Tuesday 11th May 2010

So I have reached the end of my final day in oz. I am a little bit sad because, well, it's Australia and Australia is amazing and whilst I am certain I will come back here one day, I don't know when it's going to be, it could be many many years in the future. I'd like to live here one day but I wouldn't move all the way out here alone, it's just too far from England and from friends and family; I would consider emigrating if I had a partner or someone to emigrate with; if that was the case I'd be out here like a shot and I'd come directly to Adelaide, to live in the Adelaide Hills.

There is a slight twinge of sadness at saying goodbye to this country of dreams, for so many years I have dreamed of australia (ever since starting to watch Neighbours aged eight or nine, reinforced by the idyllic beachy lifestyle portrayed by Home&Away a few years later) and now I have been lucky enough to experience life and work over here. I didn't make it all over , the West and Tassie must wait for my next trip and in a way I like having those still to discover, it gives me a reason to come back!

I'm wearing my marmite socks today, in honour of my last day in Australia; it has got to the point now where I can no longer ignore the enormous holes in the underneath of them. I think I will have a ceremonial disposal of them tomorrow morning, I very much like the idea of real proper-job genuine marmite socks rotting away on an aussie landfill amongst vegemite jars, like leaving my british mark or something. It will make the parting from these socks which I have had for possibly as long as six years, that much easier to bear (whilst sticking one to the vegemite-mafia).

I am, of course, excited about the flying tomorrow, I have checked-in online already and chosen window seats for both flights so I get the last view of australia dropping away below me. Usually I am prevented from sitting in window seats by my walnut-sized bladder, which annoys not only me but the people sitting between me and the aisle, who have to get up to let me out every ten minutes. These flights are short though, 1h15 to melbourne, then 3h40 to auckland. Short enough that I can not drink before or during them, but without risking serious and extreme dehydration by doing so, to minimise the frequency of toilet breaks.

I am looking forward to New Zealand. I LOVE discovering a new country, seeing what noise the pedestrian crossing indicators make in the streets, what sort of confectionary they have, what the people are like, what their version of a bogan is, the indigenous culture spattered amongst the more recent stuff and just all those random little things that spring up at you when you enter a country you have not been to before. I suspect that some of the things I think I will miss about australia (caramel koalas, cadbury's caramello, bubble tea, cheap good asian food, friendly people, awesome accents, masterchef) will be all around me in NZ too, with a whole load MORE and new things that I haven't experienced before! It's going to be damn cold but I'm English, I'm 'ard and I can 'andle it.

Good Bye Fair Australia, I will miss you! Your people are lovely, your scenery is breathtaking, your climate is pleasant and your opportunities are enticing. I will return one day...