Covid-19 put barriers between us that we didn’t know existed. Or maybe we take things for granted and sometimes forget how lucky we are to be able to travel easily and freely. We’ve been in Australia for nearly 3 years and having my brother Guillaume and his family finally able to visit has been one of the best things that’s happened. Their visit lived up to my expectations, and then some. Nat, Alfred, Matilda and myself got to share a bit of what our life is like here. The 9 of us shared moments of awe at the beauty of this country. We laughed, we discovered, we learned, we absorbed. Seeing all the kids playing together and having so much fun was very special too. They’re all such a bunch of beautiful souls. We’re all so grateful for the past 4 weeks, and we’ll cherish those memories forever. Time did pass, but did not tear us apart. Loin des yeux, près du coeur.
Today was pretty simple really: we woke up early, dropped the rental car, checked in, and… boarded onto our first plane of the return journey, to Singapore. I learnt thanks to Sarah that I was an Airport Dad, so everyone in the family is making fun of me now.
These 4 weeks have passed at light speed. It seems that we arrived yesterday. At the same time, it seems that we haven’t stopped moving, visiting places and meeting people.
There are two things that have struck me with Australia.
First, how well developed public and recreation areas are. Bbq and picnic tables everywhere, parcs, playgrounds, water fountains, public toilets everywhere (while they’re nowhere to be seen in Norway – too afraid of a few junkies using them), changing rooms next to beaches. It seems like local governments and councils are focused on making sure that people / the general public can enjoy outdoor life in the cities and along the coast. A basic service to everyone over there, and definitely tourist friendly.
The second, is how appeased society seems to be after the reconciliation efforts by both recent Australian and aboriginal Australians. Government and society have acknowledged their past crimes and errors, and will still acknowledge them. They also recognised that aboriginal Australian are the custodians of the land. This acknowledgment is a natural start of all guided tours, will be written at the entrance of any building, and will take the form of a welcome ceremony at public events. There are some things that can never be repaired, but everyone seem more focused on the present.
What we see in other western countries is rather the opposite, a shared unwillingness to reconcile: blacks vs whites in the US, perpetuating guilt and fear narratives; European countries vs their old colonies unable to make peace on the past; minorities and “majorities” unwilling to define a present and a future together. I found that Australia was becoming at peace with themselves, through this genuine and honest reconciliation work. And because it is sincere, it creates a general impression of peacefulness.
We had early lunch at home, and took the bus to the city. We stopped at the Australian Museum, where we learnt about dinosaurs, Australian fauna and the history of reconciliation with aboriginal Australians. The building itself was nice, built in several phases, with recent parts nicely integrated with the old sections of more neo-classicism style.
We then went to a guided tour of the opera house. A million tiles that are off-white – not white, as it would reflect too much light; an elegant concrete structure supporting the sails, and a sad history where the architect, Jørn Utzon, never actually saw the finished building, because of a dispute with the NSW prime minister in the middle of the building process – he left and never came back. Unbelievable, for such an iconic building that symbolises the city.
On our way to the city center, we stopped by the Sydney Museum – we saw a very interesting but somehow sad documentary about the conflictual settlement of europeans west of the Blue Mountains, in the Wiradjuri’s land, and how just a few would ruin what could have been a peaceful cohabitation.
We spent a few hours shopping in the city center, and came back at nightfall for a light show on the Opera house. By that time, the temperature had dropped, so we went home pretty rapidly after.
The evening was about packing everything, planning the day tomorrow.
We took it easy in the morning, after two early days. Late morning, we drove to Clovelly beach, walked to Coogee beach. We had lunch there, before heading north towards Bondi beach.
The weather was fantastic, the two hours walk was amazing, passing nice neighbourhoods and beautiful beaches. We dreamt of having on of these houses right on the waterfront. Again, we’re in the middle of the winter and it’s warm enough to wear shorts.
We arrived at Bondi beach mid-afternoon. The boys played in the waves for 1 1/2 hours, under the careful watch of the world famous lifeguards.
We had udon soup for dinner at home, rewatched the start of the movie Back to the Outback to see whether we would recognise Taronga zoo – we did!
Same procedure as yesterday, we took the ferry to circular quay, then another ferry to Taronga zoo. We knew about this zoo since we had watched Back to the Outback. We took the cableway from the ferry wharf to the zoo entry, and met Tom, his family and Sam, who had literally just arrived.
Taronga zoo is beautifully located, facing Sydney, on the other side of the bay. Sydney’s iconic skyline is always visible in the background, everywhere in the zoo. Just that is fantastic – it’s our third day in Sydney, and I’m still missing no occasion to have a look at or take a picture of the opera and the harbour bridge.
We started with a very entertaining seal show and had lunch. The afternoon was about running after the kids, who were going from station to station at a high pace. By mid-afternoon, we had seen pretty much every single animal in the zoo, including lions, elephants, tigers, snakes, tortoises, pygme hippos, chimpanzees, and of course koalas.
Then came the time to say goodbye to Tom, Nathalie, Alfie and Matilda (and Sam) after more than 3 weeks together. We know we’ll see them this autumn, so we didn’t cry too much – but still… It’s been a very nice three weeks together.
We took the ferries back to the apartment, and went to a nearby pub for diner.
After the traditional Tour de France highlights and a good breakfast – english style, we took the bus to Balmain wharf (where we found an open library) then the city boat to Circular Quay. The weather was a succession of showers or light rain and sun, but mostly wet really.
We headed towards the Museum of Contemporary Art, but stopped underway at a gachapon stand – these japanese capsule vending machines. It reminded of our trip to Japan and the Akihabara district in Tokyo.
We spent the morning at the museum. It wasn’t as “contemporary” as we were fearing. We’ve seen our share of random things and installations labelled art in these museums. The visit was quite nice, varied, international, sometimes rather immersive. It triggered the kids’ curiosity – they spent time looking, watching, experiencing.
We then went for a walk in the nearby Rocks neighbourhood. Séverine found a nice family restaurant for lunch. Thomas and his family joined us after lunch, together with Sam, Nathalie’s sister. We were lucky to arrive at the Rocks Discovery Museum just as a guided tour started, and got to learn about local aboriginal Australians (Cadigals), and about the history of the first convicts settling in the area. The locals were decimated by the virus brought by the English fleet, and pushed outside what now is the Sydney area.
Back to the gapachon machines for Alfie and Matilda, then to the opera and the Royal Botanic Garden. Tom, the three youngest kids and I then went to the State Library of NSW and a nice exhibition of children’s book illustrations, while the others went shopping in the city center.
We said goodbye to Tom & co (until tomorrow), and went eating at an Indian restaurant in Rozelle – our patience got put to the test while waiting for the food, but the food was worth it!
It was a long and busy day, a bit like Brisbane two weeks ago. We had a great day, with city wandering, art, history, culture and… family. A perfect day!
