided to move us on.  I had been prepping Veronica for a bit of a walk.  Since had the time and we were here, I thought there was no better time than now for us to do the Coogee to Bondi walk.  This walk consistently gets rated at the top tourist attraction and activity to do when visiting Sydney.  It's something that even when I was a local I used to do frequently and it was always worthwhile.  We rounded the Northern parts of Coogee, and I took Veronica out to some of the secret spots I knew to look at the view.  We went down towards Gordon's Bay and decided against a swim there.  We kept walking until we reached my favourite part of the entire Sydney coastline, Clovelly.  After all the recent travel in Europe, I did feel that this really was the most "European" of all the beaches and swimming spots in Sydney.  It was very crowded and I thought back to Capri.  Everyone laid out on the hot concrete and baked.  I jumped into the water and floated for a bit.  The moment I jumped in, I realised I had forgotten to bring any goggles.  It would have been nice to go searching for the blue gropers, but that would have to wait for next trip.

We took a short rest here.  Up at Sea Salt we lounged around with some food and drinks.  I ordered a strawberry milkshake, the last thing I ordered when I was leaving Sydney and hanging out in Clovelly.  It was a taste of childhood, but Veronica was unimpressed by what she thought was milkshake that wasn't thick enough.

We kept on walking.

Each part of the coastline gives spectacular views up and down the coast.  It was hot, but we were lucky to have a strong cool breeze giving us some relief.  We kept stopping frequently as there were views to be seen at most spots.  We got to Waverly Cemetary and I explained to Veronica how we used to have to walk through the cemetary before they built the walkway on the edge of the cliff.  The walkway was a great addition to this walk, but I'll always still remember the strange sights you would see of bikini clad girls wandering through the cemetary.  It was always a strange contrast to see.

After passing by Tamarama and Bronte, we finally reached our final location of Bondi.

I never liked Bondi much when I lived in Coogee, it was always too busy and full of tourists for my liking.  Being here now with Veronica, I could appreciate it from a different perspective.  It was easy to forget just how enormous it is as a beach.  We arrived just as the last heat of the day was fading and so there were already less people on the beach, but it was still full of more than enough people enjoying themselves.  As we walked around, I heard the familiar sounds of a multitude of foreign languages.  Bondi always did attract the travelers from around the world and whilst it created a crowded tourist scene, it also did make for a great mix of cultures and peoples.

We didn't feel like a swim, it was getting a bit cooler now and we were hungry.  Tacos seemed like the best idea here at Bondi and so we walked up to the Northern side of the beach.  There was sat at the window of a restaurant, eating our tacos and drinking our micheladas as we watched the sun slowly setting, throwing a golden orange hue over the beach.  It had been a tiring, but very worthwhile day in Sydney.
 

Heading Home

It had been more than three years since I had been back to Australia.  The coronavirus restrictions in place in both Hong Kong and Australia had made travel difficult.  Hong Kong was particularly annoying.  The rest of the world had made the decision to open and move on with life, yet Hong Kong and China were reluctantly holding onto restrictions.  However things were now moving in the right direction.  Hong Kong had dropped almost all the restrictions, most importantly the travel restrictions.  Now was the perfect time for me to finally go home.  There was another important reason to go to Australia as well.  It was time for me to introduce Veronica to my parents, and she was extra excited because she had never been to Australia before.  I started looking into flights for us a few months ago.  The direct flights from Hong Kong to Sydney were outrageously price.  Outrageous to a level that I decided I wouldn't fathom paying such prices.  After a few hours of playing around with different combinations, I worked out that if we flew first to Singapore, we could actually fly from Singapore to Sydney return on premium economy, and the total price of the trip would still be the same as if we had gone direct between Hong Kong and Sydney.  This also included the added bonus of a short stay in Singapore on the return leg of the journey.

We flew out late morning and reached Singapore mid afternoon.  We had a few hours so we caught up with some of Veronica's friends for a quick bite and a catch up.  It had been the first time I had been to Singapore since the pandemic and in that time, the beautiful new "Jewel" had opened.  It's an impressive new building at the airport, but ultimately it's still just another shopping mall.  It did make it easier to catch up with people though and so we were able to wait until the last moment before going back into the terminal and boarding our next flight.  The flight was uneventful.  I slept well and woke up just before landing.  As I heard the in flight music of "I Still Call Australia Home" playing, I started to feel a bit emotional. Looking out the window, I could see the familiar sights of Sydney in the distance.  After getting off the plane and taking the overpriced train into the city, we were in Sydney.  It was extremely early and we still had some time before our next train to Newcastle so we found a cafe and waited.

