Boxes and packing tape

Talk about slack. It's been one month since I started this blog and this is only my second effort at posting anything. Thankfully, only one of my friends has signed up to follow it and she has probably already forgotten I even started it. I'm still here Michi – thanks for your patience.

A lot has happened over the past 4 weeks. In a nutshell, I packed up my apartment, moved a third of my belongings into storage in Sydney, packed another third onto a truck bound for Byron Bay, and left a third behind to be (fingers crossed) looked after by the tenant renting my apartment. I then packed up my car, put Pepe (my cat) in his carrier on the passenger front seat, and drove us 10 hours North – bound for Bangalow, a small town 15 minutes outside of Byron Bay, and where we would be temporarily staying until I found us somewhere permanent to live in town.

There is a lot to be said about preparation when planning a 10 hour drive with a neurotic cat. Our last experience was to the vet 5 minutes down the road. The overheated dog-like panting, scratching at the cage, and continual, demonic, guttural howl is not anywhere near as pleasant as it sounds. So I considered whether it was dangerous to drive with ear plugs? Or perhaps put him in the boot and turn up the stereo? Of course I'm kidding about the boot.... Instead I did what everyone does when they need information on anything. Google. How have other people survived such a trip?

A large carrier, drenching the interior of my car with feline pheromone spray, and a month-long, daily-dose of herbal bacon-flavoured feline tranquil tablets did the trick. Apart from an initial 2 hours of moaning (very tolerable compared to the demonic howling), Pepe travelled in silence. Using his well-tuned 6th sense, perhaps he knew we were headed for greener pastures. Pastures is perhaps an overstatement, but a house with a garden and grass....the green stuff he has never even laid a paw on. Heaven.

So how did I feel when driving out of the city I have always called home? To be honest, I was anticipating a few tears of sadness about leaving behind an era of my life and all the special people in it. But they never came. Instead I felt relief. Happiness. Anticipation about what lies ahead. In my mind's eye, I saw the blank page that is waiting to be filled with all things new; experiences, people, places, feelings, emotions. I'm so very ready for this change. I feel that I couldn't find what I was looking for in Sydney, or it couldn't provide me with what I sought. Whether it is blind faith or simply hope, I feel Byron Bay and it's surrounds has what I seek in my life right now. And I embrace the journey I have just started out on to find it all....