Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
Driving into Iceland’s ‘northern capital’ Akureyri in November is like arriving at some sort of fantastical winter wonderland.
Here, a small city sits on the shores of fjord surrounded by snow capped mountains. There are children in puffy onesie snow suits and mittens looking like little marshmallows, red heart traffic lights and decidedly Scandinavian homes all boxy with white rimmed windows and colourful exteriors.
It’s a little bit lovely…
The day Adam and I got engaged was one of the happiest of my life. I felt so incredibly humbled and excited at the thought of the two of us getting to spend the rest of our days together. Within hours of us sharing the news, questions started flooding in from both the northern and southern hemisphere about our forthcoming nuptials.
Had we set a date, what colour scheme might be choose, would I wear white, and the big one – where would the wedding be? It all suddenly felt a little overwhelming. There were so many things we had to make decisions on!
One of the most exciting parts of my recent trip to Iceland was the fact that we got to explore the north of the country. Two of our party, including Adam, had done a bit of sight-seeing around the south, but the north was a whole new frontier.
It didn’t fail to deliver…
Before I moved to England I created for myself a capsule wardrobe – a curated collection of tops, bottoms and shoes that would mix and match. On the whole it’s served its purpose. It’s been so easy to put together outfits, that feel like ‘me’ and apart from a few purchases for climatic reasons, special occasions or work purposes I’ve spent little money on clothes this year.
As I was putting away clean laundry the other day, I spotted a pair of jeans I brought with me from Australia. They made the cut as they were comfortable, fitted well and tucked easily into my Bean boots (which have proven to be probably the hardest working item in my wardrobe this year) . While I’ve worn them a little bit, their slightly faded shade hasn’t felt ‘right’. In Australia in the warmer, brighter days they felt perfect with light, airy tops. In England with the cooler, greyer weather I’ve been gravitating more towards darker colours and time and time again, those jeans have been rejected for my darker wash pair.
So I started doing some research…
Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up in tropical climes, but to me there’s something about the magic of a proper bone-chilling, snowy winter in the far reaches of the northern hemisphere. As a child, pouring over pages of maps in my beloved atlas, these countries full of mountains and unpronounceable place names felt almost non-existent. They were so different and alien to anything I’d seen or experienced.
When I met Adam I quickly learnt that he too had a soft spot for wild, rugged places with chilly, changeable weather. It probably comes as no surprise then, that when Adam’s brother John and his partner Sally suggested we go on a week-long trip to Iceland that we jumped at the opportunity…
When Adam and I decided to move back to Australia, the biggest hurdle we had to overcome was visas. While I could happily return to my country of birth without any concerns, for Adam the process was always going to be a little trickier…
Now that Adam and I know we’re moving back to Australia, we’re trying to savour and enjoy the time we’ve got left in England. A few Sundays ago, while Adam was away on a work trip, I awoke to a particularly mild autumn day. It was overcast and slightly breezy and had the hankering for a good old walk.
I wasn’t in the mood for a wander on the Malvern Hills, so decided to take myself back to local National Trust property, Croome Park, which I visited for the first time last December. While I loved exploring the main house on my last visit, I wanted to spend some time in the 700 acres of parkland that surround the property…
Being in an international relationship is a really wonderful thing. Two people from opposites sides of world happen to meet and connect. They realise that although their life experiences are different, they’ve got a huge amount in common and a shared outlook on what they want in the future. Sometimes I feel like I was destined to meet Adam. Small decisions from years gone past, triumphs and tribulations were all part of the process that was leading me towards that initial ‘hello’.
International relationships are also hard – thankfully for Adam and I it didn’t involve long-distance dating – but there are generally visas, extended family, friends, and work -life balance to consider.
For most of 2017 Adam and I have been trying to work out what we want over the next few years, and over the next few weeks we’re about to embark on the next chapter in our adventure…
Sometimes it feels like good news is hard to come by. Every time you switch on a television, log onto a computer, listen to the radio or open a newspaper there are tales of death, destruction and dire circumstances. Sometimes though, stories of celebration, of love and new life shine through the doom and gloom and it’s so nice celebrate them.
A few days after Adam and I announced our engagement, the newest member of our English family was born. A little girl, to Adam’s cousin and her husband…
Over the weekend Adam and I celebrated our one year anniversary of moving to England. I can’t believe how incredibly fast the last 12 months has gone. I can still vividly remember walking into the arrivals hall at Birmingham Airport on October 29, 2016, exhausted after almost 30 hours of travel, and meeting Adam’s family for the very first time…
Wattle and Ash 