I woke up at dawn with a winged heart (as Khalil Gibran instructs us to do in "sand and foam")
I sat on the veranda that overlooks the South of Sydney and looked out as the morning sun danced across the snaking Georges River.
Janice came and sat with me on her deck in the sweet sunshine... With our feet up, we sipped coffee and chatted... and the kukaberras replied with their laughter from the trees.
Paul woke up and drove me down to the station where I boarded a train to Circular Quay and wrote my previous "Happy Alone" piece while listening to music and finding myself generally happy and content in the moment... The transient locomotive forward moving energy that, as an Aries especially, I get so down with.
The ferry ride gave me a beautiful and unique view of "the city"... The Harbor bridge, the Opera House & the rocks, where we've sat and had wine or cocktails multiple times since I've been playing Australian, most notably before and after seeing Bon Iver play on the magnificent Opera House stage two nights in a row.
I saw the 'secret beach' we found my first day in Sydney... A little lookout point cove nestled in the side of Vacluese (an up market area of the Eastern suburbs)
Our ferry choo-choo'd towards the Pacific ocean, ultimately wrapping around the north head and landing us in Manly Wharf.
As I've mentioned before, I feel like this East Coast of Australia can be drawn in parallel to California- its mirror reflection up across the sea...
Where Melbourne feels San Francisco-y... Sydney feels like the greater LA area which is probably why I love it, being a 6th generation Los Angelina and growing up on the beaches of LA... I feel connected and comfortable in Sydney.
Upon disembarking the Manly ferry, I instantly felt the beach town vibe... Reminiscent of Newport Beach, manhattan Beach, Huntington, Hermosa... Even San Clemente and down into North County San Diego.
On the other side of this ferry are men in button down shirts... Here in The Northern Beches you saw more belly buttons then shirt buttons... Minimal footware and an overall mega relaxed energy.
My Northern Beach surfer girls, Laura, Jane & Jules picked me up at the ferry in all their awesomeness- total positive, bright sunny energy... Exactly what I came to recognize and love in them last July when they came to the island as guests on their annual surf trip.
The sun was out and it felt like the universe was playing this tease game chanting like a kid on a playground, hanging upside down off the monkey bars with a blue lollypop hanging out of his mouth "are you suuuuuuuure you wanna leave Sydney?"
"zaaaaani.... Oh, zaaaaaaani."
"look at what you'll be missing..."
What a little shit.
We drove all the way up to the gorgeous Palm Beach suburb, stopping to have a whale of a time in Whale Beach for lunch...
We are such a good foursome!
I mean... Actually THEY are an amazing threesome who go on surf trips together all the time- (they leave for Mexico on Easter Sunday)... But I throw myself in their mix and feel pretty stoked to be among them.
We hiked to the top of a trail where a lighthouse lookout point reveals sweeping views along the northern beaches and Pittwater across the Pacific and up the central coast.
The views and lookouts sprinkled all over this city are probably my favorite feature of the Sydney experience.
We stopped by Janie's house in Narrabeen and met her mum and twin sister Mel, who is her polar opposite but equally awesome... And then Jules and I went to have dinner with her parents - the sweetest couple who were warm and welcoming and so interesting to talk to that we actually sat at the table for hours and hadn't even started to think about showering and getting ready when Jane called asking where we were.
To prolong getting out of the house even further, I found a guitar and got lost in a singsong to myself- perched on the guest bed, wrapped in a towel with dripping wet hair. Like getting suddenly snapped out of a dream and crashing back to reality, I realized it was waaaaay past time to go so I quickly bejeweled myself - threw on all my bangles and necklaces, a turquoise dress and boots and off we flew out the door.
We arrived at "the new bar in Newport" that nobody seems to know the name of, but everyone is stoked it exists as an alternative to going out all the way down in Manly.
Without getting carded (which always pisses me off and makes me feel old as hell) we strutted through the door of this nameless new bar- under a chandelier and down a flight of stairs and into a room full of a very eclectic group of people- from oldies to youngens- a DJ spun good fun music (think Jackson five)... And relaxed bartenders created interesting cocktails like muddling chunks of ruby red grapefruit with vodka and ice and topping with bitters and lemon/lime (sprite)...
I immediately saw a guy walk past the bar in a red knit beanie - rocking a hipster beard, black tanktop and jeans... He could have been straight out of Venice beach, I thought to myself.
