31 December 1998

It's pretty interesting, living in the not-so-close-to- the-city part of eastern Australia.

By Beth Pritchard

1998 Winner
Sure it does get tiresomely boring, especially when the most exciting thing that happens is when your Mum gets totally ecstatic because the tulips she planted actually grew this year, when your little brother goes so weird from being isolated that he joins the local Scout troop and your sister hates school and is never going back.

Having friends so eccentric that you'd die from boredom without, and having parties that involve solely eating, sleeping, and watching movies all night.

I live in Mongarlowe; it's a village with barely 20 people, most of whom are a few cans short of a six-pack.

No one here can keep a secret very long. Someone tells you something, then you forget who you were told specifically not to tell, then next thing you know everyone's calling you a bitch.

But I suppose that's all part and parcel of living somewhere that's not big enough to accommodate a circus tent.

The weather here is a serious problem. The winters are deadly cold and the summers are hot and dry if the mood strikes them.

Spring and autumn do whatever they want with their spare time.

Another serious problem is the dating situation. It's like being trapped inside a day TV soapie.

There's not enough people to go around, so you'll be going with one person then decide you hate each other, then two weeks and three boyfriends later you're back together again.

In Braidwood, the place where most people in the district supposedly get an education, in this place in the icy season there's a soccer club.

You play for the season and get a trophy at the end of it. The trophy tells you if you stink or if you're seemingly the most talented person in the club.

Across from where I live there's this coffee shop.

It's got a gallery which nearly always has an exhibition to show off to the public, mainly photographic they're pretty good.

It's not exactly the perfect youth scene. The food is good.

Around here there are lots of touristy places.

They're not very exciting, no matter what the tourists say.

Most of the people who come here say "you're so lucky" and "it's so beautiful here" and blah, blah, blah, yadayadayada.

About 5Ks from my house there's a mountain called Budawang.

The view from the top is real speccy especially on a full moon night. You can see right down to the coast, it's really beautiful.

So what can I possibly find to do in a dump like this? I ride my bike, in summer I swim, I play soccer, I watch overall too much TV and I listen to a LOT of music.

But despite the boredom, despite being called a hippie by people who don't even know what one is, I love Mongarlowe for all it is and as soon as the chance arises I'm moving to Sydney.

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