Me Mine & Ours: let go

i had heard allot about santa cruz during years working in a surf shop & then later a surf company... but someone near & dear told me that it was california's answer to byron.

this made me REALLY wanna go!

what i didn't think about at the time was the parts of byron that i don't really like.. those thoughts came in the few days prior to getting there & escalated on my arrival.

the byron i really love is the byron i remember from when i was a little girl. we would all (curly included) pile into our van & drive up there every christmas holidays. mum would wake me at 4 in the morning & carry me in my jammies out to the car, still clutching desperately to my pillow & blanky. there i slept sprawled out on the two seater (my brothers stuck sharing the 3 seater in the back) for the most part of the 11 hour drive (can't believe now a days it only takes 9hours!).

besides mcdonalds breakfast, the only real time i would wake up is when we got to byrons main st. back in those days, it was tiny. small stores selling cheap surf gear, few hippie stores, & hogans pub. just around the corner was my uncle & aunties house - the house i remember like the back of my hand as we spent so many holidays there. (sadly, my uncle & aunt have since turned this house into a 5star resort.. lucky i have my memories to hold onto xx). these beloved family holidays were spent swimming at the beach, walking up to the lighthouse & calmly cruising down main st..

unfortunately, these days, a visit to byron means, hefty accommodation coin, sprawling crowds along mains st - whether they be the dero hippie types or the super rich driving in from watego's.

the thoughts leading up to santa cruz may have well ruined my first day there.. i was so caught up in the fact that it may NOT be my cup of tea that i spent the first day judging everything.

after over-analysing everyone on the beach, everyone on the pier & all the crowds on the boardwalk - i decided enough was enough.

forget your head, let go & get truely amongst it.

after opening my eyes & truley soaking in santa cruz, i found an amazing place. living my new mantra to a tea - "replace the fear of unknown with curiosity".

gorgeous cliff lined beaches, quaint little main st - with awesome shops!, the BEST vintage markets, super nice people + the predicted deros, the expected "herbal" stores & the most delicious cookie store on earth!