Beach

I finally went to the beach yesterday...it was just such a beautiful day. I had been meaning to go since I got back but just never found the opportunity, mainly because the weather has been crap. I have to admit, I felt a bit of a rush stepping onto the sand at first as I remembered all those wonderful days in Sydney spent on the beaches. But really, it wasn't as great as I expected. I mean, obviously, spending a day on the beach in your hometown is never going to be as exciting as it is in some exotic or foreign locale. When I was in Australia, I kept thinking that when I go home, I'm not going to take the beach for granted anymore, I'm going to take full advantage of my location. Of course that didn't happen because here it is, almost 5 weeks after my return, and this is the first time I found the time to go to the beach. But I think what I was really looking for when I stepped onto Lido West was Coogee or Bronte, and obviously that can't happen because those beaches are thousands of miles away. That's not to say Lido West isn't a beautiful beach, but let's face it, there's nothing like the Sydney beaches.

Partly for a sense of closure and partly because it's such an awesome book, I just finished re-reading Bill Bryson's book, "In A Sunburned Country" and want to share his closing remarks. I think they explain a lot about my feelings on leaving and for many people who leave this amazing country after visiting for a period of time:

"It seemed a particularly melancholy notion to me that life would go on in Australia and I would hear almost nothing of it.... Crocodiles would attack, bushfires would rage, ministers would depart in shame, amazing things would be found in the desert, and possibly lost again, and word of none of this would reach my ears. Life in Australia would go on, and I would hear nothing, because once you leave Australia, Australia ceases to be."

Obviously, this is a little dramatic and not entirely true--just look at the recent Steve Irwin tragedy. But I think he has a good point in that this is a country that is hardly ever on most Americans' radar. It's too bad really and as Bryson says, "the loss is entirely ours."