When I was 18 when I thought of the age 31 it seemed really old. Being 31 now I feel like a big kid. After my short stint in Dumfries I took a locum position in Swansea then it hit me that even though I may not feel ancient but it's been quite a while since I left university. When I think about all of the experiences I've had since then it feels like a lifetime.
The first locum position I ever did in the UK was in Pontypridd which is a town north of Cardiff. I was still a 'city girl'. It was before I discovered my passion for traveling, white water and adventure. I remember thinking that I was working and living in the middle of nowhere. I remember going to Swansea to have a Sunday BBQ on the beach with a friend and then following that up with a roast dinner at her house. My thoughts of Swansea back then were, wow this place is so far from everything, what on earth do people do here it's so small etc etc.
I guess my first impressions of Swansea stayed with me all of these years because my initial thoughts of accepting a locum position here were, no way! One of my closest friends Chris from kayaking lives only 20 miles from Swansea and I wanted to be somewhere peaceful so I decided to give Swansea a chance. After all Wales is one of the best places in the UK for all types of outdoor sports!
Well I must say I was pretty shocked driving into Swansea this time. It's been about 7 years since I've been to Swansea and it was nothing like I remember it. I'm sure nothing has changed, it's just I've grown out of being a city girl and am more a rural type goer and a lover of peace and quiet and nature.
Swansea seemed huge to me this time!! I was so thankful I have satnav now because I would've got lost! The city centre has several large supermarkets, loads of retail parks, all the usual shops that are popular in the UK and the best gym (well it's really a huge leisure centre) that I've been to. Then you have the sea front which reminds me of being back in Melbourne. There's loads of biking trails, forests, parks, places to go hiking and best of all North Wales is only 3 hours away (sometimes less if you drive like Chris's friend Ros!).
I think I also managed to do more kayaking in the time I spent in Swansea than I have all year and finally got a lot of my confidence back on the river. I also met a lot of like minded people at the gym who have traveled around like myself doing seasonal work such as with bungee. Unfortunately with locum work you never have secure work and your contract can end with a blink of an eye which is what happened to me in Swansea. I wanted to stay in what I now call the best place in the UK I've ever lived in but as the area is pretty small (but large in my eyes) there are very few jobs in my profession around in Wales, even if you are prepared to commute an hour away which is exactly what I would be prepared to do to stay there.
I also found the perfect room in the perfect house with the best house mate I've ever lived with. I think a lot of the time when you rent a room in someone's house, unless you move into a house with people all at the same time it never feels like your own home. My housemate welcomed me with open arms and it felt like home straight away. It's nice when you come home from the gym and your housemate offers you leftovers from dinner and wants to chat away with you and vice versa. It was also great that I could do things like bake a cake and there would be someone else around who wouldn't hesitate to help you eat it! My cat took a liking to my housemate as much as I did and was always greeting her when she stepped in the door from work and she didn't mind when my cat was being a naughty Maine Coon.
When I was looking for more locum work I drove down to The Mumbles one morning before the rain hit (90% of the time I was in Swansea we had fantastic sunny days which felt like Spring). It's so pretty there with a lot of quaint shops and a path along the sea that reminds me of St Kilda back home. There were a lot of similarities to St Kilda such as when you look across the bay you could see Swansea and all of the buildings, there was a pier you could walk out to and buy ice-cream (I refrained but it is very unlikely I could do that in St Kilda with all of the gelati stores), and there were even boats lined up along the road like you would find in St Kilda. I can't remember the last time I have been to the seaside but it felt like my own little Australia in the UK.
Even though I'm near London now at least Wales isn't so far away. All of these photos are from The Mumbles. I wish I had some more photos, especially from the great weekends I had in North Wales but I will be back there for a weekend soon enough!
I guess my first impressions of Swansea stayed with me all of these years because my initial thoughts of accepting a locum position here were, no way! One of my closest friends Chris from kayaking lives only 20 miles from Swansea and I wanted to be somewhere peaceful so I decided to give Swansea a chance. After all Wales is one of the best places in the UK for all types of outdoor sports!
Well I must say I was pretty shocked driving into Swansea this time. It's been about 7 years since I've been to Swansea and it was nothing like I remember it. I'm sure nothing has changed, it's just I've grown out of being a city girl and am more a rural type goer and a lover of peace and quiet and nature.
Swansea seemed huge to me this time!! I was so thankful I have satnav now because I would've got lost! The city centre has several large supermarkets, loads of retail parks, all the usual shops that are popular in the UK and the best gym (well it's really a huge leisure centre) that I've been to. Then you have the sea front which reminds me of being back in Melbourne. There's loads of biking trails, forests, parks, places to go hiking and best of all North Wales is only 3 hours away (sometimes less if you drive like Chris's friend Ros!).
I think I also managed to do more kayaking in the time I spent in Swansea than I have all year and finally got a lot of my confidence back on the river. I also met a lot of like minded people at the gym who have traveled around like myself doing seasonal work such as with bungee. Unfortunately with locum work you never have secure work and your contract can end with a blink of an eye which is what happened to me in Swansea. I wanted to stay in what I now call the best place in the UK I've ever lived in but as the area is pretty small (but large in my eyes) there are very few jobs in my profession around in Wales, even if you are prepared to commute an hour away which is exactly what I would be prepared to do to stay there.
I also found the perfect room in the perfect house with the best house mate I've ever lived with. I think a lot of the time when you rent a room in someone's house, unless you move into a house with people all at the same time it never feels like your own home. My housemate welcomed me with open arms and it felt like home straight away. It's nice when you come home from the gym and your housemate offers you leftovers from dinner and wants to chat away with you and vice versa. It was also great that I could do things like bake a cake and there would be someone else around who wouldn't hesitate to help you eat it! My cat took a liking to my housemate as much as I did and was always greeting her when she stepped in the door from work and she didn't mind when my cat was being a naughty Maine Coon.
When I was looking for more locum work I drove down to The Mumbles one morning before the rain hit (90% of the time I was in Swansea we had fantastic sunny days which felt like Spring). It's so pretty there with a lot of quaint shops and a path along the sea that reminds me of St Kilda back home. There were a lot of similarities to St Kilda such as when you look across the bay you could see Swansea and all of the buildings, there was a pier you could walk out to and buy ice-cream (I refrained but it is very unlikely I could do that in St Kilda with all of the gelati stores), and there were even boats lined up along the road like you would find in St Kilda. I can't remember the last time I have been to the seaside but it felt like my own little Australia in the UK.
Even though I'm near London now at least Wales isn't so far away. All of these photos are from The Mumbles. I wish I had some more photos, especially from the great weekends I had in North Wales but I will be back there for a weekend soon enough!
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