It was just Central Station, but even sitting here and drinking a coffee with Veronica felt amazing.  The air smelt clean and fresh.  There was a light hint of eucalyptus smell.  I just felt refreshed being there.  It was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders finally being here.  After the brief rest, we boarded the train for Newcastle.  I was feeling to happy to rest, but Veronica was soon asleep.  The train from Sydney to Newcastle is painfully slow, but it's a picturesque trip.  Up around the Hawksbury River in particular, the slow ambling of the train gives all passengers a lovely view of the scenery.  For this trip, it was fine, but I still remembered how annoying it was being on these trains as they crawled towards Newcastle and back. 

After more than two hours, we finally reached our stop new Newcastle.  My parents were waiting for us at the platform.  I hadn't seen them in more than three years and they looked older.  There were happy embraces and my parents looked truly delighted to meet Veronica.  We quickly loaded up the car and headed back home.

As Veronica took some time to freshen up, I stood and looked out towards Mount Sugarloaf from the balcony, I once again felt a strong sense of relaxation.  The fresh air, the sunlight and the peaceful surroundings were the tonic that I had needed.  It felt as though the annoyance of the past few years was finally coming to an end. 

Coronavirus and the global shut down

The air in Hong Kong has been exceptionally fresh.  It is incredible how clear the skies have been since China shut down.  Looking out of my window, I can still clearly see the hills in the New Territories.  This is normally something you don't see until an intense tropical storm of typhoon clears the haze out of the city.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I found myself still clinging to some of my old habits from Australia.  I was still searching for the same foods, the same activities to continue with.  I also found myself watching Aussie Rules most weekends rather than going out.  It wasn't a great habit, but even now it's nice to be able to watch a game in the same timezone.  My brother often has to wake up in the early hours of the morning if there's a particularly important game he wants to watch.

I started my Sunday like I did many others.  I slept in, then I migrated over to the couch to watch some Aussie Rules.  The first game came and went and then my beloved Hawks came on.  It was the first game of the season, a season which looked to be in danger from the moment it began as travel restrictions and bans on gatherings had started.  The games were already being played in empty stadiums as large gatherings were now considered to be too dangerous.

As halftime approached, the commentators announced that there would be an emergency press conference with the CEO of the AFL at halftime.  The voices of the commentators betrayed what they all thought.  My chat groups all lit up as we all started to discuss what we knew wast coming.  The halftime siren sounded with the Hawks and Lions fighting a close game.  The CEO came onto the screen and announced that the season would be suspended at the end of the round for the next two months.

We all knew this was coming, but we had all been hoping to get a few weeks of games at least.  The rest of the game was strange to watch.  Apparently the players weren't told about this news and they fought out the game.  The Hawks slowly took over and pushed ahead of the Lions.  The Hawks midfield looks better than it has been for years, which makes the end of this season even more tragic. Watching an old player like Shaun Burgoyne continue to display his incredible skills also felt bitter sweet, as I thought about whether or not he would still be be able to play once the league resumed.

The siren sounded to end the game and the Hawks had won.  For me, Australia had now truly shut down.

Little brothers grow up as well

The process of ageing is strange.  I don't really feel any older or different to how I felt when I was in my early twenties.  I think that the lack of the "grown up" events such as marriage and children to date have contributed to this lack of any noticeable change.  On the whole, I find that my life from then to now has not dramatically changed all that much other than that the quality of the booze I drink is better and the places I stay are nicer.  Still, as those around me started to move onto the next phases of their lives, it was dragging me along with them.

Seeing my younger brother getting married was definitely one of those events that would help drag me forward a bit.

He and his fiance had been together for years, but now the wedding was happening.  Both of them lived in London, but they had enough family in Australia and specifically around Brisbane to make that the ideal location for the wedding.

They chose a beautiful location in the heart of Brisbane for the ceremony.  It was an imposing and grand cathedral, the type of which I didn't really expect to see in Australia.  During the ceremony, I read one of the prayers, so I walked to the front of the church and stood up at the lectern.  Looking out across the church and all the people seated in the pews, you could really feel the size of this place.

After the wedding, we went to a hotel in South Bank for the reception.  Inside we were able to do some of the more traditional elements of a Chinese wedding as my brother and Vicky did the tea ceremony with the various parents and older generation.  As the older brother, they even served me tea as well.  It was a nice touch to our culture and it was interesting to see all of their non-Asian friends gathering around to watch.  All of them seemed intrigued by the tradition and many of them said they wished they had something similar they could do as well.

