Here We Stay?

After two nights at Moana Beach we idled up to Christie’s Beach, after visiting it the other day when it was too late to go into any shops or do anything worthwhile.

At the Caravan Park here we found out that we can do long term stays for ridiculously cheap, all it means is leaving every six months for a month and then coming back again. So we are considering staying here, in Brucey van, for an extended period while Ryan gets a job to save up for some land or even to travel further and longer. All we will have to do is cruise over to Moana Beach Caravan Park after 6 months and come back again.

We are enjoying it here- the beach is gorgeous, ditto the promenade, and the town has some interesting shops to browse in. Looking at the coast and promenade it appears to be an affluent and modern place, but it’s a township of contrasts and the main shopping street looks quite the opposite- careworn and out-dated. We walked along its entire length, up to the obligatory shopping complex and found several interesting places. There are several charity shops (or Op shops as they call them here), a new-age crystal shop (closed Mondays), an Asian vegan cafe/ grocery shop and a lovely little health food shop. At least we may be able to start eating healthily again- Our diet has been awful since we got here and we have spent so much money eating out. My body is crying out for some real food, that hasn’t been adulterated with excess fats and overcooking.

Food is so expensive here and good food i.e. organic whole foods are ridiculous when compared to the UK. I never expected the price difference of organic foods or the difficulty in finding it. Fruit and vegetables taste so much nicer however. I’m presuming this is because most are from Australia and are much fresher because they haven’t come as far. We have also speculated that organic is so hard to come by, not because farmers don’t farm organically, but because they can’t afford the labelling.

We spent a few hours in the health food shop talking to the lady behind the counter. After getting a coconut creamy tropical smoothie and some raw sweet treats to nibble, we sat down and got talking to her. It was an informative and enjoyable chat spanning a range of topics, from birth to rock bands. It helped us feel more at peace with staying here long term and we also got a contact for Ryan at the nearby hospital – a job may be on the cards there. The more people we connect with the more this place feels ‘right’ for us. Although I still keep getting that itch to explore Australia’s coastline further. I keep getting that little voice in my head saying, ‘Is there somewhere better for us?’ But is that just the human affliction of wanting more, more, more?