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Published: July 28th 2006
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Having been to Australia already but having never made it to Sydney it was quite exciting to see the harbour and Opera House from the air as we flew in to the airport on Sunday 11 June. We checked into a backpacker hostel in the King’s Cross area and wandering around later that night bumped into an old friend of Ruth’s from home called Tinon, which was fun.
Though it had been cold at night and we were glad to have a heater in our room, the next day it was hot and sunny and it was really nice walking around the Botanical Gardens by the Opera House, and down by the harbour.
On Tuesday 13th we went out on a whale watching ride, as they are at this time of year all heading up north. We were very lucky and a whale was spotted right outside the Sydney harbour, with a juvenile which are much more active than the older whales and so more likely to ‘breach’, or show off with ‘pectoral slaps’ and ‘tail slaps’. We were fortunate to see quite a few of these, and at one time both mother and child spent over a minute
waving their tails and slapping them on the water, so much so that the guide said that displays like this made them wonder if it was partially because we were there, that they were interacting with us. Whatever their motivation for the displays it was a great experience and I really felt as if I had made some sort of contact with the whale, like it was now a friend or something.
June 14th we flew to Alice Springs, and organised a hire car, which we used to drive to Ayers Rock the next day, now often known by its original name Uluru, where we stayed for one night before returning to Alice Springs on 16th. It was nice to be in the Outback, with the red desert scenery, and a more cliché Australian scene, and of course Uluru itself was stunning, especially at sunset as it became even more orange. It seemed quite funny to come so far to essentially see a rock, but it is quite a rock! The way it’s important to the Aboriginal culture is also interesting, though I get pretty sceptical about some of that to be honest. At the same time each visitor
to Uluru has a choice as to whether to climb it or not, and we were quite surprised that despite the words ‘please do not climb Uluru’ on your park entrance ticket, and various other signs and information detailing how the locals find it an insult and sign of disrespect climbing what they see as a akin to a church or cathedral, there were still bus loads of tourists, even Australian school children, turning up to climb it. We never did understand why it hadn’t simply been banned, probably something to do with the financial income that is generated from all the people who come specifically to climb it. Apparently the finite water supply which has kept Aboriginals surviving in the area for thousands of years is now being sucked up at an incredible rate as well, because of all the resorts and tourists…
On 17th June we flew up to Darwin, and walked around, chatting for a while with some local alcoholics in the park, as you do. The aboriginal women are really funny, always screaming at their men! (bit of a generalisation of course but seems a valid one). We thought about going on a safari, either
in the air, or in a jeep, but in the end feeling as if we were already over budget, and being a bit worn out and looking forward to seeing Mel and Mick, we were by the 20th on a flight to Cairns, followed by a bus to Townsville, where Mel and Mick, Ruth’s recently married friend from Jersey who has emigrated to Aus, had set up a temporary home. It was great to have a couple to go out with and obviously nice for Ruth to see one of her friends.
We stayed in Townsville until the 10th July, going out, watching television, and enjoying the use of a proper kitchen and lounge. On the weekend of July 1st we all went to Magnetic Island which was just off the coast, and despite England’s loss against Portugal, which was very depressing to Mick and many of the English backpackers there, we had a really good time, including a lovely walk on the beach during sunset, and seeing a Koala up a tree.
Leaving Mel and Mick on 10th July was very sad for Ruth, wondering when she would next see her friend, and it was funny to
be just the two of us again, ‘on the road’. We flew to Sydney as it was actually cheaper than getting a bus, and took a lot less time.
On the night of 11th July Ruth and I went out to the Opera House to see Lakmé, an Opera based in India, about an English officer who falls dramatically into a forbidden love with a local lady, unsurprisingly coming to a tragic end. It was a great experience, and felt a bit like we were going back in time. To understand what they were singing about it was necessary to look at the subtitles which made it difficult to actually watch the show at times, but the costumes and sets were really good and it was a very enjoyable evening.
On July 13th we flew out of Sydney heading for Manila.
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