Three weeks in my old stomping ground of the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia is tough to recover from. And it’s hard not to make comparisons to life back in New Zealand. The day I got home I paddled out with a mate into 3-4 foot airbrushed waves at St Kilda. It was just the two of us out, no cameras, just surfing and riding waves with a mate. In my 3/3 steamer the water felt warm – I even sweated a bit while scrambling in the impact zone.
Strangely, I actually missed the buzz of the crowds making the most of less than ideal conditions in the balmy warm waters of Sydney. I missed not wearing boardshorts all day in and out of the water, but I didn’t miss the traffic, the $8-$20 fee to park at the beach or the blue bottles and jellyfish floating through the lineup.
To buy a house in Sydney’s Northern Beaches you’re looking at a cool million-dollar price tag … and that’s for a doer-upper. It’s crazy when you compare that to similar New Zealand beach suburbs.
When it comes to lifestyle there is not much difference at all: life revolves around the barbecue and the ocean. Both nations are rugby mad (some with more reason) and both value the quality of their lifestyle above all else. Healthy living, staying fit and active is mandatory, as is a willingness to drop tools and party – celebrate like you mean it. There are probably very few countries who share that, or are able to push their lifestyle to the top of their value list like we do in Australia and New Zealand. Australia may be the lucky country, but we're not doing too bad in New Zealand.
See you at the beach … Derek
PS New Zealand Surfing Championships start on Monday, January 11, at St Clair Beach, Dunedin. The event runs until January 16 and will feature New Zealand’s best surfers. Here's what's in the forecast.
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