A few weeks ago I returned from a fortnight in Australia, an opportunity that unexpectedly popped up and which I was fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of; a friend of mine who grew up there was going home for five weeks and he suggested I come down and hang out with him for one of those weeks. Seven days with a native in a country most people only dream about visiting while they are having summer and I am enduring record cold temperatures in the great northeast? Yes, please. My shiny new passport which remained un-inked after being in my desk drawer for nearly three years was about to take a trip half way around the globe for its maiden voyage; go big or go home I told myself and planning the trip became a delicious obsession.
I was going to be responsible for lodging while I was there and leveraged Airbnb for the whole trip which turned out to be a fantastic choice. No impersonal hotel concierges and sterile rooms for this girl; I got to meet the people whose space I was renting and the three different bookings were all delightful and different in their own way. It’s hard to beat a cottage in Katoomba, a waterfront retreat on Kilaben Bay or an eighth story penthouse apartment with a stunning view of Manly Beach; all were fantastic in their own way and as far as I am concerned it is the only way to travel. It is a wonderful way to interact with locals and I will never forget the people I met as a result of using private homes as lodging and it’s a blog post all its own.
Seventeen hours from Dallas-Fort Worth to Sydney was not for the faint of heart but I was prepared for it by my well traveled daughter who had already made the trip and exhorted me to hydrate and wear elastic stockings and her advice was fantastic as usual. I booked my flight with the marvelous Qantas airline which miracle of all miracles seems to really care about its passengers and discovered a pillow, blanket, headphones and sleep mask in my seat. Somehow I lucked out with having a free row on my trip to Sydney allowing me to lay down and get some sleep; I arrived Down Under feeling pretty good and Scot was there to meet me.
What an amazing country! I was completely enchanted by the laid-back attitude, fantastic climate and approach to life. Touring the countryside with a native gave me a wonderful view of a country whose minimum wage is 17.70 an hour (roughly 14 dollars American as of this writing) and a population unencumbered by concerns about health care or getting shot on the street which seems to be an American obsession Australians just cannot comprehend Aussies also get five weeks of vacation per year because the government feels that downtime is a human necessity; this sensible approach is how life should be and the vibe was tangible…I left part of myself in that place which was both wild and civilised and if they didn’t reject visa applications of anyone over fifty I would have applied. Life in Oz makes sense.
Scot was a splendid tour guide and had some great things planned. We did a wildlife park whose main focus was conservation and solving the problems of animals facing human intrusion; I saw so many animals I would never see otherwise and petting a koala, a kangaroo and a baby Tasmanian devil are life changing experiences and I learned a tremendous amount about native Australian species along the way. I saw the Three Sisters rock formation with a bonus thunderstorm at night over the Jamison valley, some great wineries and many absolutely amazing and colorful birds which made sounds I have never heard; being awakened in the morning by a kookaburra fracas is a magical thing. We swam ay Manly Beach, strolled The Corso and watched the pelicans get fed at The Entrance in New South Wales. In spite of its beauty this is a country that can kill you though, and the sight of a huntsman spider on my first night in Katoomba was sobering; I would have had difficulty covering the teenager that descended from a tree near my cottage with my whole hand. The place in Kilaben Bay had a deadly funnel-web spider living in a void in the masonry next to the door, but treated in a circumspect manner it was never a problem.
Sydney was an amazing city with the iconic opera house sitting like a jewel in Sydney Harbor the brilliant sun reflecting off the million or so glazed ceramic tiles covering what is an architectural masterpiece; I stood in front of that wonder in the dazzling sunshine and could not stop staring at it. The Royal Botanical Gardens with its long walkway along Sydney Harbor had many amazing plants I had seen only in pictures or in greenhouses. You have to love a place where jasmine grows wild and gardenias are a shrub as common as yews. Public transportation was fantastic and purchasing an Opal card gives you access to all forms of public transportation including the ferry which we used a great deal between Manly and Sidney; getting around was fairly easy and things were well marked and logical with clean public toilets available everywhere. New York City could learn a thing or two from Sydney.
It was fascinating to be in a country where I was the one with the accent and immediately identifiable as an American. Given the horrendous political climate back home it was difficult not to feel a sense of embarrassment when people asked about what was going on in my country but everyone was polite; somehow they understood that Trump supporters generally don’t have passports and that I was likely from the other camp. The prevailing question was always. “Okay, he got elected…but it’s been a year. Why haven’t you gotten rid of that wanker?” It was a question for which I had no answer but it led to many fascinating conversations from people not only from Australia but New Zealand, South Africa and the UK; it was heartwarming to know that people all over the globe recognized that our democracy is in jeopardy and were sympathetic to our plight. It was a mind expanding experience as all travel is but the luxury of visiting a continent where people spoke my language and resonated with my sensibilities made the perfect first foray into serious travel; I am forever grateful to Scot for sharing part of this unique and wonderful country with me and it has whet my appetite for more far away experiences. After all, once you do Oz everything else is a piece of cake.
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