The First Two Weeks

Hey hey hey!

Yeah, I know, I'm late. Again.

But at least you aren't a tour company that I gave $70 to and then I nearly miss my tour because I overslept... that's another story.

So after that LONG plane ride, I'd finally arrived in Australia! - Sydney, to be precise.

It was kind of like the scene at the end of 'Love, Actually', except The Beach Boys weren't playing, and I wasn't surrounded by various members of the Harry Potter cast. Hugh Grant wasn't there either. 

BUT, lots of people were being greeted by their friends, family and loved ones... where was my family?!

After spending a few minutes looking like a lost puppy, my cousin arrived and made me take a selfie with him. After a 24 hour flight. Needless to say, I was not at my best (I even had a food stain on my white t.shirt, to say I'm a classy girl would be an understatement (but I am honest)). He drove me back to his house through the city - I got to see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge all lit up at night - it was pretty spectacular, I can't lie.

I was greeted by his three lovely (if sometimes a bit boisterous!) Welsh Springer Spaniels: Ruby, Tang and Bassey. Over the weeks I've been getting to know the dogs rather well - I can ALWAYS tell them apart now, how about that?! Bassey loves me the most out of the three - she's my little shadow during the day, and is always first to greet me in the morning. Ruby is lovely, and has warmed to me the longer I've been here. And Tang? You can't not LOVE Tang. She's never too excitable. She never play-bites. She's so gentle, and always in a sleep-like state. I would almost go as far to say she is the perfect dog, except she barks a lot. A LOT. It drives me a bit mad sometimes! But the poor dear is deaf, so I s'pose I better cut her some slack.

ANYWAY. I got rather off topic (sorry if you don't like dogs!).

Catherine, my cousin's wife, was also at home looking after the sleeping kids. They have two daughters, one turns four next week, and the other one is three in August. They are both bright, bubbly, LOVELY red heads - sometimes a bit cheeky, but what kids aren't?! They've certainly kept me on my toes I can tell you!

Curl Curl is the name of the suburb they live in, ten minutes away from the famous Manly Beach, and then a ferry ride into the city. Curl Curl Beach itself is quiet and serene - perfect for having some relaxing alone time reading a book, or doing some writing. Even on a hot sunny day, people tend to flock to Manly or Dee Why (the next suburb over), which is why I think a lot of surfers favour Curly; there's less of a crowd to put them off their practise!

Catherine took me for a walk along Curly Beach on my first day, and although I'd slept quite well (I arrived in Sydney at 8:30PM with the hope of dealing better with the jet lag), this beach certainly did relax me even more. It's probably one of my favourite places in the area, and I'm lucky enough that my cousin lives a few minutes walkaway.

Manly Beach is somewhere you might have heard of - a ferry runs between this town and the main city every day, almost without fail, so a lot of the locals use it to get to work. I have to say, if you're going to commute to Sydney every day, there's probably no better way than rolling in and out by boat and seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. I know big landmarks are often not as beautiful in real life, but honestly, these two icons more than live up to their reputation.

I went to Manly quite a few times in my first two weeks, not just to catch the ferry into Sydney. I met up with an old school friend, Matt, who'd been living there and playing cricket for a good five or six months. It's a very English thing I think, to levitate towards someone you know when you're abroad, even if you wouldn't normally hang out at home. He's always been tall and blonde, but he'd also tanned, meaning he looked like a local. I'd been in Australia for three days, and I carry my mum's 'ginger gene' meaning there would be no tanning for me! The skin difference was rather embarrassing on my part...

We had a catchup on the beach, and within those couple of hours, I managed to get burnt (I did put suncream on, I promise!!). I blame him entirely... Mainly cause I don't want to blame myself. It was nice, however, to see a familiar face - even if he couldn't see me properly due to me blending in with the colour of the sand.

Manly is far bigger than Curl Curl. There are shops and cafes/restaurants for a start, as Curl Curl doesn't have any. I quite like that though, it keeps the suburb quiet and more private. Manly Beach is lovely, but far, FAR busier, especially when it's hot! I think the reason I like it so much is that I just feel comfortable in the atmosphere of the whole town. I know my way about. I love the walk to Shelley Beach (so, SO beautiful). I love looking out over the ferry wharf. In all honesty, this is probably my favourite town I've been in on my entire trip, and I seriously think I could live here one day.

I certainly want to try.

Right, that's a basic rundown of where I was for my first two weeks - I visited lots of places for the day, so I may write some smaller blogs on those, but I'll leave you with some pictures for now!

A walk on Curl Curl Beach, my first day.

Waves at Curl Curl.

Typical tourist footprint picture, at Curl Curl Beach.

The doorway to paradise.

Walking along Curly's rock-face.

The walk from Manly Beach to Shelley Beach.

Thanks for having a read, I know I go on a bit haha!

Caitlin xxx