Spending time back in Newcastle is always so relaxing. To be able to come back to our own place, have our own car and bike, with all our gear just makes life so easy. Many of our colleagues arrived back at work today with various stories of misery and suffering, most brought on by constant traveling and living out of suitcases at Mom’s or cousin Johnny’s. While some lamented their lack of a permanent home and others the ferocity of a chilling summer in Canada or Minnesota, many of our friends had relaxing and interesting breaks, from whale watching to riding motorbikes in Turkey and everything in between, it’s always an exciting time to hear stories of adventures in far off, wondrous places.
Newcastle, it seems, has a dreamy quality all its own if the wistful look in the eyes of many are anything to go by when we tell them of our holiday. Our (nearly) daily walk of 5-6 km along pristine shorelines into historic precincts in Newcastle along the Bather’s Way, watching whales from our dining room while eating breakfast, touching dolphins when sitting quietly and alone waiting for the next wave in crystal clear warm water with a light off shore breeze or even drinking espressos and eating delicious meals in modern, different restaurants at reasonable prices. This is before we tell them about the bike trip!
Newcastle can seem a little pedestrian when living there permanently, but we have done more and more touristy things each year we’ve returned. The art galleries and pubs are always interesting and the wide-open spaces and greenery, while taken for granted, seem to be a very rare commodity in most cities we’ve been to in Asia or Europe. We took a walk along the newly opened boardwalk on the harbour and noted the intensity of the light, the warmth of the northerly aspect and the drop-dead beauty of the water and the vista. We got to the end of our 9 weeks this time and lamented all the things we hadn’t had a chance to do or see, such as going to the vineyards, a trip to the lake, or even to Sugarloaf or Blackbutt.
Taipei doesn’t have any of these things, but life certainly goes into overdrive when we get back. It is physically impossible to totally chill out here, the power and frenetic pace of the city makes Newcastle seem like some of the sleepy little hamlets we rode through in northwest NSW. Of course this is partly due to work and both Cass and I felt like cartoon characters today, you know where they’re held up above the ground wildly spinning their legs only to be dropped to the ground at a frightening sprint. We’re both exhausted this afternoon, but our cats are a comfort (they have become impossibly big over the past couple of months!) and our apartment is a calm oasis in the swirling heat of humid summer Taipei.We’re looking forward to another year of adventure and excitement, daily life here always throws up challenges that have to be dealt with in novel or interesting ways.
