ALBURY, you’ve outdone London.
I never thought I’d utter these words.
But surprisingly it’s true.
This country town on the border of NSW and Victoria has given me a better birthday bash than London could for my two previous birthdays.
You’re probably quite confused, so I’ll explain.
As with Christmas and New Year’s Eve, birthdays tend to be hyped-up, overrated occasions.
And given that I’ve hit what I call the Reality Stage* of my return home, I expected this year’s birthday to be pretty poor.
I wasn’t about to try and top my London birthdays, so I popped up to Albury with a couple of close friends for some quiet time with my folks.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Country horse racing, wineries, delicious meals and great company in the countryside turned out to be a winning recipe for a great 27th.
Being among friends who had never been to Albury before certainly heightened the excitement.
But all in all, keeping fuss to a minimum and surrounding myself with close friends and family proved to be a winning formula.
Note to readers: I am in no way suggesting a trip to Albury for your birthday. Or Easter. Or Christmas.
* The point at which people reach this stage differs from person to person after moving back to Australia from living abroad, but commonly occurs between two and four months after returning home. This stage follows the ‘I Love Australia’ and ‘It’s So Nice to Feel Settled’ stages. Signs include: fear and worry that this is how you will spend the rest of your life, you realise you have lost your ‘just returned home’ glow, you no longer find gumtrees and wide open paddocks as beautiful, and hearing the bogan accent makes you cringe instead of smile from ear to ear as was the case in earlier stages.
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