Soccer in The Domain

It’s lunchtime on Friday and The Reserve Bank of Australia and NAB (National Australia Bank) are playing each other at soccer - here in the middle of Sydney in ‘The Domain’ (which is Sydney’s equivalent of Central Park). They are all very committed and are certainly taking this opportunity to let off steam. I noticed that, waiting on the sidelines, were teams from two other banks, ready to play each other as soon as this game concluded. I am sure that more gets settled out here on these fields than it would in a Friday afternoon spent in the towering offices behind us. We should tell the folks on Wall Street that maybe they should meet in Central Park every Friday afternoon for a game. This could be the solution to the global banking crisis.

I was impressed that the whole of The Domain was full of people exercising. This is certainly a very fit and healthy nation which has embraced the outdoors and the concept of frequent physical activity. I saw people running, kick-boxing, taking a yoga class, swimming, power walking and throwing a football around – let alone the entire banking community playing competitive soccer. Impressively, all this activity seemed to be happening during their lunch hour. No wonder Australia, even with its relatively small population, consistently does so well at the Olympics Games - not to mention in rugby, soccer and cricket worldwide.

The Domain is a peninsula that ends in Sydney Harbour, from the tip of which there is yet another stunning view of the city. Luckily, you never get tired of these views. This one seemed to be a particular favorite, as professional photographers had set up an area where they offered (for a fee) to take group or individual pictures and print them for you on the spot. A visiting rugby team, from a boys school in England, were in the middle of having a team photograph taken by a clearly delighted vendor, who was likely to do very well out of this transaction.
I happily took my own photographs of the area and then continued around the headland and in to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

These gardens started life as a farm, set up in 1788 by the first British settlers and Governor Phillip. But it was in 1816 that Governor Macquarie chose to turn what had become an unsuccessful farm into the beginnings of a Botanic Garden. He even built a seating area for his wife near the rocks at the tip of the peninsula, which provided the perfect view of the harbour. Here she would happily sit and watch ships entering the bay. This remains today and is known as Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, where visitors now come to admire the view and have their picture taken in this famed spot.

The Gardens are full of exotic plants and trees native to Australia – and many that were brought from all over the world and planted here over the last 200 years. There are also the flying foxes – something I had certainly not come across before. They are actually very large bats and are common in the Asia-Pacific region. Some breeds are also known as fruit bats. I was only able to see them from afar, clustered in a treetop above, which was fine as they are sometimes known to swoop around in a rather alarming fashion which can be quite a surprise for an unsuspecting tourist passing below, I’m sure!

From the Botanic Gardens, I then headed back towards the city center and to Hyde Park, named after Hyde Park in London. This was a more formal park, enjoyed by city folk who come here regularly for their lunch – or even to play a game of chess on the prominent giant board. It’s wonderful that Australia’s most heavily populated city (and its center of all banking and commerce) has managed to keep and maintain so much green space in such a bustling environment. This really is a very attractive city which balances business, beauty, work and pleasure extremely well. It’s the sort of place that makes you feel good, just from walking around. I can certainly report that most Sydneysiders themselves look cheerful, optimistic and healthy - and in this kind of environment you can understand why.

Bondi Beach

Perhaps one of the most famous stretches of beach in the world, Bondi lies just a few short miles east of downtown Sydney - in the eastern suburbs – and even on a winter’s day, is spectacular.
The beach itself has over half a mile of uninterrupted golden sand that curves invitingly around a bay. Surfers come here from miles around (and from all over the world) and in summertime (December!) the beach can get so crowded that you cannot even see the sand. So a midwinter’s day was a perfect time to visit Bondi (although it almost reached 70 degrees today!)

I had to become a temporary member of one of the swimming and surfing clubs – the Bondi Icebergs Club – in order to go in to what I thought was just café and order a coffee! I will proudly keep hold of my membership card. Just next to the clubhouse is a stunning swimming pool, which is filled naturally by seawater. Yet another great Australian pool with a view. No wonder they have had so many great swimmers through the years. Ian Thorpe – the ‘Thorpedo’ is a native of Sydney.
I watched as several surfers braved what must have been relatively cold waters – and was impressed by their patience and technique as they waited for the ideal wave to come along. At least there were no sharks around – although I had been told that earlier in the year, due to unseasonal temperatures in the ocean, there had been an unusually large number of shark sightings at Bondi – and at several other Sydney beaches. I got the impression that this was just something you got used to and half expected – as nobody ever seemed particularly bothered or alarmed when talking about sharks in the areas that they liked to swim and surf in.