One cocktail later and I found myself pinned up against the bar by this beautiful man. He told me he wanted to know everything about me, showed me his mermaid tattoo and decided we should go sit outside and talk and kiss and talk some more.
The clock struck closing time and we realized we'd been on that curb for a solid couple of hours- being totally open... Communicating and telling our life stories to one another somewhat sarcastically. We understood each other in an intense Aries way.. (something you can only understand if you are one- which both my parents are and can attest to)...
We said goodbye and I ran through the parking lot under the street lights to meet my friends who were waiting for a taxi that I managed to jump in and go back to Jane's house for some drunk food making and Tracy Chapman dance party in the kitchen until 2am
I fell asleep to Tracy Chapman every night on the island last year... It has become my JAAAM- my mermaid tunes.
Jane told me she wanted to play DJ as soon as we got home and blasted out Tracy Chapman which made my heart swell and soar like it always does.
I woke up in a room with Jules and Laura and rolled out of bed to find a text from the bearded man. He was inviting me to come enjoy the sunshine on my last day over at his incredible cliffside house while the girls surfed- an early afternoon hour to spend just a little more time together.
Just in time for 11:11, a number he sees regularly too, i got to the dream house, styled out with Buddha heads, driftwood and recycled furniture, candles and perfect mellow vibe. Once again- could have been Venice Beach.
I met his gorgeous blue dog and his pet blue tongued lizard... I wore a blue thai tank top and gazed out at the turquoise blue ocean from the front of his house...
He told me about a surf trip he was planning to go on that will take a ten piece orchestra to play on the water while the boys surf and then this artist will combine the orchestral music with the surf video they'll make on the trip.
It sounded so epic and enticing I invited myself on the spot and eventhough its basically a ridiculous impossibility that I could go- I just say stuff all the time like "Oh ya. I'm coming to that. Hundred percent."
Who knows? It's not like I haven't manifested magic before.
The girls arrived to pick me up and once they could catch their breath after seeing the view and vibe happening, they all chatted in their Aussie way, (all three with exposed belly buttons and not a shirt for miles) rapping about surfing. The girls told him stories about me paddling out in the Mentawais and sitting on a board with my back to the waves getting all zen and natural- my palms flat on the surface of the water telling the girls how I could feel the heartbeat of the tides - when suddenly a huge freak set came through and panic/chaos ensued...
Must have been an irregular marine heart palpitation.
We all laughed and I realized that for how short a time I've spent with all three of these people, I feel like they all totally got me.
I reluctantly left this beautiful tease from the universe and carried on through with my plans to depart Sydney.
A pretty magical last day though for sure.
I shoveled down thai food in Manly as I waited for the ferry...
I'm decidedly a nervous eater and a sad starver.
Too bad I'm always happy so I rarely reap the benefits of the sadness diet... But definitely ate until I was uncomfortably full and then ate antipasto a few hours later.
Paul met me at the Opera Bar back on the button down shirt side of Sydney, where we sat and drank Australian wine and jammed out together like we always do...
When he stood up to buy the bottle from the bar he dropped an envelop on the table and told me to open it.
Inside was hands down the best letter I've ever gotten.
The most epic brotherly love letter that made me cry.
I am gonna miss the schnitz out of my soul buddy and partner in awesome. This month was our month- we both went through so much... Shared meditations, sing-alongs, roadtrips, Bon Iver, hostels, star gazing, nights out, nights in- and a lot of candy.
My brother from the south side- my sisters to the north...
I believe Sydney is now officially my favorite city on earth.
That is a HUGE thing for me to say.
I have had a love affair with every inch of this city- from the South, to the Shire, to the city, the Eastern suburbs and now that this epic epic weekend in the northern beaches had sealed in my love for the city...
I will come back to you one day soon, Sydney.
For now... It's a 9 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia's first ever Syd-KL flight.
WORD OF THE WISE:
Pay the extra money and miss out on this flight!
It was only $450- but I just paid an extra $235 for my baggage at the airport- and there is no food/drinks/entertainment for NINE hours... Plus the fact that the seats are on top of one another so if you happen to be sat beside a large Asian man (like me) you will be less then stoked.
Ah well.
Nine hours to snuggle up with a stranger and dream back the last month of my life spent down under.
I'm a lucky girl.
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