#HomeSweetHome

The last of our journey was the long stretch back through Sydney and into the quiet beach town of Dee Why- home to my Dad and Berry. Before reaching Sydney we stopped off for lunch at the place with a giant sheep- why you might ask, is there a giant sheep at a service station? To tell the truth, I can't remember but it's a little strange!

Once we reached the flat I was shown to my room where awaiting me was a bag of goodies and a beautifully decorated bedroom. In my pack was a bunch of treats to help me get started on my travels, cereal bars, TimTams, a first aid kit and lots more goodies. Deeper down in the bag was also an envelope. As a welcome gift, my Dad and Berry had treated me to a three night stay in Bondi Beach - one of the places on my travel bucket lists and I would be leaving on Monday.

Later on, I walked with my dad down to the seafront. It had been a few years since I had been to visit and it felt surreal that this would be home for the next 10-12 months. The waves were massive in the king tide and covered the entire front of the beach so we skirted past them and made our way up the coastal path. My dad told me that the path would eventually lead to Manly, so a couple of days later I put my trainers on and walked the three hour route to get to the familiar Manly beach.

I stopped at Curl Curl beach along the way, partly because the sun was out and it was nice to sit in the sun but mostly because the sand was so soft, I could barely move. The next beach was Freshwater which I kept calling Stillwater (which does not exist). Again, I stopped to dip my feet in the rock pools and ask for directions as the straight line route was still too complicated for my lack of pigeon powers and terrible sense of direction. The final stop was Manly beach.

The beach was very familiar to me as I had holidayed there when my dad used to live in Manly. I missed my sister and Paige, as I sat and reminisced about our past holidays on this beach together. It was the first time Paige had been aware of the ocean. At 18 months old she had looked out the flat window- a look of terror in her tiny eyes! "Oh no! Juice!" she said pointing at the sea. whoever spilled that juice, must have been in BIG trouble!