Well it’s official. After 24 hours of flying West, I’m home.
With mixed feelings.
It’s tough leaving someone you love for someone you love. And it’s tough to leave a home you adore for a home you adore. Will I ever get used to having my heart stretched across the globe?
Here is a collection of little moments from my time back home. I gathered these moments in my diary, and although I didn’t have time to post, I wrote down my post ideas and thoughts as they came to me. And this one is the start of many to come, I hope you enjoy…
waking up to the call of the kookaburras.
sitting, chatting and laughing on the porch with my cousin.
finding memories around every corner.
wearing a singlet on a winter’s day…
spending many precious moments with this little one: my new goddaughter…
drying my cream cashlama cardigan in the warm winter sun…
doing my washing in a laundry room.
driving along pittwater road and seeing glimpses of ocean everywhere.
seeing the yellow wattle bloom and appear luminescent against the blue blue sky.
sun-drying my hair while sipping tea with manuka honey…
snacking on vita wheats with butter and vegemite.
seeing ocean behind and ocean in front…
seeing palm trees in the landscape.
radio hopping and finding acdc’s thunderstruck. turning it up LOUD.
laughing at Ed Kavalee. And wondering, what is it about his voice that I adore.
coming home with sand in my shoes…
indulging in a hot bath nearly every evening while listening to the eucalypts sway in the night breeze…
and being reminded by each moment that australia truly is an amazing place.
your blog is beautiful
September 4th, 2008 | #
Hello Pia,
I hear you loud and clear!
I can relate to your mixed emotions,to the hightened symbolic importance many ”small things” suddenly recieve,as I think many travellers/immigrants feel,looking back at their homeland,provided there is one land called home!In some cases,people grew up in more than one country,like myself,and that makes things a bit more complicated..!
I think that this is the price we pay for our freedom,discovering our own personal path & identity,which ofcourse is also very very rewarding!
I know it`s not easy..
Bon courage!
September 4th, 2008 | #
I absolutely relate to this. With loved ones on the opposite side of the world and and the feeling of “home” in two very different places, it is always hard to leave one for the other.
I have never heard the call of a kookaburra, but when I was young we always sang “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he…” Haven’t thought of that in years, but now it’s stuck in my head! 🙂
September 4th, 2008 | #
Darling,
With such a gorgeously reminiscent post, full of the things I love in the country where I reside, how on earth could I deny you a custom Nong for that wee bundle of joy?
If you still want one, please get in touch, and tell me what you have in mind…..
Welcome to your other home; I hope it’s good to be back….
Leah xxx
September 4th, 2008 | #
wow pia… i am getting teary eyed… this touches home… I know how you feel.
September 4th, 2008 | #
“there is still sand in my suitcase
there is still salt in my teeth”
– The Walkmen, “Donde esta la Playa?”
September 4th, 2008 | #
yes this post of yours speaks a lot to me too. But, think that wherever side of the globe your in, you are surrounded by people who love you and that you love 🙂
September 4th, 2008 | #
Wonderful post, Pia.
I love it how you say your heart is stretched around the globe; I know exactly how that feels…
September 4th, 2008 | #
ooh, im home sick now 🙁
(i love vita wheats too, so much..i miss crackers, they dont seem to have them in paris)
it must have been nice being home 🙂
September 4th, 2008 | #
I love this post. it makes me want to go home now.
September 5th, 2008 | #
Oh what beautiful photos. I can understand being torn between the two places that you know as ‘home’…
September 5th, 2008 | #
I found your blog recently and I love it. Only spent a year in Australia but can still relate to this post. It is such an amazing place and you sure captured it!
September 5th, 2008 | #
beautiful. thank you pia!
September 5th, 2008 | #
Oh this post almost made me cry… and I’m still here …. vitawheats with vegemite….sand in your shoes……a singlet in summer… you have summed up our life here in Oz. Yet you are so blessed to adore 2 homes. Enjoy! A-M xx
September 5th, 2008 | #
Beautiful post Pia. It speaks to me in oh so many ways. The photos are also lovely. Glad you are home, I missed you.
September 5th, 2008 | #
Ed makes me laugh too 🙂
September 5th, 2008 | #
Welcome back to the land down under! It truly is a beautiful place and wonderful place to live:)
September 5th, 2008 | #
I can relate with wanting, needing to be in two countries at once.
September 5th, 2008 | #
As usual everything sounds lovely Pia. Even your briefest of descriptions seem to transport whomever reads them. Welcome back.
September 5th, 2008 | #
I feel the same way every time I go home to France and come back home to my adoptive home here in the US. This strikes a cord and makes my heart all warm and fuzzy! Thank you!
Glad to hear you had a good trip there and a safe trip back home.
September 5th, 2008 | #
wow!! i haven’t been back in sydney for three years.. you’re lucky to be able to go back home. i wish i could =( can’t wait to see more of your sydney posts!!
September 5th, 2008 | #
Your images are beautiful and they sum up Australia & your homes perfectly! I love reading your posts…Have a wonderful weekend! Amanda
September 5th, 2008 | #
All your beautiful comments have made the transition back to my other life here in Amsterdam so much more palatable. And to hear that so many of you can relate, somehow makes my heart feel less heavy. THANK YOU!!
xx
September 5th, 2008 | #
Pia, do you know the show Thank God You’re Here? Ed is in that each week..he’s a great improv comedian.
Love that last shot of the bath.
You’re making me realise that these are all the things I’m going to miss when I leave Australia in about a year.
September 5th, 2008 | #
oh amanda, you just reminded me of where I first remember him from! Of course, it’s all coming back to me now. He IS a great improv comedian, and I loved that show. So it is still on? that’s great! bummer I missed it while there.
Yes, it’s funny that we often don’t realise these little things until we do without them for some time. But I have no doubt that where ever you are going next, you will discover more wonderful little moments in your new country.
xx
September 5th, 2008 | #
the grand, intimate tour. i love the sound effects and close my eyes when i need to imagine some image you are tempting me with. such a pull of the heart strings you describe with the longing for home in one direction and the longing for home in the opposite direction.
xox it is good to see you happy, back to your other home telling us about your journey.
September 6th, 2008 | #
After some time reading aussies blogging I am sure that Australia is an amazing place… And to top it off, my sister-in-law just came back from London saying she’s moving to Brisbane in a month, following her love’s footsteps… A loving country indeed.
September 7th, 2008 | #