So here I am, after all these years of yearning for it and all these months of planning it; I’ve finally landed back in Sydney. Minus a rather uncharacteristic bout with jetlag, which I’m sure you’re well aware of if you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook, I’m feeling just fine.
In fact, it feels like I never left.
As I stepped off Air New Zealand flight 101 into the Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport, I got a strange feeling as if I was returning to my home airport. A feeling that is what I imagine business men feel when they land at home after a particularly long absence. I expected that when I stepped outside into the palm tree clad parking lot of Sydney’s International Airport I would breath in the same thick, humid air which greeted me and welcomed me to this new country on my first arrival. Well, that was February and the middle of summer. This is August.
Not all fantasies play exactly to the tune in your head.
We were picked up by our friend Ella’s boyfriend Rob, whom I’ve never met, yet somehow the sight of him made me hug him like we were old friends. Thank you Facebook.
As we drove down the same old road taking us far away from the airport, I smiled in the back seat as I recognized each and every turn and shop along its sidewalk.
The first evening, before the jetlag set in around 8:30pm we were joined by Ella and our friend Alison; both of which were partakers in the shenanigans that was our Newtown sharehouse two years ago. We settled into the couch with white wine and much missed (on my behalf) Thai food and chatted as if we had never been apart.
The next morning, after I busied myself for the first three hours of Sydney’s morning light, I headed into the city to meet some friends of friends. As I disembarked the familiar blue train seats into Circular Quay station, I braced myself for the sight of my beloved, iconic Sydney Opera House. As I rounded the corner of the ferry terminals and the white sails came into view, I smiled to myself as not a single feeling of finally washed over me. It was just like I had been here all along.
So here I am, and thank you for welcoming me back so gently Sydney.
