Coming home

So we've moved to Queensland and settled ourselves in. Quite seriously, it is hard to believe how much has happened in the 48 days since we drove into the state. We've got a house to live in - in which we feel pretty comfortable, I am pretty involved with things at work, the kids have started school and are getting on well, we've found a church and are enjoying our time there, we've re-established the connections with Queensland family on a new footing, we're driving about in a new car, we've started to become familiar with and enjoy our new surroundings, and we are nearly ready to sign the contract on the construction of our "real" home. Could it really only be 7 weeks ago that we were still in Victoria and all these hurdles remained to be jumped?

But - having said that - something interesting and strange and unexpected occurred a few days ago. I was at work and needed to head out to the bank to do some things. Once the business of the outing was done, I intended to come straight back to work but found my carpark only allowed me to turn the other way - sending me off around a block I had not explored before. Never one to be overwhelmed by such things, I drove on and turned down another street and decided to genuinely seek out a different way back rather than U-turn at the quickest opportunity and get back onto safe ground. Sure enough, within a kilometre or so, I suspected I knew where my road would take me and not too much later it indeed delivered me to where I was expecting. I turned left and headed back towards the office from the opposite direction to which I usually approach, but with rapidly increasing familiarity found my way back to the end of our street.

And then it happened. I turned into the street - could see the office complex in the distance, and just like that, for the first time, I felt like I was coming home. I studied the emotion I was feeling with some alarm - could it be that after so many years of being a Victorian, I was suddenly a Queenslander? Well - not completely I suppose, but there was no doubt that I was suddenly sensing that this was my home - that this was where I was, and that this place in some sense now defined me...

What a strange thing. What a surprise. It was particularly a surprise for me because I had lived interstate before - for almost 7 years I had a Sydney address. And there was an aspect to which I had never quite felt at home in Sydney. A part of the issue - I supposed - was that for the vast majority of my time in Sydney, I retained regular trips back to Melbourne for work and family purposes. These trips - generally more frequently than monthly - were usually of 6 days duration or thereabouts, and in retrospect probably meant I retained a Victorian connection despite living the majority of my time in another state. It also meant I had a Melbourne address for certain correspondence. And indeed, some organisations did continue to contact me via my Melbourne address for the entire time I was in Sydney. It would seem like a part of me did not ever make the move. But this Queensland move seems so much more definite than that.

Indeed - 48 days in another state without a visit back - had I done that before? Without detailed records, it was hard to believe that there was not at least once in those 7 years that I did not stay out of Victoria for 48 days or more. But it could be that it didn't happen. Even if I had stayed out of Victoria for longer than that - it was a job of constant movement and travel, so it would have been impossible one suspects that I would have stayed in Sydney for that many days consecutively. Of course, in thinking about it, our 1974 trip around Australia involved being out of Victoria for 64 consecutive days, but that might be regarded as different because we were most definitely on holidays, and indeed hardly ever spent two days in the same place. So - could it be that this was the greatest number of consecutive days I have ever stayed in a place outside of Victoria? Really - it could be. Already!

It's subtle, it's hard to grapple with - but suddenly I am feeling like I am home here. It's a funny feeling...