As the night went on, the skies darkened and the Brisbane skyline came to life.  We had a lovely view of the lights from the wedding reception.  The later the night went, the more of the older people who started to leave.

After a while, it was only the closest of friends who remained to continue the party.  The lights of the city eventually started to switch off and eventually so did the music.  Some of the committed decided to continue the party elsewhere, but for me it was time to sleep.

The Gabba

Sometimes timing works out perfectly.

I had travelled to Brisbane for my brother's wedding.  He and his fiance lived in London, but due to family, they decided that it made more sense for them to marry in Brisbane.

By sheer luck, the AFL results fell in such a way that one of the semi-final games was to be in Brisbane the night before the wedding.

It had been a couple of years since I had been able to go to a game and it had been over five years since he had been able to go to a game.  Not living in Australia will have that impact.  It was perfect then for a group of his friends and him to enjoy his final night as an unmarried man watching a game of Aussie Rules.

The Lions were playing the Giants.

It was my first time at the Gabba as well.  It was a very nice stadium, with comfortable seats and great sight lines of the entire field.  I even got to eat a meat pie.

The game was good to watch and eventually the Giants managed to push in front.  Having lived in Sydney, they were kind of my second team after the Hawks, so I was happy they won.

After the game, we joined in the traditional of having a kick on the field.  It was a nice way to finish the game, and also a nice way for my brother's last night as a bachelor to end.  Having a last kick with his friends seemed to be a nice analogy for the end of childhood.

Nature's bounty

There are lots of things I miss about living in Australia.  Fruit and produce would have to be near the top of the list.  I never fully expected that.  I knew that the quality of what I would get in Hong Kong wouldn't be good, but it was a shock to see how poor it was at times.  There's definitely a great "variety" available, with options shipped in from all over the world, but quality can sometimes be wanting.  

Visiting my parents in Newcastle, I joined them on a trip to the local grocery store.  Just walking through the fruit and vegetable aisle was a quick reminder of the true bounty available to Australia.  The moment I walked in, the smell of the mangoes hit me.  Stacks of them, all piled high.  I loved it all when I lived here, but this was a simple reminder of some of the best things I missed about home.

An incredible Sydney day

It's a bit strange being in Sydney as a visitor.  It still feels like my home, but I've now been away long enough for some of the familiarity to have faded.

I was staying with Sarah.  Her apartment is in Bondi.  We arrived back at her place late at night when it was dark and I crashed onto her couch almost straight away.  The next day, I was woken up by the light streaming in from the windows.  I got up and looked out.  Her views out towards the ocean were incredible.  I felt a definite twang of nostalgia, thinking back to what I used to have living in Coogee.  I didn't have a views like this, but I certainly missed the proximity to some of the best beaches in the world.

We went for a walk around the area.  It was all as I remembered it.  The air was fresh and I could smell the ocean.  I definitely missed it all.

Summer in Sydney is also a special time and place.  I can't think of many places in the world that have such an incredible combination of lovely weather, public holidays, and general upbeat holiday mood.  There is a confluence of a whole variety of different factors which just makes the whole city buzzing with a happiness.

Later that day, I went and met with Helena.  There was an AFL game on, and she got us tickets.  We sat in the stands, watched the game and chatted.  Hels was one of my oldest friends in Sydney.  We knew each other from back in our old Cirque du Soleil days.  The game itself didn't seem very important.  Just the simple act of spending the afternoon together was what we wanted.

Later that night, I went into the city.  Grainne and Shiral were waiting for me.  We went to the basement of No 1 Martin Place.  We ordered wine and a cheese platter.  We drank and ate, talking and laughing about random things happening in our lives.

Nothing particularly interesting had happened during the day.  There had been no big events.  No big stories or occurrences to remember.  But this was still an incredible day.

Overdoing it

Whenever I visit my parents, they seem to always want to go and eat at the local RSL or Diggers club.  It wasn't just a restaurant or cafe within these places that they wanted to go, it was almost always the all you can eat buffets they wanted us to go and attack.

That was fine by me, but there was definitely a strange mentality that overtook me when I was confronted by the mountains of food in all the bain-maries.  I was on a quick trip back to Australia and for some reason the short time away had already made me crave certain foods I couldn't get in Hong Kong.

None of the food was particularly great in terms of its style or complexity, but it was plentiful.  My short time in Hong Kong had already taught me a lot about the poor quality of produce there as well, so the high quality of the ingredients more than made up for any loss in preparation.

There really was so much of it.

I cannot stress just how much of it there was.

