Jindy Journal 2: Living and leaving the quiet life in Jindabyne

The winter has flown by and we will be moving back to Sydney in a little over a week. I had every intention for the Jindy Journal to be a series but alas, it will end as a duology.

Perhaps there would have been more instalments of the Jindy Journal if there was more happening, if something had not gone to plan. But it’s been a quiet life as a trailing spouse and honestly, I’ve loved it.

I really haven’t missed the city. While I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends more regularly and getting back into beach volleyball and our home church, I have felt more present and more at peace than ever before, out here in Jindabyne.

I’ve averaged eight to nine hours a night and I don’t remember the last time I slept this well, this consistently. 

I’ve relished languid, commute-free mornings with extra time to sip my tea, read, meditate, pray and breakfast.

I’ve soaked up all the nature – snow on the mountains, but also: the clear days and stunning sunsets; starry skies; the rugged alpine hills; glimpses of the glassy lake on the way to and from Perisher (or the shops); hearing my own footsteps and feeling the soft, warm sunshine on a morning walk to a cafe.

I’ve enjoyed my coffee catch-ups and solo flat whites.

I wish we could have schnapps, schnitzel and strudel at the Wild Brumby Distillery every weekend, arriving at no particular time and with nowhere to be afterwards, either.

I’ve skied the equivalent of three to four years’ worth of week-long ski trips in just the one season.

All of these things have been wonderfully life-giving.

But maybe this has been a cocoon: warm and cozy, insulated from real life in the real world. And temporary. (There are some parallels here with the four-month lockdown that was the start of my married life.)

As oxymoronic as it sounds, moving to Jindabyne has been what I would call a comfortable adventure. My husband can attest that I love adventures – and define adventure broadly. I’ll be ready for the next one, whenever and whatever it might be.

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