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Exactly one year ago today, having bundled up nearly all my belongings into storage, I joined more than half a million other New Zealanders in the so-called "lucky country". I can't believe how quickly it's gone.
I didn't know what the future would hold, with a work contract for one year, so I set myself a goal to see as much as I could in my year. I've visited every State and Territory, including a visit to the Federal Parliament where I found out what the difference between the two is. I've seen a lot, but only starting to discover what a vast, diverse, wild and beautiful country it is. Australia is nothing if not a land of contrasts.
The beaches are simply stunning, amongst the most beautiful I've seen anywhere. Whether downtown Sydney, or more remote, you couldn't possibly be disappointed. I think the most spectacular and perfect were in Tasmania, at the breathtakingly beautiful Bay of Fires. I can only talk in cliches - sugar white find sand, clear turquoise blue water, ringed with orange rocks. The best part was its remoteness and isolation. No highrises and apartment blocks crowding the views. Although it doesn't really matter
where you end up, you can find a beautiful beach to yourself. Well, no other people that is, you might be sharing it with box jellyfish, crocs, any kind of creepy crawly, or a snake or two.
I know, I know, I've been on about the snakes before. But seriously, some of the most venomous snakes in the world live here. Coming into summer there were countless snake stories to feed my fear: the mother who woke up in the night to discover a
two metre python in the bed, slowly curling around her 2-year old daughter; the child care centre in Darwin that was forced to close because of an
infestation of snakes; and a
3-year old boy who collected seven eggs and kept them in his wardrobe until one day they hatched and turned out to be brown snakes.
These stories sent shivers down my spine. And then, if this wasn't bad enough, my workplace issued a Health & Safety "Snake Alert". Several kindly (??) colleagues sent me the link in case I'd missed this, no doubt accompanied with an evil chuckle. I discovered that we had to temporarily close one of our work sites due to a snake who made his way inside. I was quite relieved when
I heard that this site is in the middle of nowhere, near a mining town. I was less excited to hear that the floods earlier this year flushed out some brown snakes much closer to an urban site in Newcastle, giving the team there a good scare and closing the site temporarily after the discovery of a brown snake. The local manager was remarkably calm, and a la Crocodile Dundee said, "yeah, mate, it was a brownie...I just shut the door, those brownies can be pretty deadly, eh."
However, these stories do not originate from downtown Sydney, so it's not so bad. Or so I thought, until my friend Paul, a fellow NZer, told me the unhappy and true story from one of his previous jobs, this one in Western Sydney. One day as he arrived at work, there seemed to be some kind of evacuation underway, and it turned out someone had seen a snake in the building. A snake catcher was called and despite hours of searching the snake was never seen or captured. Several weeks passed. Then for some reason or other, somebody needed to move the photocopier, and then discovered a brown snake curled up
underneath the copier quite happily, but centimetres from somebody's work station. This story haunts me to this day and I remain wary of our photocopier, despite it being located on the 30th floor! On the bright side, thanks to the Health and Safety Snake Alert, at the very least I know exactly what to do in the event of a snake bite.
Still, I think the chances of snake finding me on my 12th floor city apartment are quite slim (no photocopier!). I wish I could say the same however for flying cockroaches. Yes, I've seen enormous cockroaches before, and yes, I have seen flying insects that are terrifying. However never before have I seen the two combined. When some flying cockroaches visited me I completely freaked out. I did not know that an apartment on the 12th floor could possibly be on a cockroach's flight path, but after the second time I realised that I had to make a choice between fresh air in my bedroom at night or the potential of getting an unwelcome night-time visitor. In about a nano-second I chose to sleep in the sweltering summer heat with the windows shut. Yes, even sweltering in
Sun setting on another busy day in Sydney
Every night the colours are different. Stunning.40 degree heat. And although fortunately I have not yet had the opportunity to meet the hand-sized Huntsman spider face to face, a friend shared a horrifying true story, when after using the toilet in his office in Parramatta, he stood up and flushed, and what should stroll out from under the rim but an enormous Huntsman. This story haunts to me to this day and I wish I'd never heard it. It's the sort of thing that once you've heard it, you can never un-hear it, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I use the toilet I think of this story. The advice I received that if you have Huntsmen spiders they will keep the cockroaches at bay was not at all reassuring.
