Final Thoughts on Australia

For a country as vast as Australia, it would be impossible to say we did anything more than form some impressions during our visit. But here they are anyway:

- Someone told me that they say that [American] students who choose to do their study abroad in Australia do so because they don't want to actually live in a foreign culture. I can see why. For all its history as a former British colony (and there are plenty of "Poms" i.e. British folk), Australia feels much more American - big cars, big roads, and a lot of strip malls. The Gold Coast itself with its good weather, built up beach towns, theme parks, and retirees could be Florida.

- It is expensive. You'd have thought that living in Europe would have insulated us a bit from it but not so. Food prices were probably the biggest shock where even a bag or two of basics like cereal, sandwich fixings, etc. at the supermarket would easily set us back 60 Australian dollars (39 pounds, or 49 €). This might explain why Australia has one of the highest minimum wages in the world (~ 16 AUD). You almost always have to pay for internet, even Wi-fi, and it's usually capped. Does anyone even know anymore how much 20 MB gets you? Even when it is unlimited, service providers don't hesitate to block high bandwidth sites like Google maps, which, you know, could be useful for the people actually staying in the hotel. Probably the most egregious charge, however, was during our layover in Sydney airport. We had a connecting flight, and it cost 5.50 AUD per person to take the bus from the international terminal to the domestic one!?! The alternative, which we did consider, was an hour long walk along hot, smoggy roads with multiple lanes of traffic.

- As Rich likes to say, Aussies like to put an "ee" sound on the end of words. Common abbreviations we heard in the accent included: Brissie, nervy, pokies, rellies, and rashies. That's Brisbane, nervous, poker machines (and possibly casinos in general), relatives, and rash shirts, respectively, in Aussie-speak. Bonus: For those Americans out there, "thongs" in Australia are not the Sisqo-approved underwear, they are flip flops.

- The wildlife was awesome! We had some high expectations, but we got to see quite a few of the weird and wonderful creatures unique to Australia. We still couldn't tell you the difference between a kangaroo and wallaby, but who knew that wombats (mammals that look like rodents of unusual size) or echnidas (spiny anteaters) could be so funny and cute? Our only disappointments were not seeing a duck-billed platypus or many of the strange insects that inhabit the continent.

Brisbane, Part III (Australia)

We returned to Brisbane and met a racist on the train. In less than 15 minutes, a conversation Rich was having with a random old man turned from his recent holidays in Europe to the state of the Spanish economy to how the immigrants are all to blame. Uh, what?! The man merrily went on about the blacks [the indigenous Aborigines] and the boat people [Asian immigrants] being a drain on Australia (curiously enough, a couple of our Australian friends had recently posted some statistics refuting these on Facebook) and how Australia should be only for Australians. Whatever assumptions the man could have made about Rich, what I found even weirder was his expectation that I - clearly of Asian descent - would be in agreement! We had heard others talk about coming across racist Australians, but never did we expect one would be so openly vocal... and to complete strangers no less. It boggles the mind.

We had a couple of days to kill before the departure of our long flights home. Avoiding the masterpieces on loan from the Prado (well, we had devoted a whole day there when we were in Madrid), we wandered around the paintings from Australian artists in the Queensland Art Gallery. Next door the Gallery of Modern Art also had a fantastic exhibition on sculpture involving everyday objects, including Vespa scooters customized to look like stags, a mesmerizing set of whirling car wash brushes, and inner tubes suspended like clouds in the air. In the same neighborhood, the Southbank Parklands Lifestyle Market featured probably 100 open air stalls selling arts and crafts, clothes, and decor to peruse.

Taking advantage of the availability of theater in the English language, we managed to score tickets to one of the last performances of "The Harbinger" at La Boite Theatre. It's an adult fairytale about an old man with his dreams and memories featuring live actors and... puppets! (Oh, how we miss the annual giant puppet shows in North Carolina!) The Australian company goes by the clever name of the Dead Puppets Society, and the themes were considerably darker. We enjoyed it thoroughly. The only downside was that our slight age difference meant that Rich got a substantial discount, and I had to come to terms with paying the much higher old people's price!