If I had had more sense, I would have stopped and made better decisions.  Instead, I kept eating and eating and eating.  The food was there, and the old thoughts of getting the best "value" for my money crept into my mind as I shoveled the food onto my plate.

I was much older than I once was, but I clearly wasn't any wiser yet.

I used to live by the beach

The day has finally come for me to leave Sydney.

I never thought I would stay as long as I did.  I only ever thought I would stay for a few years, but instead it's been over 7 years.

I never liked Sydney to begin with.  I was stuck in the city and it just didn't appeal to me.  It didn't have that much life to it and I still remember feeling exceptionally bored on the weekends when people would desert the city centre.  Things changed a lot once I moved to Coogee.

I have grown to love the place.  I didn't even realise that it had become my home.

Without even initially realising it, I have lived in the paradise that many aspire to and I am glad that I was able to come to that understanding with enough time to appreciate it.

There were so many random little things I would miss.  Just the feeling I got on the weekend of walking down to the beach and having a milkshake at a local cafe on Coogee Bay Road or up at the Spot.  That was always hard to beat.  I liked becoming the local.  With the local shops recognising me.  I would get a nicer greeting at the butchers or the bakery.  The waitresses would give familiar smile when I sat down.

Just looking at Coogee beach on a busy day also used to make me happy.  There was a lively atmosphere to the place which was warm and inviting.  Coogee has never been a surfing beach, so unlike some of the other beaches around Sydney there were always far less of the posers seeking to be seen.  It was more of a family beach where people would come with their kids to spend the day.

It wasn't just any beach for me anymore either.  It was home.  When I looked out at the sands and the water, I felt a level of belonging that I really hadn't felt since I had been in Melbourne as a kid.  I had never felt any affinity with Canberra and it was only after I had left Singapore that I had started to appreciate it properly.  This place was different though as I had become part of the surroundings.  I was most certainly one of the locals of Coogee now and there were more than enough of the cafes and bars which recognised me as such.  Like other locals, dressed in my scrappy clothes and thongs, I would wander in without challenge whilst the out of towners would be dressed up in their fancier clothes.  I remembered one day in particular at the fancy new Coogee Pavillion when I wandered in with Sarah.  The Pavillion is one of the new places to be and to be seen in Sydney.  Sarah looked mortified with how I was dressed as I walked in.  I must have looked close to homeless in my board shorts, old t-shirt and thongs, but the security happily waved me in.  Others around were a bit shocked as they had clearly put in a huge amount of effort to look good for a night out at the Pavillion.  This acknowledgement of the locals seemed to have been part of a wider desire to keep the "beachiness" in place.

I really did love hanging by the beach, and when I wasn't at the beach I would be at a cafe.  There would be the ones I loved on Coogee Bay Road or up at the Spot, but on occasion I would also go a bit further out to Surry Hills to get myself a ginger broulee tart at Bourke Street Bakery.

I stuck my head out of my apartment window one last time to look out at the view I used to have.  Well... the view I had if I stuck my head out the window!  I lived a few hundred metres from the beach!  I lived within a few minutes walk of the sand between my toes, the ocean breeze through my hair and the sun of my face.

I was leaving all of this now.  It was time to go.

The joyful life

I have tried to embrace living by the beach as much as possible, but even then I think I have taken it for granted at times.  It's such a privilege to have the great beaches of Sydney at my doorstep.  Over the last few weeks, I had tried to go to the beach as much as possible and my tan was turning darker and darker.  My routine was generally quite set.  I would start off by walking to Coogee beach and then having a quick swim.

I would then make my way across to Clovelly, where I would bake on the concrete of what must be Sydney's greatest natural swimming pool.  More often than not, I would have a milkshake as well.  It was a weekday, so it was relatively quiet, even though the weather was spectacularly good.  To my right there was a photo shoot going on, so a smallish crowd gathered to gawk at them.

The concrete would warm up in the sun, and so laying down on its hot surface with the sun above was akin to being baked on a pizza stone.  I moved between swimming and sunbaking for a few hours.  Back and forth I went between swimming and sleeping.  Eventually, I had my fill of this so decided to start heading back.

The walk back home past Gordon's Bay would always be slower and more relaxed than the initial walk out, but I was always half asleep so it didn't matter.

As I walked back up Coogee Bay Road, I stopped in at Tropicana for a coffee.  The waitresses had grown used to seeing me wander in and already knew my order.  It's nice having a "local" and it seemed to create an additional feeling of welcome.

I sat back with my coffee and read the paper.  There was nothing else to do and that was completely fine by me.

