I did enjoy my vacation to the Gold Coast very much. It was wonderful spending so much time together as a family. But I was reminded of a few things about living in a city.
First there is constant noise. Even during the night you can hear the drone of air-conditioning units and cars on the road (18 floors below). It never stops, is never peaceful – even with the doors/windows all shut (not that we did that very often). I guess if you’ve always lived in the city you are used to it but we’re used to waking up to the sounds of birds, and even distant cows. It’s actually so quiet at our house I nearly always hear the newspaper thump on the driveway at Mum’s next door when it gets delivered around 6am (it took me a LONG time to work out what the noise was).
Secondly, there is little privacy. From every verandah and most windows you can see other apartments. It’s okay for a short time but I know it would really get to me after a while. We like having windows, curtains open and are already dreading when the house next door us gets built and we’ll have to use our blinds at the front of the house way more than we do now. A HUGE part of the reason we chose the block of land we have was no back neighbours. We then designed the house to have the most privacy possible to other neighbours. The house yet to be built it the only one that will really affect us.
Thirdly, crowds and traffic. Anyone who knows me well knows I don’t like crowds and traffic. Luckily we’re up here at a time of year that isn’t too busy but a few days at the parks (on the weekends) have been a bit too much for me. Surprising the resort complex is never too crowded – considering there are 3 towers of around 180 apartments each. While some are lived in, I think most are vacation homes and not being used at this time. I’m sure I wouldn’t like to be here in the Christmas/Summer holidays.
There are a few good things about city living I guess. We love being able to duck downstairs to the grocery store and bakery. We don’t eat out but if you liked dining out there are plenty of restaurants/take-away places to chose from. It’s close to the beach – but we prefer our almost private walks at the lake. There are lots of “things” to do – lucky really cause I think you’d want to leave your home as much as possible.
I think it’s fair to say I won’t be moving to the city any time soon. Even the city in Wollongong would probably be too busy for me (though it would be nothing compared to Surfers). The Gold Coast is a beautiful place and the weather pretty glorious but it’s not for me. If/when we move again it’ll no doubt be somewhere even quieter than we are now as we would really like to have more land.
Anyway, wonderful as our holiday was it’s nice to be back home, surrounded by all our things, our animals and the peace and quiet of our home and lives. I enjoy vactions for the break from real life they provide but they always make me appreciate my real life and my home at the same time :-).
Hi Libby, nothing like a holiday to make you appreciate home!!! The one thing i really missed was my special “contoured” pillow!!! I normally take it away with me if we drive but I couldnt take it on the plane so i never really got a comfy night sleep. I sound like an old person, dont I? lol. Welcome home – now your mind will start wandering back to the holiday and you’ll wish you were back there!!!
Hi Libby, I can totally relate to your post! There is nothing like peace and quiet is there? Where you live sounds just divine. I hope the new house doesn’t invade too much on your privacy. I grew up with no close houses and it was great, we could make as much noise as we wanted! I really want to move back to the country at some stage. Unfortunately, my partner doesn’t and he’s from near where I grew up which is a shame.
I know what you mean about crowds. I feel the same way and especially dislike shopping in shopping centers at Christmas time… argh!!
Hear, hear!! We spent a few nights in the city (Brisbane) in February and the traffic, the sirens, the noise of other people – I felt on-edge for much of the time.
As a child I lived in inner-Sydney, then in suburbia, sometimes in the country – so my background varies. Now it’s about 1km to our nearest neighbour’s house. We do hear some cars and trucks but can be as noisy as we wish, ourselves.