Goodnight, Sydney - Goodbye, Australia.

I’m sitting here on Saturday evening, at about 8:00pm – writing two final postcards to Aidan and Eliza. The postcards show nighttime pictures of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge – and, funnily enough, I am sitting on the wall at Circular Quay with perfect real-life views of them too! I take two last photographs myself of these wonderful structures – which look all the more spectacular by night. I mail the postcards, thinking that I will be back in DC when they arrive – so very far from here. I glance back for a lingering look at Sydney Harbour and remember the day I arrived, nearly three weeks ago now. I will never forget checking in to my hotel that first morning and being shown to my room with this remarkable view. I feel I know it so well now and have learned so much about it – but, as I’ve said before, you never get tired of looking at it.
I have seen only a tiny part of Australia – but I have at least been to the three most heavily populated cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) as well as the capital city (Canberra). I have learned so much about the country and had many surprises along the way. From the Big Pineapple, to Surfer’s Paradise, then there was the Sunshine Coast, Bondi Beach, Captain Cook’s Cottage, The Gabba and Aussie Rules football, the Glasshouse Mountains, Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo, the penguins at Phillip Island, visiting four schools in three cities, finding my great grandparent’s church in Sydney, the parliament building in Canberra, Ned Kelly and Old Melbourne Jail, Shakespeare at the Sydney Opera House, Luna Park fun fair, the trams in Melbourne, watching cricket on tv with England beating Australia (!), the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast, The Endeavour, the wonderful markets in Melbourne and Sydney, the superb coffee I have had everywhere, fish and chips, the water taxis and ferries in Brisbane and Sydney, meeting up with old friends and making new ones - and so much more (which, luckily, this blog has chronicled – so I’ll never forget!).
I knew that I would enjoy Australia – I had always wanted to come here and I'd heard so much about it throughout my life. But, now that I have seen some significant parts of it for myself, I can truly say that I feel I know and understand this country – and I absolutely love it. I will most certainly be back – there’s so much more I still want to see (take your pick from Adelaide, Perth, Uluru, The Great Barrier Reef and Tasmania – to name but a few) and I want to share all of it with my family next time too.
I would recommend Australia unreservedly to everyone. This is a country that has to be seen to be truly appreciated. It may seem far away – and the journey IS very long - but, my goodness, it is worth it. Studying Australia will certainly make for a rich and exciting Global Study for my students next year – and, having now experienced Australia first-hand, I have so much to share with them. I can’t wait to get started.