South Arm, Tassie, sits out on the South Arm Peninsula, about 40–50 minutes from Hobart depending on traffic - and it looks like a bent arm jutting out if the head was town. I was there all weekend to visit my best mate who was housesitting there, mainly to check out her new boat (more on that later) but since I wasn't going to stay there, we were staying at a house she looks after whilst the owners is away.

It’s one of those edge-of-the-world-feeling places where you’re still technically close to the city. We actually were right at the end of the arm in Opossum Bay. The whole area is known for its long beaches, headlands, wind, and that constant presence of water, but jeez, some views really were to die for. We drank a lot of wine looking at this view, that's for sure.

There’s been talk of a golf course development for a while, and it’s divided people. Some see it as investment in an area that doesn’t have much going on beyond nature. Others don’t want it touched at all, which I also understand, because part of the appeal is exactly how quiet and unbuilt it still is, but still, it might improve the area, at least to give it a better cafe or fish and chip shop than the very ordinary one there! But that's me as a mainlander talking.

It was pretty beautiful, sitting on their massive deck looking back across the water towards Hobart. I mean, most places in Hobart have a water view, so really this place wasn't that special. But still - it was pretty awesome! Especially when the wind dropped off and it was as magic and perfect as you could get!

The house itself was lovely in that simple way—nothing flashy, just positioned so you’re always aware of the sea outside. We’d sit out on the deck in the evenings, drink wine, and watch the light go down over the water while talking through everything and nothing. We've been mates since we were 11 so are blissfully comfy in each others company and neither of us felt the need to 'do' much to fill the time but just hang and giggle.

If you do a drive out that far there's a calm beach great for a little walk, a sunbake and swim (dont' bother with teh shitty fish and chips in the general store - stop at the nice cafe in South Arm instead!). The housing around the bay is a bit of everything. Some really modern architectural builds sitting right next to older places that look like they’ve been patched up over the years, and a few that feel like they’ve just held on through sheer stubbornness, and lack of money for getting rid of asbestos! If this were Sydney, the whole place would probably be turned into something glossy and completely unaffordable by now. Hobart hasn’t quite tipped over into that everywhere yet, even though it’s heading in that direction in parts.

We walked around the area, just following the headland and taking in the views, then came back and hung out at the house. In the below photo you can see Hobart to the right, and the end of the headland, where they plan to build the golf course complete with a helipad (and maybe a ferry) to bring people over from Hobart.

Tim makes incredible dinners—proper vegetarian and vegan food, tofu and tempeh, roast vegetables, all of it done well rather than as an afterthought. There’s an air fryer in the kitchen that she is absolutely devoted to, and it gets used constantly.

She hasn’t been drinking for about 20 years, though more recently she’s eased back into it a little again, making up for lost time in her own way. We joked about her going to hell - or aleast coming back and doing this life again - when she even swatted a fly while I was there. Twenty years as a full on meditator can be so easily undone.

At one point I sat watching the Margaret River Pro surfing on the TV, just drifting in and out of it while the day moved slowly outside. Sunshine, long conversations, that unhurried kind of time you only really get when you’re not trying to fill it with anything, talking about the old days, about our Dads (a few tears), knitting, and probably a lot of rubbish. One night I play a lot of music as I always do as we drink and talk about some hilarious stories of the old days. How we survived some of those mad adventures I don't know.

We also wandered down the road and picked figs from a tree growing at the side of the road—absolutely perfect, sun-warm and sticky-sweet. There's nothing better than fresh figs from a tree!

As beautiful as it was, I did miss home and Jamie a lot. Tam joked we were co-dependant, and that's probably true these days. I just love his company - just as I love hers. One day we reckon we might live together, if our husbands die - maybe with a view like this, if we get an inheritance, but very likely close to the water. Still, when I got home to see the stars and moon over my little house close to the ocean, I was thinking as nice as South Arm is, my little home in my little town is just as bloody good, if not better. Sometimes it's just good to travel to get perspective like that.

With Love,

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