I arrived in Sydney delighted to be back in a city that I love. I feel I know it reasonably well now so knew there were some obvious landmarks I wanted to visit, but also happy just to amble about taking in the views and the atmosphere of the place. An absolute must though was to get down to see the splendour of the opera house and bridge.
I made my way down through the city centre towards the opera house but got sidetracked into the Botanic gardens next door when I saw there were guided walks of them about to start. I joined them and we had an interesting walk round. The first plant we stopped at was one of the rare Woolemi pines I had seen when I was at Brisbane. Not overly impressed then, this time the guide gave us a bit more background information about its find and some facts about it that made it a bit more interesting. It was rediscovered by a park ranger who just happened to be on a gorge canyoning trip and landed amongst it. Fascinated by the bubbly bark which it has, and not recognising it, he decided out of curiosity to take a sample home to find out what it was, not expecting in the slightest to discover that it was such a rare, and previously thought to be extinct, plant. Apart from the strange bubbly bark the tree also produces male and female cones which is unusual in itself. So all you botanists out there, now you know! Next to make their presence felt in the gardens were the flying foxes -about 2000 of them have made the place their home and are stripping the leaves and bark from many trees as they go. The noise and smell from them is very distinctive! Efforts are to be made to try to move them on by continually disturbing them when they settle to roost but as you can imagine its also causing a bit of controversy as none of the other communities nearby want them moving into their neck of the woods either. Another feature of the gardens is the location of the original efforts at cultivation by the first european settlers in the 1780's. A section is devoted to some of the first crops they tried to grow in Australia(no farming having occured before as the aboriginal people were hunter gatherers). Elsewhere we saw lots of native plants such as the bottlebrushes, warratahs, magnolias, jacarandas, ferns, australian chestnuts (which aren't chestnuts at all!), and toured round the lilly pond and numerous other flowers that I can't remember the names of but which were very pretty!! It was a lovely way to spend a morning however - if I a non-green fingered person enjoyed it many of you other more horticulturally minded folks would be in raptures I'm sure. from the park I carried on my wanders and spent a lot of time soaking in the atmosphere of the city: in the citycentre amongst the modern high-rise skyscrapers where tourists and business combine, and admiring the views around the bridge, harbour area and the Rocks - another great place full of character and stalls and shops and older buildingg and ideal for just moseying around: time passes quickly as you wander!
The Sydney Opera House is a beautiful building. Even on a grey day it stands out proudly with a real glimmer to all the whitish tiles, and has such a graceful shape. It really does remind me of sailing yachts and made me think back to my little sailing trip from Airlie Beach. Never having been to a performance inside I decided this time I'd go to something. Unable to afford standard tickets - even if I wasn't a skinflint backpacker- I got a groundrush ticket for an afternoon showing. (groundrush tickets are last minute cheapies available only about an hour before a show starts if there are spare seats). In the drama theatre I went to see a play called "The Pig Iron People". It was centred round a suburban Sydney street in the mid-ninetys and the intertwined lives of 4 of the households: three of them being people who'd lived in the street for many years, were children of the 30's and had set view and distinct character traits; the fourth household was from the following generation and was a newcomer to the street. It had been billed as a comedy but I missed a lot of the laughs not having knowledge of Ozzy politics to get some of the jokes and references. Overall it was ok but not brilliant, however I really thought two of the characters were played really well. At the end of the performance it was announced that there'd be a question and answer session with the cast and assistant director. It was interesting, and explained how some of the tremendous set details had been achieved, and two of the actors stood out as likeable people, forthcoming in their answers and the information they gave - particularly to the kids from a couple of school groups in the audience. All in all it was a very cultural day for me, but made a nice change as well.