On the bright side, the Huntsmen won't kill you (if of course you haven't had a heart attack when you spied it), unlike the Funnel Web spider. He's definitely a Sydney local, in fact usually found in Sydney, according to his Wikipedia profile. While on the one hand I was happy to read that no-one has died of the bite since the anti-venom was developed 30 years ago, I was not as happy to read that stocks
are low and and members of the public were asked to catch the spiders so that they could be milked for their venom. One dose of anti-venom requires around 70 milkings from a spider. That's a job I'm never signing up for.
Just think, I haven't even mentioned man-eating crocs or cane toads!
However on a balmy autumn day, swanning about in a summer dress, enjoying a walk at a beautiful beach filled with swimmers catching the last of the weather before winter kicks in, these things are far from my mind. For a heat seeker like me, Sydney weather is a dream. Summer goes on and on, and winter lasts for a matter of weeks. I knew I'd truly acclimatised when this weekend I was grumbling about the winter weather having kicked in and then realised it was still 20 degrees. Perhaps that's because I also experienced the hottest day on record in Sydney, 45.7 degrees, which unsurprisingly was bloody uncomfortable.
However Australia's sunny climes are not all good news. The harsh beating sun can be incredibly fierce and all too frequently this means bushfires - random, terrifying, devastating. I still remember driving through Dunalley in
Tasmania and being absolutely horrified at the devastation. It was no longer a random, abstract 30 second news item when you could see the barren land dotted with charred washing lines and brick fire places, which was all that remained.
What surprised me was how much I loved being in the outback. Given my fear of snakes, spiders and creepy crawlies in general, you might have thought I would have never relaxed enough to enjoy it, but it was just the opposite. Perhaps it was because it was unlike anything else I'd every experienced or any place I'd ever visited, but I loved it. The colours, the landscape, the stillness, the beauty....I was surprised at how taken I was. Rugged, harsh, but completely captivating. My first foray was to Alice Springs and out to Uluru, which along with the Sydney Opera House is a quintessential symbol of Australia. We also visited Kata Tjuta, which to my shame I'd never heard of beforehand. Both Kata Tjuta and Uluru were incredible places, stunning and magical, they felt very special. This short visit was the catalyst for my visit to Darwin, to visit Litchfield and Kakadu. Again, stunning scenery!
Of no
surprise to anyone who knows me was my enthusiastic sampling of Australian wine districts and the delicious produce on offer. Thanks to Margaret River, the Barossa, Orange, Hunter Valley, numerous regions in Tasmania and Coonawarra I now have a fully stocked wine cellar. Closer to home, I'm lucky to have on my doorstep many fabulous restaurants and cafes, most of which are only minutes walk from my apartment. I've bought kangaroo from the supermarket and even sampled croc.
However like anyone who moves to a new city, the make or break is who you meet along the way. Australians are a laid-back, friendly and very welcoming bunch and people have been exceptionally kind. I've made friends in all sorts of weird and wonderful places. Coming to a city and knowing barely anyone and not wanting to miss out, I frequently go places alone, and always meet a friendly face. Perhaps it could have been a lonely place, but thanks to all the Australians, wherever you're from, for creating a soft landing.
I've had wonderful opportunities to visit far and wide yet I've barely scratched the surface. The distances are vast, but the rewards are great. At work I
have a permanent role, but in reality my future is still unknown. Whatever happens, I will be making the most of it. Yes, maybe Australia is the lucky country after all.
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
creepy crawlies...you'll get used to them!
Ah, it's good thing you didn't get Andrew talking about my hand-size huntsman story - involves me in the shower, reaching for my towel, massive screams...and Andrew rushing in thinking there was an axe murder in the house. He thought it was hilarious! In my first year in Tassie I was stung by a bee and a scorpion...but in my 6th year now I have a very good relationship with all the spiders on our property :)