Cronulla – Jervis Bay – Sydney

Okay, let’s take a second to reframe things here seeing as that’s my word of the year. I guess, when it really comes down to it, a loop doesn’t have to be an exactly perfect circle, does it? My little loop around the country is drastically changing every day, with backtracks and retracing my own messy steps becoming pretty common practice. But hey, that’s the actual point of all this. I wanted to spend the year visiting my friends and seeing the people I love, and when an opportunity to see people arises, I can’t turn it down!

So that’s how I ended up heading south again (for what I promised myself would be the last, or second last time), to see my parents in Cronulla. Not getting any work in Queensland, I packed up and said goodbye to my friends Miranda and Lewis, before setting my sights south. Having already been down this stretch a handful of times, I was pretty happy to zip through northern New South Wales and get to Sydney quickly.

I whipped through Iluka, pausing to go on a little bush walk and for a swim at the beach, and Coffs Harbour where the jetty stretched thin into the distance and I did a little dance because why the hell not. I also found the most precious writing spot in Port Macquarie where I could drive the van down a narrow street to a neck between the cliffs and open the door to watch the waves roll past. Even though I was moving quickly again, I was happy to take some time to do the little things I love.

Little writing spot in Port Macquarie overlooking Nobbys Beach.

I made it to Cronulla on a sunny afternoon, and was so excited to see my parents again as we stayed with dad’s high school friend. The house was set just a block away from the beach and with the weather starting to cool down, dad and I were the only ones who elected to go swimming. The ocean pool had three big walls sectioning it off from the waves, and we would swim right up to the edge, put our backs against the stone, and wait for the waves to crash against the wall and over our heads. Every time it did, I laughed, and I felt like I was about six years old.

While we were in the area, we also caught the ferry to Royal National Park to go on a short walk along the cliffs, and had an evening babysitting two and a half year old twins who were fascinated by finger puppets and the elevator.  

After a few days of the luxurious life (aka a nice house, friendly pets, and a consistent place to shower), my parents and I drove to Jervis Bay. They were on their way back home to Melbourne, and I had a week of work lined up at a local school. On the way south we stopped in Berry, a super cute historic town which was packed with tourists eating ice cream, and we visited the local market. Once in Huskisson we set up for a few days, ate laksa by torch light, and played a round of bananagrams. The next day we drove into the territory and explored Jervis Bay with some beach walks. The water was insanely clear, and you could look right through to the bottom of the little rock pools. We had a picnic for lunch and headed back to camp where I did some writing and mum and dad went for a walk into town. That evening, to celebrate mum’s belated birthday and dad’s early birthday, I took them to dinner at a stone grill restaurant where the food you order comes served on a piping hot stone, and you can cook it however you like. As we walked back along a little track beside the beach, the rain just started to fall.

Wicked sunset in Huskisson.

Walking through Jervis Bay.

Sadly, I had work the next day (I’m beginning to think that I’m not really made for work and that I should be paid to just chill. Is this a job? Who do I send my resume to?) so I said goodbye to mum and dad who were leaving Huskisson, and headed to school. I had four days at the cute school which worked out really nicely because the weather was rubbish so it was good to be indoors earning some money instead of out on the dangerous roads or bunkering down in the library. While I was there, I got to hang out with a friend that I met through the Bell Shakespeare program, a fellow English teacher, Ash, who helped me tee up the work in Jervis Bay. We got to spend a few of the days on the same team which was sweet, and all of the teachers at this school were so lovely and welcoming. Being the first week back from holidays, the students were a bit unsettled, but I’m finding it easier and easier to manage when I remind myself that, hey, this is a very brief moment in time and if it’s shitty right now, it’ll pass pretty soon.

Back to Hyams Beach during a rare pause in the rain.

Arriving back in Sydney in the evening, I rushed to dinner with my old friend Myles and his partner. My brain was completely scattered and fried from a week of work and then a long drive, but catching up was as wonderful as always. At the restaurant I got fish with saffron rice and puttanesca sauce (absolutely delicious), and we talked about what we’d been up to in the last five years since we’d seen each other, travel plans, and podcasts. I’m only realising now as I write this and add pictures to the blog, that we were so busy talking that we didn’t get a photo together!

The following day was set aside to see my old housemate. Molly took me around her neighbourhood in Marrickville, sipping on batch brew coffee and ordering a suite of delicious pastries. We sat on the little iron chairs out the front of her house, eating jalapeno croissants, manchego and artichoke sausage rolls, and a quince and ricotta danish. These were the best pastries I’ve had in a long time – the close runner up being the cardamom morning bun I had with my sister six yeas ago in London which I can’t stop thinking about either! The day moved quickly, taking us to the pub to watch the footy and then back to Molly’s house where we curled up on the couch, playing Monopoly Deal and watching a truly awful movie. It was interesting to observe the crowd at the pub when we were watching footy - being from Melbourne, if you watch the game out, there’s often an even split of supporters. But, in Sydney, about 98% of people were in red and white.

While Molly was at work on Sunday, I hid from the rain by going to the supermarket and buying ingredients for our dinner. I cooked up some honey roasted carrots and daikon (they had soooo many carrots in the fridge and I figured daikon kind of looks like carrot so they’d go well together?) with almonds and Persian feta, potato and bean stew with lots of lemon and herbs, and dirty rice - basmati with caramalised onion, spices, and parsley. Then, because I was loving having an actual kitchen to cook in, I stuffed some dates with peanut butter and covered them in dark chocolate (with a lil pinch of salt) for dessert. — Wow, this post has kind of turned into a series of everything I ate in the past few days!

Now I’m sat in the laundromat with a pimple on the edge of my nose and arms that feel like they’re about to drop off (I stupidly booked an intermediate pilates class this morning). Beautiful Deloraine is being serviced down the road, and we’re going to head to Bowral this afternoon. The sun has started to come out, and over the past week I’ve begun to notice orange leaves falling to the ground. It’s been quite nice.