The Ruminator

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Sunday, February 13, 2005

Home again

Back to normal life again after a self-indulgent week in Perth and Broome. Amazingly, the long flight home was not sufficient to drain my carefully nurtured relaxation. It was great to get away, even just for a week, to do something for myself. I was becoming aware lately that I had been getting too tense, too prone to get irritated or angered by situations I would normally shrug off. And not because of anything big but just because sometimes that low level tension just accumulates. So last week was all about letting it go.

I spent a couple of nights in Perth, where I explored the city on foot and took a train to Fremantle. I also caught a ferry to Rottnest Island and hired a bike - a fantastic day riding along the coast and finding a beautiful beach to go swimming. And quokkas, of course. It made up for the fact that my hotel just sucked (they put me in a smoking area, there was a cigarette burn on the toilet seat, bleh).

Anyway, the resort in Broome was just beautiful, not the sort of place I usually treat myself to so that was nice. Right on Cable Beach, the place was decorated in an Asian theme, picking up on Broome's history of Asian pearl divers. I spent my evenings watching the sun set over the beach while I had my dinner.

I tried not to do too much as usually I tire myself out on holidays trying to see everything. I did go on a half day guided tour of Broome, which was fantastic as I learnt all about the history of the place and how it has changed. I also got to see a lot more of the town and surrounding area, since for a small town it is quite spread out. It is kind of bizarre to wander into a small corrugated iron shed, to find it beautifully decorated on the inside, and offering astonishing pearls for sale, one I saw being so large that the single pearl cost $750,000.

Anyway, mostly I walked on the beach, went swimming, read books and generally chilled out. I treated myself to a birthday massage and facial (just in case I wasn't quite relaxed enough) and went on a camel ride on the beach at sunset. An incredibly touristy thing to do, but quite spectacular to be high up on a large animal that walks with a rocking-chair gait, watching the sun set over the water. Life is good.

So, back at home and back at work. The workmates had organised a birthday lunch today and the neighbours are organising birthday dinner tomorrow, so it has certainly been a very welcoming homecoming. So I think I'll be able to hold onto that feeling of calm for at least a little while longer.

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