Where the Land Ends

I grew up in Thirroul, a small town nestled between the mountains and the sea.

Back then it was a little scabby, a little rough around the edges, and full of fun. The beach was just part of everyday life. Swimming, walking, getting dumped by waves, fish and chips, rock pools, long afternoons outside and knowing the coastline like it was your backyard.

I think growing up there gave me a connection to the ocean that I’ve carried everywhere with me.

So many chapters of my life have happened beside it. Even when everything else has changed, the ocean has remained this familiar place I can return to.

There’s something comforting about its rhythm. You can arrive carrying a million thoughts, dive under a wave, and for a few seconds there is nothing else. Just cold water, movement and the need to breathe.

For Side Quest Stories, this room is about returning to yourself.

After experiencing domestic violence, I spent a long time working out who I was outside of what had happened to me. Healing wasn’t one big moment where everything suddenly became okay. It happened gradually, through all these little things that made me feel like me again.

Nature has been a huge part of that.

The ocean reminds me that things are always moving. Waves arrive and disappear. Tides change. Landscapes reshape themselves. Nothing stays exactly as it was.

I wanted this room to feel full of that life. Rock pools, fish, headlands, beach umbrellas, little coastal towns, fish and chips and all the slightly daggy, wonderful things I associate with growing up by the sea.