Sydney, Part II (Australia)

Sydney's Fish Market is the second largest in the world behind Tokyo's. As a seafood lover and hobby cook, I couldn't resist the Behind the Scenes tour, despite the 6:45 am start time. The demographics of the tour group were particularly amusing – a bunch of Asians and a couple of Frenchmen. But really, who else would be eager to get up so early to look at fresh caught fish? Fisherman in Australia are now required to land 100% of their catch so the Fish Market Seafood School and other outreach programs have been working to educate Sydneysiders (as the locals are known) and visitors on how to prepare and appreciate all the riches of the sea. The seafood is sorted, weighed, graded, and crated on the floor, and various suppliers and buyers can wander through examining the lots before the auction begins at 5:30 am. The auction itself is complicated, and the big screens, stadium seating, and panel of buttons at each place look more akin to an off-track betting operation. Most lots are sold in reverse auction (or “Dutch” auction since it was popularized for selling tulips), where the price starts high and winds down on the screen until someone presses “stop” and wins. Other lots start high, wind down, and then confusingly go up again as interested buyers outbid each other. Weaving through the stacks of crates, the tour guide picked up interesting specimens, explaining how they are caught and giving tips on buying and preparing them. In the sashimi pavillion, we saw the big fish that would be auctioned as single lots: gorgeous sushi-grade tuna, swordfish, and even a couple of mako sharks!

Though the city is known for its life on the waterfront, Sydney's greenspaces are nothing to be sneezed at either. Hyde Park, named for the one in London, is centrally located and home to the Anzac Memorial. At various times, but most significantly in World War I, Australia and New Zealand troops (or “Anzacs”) fought for the British crown... often it seemed with devastating consequences under their British commanding officers. The Royal Botanic Gardens and the adjacent Domain also had their origins in colonial times but now are big, beautiful parks with prime locations in downtown Sydney. Many of the Brit expats (a.k.a. “Poms” in Aussie-speak) were so homesick that the section that grows plants native to their “green and pleasant land” was and continues to be one of the most popular in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Sydney (Australia)

Rich pushed on with work so I headed down to New South Wales to play. Sydney is Australia's most famous city though it isn't the capital (purpose-built Canberra is). Conceptually, I knew it was a harbor town though I was still unprepared to find it riddled with wharfs, harbors, and quays.

Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) is the main dock for the green and yellow public ferry system as well as home to the famed Sydney Opera House.  Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect who submitted the winning design, fell out of favor with the city when the build took 10 more years and 14x the amount of money that he estimated. He died, never seeing the completion of this Australian icon.  Opposite the Sydney Opera House are The Rocks district (the first settlement in Sydney and now home to artsy cafes and boutique shops) and the impressive Harbour Bridge.

The 18th Biennale, an international art festival that happens every two years, provided a good opportunity to get on the water. There was a free ferry to Cockatoo Island, the site of a former shipyard run on convict labor, where the industrial buildings of the museum were transformed into a contemporary art walk. With an Alcatraz kinda feel – and maybe I've watched too many movies - some of the impromptu galleries were a little eerie... like an abandoned warehouse that would be the perfect location for the someone to be tied up in a chair and tortured by the bad guys. More exhibitions were free (!) to the public at the excellent Art Gallery of New South Wales as well as the Australia Museum of Contemporary Art for the Biennale festivities.

Cairns, Port Douglas, and the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

Domestic flights in Australia are reasonable with the discount airlines. We hopped on a plane rather than embarking on what would be the 20+ hour road trip northwest from Brisbane to Cairns, even though they're both in the state of Queensland. There isn't a whole lot to do in Cairns city. It has a weird Midwest-suburbia-combination-beach-town vibe (shopping mall sprawl and bars advertising fruity cocktail specials)... which is all the more strange because there is no actual beach! Instead, Cairns has a man-made shallow lagoon for mostly kiddies and a boardwalk called "The Esplanade" from which you can gaze upon the natural mud flats.

