Thoughts from the Edge

I moved out to Australia with my family nearly 4 months ago to the day.  It was a decision centred around my husband's career and as I was happily settled where I was in the UK, it was not an easy move.  Before you think "oh no, not another expat diary," fret no more.  This is a blog about what me and my family see and experience in a new place.  It could be anywhere.  My view is that new experiences help you see things through fresh eyes.  I talked about being creative and getting children to be creative in my previous blog. I'd like to describe experiences I have here creatively, to capture passing thoughts, snippets of time and visual moments that really stand out. I'd also like to encourage my children to do this too.  A new country and new experiences is a fantastic way to harness that creative side in you.

So here are two moments that really made an impression on me so far.  I was walking back from the shops with my son.  He was on his bike and I had a shopping bag that I was carrying so I was behind him.  As he reached the brow of the hill leading onto our road, he stopped to look at something on the tarmac.  I remember seeing his silhouette bathed in rays of sunlight and the shadows of gum trees quivering over the street.  I remember looking up at the intense blue of the sky and the multitude shades of green in the leaves and on the hills across the bay.  It was the first time I had stopped and realised we were a long way from the grey skies I was used to at home and I felt the world open up in front of me.

We had gone for a late afternoon walk as a family.  It had been a clear, sunny day but the temperature was dropping as the sun started to disappear behind the hills.  We climbed a headland as the light started to fade.  In the open we could still see clearly, but as the path wound through the bush, the disappearing light made it harder to see in front of us.  At the top, we came to an open grassy area with a viewing point out to sea.  The children rolled down the hill and played, but I stopped and walked away from them a bit, to have my own moment and looked out across the darkening sea.  It was beautiful and calming, but I also felt exposed, and had a sudden feeling of being on the edge.  Physically I was on the edge of this headland which was on the edge of a city, and this headland was on the edge of a continent on the edge of the world.  But I also felt on the edge, on the edge of a new community, a new country and not yet within its walls.  I felt a momentary longing to be home, safe and comfortable.  But that passed and a feeling of excitement at the adventure ahead replaced it.  We walked back down onto the beach.  It was dark by this time and the children went over and watched the fishermen.  My husband and I walked over some rocks jutting out in the sea and looked out into the blackness.  The final red glow of the sun went down behind the hills and as it did, the tip of the moon appeared on the horizon out at sea.  A light in the vast gloom.  Slowly, a huge full moon rose out of the sea and as its light trickled over the horizon, we realised we were watching something incredible on the edge of the earth.  Finally its full shape came into view, a faceless disc hanging still over the sea, dominating the sky and as I stood on the edge for the second time, I felt it was watching me....or watching over me.