4 months in — and we saw a shark
Do you know that feeling where you've made ambitious plans, but time escapes you and suddenly you're forcing something at the last minute? Please tell me that's a common occurrence for other parents — or anyone, really.
This most recently happened when our family decided to head to a nearby town called Bundeena, accessible by a short ferry ride from Cronulla and home to the beautiful and surprisingly vast Royal National Park.
It was ANZAC Day weekend — a national holiday here — which meant the kids had an extended break and we had a free Monday with no plans. We decided to spend it exploring the park, but after taking care of one thing or another around the apartment we suddenly found ourselves heading to the ferry station much later than expected. We missed the ferry. By the time we got to Bundeena we had exactly 45 minutes to explore before the last ferry home.
Adam, the zealous hiker that he is, had hoped to tackle Wedding Rock — a 5km trail that takes at least 1.5 to 2 hours without factoring in the inevitable delays two kids with shorter legs and wandering attention spans will bring. Reality struck quickly and we defeatedly took the first and shortest hike we could find: Flat Rock Creek, a 294 metre walk that took 15 minutes. True to form, the kids made it to the first lookout and immediately asked for a break, which made the whole thing feel like a total waste of time and effort.
Until we sat down and took it all in.
The kids were climbing around exploring, the scenery was stunning, and Adam was reading a sign that said this spot was perfect for whale watching between June and September — and then it hit me. We live here. We can come back again and again. This is practically our backyard. We decided the lookout was today's destination, took our photos, and headed back when the kids were bored.
We made it back to the wharf a good half hour early and noticed a crowd gathered along the shore behind the ferry dock. We flocked over to see what was happening. A couple of fishermen had caught a shark — right there on the shore — and had apparently been wrestling it in for a very long time. We arrived just in time for the finale. It turned out to be a sand tiger shark, a protected species, which meant after reeling this beast in the fishermen then had to carefully unhook it and release it back into the water without getting bitten. It was massive — maybe over six feet long. After getting the hook out they had to get behind it, pull it by the fin off the sandy bank and into the water, and then run like hell back to shore the moment it was free. They did an incredible job and the whole crowd cheered. We all funnelled back towards the dock and lined up for the ferry feeling like we'd witnessed something.
There are so many little magical moments like that happening all over this city. Just walking around is a treat, and we are so lucky to be here.
We are sorry we haven't been able to keep up with posts and videos so you could enjoy this journey with us. Creating content for a blog and YouTube channel is not as simple as just chatting with friends and family, and we just haven't had the energy or discipline to do it.
We had a few early setbacks that rocked our momentum. I learned the hard way that you don't draft posts directly into the website editor — it doesn't autosave, and I lost some really solid work to a rookie mistake. We've also been planning a video showcasing Cronulla and the Shire, but even a simple Google search surfaces a lot of unfavourable history and we weren't sure how to represent the area honestly as newcomers. And Adam has taken on the planning, filming, scripting, and editing of the videos largely on his own — I think he's a bit burnt out.
We've been quiet on here but we've learned and accomplished a lot in four months on the other side of the world. We found an apartment within walking distance of the kids' school, multiple beaches, and the train station. We've begun building our village through school and sports teams. Just last week we did the famous Bondi to Coogee coastal walk with new friends — the kids ran ahead along the cliff paths, the ocean impossibly blue on one side, and I realised somewhere along the way that they're starting to see all of this as normal. I think we've settled into a genuine home away from home, and we're all equally excited about what's still to come.
I won't make any ridiculous promise like "we'll post every single week from now on" — but we are genuinely eager to share our experiences again, the ups and the downs, and we can certainly promise to be more consistent than three posts in five months. Deal?
Thank you for hanging in there with us. Thank you for the encouragement, the well wishes, and the excitement for our journey. We love you, we miss you dearly, and we'll talk to y’all soon.