With travel agencies and information centers on every corner, one quickly realizes that Cairns is merely a base for the 600+ tours of the region. You can visit rainforests or vineyards, hot air balloon or sky dive, go caving or whitewater rafting, and the list goes on and on. But these are all secondary pursuits. Cairns's claim to fame is as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. 

Our first trip to the reef went directly out from the port in Cairns. Michaelmas Cay (about 30 km east) has only a tiny segment of beach for visitors since the rest is off-limits as a migratory bird sanctuary. It was nice for easing back into snorkeling since the water was quite calm though chilly. We were glad for the wetsuits and the hot tea after! Hastings Reef was farther out, and the waves were stronger. The site was larger and deeper. Beautiful parrotfish, butterflyfish, anemonefish (a.k.a. Nemo and cousins),  and countless others swam all around us in the gorgeous corals. On the way back to port, we even caught a glimpse of the spray from some humpback whales as they were migrating to their breeding grounds!

For our second trip, we decided to go with a boat out of Port Douglas, which meant getting up before dawn to catch the transfer to the town 70 km north. We were hoping that getting away from the Cairns-based hoards would mean more pristine reef, and the gamble paid off. During our first mooring in the middle of Opal Reef, Rich and I both had trouble believing we weren't swimming in an aquarium. The corals were so brilliantly colored, and the fish were so abundant in number and variety, that I kept expecting to turn and see a treasure chest opening with bubbles floating out! The other sites at Long Bommie (a bommie is the high point of a reef) and Tongue Reef were also very good. We could have gone with the bunch that the marine biologist was leading to Turtle Bay, but our choice to go off independently had its own reward. We didn't even notice that a turtle was so close until it zipped by right in front of us!

Back in Cairns, we splurged at one of the chic restaurants in order to taste some Australian wildlife. Rich finally got to try Moreton Bay Bugs, a prehistoric creature that looks just like a lobster tail with eyes. The verdict was disappointing: shrimp-like, but without any of the sweetness of a lobster or tiger prawn. I opted for what seemed like Australia on a platter: crocodile (slightly fishy chicken with a texture somewhere between breast and shrimp), kangaroo (really tender beef steak), emu (a little tough beef steak - but maybe it was overcooked since even medium rare is pushing it), and the popular Australian barramundi (nice, flaky white fish). I could imagine some of these could be strong and gamey, but this place did a fantastic job balancing the flavors and paring them nicely with a bed of potato/sweet potato mash and braised baby bok choi. I would definitely go back for seconds! 

Brisbane (Australia)

Our first impression of Queensland's capital and the third largest city in Australia was muddled in the jetlag of arrival. Saying goodbye to Rich's cousins and the outskirts, we headed back into the city proper to take in more. Most of the sights are easy walking. A stroll along the Brisbane River brings you past several museums and artsy cafes. We ducked into the Queensland Museum to learn a bit more of the state's history, including sheep ranches, sea cucumber fishing, and lots of mining. This could explain the sort of old Wild West vibe we've felt. I guess gold rushes will do that to a place. Further down river, the South Bank Parklands has pretty bits of rainforest, outdoor eateries, and the occasional monument from Brisbane's twin cities or various other cultural connections. But the real winner for greenspace has to be the City Botanic Gardens, where the huge fig, pine, and macadamia trees that shade lovely stretches of soft grass – real grass for our deprived Barcelona-selves! – made us wish we'd brought a picnic.

Heading up the pedestrian mall of Queen Street, we passed pubs and restaurants, clothing stores, souvenir shops, and money exchanges. It finally hit us that UGG boots are actually a product of Australia after passing countless outlets claiming to offer the best deal. We didn't buy any footwear, but we were quite happy to open our wallets for the farmer's market/food stalls at the end of the high street. Then again, we never could resist grilled sausages or kettle corn. It was a bargain compared to most of the meals we've had in this country, where even one takeout dish can set you back 16 Australian dollars (~ 17 USD or 14 €) - and that's without rice! 

