It comes with the Territory

I grew up in Sydney and have been living in Darwin for 7 years now. I recently saw a couple of women riding bikes in dresses and thought, "I never imagined that would become a normal part of my life."

So, for your entertainment, here is a list of things I never expected to be normal parts of my life:

• Riding a bicycle regularly (sometimes in a dress)

• Hearing Indigenous Australian languages spoken in my neighbourhood

• A 200m walk to work

• No hills anywhere near my place

• Regularly watching the sun set over the water

• Using “mob” in everyday speech

• Sleeping with my windows open and a just light sheet for most of the year

• Almost never setting an alarm

• Cold showers (ok, the water is not very ‘cold’)

• Forgetting where my thongs are at work

• Getting excited whenever it rains

• Frogs on my verandah (and in some people’s toilets)

• Living on the same block as a frilled-neck lizard

• Regular trips to Litchfield National Park (photos above and below)

• Visiting Kakadu for a long weekend

Love where you live!

Upper Tolmer Falls, Litchfield National Park