With still some available time and kilometres on my bus-pass to go somwhere else before leaving Australia, I travelled up to Port Macquarie (about 420km North of Sydney), returning via a stop in Newcastle. Port Macquarie is another seaside town with a thriving surf scene, and lovely coastline. Starting at the town beach, I followed a coastal path which wound its way along just above the rocky shoreline, dropping down to one sandy beach after another and another, and offering great views out over the pacific ocean. There was a huge swell and crashing surf and a few school groups were getting surf lessons. I reckoned that if that was there PE class it was a much better deal than the cross-country running round the town park on a cold damp day we had to endure! Leaving the beaches eventually I walked past the desely palmed and forrested edge of Sea Acres rainforest park and along to a Koala hospital. I arrived just before the feeding and medicine rounds but also at the same time as a huge thunderstorm and some of the heaviest rain I've seen in Australia! However, it only lasted half an hour or so, so I was still able to join the "walk and talk" around the hospital. The only one of its kind its dedicated purely to the treating and rehabilitation of sick, abandoned or injured koalas. It has a six bed intensive care unit as well as various yards to house the less severely ill as they recuperate and become fit enough to be re-released(or for two animals as permeanent residence as they'll never be fit enough to cope in the wild again). The hospital can see between 200-300 admissions each year, although there were just 10 patients with a further 4 receiving home-care: that's where a koala is homed with a volunteer as it needs round the clock attention and the hospital is unstaffed during the night. Most patients arrive with burns from bush-fires or after being hit by motor vehicles. Other injuries can be caused by dog attacks and Chlamydia is a big problem leading to serious urinary infections and or blindness. Once fit to be released they will be returned as close as possible to where they were found. Koalas don't stray far from their home patch as they can only digest the eucalypt leaves of a limited number of the many varieties that exist ,and will often be made ill if they try to eat any others - even if they are fine for other koalas. I left quite impressed by the work which is done and more knowledgeable about koalas in general.
I had a quick walk round the Kooloobung Creek Nature park following a circular trail along boardwalks, through rainforest and ferns, mangroves, banksias and reeds. It was largely peaceful other than the din from the crickets and other beasties and the birds and bats cawing tweetering and screeching overhead. While I was hearing lots of wildlife I was seeing very little - the disappearing tails of a few water dragons or skinks was about all - but I was feeling plenty. The biting insects were obviously out in force and I was becoming a tasty smorgasbord for them. A few days of having been bite free was obviously too long for me to expect anything else, and when I saw a notice saying the many different types of spiders in the park were only mostly non-venemous I decided to make my way out again before they took their share too!! As it was I got bitten by something that didn't like me and made my wrist and the back of my hand swell up like a balloon, but fortunately it returned to normal within about 36hrs.
Newcastle was a really likeable place. Situated on the coast at the mouth of the River Hunter its a hilly and vibrant city with lots of grassy parklands and a big busy port: tugs and pilot boats seem to be constantly taking container ships in and out the channel. As I walked along the rocky breakwater separating the river from the ocean one was being escorted out and as soon as it was clear of the point the next was ushered in. Looking out to sea I counted over 20 cargo boats lying offshore, presumably waiting their turn. The weather had improved again with much more warmth which was bringing the crowds down to enjoy the beaches and pools for the weekend. There was a real lively buzz to the place. Surfers were enjoying the huge waves crashing onto many of the beaches which were strung along the edge of town, snorkellers hugged the rocky shores, and swimmers enjoyed the open-air sea filled pools: there was a complex at the oceanside with a laned pool for the serious swimmers and a large shallow pool surrounded by sand primarily designed for kids. It was bounded by a large flat rocky border over which the waves crashed into the pool - but which also had a fence to stop anyone being washed back out with the returning sea! Further round, at the foot of the cliffs was another pool for the braver fun swimmers. Here the massive breakers crashed against the rocky poolside creating huge high white splashing torrents of cold water which refreshed the "bogey hole" (as it was charmingly called) and soaked the bathers and anyone near the poolside. I ambled along the clifftop path which gave magnificent views in all directions, and seeing several hang-gliders swooping off the cliffs I went to have a closer look and it just comfirmed my previous opinion that hang-gliders must be a bit mad!. The take-off site was a tiny triangle of land at Strzlecki Lookout (named after a Polish geologist who had researched a lot of mining activity in the area) with virtually no chance of pulling up once going for take-off. It was definitely a case of jump and fly or heaven help you. Also, watching a couple of guys erecting their gliders I realised how basic they really are. It was just like pitching a tent: sorting out the poles, feeding them into the appropriate slots and tightening the guy ropes. Its no wonder its largely solo flights because if there was the same "debate" as exist when two or more people try to pitch a tent or awning there would be fun!! One double glider was there from a company which offers scenic flights for tourists. One lad went while I watched but there is no way on this earth you'd get me even contemplating it. Watching, most gligers landed at a little park further down the coast but the tandem came back to the tiny triangle it left from. As I say - mad. Even the guy from the flight admitted the landing was a bit intimidating. As I watched I was also sidetracked and amused by a guy taking his pet cockatoo for a walk on a lead. It seemed happy enough, spoke a little and was obviously the guy's pride and joy - it certainly takes all sorts!!
