February Life Update
Hello lovelies!
I've now been living in Mackay for almost two months now and wanted to write a life update!
I've been determined to try to get out and about in town, meet people and generally keep myself fairly busy. I've joined a choir, the feeding roster at the Riding for the Disabled, found a church, and met a lot of people. I've fallen into a few habits as well which I thought I should share.
I've also tried to explore the area a bit more. I've been to Lambert's Lookout, Ball Bay and Halliday Bay where there are some gorgeous private beaches! I was literally the only person on the whole beach at Ball Bay - paradise! Although it is quite frustrating that you can't go in the water in the warmer months as there's stingers and sometimes also crocodiles. It looks very inviting though! Where you can go swimming however, is Finch Hatton. There's a waterhole, waterfall and rapids which I went down on riding on a single blow up mattress. May have thought that I was going to die at one point - but overall it was great fun!
After working on Australia Day, I took Friday off and headed back to Brisbane for a long weekend (27-29th of January). As the plane was preparing to land we circled Brisbane city and I burst with excitement and happiness to see my hometown once again. I spent most of Friday in dog parks with my sister and her border collie, Alfie. Then I had dinner with my family at my parent's house and played board games - I won Bananagrams twice which I was quite proud of! On Saturday my parents and I went for a walk through the city and attempted to find cool alleyways but they were quite a let down to be honest. We ate way too much food at Guzman y Gomez (always delicious) and then I went to the Moonlight Cinema and watched Passengers with a friend. It was a really nice setting in a park next to the Powerhouse and we set ourselves up on a hill with our picnic blanket. We did however regret not bringing mosquito repellant... #thanksqldsummer
On Sunday I saw most of my Mum's family on the Sunshine Coast where we had morning tea at the beach and lunch at Hog's Breath. Then I went to church at night before leaving for the airport (sadly halfway through the service so I didn't have much of chance to catch up with people - sorry friends!). On the way to the airport we hit a lot of traffic on airport drive and I have never seen the airport so busy! By the time we were able to stop at the drop off zone, I had 15 minutes before my flight was boarding. I leaped out of the car and gave Mum a quick kiss goodbye and dashed into the airport like a mad person. I fumbled with my luggage check-in tag, raced to security and then mentally prepared myself to run to my gate. As I reached the top of the stairs after security though, I realised that my gate was right there in front of me! Talk about relief! I accomplished all this in merely 5 minutes and then spent the next 10 minutes trying to calm my racing heart down before boarding.
The past week hasn't been great for a few reasons that I won't publish here but I've tried to stay positive! Otherwise, recently it has been hard sometimes missing people and places. My Dad's birthday was the other week and I think that's the first time I haven't seen a family member on their birthday. My birthday is in a few weeks and it's hard thinking about what the day will be like without any family here. However my parents are flying up to visit the weekend after so at least I'll have something to look forward to. I guess it's also been a lot of big life changes in a short time so it's all a bit of a shock to the system.
There are a lot of great things about living here though. There's some beautiful locations, I don't have to deal with crazy Brisbane traffic, I feel like an independent adult now and I've met some lovely people. Even earlier today I got to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in about two years as she's moved to Mackay for uni placement.
All in all, I think the next while will be a time of really trusting God and looking to him for my strength. I know he's got my back and knows what is best for me. Isn't it amazing that we have a God that provides for us and has a plan for our lives? He is good.
Hxx
I've now been living in Mackay for almost two months now and wanted to write a life update!
I've been determined to try to get out and about in town, meet people and generally keep myself fairly busy. I've joined a choir, the feeding roster at the Riding for the Disabled, found a church, and met a lot of people. I've fallen into a few habits as well which I thought I should share.
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| Polaroid taken at my local beach |
- My sister and her husband bought me a polaroid camera and a 365 book to capture moments from each day to remember this new adventure. I'm still figuring out how to perfect all of my photos but it's been fun. If I miss a day I try to write a diary entry of what I got up to or take two photos for a day to make up for it.
- There's a frangipani tree outside my unit, so I've been picking flowers for my coffee table so I at least have some form of plant-life in unit (I'm not known for having a green thumb - much to the dismay of my plant-loving sister).
- I've also been enjoying going for walks after work. Usually I either circle the park next to my unit or head to the beach down the road. Sometimes I go for a drive to another beach or to the harbour where you can walk (or drive) on the breakwater and watch the boats and the rowing teams go in and out.
- I'm known as a fidgeter and sensory seeker so I always need something to do to preoccupy myself while watching television for example. My Grandma gave me a cross-stitch pattern to work on so I've been spending a fair amount of time working on that with the television or a podcast on in the background.
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| Mackay Harbour |
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| Lambert's Beach |
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| Ball Bay |
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| Halliday Bay |
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| Halliday Bay |
After working on Australia Day, I took Friday off and headed back to Brisbane for a long weekend (27-29th of January). As the plane was preparing to land we circled Brisbane city and I burst with excitement and happiness to see my hometown once again. I spent most of Friday in dog parks with my sister and her border collie, Alfie. Then I had dinner with my family at my parent's house and played board games - I won Bananagrams twice which I was quite proud of! On Saturday my parents and I went for a walk through the city and attempted to find cool alleyways but they were quite a let down to be honest. We ate way too much food at Guzman y Gomez (always delicious) and then I went to the Moonlight Cinema and watched Passengers with a friend. It was a really nice setting in a park next to the Powerhouse and we set ourselves up on a hill with our picnic blanket. We did however regret not bringing mosquito repellant... #thanksqldsummer
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| Polaroid of the Mackay Airport entrance |
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| Alfie & I |
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| View of Brisbane City |
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| Walk through Brisbane |
- Moving out of home - especially after living in the same house my whole life
- Moving to a new town ridiculously far away from family and friends
- Having my own little home and living by myself
- New job - my first job as a new graduate OT
There are a lot of great things about living here though. There's some beautiful locations, I don't have to deal with crazy Brisbane traffic, I feel like an independent adult now and I've met some lovely people. Even earlier today I got to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in about two years as she's moved to Mackay for uni placement.
All in all, I think the next while will be a time of really trusting God and looking to him for my strength. I know he's got my back and knows what is best for me. Isn't it amazing that we have a God that provides for us and has a plan for our lives? He is good.
Hxx
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