I walked around the headland, enjoying more great views of the whole bay and looked to to sea for a while thinking to myself what a vast stretch of ocean lay ahead. Next landfall, if you missed the north of New Zealand, maybe Hawaii? It’s no wonder Australia remained the great undiscovered continent for so long. It really is surrounded by a LOT of ocean – the South Pacific to the east and the Indian Ocean to the west. It is incredible when you remember that it took until 1770 for Captain Cook to make it here.
With Cook on my mind, I left Bondi and headed back in to Sydney – to visit Darling Harbour. The Maritime Museum is based here – and right next to it is a full size replica of Cook’s ship, Endeavour. This replica re-created the exact voyage from Whitby, North Yorkshire (England) to Sydney during the 1990s.
Funnily enough, I had actually been in Whitby at the time when the replica Endeavour was moored there, prior to its long voyage to Australia. It was good to see it again – and, having seen Cook’s cottage in Melbourne, I felt I had paid homage to this great British explorer and his significant achievements and place in the Australian story.
Darling Harbour is a fairly recently developed part of Sydney, full of the obvious cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops – as well as an aquarium, Imax cinema (which was proudly advertising ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ in Imax and 3-D!) a Chinese garden, and - intriguingly - a monorail system.
Sydney’s Chinatown area borders Darling Harbour and I had a chance to wander through, feeling at once transported to an Asian market with all its sights, sounds and wonderful smells. There were hundreds of Chinese restaurants and food stores – and for several blocks every piece of writing (on signs, stores, street names and advertising) was in Chinese script. Geographically, Australia has proximity with the Asian mainland and, particularly, Thailand, Indonesia and China. This has resulted in Australian cuisine having a heavy influence from this region, as well as (in the last 30 years or so) Australia becoming home to many who emigrated from these and other nearby Asian countries. This has made Australia into an incredibly diverse, multicultural society – many say unmatched by anywhere else apart from the USA. Captain Cook (who was one of the few early explorers to actually reach out to and respect the Aboriginal people) would have been rather pleased at how this land has become home to so many from all around the world.

The day I realized that I could have been an Australian...

No – I am not back at school in D.C. This is a third grade (Year 4) classroom in a junior school in Sydney – Redlands, which I visited this morning. I thought it looked reassuringly familiar!
Redlands is a beautiful school, with boys and girls from the age of 4 up to the age of 18 – split between two different sites. I was shown around by the Head of the junior school, Mr. Ari Guha. I saw a great deal of the junior school and was excited to see the equivalent of a third grade classroom.
They have up to 100 students in each grade, with a maximum of 25 students in a class. We will certainly be maintaining a connection with each other – and our Beauvoir third graders will have the chance to communicate with students at Redlands in 2010. I also met with the Head of the Prep school and saw their wonderful facilities and library, which often reminded me of Beauvoir. I felt that we had quite a lot in common with this school and I look forward to keeping in touch.
When I had finished my morning at Redlands, I walked the short distance down to Cremorne Point. This is an area of headland in North Sydney which is known for the most stunning views of the harbour. I was told that from here I would get my best view yet of the bridge and the Opera House. I was not disappointed. I took a tiny pathway, which wound its way around the coastline, overlooking rocks and the sea below. The view was all that I had hoped for.
Once again, I was spellbound by the image in front of me – I sat there and just, simply, enjoyed looking at it. There was also a small, outdoor public swimming pool, which obviously benefited from this extraordinary view. If I lived here, I’d be in that pool every morning. I saw boats coming and going and realized that a ferry service operated from the tiny Cremorne Point. How perfect!
I wound my way down to the jetty and then caught a ferry all the way across the harbour and back to Circular Quay. This was the way to travel. How wonderful it must be for those fortunate folks who live at Cremorne Point and work in Sydney – and have this as their morning commute. I had to call my wife right away to tell her that we had to move here at once!
Now that I was right beside the Opera House again, I decided that now was a good time to take one of their special guided tours, that takes you all around the building – inside and outside and behind the scenes of the opera theater and concert hall. It was an excellent experience – and I learned so much more about the building and its Danish architect, Jørn Utzon. The design was chosen from literally hundreds that were submitted as part of a world-wide competition. Utzon’s design was by far the most radical, risky and potentially impossible.
But, being Australia, they went for it – and succeeded. I think most other countries would have chosen an easier, safer and more traditional option – but that is not the Australian way, thank goodness – and just look at the outcome. It was completed and opened by the Queen in 1973. Utzon’s son is right now working on the redevelopment of interior of the opera theater – and was, apparently, in the building that very day. He must be a very proud son.