Beerwah (Australia)

Steve Irwin fascinated millions as the Crocodile Hunter on his Animal Planet television show. While you may disagree with his methods, the Australia Zoo, which bears his name and likeness (and the likenesses of his entire family in a huge merchandising empire), in Beerwah is home to many of the continent's most intriguing creatures.

One advantage of visiting in the winter was that we and the other handful of tourists pretty much had the run of the zoo. The enclosures seemed reasonably sized and almost natural to our untrained eyes. The animals were very active. Echnidas (cute little porcupine things that catch insects with their long tongues) and cassowaries (prehistoric-looking giant flightless birds) were moving around so much that all our pictures were blurred.

Though the cost of admission was still dear, as the Aussies would say, zookeepers seemed to be around every corner with an animal you could meet. There were dingoes, baby alligators, and wombats (marsupials which look like rodents of unusual size... and adorableness). One exhibit was dedicated to native snakes with increasing levels of venom. Naturally, the focus of the stage show in the “Crocomuseum” was the saltwater crocodile. When the park staff in true Steve Irwin-style taunted Charlie the Crocodile, not comfortable with the ethics of such tactics, we were both secretly rooting for him to take a chunk out of one of them.

For us, the real highlight of the Australia Zoo were the koalas and kangaroos. So many koalas were in the trees that we half wondered if some of them were just planted teddy bears. After all, they sleep for 20 hours a day, digesting the toxic eucalyptus that is the mainstay of their diet, so it'd be hard to tell from the motionless balls of fur. Rich was lucky enough to catch one awake and snacking with a baby in its pouch! Being there on a school day was great, too, because the kangaroos were still hungry enough to eat from our hands. They weren't too grumpy so we could spend quite some time hanging out with them, and if the roos got tired, they could wander back into their own private rest areas.

Rich was disappointed there weren't any duck-billed platypuses, but all in all, we had an excellent visit to the Australia Zoo!

Brisbane, Beenleigh, Mount Tambourine, Surfers Paradise, and Burleigh Heads (Australia)

When we were barely newlyweds, Rich got sent off to Australia for work for almost 2 months. I had wanted to go visit him, but that whole wedding-and-honeymoon business had already used up a lot of time and cash. When he told me he was going for work again – let alone during August a.k.a. the month that all of Spain takes its vacations – there was no way I was going to miss this second chance!

If you drew a line from Spain straight through the center of the Earth, you would end up in Australia. This explains both the shockingly high airfare to Brisbane and the fact that the flights, strangely enough, show you could go in either an easterly or westerly direction. We'd heard good things about Emirates... but let's face it, everybody in economy just wants to get off the plane after watching 5 films and eating 6 meals... even with regular hot towels and tea service.

Rich's cousin was kind enough to pick us up when we landed at 2 a.m. and generous enough to let us stay with her family at their place in Beenleigh, a suburb of Brisbane. Our introduction to the land of Oz (as the Aussies call it) came the next morning when we were drinking tea on the back porch and a wild cockatoo landed in the big palm nearby! It's winter here, but you wouldn't know it during the sunny days, whose warm temperatures equal those of an English summer. Brightly-colored lorikeets stopped by later, and ibis(es?) and bush turkeys are so common they're almost pests... especially if the bush turkey decides to build his nest – basically a huge compost pile – in your yard.

We went for a drive – left side of the road, folks! - up to Mount Tambourine. There were gorgeous views of the lowlands (lots of horse country), and we watched a para-sailer ride the thermals below. The wineries were closed when we got there, but we did have a lovely coffee with views of the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise to the strains of terrible country music. After about the 10th kookaburra, we stopped taking so many pictures of the birds each time we saw one.

Surfers Paradise up close is a flashy, touristy cluster of high-rise hotels, casinos, and clubs. However, just a little further south, Burleigh Heads is a quieter beach town with a nice little National Park. We took a stroll through the eucalyptus forest, with a slightly faster pace in the rock fall danger zone! Whales are sometimes spotted off the coast here, but all we caught were surfers. Lunch was at a restaurant at a life savers (life guard) station. Rich's cousins are members, so we were privileged to partake of their excellent fried seafood and what was the best seafood chowder ever! We've been talking about it ever since.