Moving to Australia
I was on my way to work, walking through the Botanical Gardens in Sydney, seeing the Harbour Bridge towering over the trees in the west and taking in the smell of eucalyptus trees and the weird sounds of the Australian white ibis with their long black beak, when it finally hit home that this was it. I’m in Australia now, and this time it’s not just going to be for a few months. I had to give out a little hoot of joy. I must have done something right to be back here, ten years after falling in love with the place.
In case you’ve been wondering why it was so quiet on this blog for the last couple of months, let me tell you it wasn’t due to a lack of things happening. When I left Australia earlier this year after my short-term assignment with my company ended, I did so with one eye laughing and the other weeping. Of course, I was very much looking forward to seeing my family back home again as well as everyone in London, however I was also sad to leave this beautiful country, which has felt like a home away from home to me ever since I sat foot here the first time around.
Little did I know then that I’d be back so soon. On my way back to Europe, whilst managing an event in Singapore, I was offered a permanent job as a Marketing Manager for Asia-Pacific from the company I have been contracted to over the last couple of years. I was hesitant at first, because it meant giving up the freedom and joy of having my own business and going back to full-term employment. However, whilst I was enjoying a beautiful and event-filled summer back home in Europe, I also realised more and more that this was the sort of opportunity that doesn’t come along very often. So I decided to grasp it with both hands.
Alongside working for our European office, going to festivals, (re-)visiting some of my favourite places in England and enjoying a weekend in Budapest with my friends Rebecca and Sandra, I spent the last few months sorting out my visa and my move to the other side of the world. And here I am, four months after the job offer was made, still in disbelief that this is actually happening. I have just spent another amazing weekend in Perth (Western Australia) and my temporary flat is merely a 20-minute walk from my work through Sydney’s lush botanical gardens, which has put a smile on my face every morning since I got here. Work is good and so is life in its entirety.
With my new home among the gumtrees in the making, be sure to expect more news in the weeks and months to come from the land downunder. 🙂
