Bronte Brings Me Home

1 June 2010

To be honest, I don’t believe the date. To me, 1 June should be full of humid air, a cool breeze, kids jumping in the pool, and frozen lemonades.

Here in Australia, 1 June means a sweater, a raincoat, an umbrella and hot tea. This is a very backward feeling for a New England girl.

Despite the rainy winter season, however, the temperatures haven’t dropped too low, and the sun fights for a good spot each day. Although I would be bikini clad by now at home, this side of the world has allowed me to exercise my favorite winter items, six months in advance.

The last few days here have been quite different, and the weekend held a lot of exploration with my new friends. Coming from all over the States (in origin and university), there is quite a fantastic mix of personalities and opinions; but we all come together in the art of travel writing.

On Saturday, we perused through the Paddington Markets in the rain, and tried to get a handle of the city a bit more. Although it had the same kind of feeling at Portobello Road in Notting Hill, it wasn’t really a comparison (although it started off of Oxford St.). After an hour of trying homemade cupcakes, and bargaining for some silver jewelry, the girls and I ducked into a cute café for some lunch. Although Annie and I were desperate for some pumpkin soup (pumpkin apparently is the veg. of Aussie), they were out, and we had to settle for a MASSIVE breakfast. After it was ordered, all was well.

At night, I checked out the club scene again, and found good things. The gentleman here seem to be just that—as they let you do your own thing on the dance floor, without asking to dance or grope or swing around. It’s all individual swinging of the hips here, with no pressure to pair up. Julianna, Annie, and I danced until the early morning, solo, silly, and satisfied.

The next day, we went to the famous Bondi Beach with the entire class, and strolled along the Cliffwalk to Bronte Park. With the girls in tow, and the sun peeping through the clouds, I started to feel like I was really in the outdoors of the country. Obviously, as I was walking along a huge, turquoise ocean, with an aqua sky and peachy sand. But, there was something very liberating about strolling through such a new place on the other side of the world, and sort of feeling like you were at home. The sand wasn’t nearly as coarse as RI, and the sea had surfers instead of swimmers—but somehow, in the Australian Winter, I found a bit of Rhode Island summer in the seaside.

After a great lunch (roast pumpkin, feta and eggs!), I stayed in Bronte Park alone til sunset (at 4:30), and wrote my little heart out. So far, this country’s good for that. I walked along the Boardwalk, and breathed the new sea air in deep, thinking that for only one weekend in a Sunburned country, I was already seeing, feeling and knowing the broader bits of the country’s beauty, and that these next seven weeks can only make it better.

Happy Travels,

xx