Hey there JU from beautiful Byron Bay, northern NSW Australia.
It's now my new home. And so far I am loving every minute of it.
I've been here for almost two weeks now. Moving was a huge effort involving packing my mates house in Sydney then driving down to my house and loading the truck up which took ages. I wasn't able to bring all my furniture with me because my mate didn't order a big enough truck so he left some stuff behind as well as me and we brought up the essentials. It was hard to see some of the stuff go but it is stored with my family so I can always have it shipped up later.
We finished loading the truck and I said a hurried goodbye to my family, then went to sleep for three hours, woke up at about 2am and then we started the drive up north. We stopped a few times along the way and ate and stretched and finally after 12 hours driving.. yeah it is a long way from home.. we arrived to pick up the keys to our new place. Smooth sailing from here I would have thought.. but no.
The deal was that the company my mate works for would pay the bond for the apartment seeing that he was being transferred up here for work reasons. And the bond was for 6 weeks rent. But they saw it fit to just pay 4 weeks rent and leave us paying the next 2, so after arguing with his boss over the phone he finally gave in and agreed to pay the rest on the provaso that we would pay it back, after 12 hours of driving and loading the day before we werent going to argue anymore, but needed them to pay it seeing that we wouldnt be able to get into our new place without it done.
Anyhow, we arrived at our new place. It's a three bedroom villa in a security complex metres from the beach. It is absolutely beautiful. Although the rent is a little expensive it is well worth it. Ill have to take some pictures and post them up.
It has been a little bit of a culture shock being up here. People are very friendly, they go out of their way to help out which is unusual coming from a city where if you smiled at someone they thought you had alterior motives. The weather has been just like it was in summer down south and I have been swimming almost everyday. It might sound silly but the water seems more salty up here. The sand is alot finer and whiter and the air is very much cleaner. I wake up of a morning and I have energy, I seem to sleep deeper and I have put on a little weight. For some reason I am alot hungrier up here. The food variety is much more diverse with alot of organic produce cheaper than in the city and fresher too.
My next step is to see the doctor up here that I first saw when I became positive. He is a GP as well as a Chinese herbalist and in the past when I had seen him he has helped me alot with the Chinese herbs. So that happens on Thursday afternoon.
I've also recieved the course material for the business admin medical that I want to do. So I will be getting into that as well.
So far living with my mate has gone as expected from me. I think he is finding it a difficult transition from the city, he seems to be drinking a lot more and getting stoned alot more. But I am determined not to let it get to me or to take on his stuff. This journey is mine and his is his so it is important for me to take it like that.
So Im up in Byron, so far so good, I know there is going to be some challenges but Im going to try and stick it out as long as I can. It's a time for healing for me and a time where I can grow in all ways.