I'm going to miss Manly ...

Doesn't look promising

I first came to Manly when I was a uni student visiting Sydney for a mother-daughter weekend with my Mum.  We did the touristy thing - caught the ferry across, walked down the Corso to the beach, probably had an ice-cream and walked back to the ferry.  I had never dreamed that I'd one day spend three summers living in Manly, spending just over a year of my life in the cute Sydney beach-side suburb.

Stormy seas

My time in Manly is drawing (far too) quickly to a close - today is my last day here.  Last day of living here, last day of working with this family.   I will miss Manly.  I will miss the beach enormously, despite the fact that I'm not a huge beach-goer.  Particularly since I'm going to a land locked city, which for an Aussie girl, is a slightly claustrophobic prospect.

The closest to a sunrise Manly got this morning

 Other things I'll miss about Manly?  I'll miss the village-like atmosphere, the ambient coffee shops and bars, the ferry rides, the walk along the waterfront to work, the fitness classes, the dips into the ocean after a hot yoga workout and, of course I'll miss the kids.  Over the past few weeks, I've been creating a slide show of our time together and it's amazing to watch it and see how much they have grown - not just physically but emotionally and as learners too. I feel sad to be saying goodbye but also excited as so many new opportunities are opening up for me and I'm contemplating the prospect of my life taking a direction far different to anything I'd ever thought of.

(Note - the gloomy beach pictures were taken this morning on my last Manly beach run - 6 km of running, hoping the sunrise would be spectacular but, instead, getting soaked by a rain storm!)