Australia.. What an Amazing Continent!
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2007
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35
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Trip End
Feb 25, 2007
Sydney,
Australia
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
After a couple of days of getting my bearings with Sydney, my neighborhood and my new housemates, went to visit the building I'd wanted to see since I was a child- the Sydney Opera House; it didn't disappoint- It's so familiar, so 'I'm in Sydney'. It has notoriously bad acoustics, but the Opera house is not about aesthetics, it's about being an icon! It's hard to think this building was designed in 1956, by an unknown 36-year-old architect from Denmark called Jorn Utzon. It still looks groundbreaking today (photos on previous blog). Unfortunately just working out the principals to build the roof took 5 years- the whole project was supposed to last 6years- and construction in the end lasted 15 years, at 14 times the original cost estimate
Sydney Opera House 1
. Still, it looks good- costs and time were never an architects strongest subject!On Christmas Eve met Jo from my work in London, who as an Australian was home for Christmas. I had a great night finally mingling with some antipodeans, after so long with other travelers. Managed to scramble to a taxi just before monsoon rain for 5 hours- some seasonal weather finally!
Christmas day- and the very surreal event of a barbeque in the garden - no sign of turkey with all the trimmings! Started at 3pm and was just like a summer party in England- the appearance of Christmas hats just made it even more surreal.. the only answer was to drink our goon (wine in boxes) and get on with having a good time! One of my Chinese flat mates, Tony, took the drinking of goon to the extreme (5 glasses) and enjoyed singing into the porcelain telephone for the rest of the evening!
Boxing day, I headed out to the Blue Mountains, so called due to a blue mist given off by the eucalyptus trees. It was believed by the original inhabitants (convicts) that a path to freedom could be built through these mountains, as it was believed that China was just beyond them
Blue Mountains 9
! As it is they are incredibly dramatic, and feel like a green version of the Grand Canyon. The following day I met up with someone I promised a relative I'd meet- a girl called Lisa who'd lived in Swindon and moved out as a child. It was great to meet her and her friend called Michelle as we really got on and discovered we'd both gone to the same primary school, separated by one year! Many drinks were had again, and she also showed me how to play 'pokies'- nothing like it sounds (!)- it's a very innocent gambling game found in most Australian pubs, a bit like 3 in a row, but more complicated. It, however, shares the same ability to rob you blind, show lots of flashing lights and is also very addictive, judging by the glazed look of others playing!
New years eve started for us at 9am- Me and my current flatmates headed out to a place called Mrs Macquaries point- which looked like the best place to view the fireworks on the map. Unfortunately, 30,000 people felt the same, and the queue was 2km long when we arrived at the back of it at 11am! Still, we weren't missing any of the fireworks at this stage and the weather was amazing, so we cheerfully queued up for 2 hours before finding a spot and joining the masses!
Christmas Day 3
The time seemed to pass fairly quickly under the influence of a few glasses of wine, and we made our way to the waters edge at 10.30pm to await the final minutes, which seemed to take longer than all the other hours combined! The grand finale was well worth all the hours of waiting as the entire Harbour Bridge was lit up, as I've always seen on tv. The atmosphere was incredible and it was one of the nicest moments of my travels as it was kisses, handshakes and hugs all round!
Overall, Australia has been one of the warmest, most interesting and fun western countries I have visited. I have truly fallen for the place in a way I never expected when I landed on a hot day in Cairnes with its western culture which so jarred me after so long in SE Asia, with its dignified poverty. However, it's proved to be a country with so much going for it, climatically, environmentally and even culturally! No wonder people here are so laid back and happy...
Next stop- New Zealand!