Wylie's

I've been living in Coogee for years and I rarely go down to Wylie's Baths.  I'm not sure why I don't go more often.  Maybe I'm just a bit too cheap to pay the fee (it's very cheap...) to go in given there's the free beach just to the side, but I think that's been a mistake by me.  There's something lovely about going to Wylie's Baths.  It is often much quieter than the surrounding beaches and its has an old world charm to it.

The water itself isn't very deep.  It definitely needs a bit of a clean up at the bottom, but it's nice to wade around in the sheltered waters and to lay down on the concrete surrounding the water.  There's a whole bunch of regulars who seem to do laps around Wylie's every day.  It's a nice habit to have and I wonder whether it's one I should have formed a bit earlier myself.

After sunning myself for a while, I went upstairs and got a milkshake.

The whole area is such an echo to the past. It's from a gentler time, when people didn't go to the beach to swim, they went to the beach to "bathe".  It's a lovely working reminder of how things used to be and I'm very lucky to have it just around the corner to my home.

Art in Australia

Having just been immersed in the New York art scene, I thought I would go and look at some of the galleries in Sydney.  Whilst nowhere near as big as New York, there were still some decent sized galleries and I hadn't been to them for a long time.  I went first to the Art Gallery of NSW.  It's a classical old building, but I've never liked how the outside of it is labelled with large brass letters listing out the names of famous artists through history.  There's something strangely tacky about it.  Inside, there are some very nice exhibits, and that should be the focus.  There's a great collection of Sidney Nolan for instance.

There are also some beautifully curated old rooms which have much of the same grandeur as their cousins in the Northern hemisphere.  It was a quiet day, so I was able to enjoy much of the gallery in peace and without any disturbance.

I walked across the Domain and back towards Darling Harbour.  I had a bit of time so I wanted to go and have a look at the MCA.  The MCA is much smaller than the Art Gallery of NSW, but it has one of the best spots in Sydney looking out across to both the Habour Bridge and the Opera House.  Inside, the collection is small but I find it well curated and there's always a series of exhibits to catch the eye and attention.

Once again, it was almost empty.  It was a shame that these galleries didn't have more people giving them the patronage they deserved.

Truly Paradise

I was incredibly glad that Manon had invited me to go to Hamilton Island.  The island was a unique paradise.  It was every bit the tropical paradise that I had always imagined as a child.

Growing up, my family wasn't very well off.  We weren't poor, but money was still tight.  The idea of international travel wasn't really something I ever considered.  In those days, the idea of international travel was one that was very much limited to the wealthy or as a "once in a lifetime" trip.  In fact, it was very common for people to have never traveled overseas at all or to only have the opportunity to travel overseas once after retirement.  People would often save up their entire lives for the opportunity to go overseas.  Times were very different then.  Flights were extremely expensive and there really wasn't the same variety of options which exist today.  Discount airlines weren't around and there weren't a plethora of websites available to help people get better prices.  Instead, most people would have simple holidays down the coast.  We would stay at holiday homes of friends or at short term rentals a few hours drive away.  Sometimes, we would visit friends and family in other cities and even that would often involve long drives.  I remember we once went to the Gold Coast for a holiday as part of a work conference my dad was attending.  The entire trip was booked through a travel agent and much of the information we had been provided was wrong.

In those days, a trip to Queensland, in particular to the Whitsunday Islands was a dream holiday.  I remember my mum would sometimes bring back travel brochures of the Great Barrier Reef and we would all think about whether it was possible for us to one day go and visit.  We looked at the pictures of the luxurious accommodation and the incredible beaches and dreamed.  That dream trip never happened for us, but times changed and we were able to have some great trips after we moved to Singapore.

Being on Hamilton Island felt like a throwback to those childhood days.  The place still looked very much like the photos I looked at when I was young.  Cheap global travel has left places like Hamilton Island a bit behind the curve and it no longer has the same luxury appeal that it had back when I was young.  There's been a lack of capital investment, so everything looks a bit dated and even retro.

It was still beautiful.  If anything, I felt like the older style meant that I was able to enjoy this place as I would have had I come when I was a kid.  It was still the tropical paradise that I dreamed that it would be sitting in the cold house in Melbourne with my family.  The sun was warm and the breeze was cool.  The beaches were wide and people everywhere laughed as they swam and paddled in the water.  I could have stayed there for weeks longer if I had the chance.  Being here felt like completing a puzzle, or finally finding something you had lost a long time ago.  I felt like that little kid again, looking at the pictures with my family.