I'd enjoyed my visit to Newcastle and thought of you and Steve a lot Lesley - there were so many links to English Newcastle: the mining connection, the hills, the river, the port, placenames such as Morpeth, Hexham and so on, and when I left the bus driver really reminded me of someone but it took me a moment to twig who it was - Gordon -he could have been a brother!
Back in Sydney I had a fantastic day taking a feryy across the harbour to Manly. On yet another fine sunny day the beach was filled with people - too busy to be enjoyable as far as I was concerned- so I followed a trail along the shore and up the hill to the cliffs and more spectacular scenery. The scrub was thick and pretty with lots of wild flowers and the outlook to the sea was stunning. High layered cliffs jutting in and out in both directions - the sea crashing onto the rocks below. The trail continued up the hill passing an old quarry which is now a hanging swamp for frogs and reptiles but from which the stone for a beautiful old wall (in the 1800s it separated quarrantined land from church land ) that I had to cross under had come. Continuing on the track myself and a few other people eventually reached North Head. We'd all met up at various point trying to establish where we were on the walk - between the 5 parties there were 3 different maps and none were particularly clear so there's definitely a job available there for any budding cartographer! Previously an army barracks and artillery school its now a visitors centre and gateway to further walking track. Walking through more thick, pretty, scrub land of banksias, grass trees, coastal tea-tree and others I reached a series of stunning lookouts, each one more jaw-droppingly beautiful than the last. From the first you looked out over the Northern beaches and from the rest across the harbour to Syney city centre and then the South Head. "The Gap" between North and South heads forms the entrance between the ocean and the estuary and harbour. The seas and cliffs and view are spectacularly beautiful, particularly on such a warm sunny day. There was a slight haze blurring the distant skyline but it was still magnificent. At one point a guy offered to take a photo for me, and with the wind blowing away my map we both set off chasing them and ended up sliding way down the hill. I had momentary visions of us both ending up swimming but fortunately there were plenty bushes to break our fall and we stopped safely after only a few yards. Poor guy, though, probably wished he'd kept his mouth shut and carried on walking! I admired the vistas for a while then watched as a couple of tiny looking boats were bobbing and tossing about in the huge swell below. As I descended back to the wharf and caught a ferry back to circular quay it was reasonably choppy and I was glad I wasn't in one of the wee boats I watched earlier - it wouldn't have been much fun.
With my visit to Oz almost over I went to the pictures to see "Australia" - the new film with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. As you can imagine its been much hyped here, but I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. There were a few nice scenic shots at the beginning and end of the film and the wee boy playing one of the central roles was good, as was his aboriginal grandfather (who didn't have many lines but lots of expression), but other than that the film was pretty corny and the central relationship between Sarah and the drover was not convincing. It was also long. Its definitely a bit of a chick flick, with Hugh providing some nice eye-candy for us girls, rather than a film to appeal to the guys I think. If you particularly want to see it do, but if you're at the picture torn between two films I'd pick the other one!
And with that my three months in Australia were up. I can't believe how fast the time in Oz passed, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and having clocked up over 17,000km between greyhound bus, train and car, I have definitely managed to see a lot. It was a strange feeling heading to the airport and moving to another country again, but I was also excited and looking forward to seeing New Zealand.
