We have moved and unpacked! We have spent our first weeks in our new abode at Sandy Beach, initially camping as we waited for our furniture to arrive, then opening dozens of boxes, sorting and culling. Our bodies are sore, but we are getting happily settled.

Moving house is not for the faint hearted. We must be getting old… it’s hard on our bodies which badly ache.

People ask us ‘how does it feel?’ Well it is an odd mix of excitement, satisfaction, hesitation and exhaustion! We have been working hard from morning to night unpacking, organising, to get a sense of order as quickly as possible. We are giving ourselves time though before we put all the pictures, artefact collections and ornaments on display. It is a matter of letting the space talk to us and guide us rather than replicate how we had things in Jan Juc. There is a rich story of our adventures, idiosyncrasies and family histories to tell through our belongings.

The peak of physical activity and pain is behind us now, and we are getting much joy at making ‘Sandy’ uniquely ours.

We find we are constantly comparing, thinking ahead, debating how best to display our treasures, culling because we have way too much stuff, figuring out what projects we will get into to make the place truly ours… and make it even better. Lots of ideas and big projects, like installing solar panels and a battery so we are self-sufficient with power, planting a veggie garden, possibly converting the pool to a pond with gorgeous aquatic plants. Solar system ordered, the rest will come later!

We are both establishing our routine. Wade has a surf most mornings, and although the waves are small, the water is relatively warm… not the biting cold of Jan Juc. One of the locals calls Sandy “the place where old surfers come to die”… meaning the waves are not very demanding! Sandy is not Bells Beach! Meanwhile Chris goes for beach walks and has just started Pilates and Yoga classes at Woopi (the name given to Woolgoolga by the locals). We often walk to Bare Bluff in the late afternoons for sunset views and encounters with the local wildlife straight out of the garden gate! We laugh at the many brush turkeys scratching around from one garden to another, we smile at the kangaroos grazing at our back gate at dusk, we delight at the black cockatoos with their mournful wails as they fly overhead and the variety of birds who visit and fill the air with their calls! The wildlife here is just amazing. And when we wake up in the middle of the night worrying about something, we look out of our window from our bed and admire the Milky Way. No light pollution in Sandy!

It is cool at night and in the early mornings, when we need a jumper, but it warms up during the day when we hang around in shorts and T shirt; the sub-tropical climate makes the last of the Winter days much milder than down south!  The vegetation here is luxuriant and grows so much quicker and lusher than in Victoria. We are trying not to rush, to observe the light, the shadows, the breeze, before we decide what we will plant along one of the fences or how we organise the veggie garden. We can’t wait for the many frangipanis to be in flowers all around the house, with their lovely colours and heady perfume.

The most taxing part of the relocation is the transfer of driver’s licenses, car registration and insurance… different rules in different states make life difficult… and God help you if you tick ‘diabetic’ on the application paperwork! “Fitness to Drive Medical Assessment” required which is proving difficult to pass with Chris’s medical history and a new doctor, but we will get there.

Over the next few weeks we are welcoming our first guests, and we have a few things planned till the end of the year. It will be fun to have friends and family staying with us in our new environment and great to be tourists in this glorious region, something we haven’t had a chance to do yet!

Our next post is likely to be in early October when we return south to pick up Anui. But if we find something interesting to share beforehand we will, so stay tuned!