I had time for one more stop today – and it was a significant, but personal one. I knew (thanks to my sister’s extensive research of our family history and genealogy) that my great grandparents were actually married in Sydney – back in 1892. My great grandfather (this was my Dad’s grandfather), Earnest Hart, was in the navy at the time and married my great grandmother, Lillian Elizabeth Murphy, in St. Kieran’s Church, Golden Grove, Sydney on October 20th 1892. So – I set out for Golden Grove, determined to find St Kieran’s. A train took me just three stops from the waterfront to the area called Darlinghurst, where Golden Grove Street is. I walked the neighborhood for several minutes and then, with surprising ease, found the correct street.
It was quite a moment for me when I found the church itself. The original St. Kieran’s now lies behind a more modern church building re-named St. Michael’s. But the original nineteenth century building still stands and I felt a connection that I have never felt before with my great grandparents. What would Sydney have been like in 1892? It was certainly a rapidly growing city at that time, but nothing like it is today. Years of development, change and immigration still lay ahead. I wondered why they hadn’t stayed here much longer themselves? Perhaps my sister has the full story. It’s funny to think, though, that had they settled in Sydney, like so many others have, then I would have been an Australian. Maybe that explains my strong, positive feelings towards this country. I have loved Australia - and I adore Sydney. Well, Earnest and Lillian – here I am, 117 years later. I’m glad that I finally made it here too - this is a very special place.

Back to Sydney

So – the final leg of my travels – and it’s a return to Sydney. I left here on July 8th after a 24 hour whirlwind tour of the place – but now I’m back for six days and nights, which I’m delighted about. This is a great place to finish up – and I have so much I want to see and do here.
First up would be a closer look at the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was time to actually be on the bridge and walk across, rather than just admire it from afar (which is very easy to do and enjoy!)
I took a train to Milsons Point – on the north side of the harbor. Here, I also had the chance to explore Luna Park.

Luna Park was built in the 1930s and was based on the design of New York's Coney Island funfair. It is full of traditional fairground rides, an historic carousel and classic, art-deco structures. It is most famous for its extraordinary entrance gates - a 30 foot high maniacal clown-like face with a gaping mouth that you enter though. At night time, this is garishly lit and you can see it from way across the harbor on the Opera House side.
I then walked up and on to the Sydney Harbour Bridge itself – a magnificent structure and a Sydney icon. It was built in the 1920s and opened in 1932, linking the north and south shores at last. It remains the widest long span bridge in the world and is also the world’s tallest steel arch bridge – an impressive piece of engineering and breathtaking beauty. It was wonderful to cross the bridge by foot (nearly a mile long) and have time to stop and admire the incredible views of the harbor. Looking across at the Opera House, I was struck by how it has a ‘magnetic’ pull.
You just have to keep staring at it – few buildings in the world have that “Look at me! Look at me!” power. The Eiffel Tower has it, maybe the Pyramids too – but I think the Sydney Opera House beats them all because of what it is surrounded by. The setting is perfect, and I think I have just found my favorite view in the world. I could look at this for hours.
Having admired the water and the harbour from above for so long, I decided that I now needed to get on to the water. From Circular Quay, I caught one of the green and gold city ferries out to Manly.
This was a beautiful 30 minute ride, better than anything you could hope for even on a special tour boat. The regular public ferry to Manly provided all the photo opportunities you would ever need on this glorious, sunny day. Manly itself is a popular and picturesque Oceanside town with a beautiful beach. Here, I saw surfers catching a Pacific wave and children playing in the perfect sand. For a beach in winter, this was impressive.
As darkness fell, I took a ferry back to Circular Quay and caught the wonderful sight of the sun setting over the harbour. The Opera House had taken on a pinky-orange glow in this dusky light – and it was to this wondrous building that I now headed, to actually go inside and see an evening show. I was thrilled to actually have the chance to see a performance in this world-famous building and I enjoyed a hugely entertaining production of Shakespeare’s ‘Pericles’, performed by the Bell Shakespeare group – Australia’s only touring Shakespeare company. It was a great end to my first day back in Sydney. I just love it here.

Locked Up

One of the most visited attractions in Melbourne is Old Melbourne Jail (or ‘Gaol’) – the final home to many a rogue. The most notorious resident was Ned Kelly – an Australian anti-hero, remembered and written about in much the same way as Billy the Kid or Bonnie & Clyde, Dick Turpin or even Al Capone.
The first part of the tour of the jail was rather unexpected – as it involved all of us actually getting locked up in an old prison cell by a prison guard (portrayed by an actor - who was clearly enjoying his role a little too much). This is not something I would recommend for anyone who gets claustrophobic – and I felt that we were left in the cell just a little too long for comfort. Nevertheless, seeing this historic old prison was fascinating and we were presented with several strange and interesting tales of infamous inhabitants from the 1800s – and most prominent, of course, was the story of Ned Kelly and his gang.
After about 40 minutes of this I suddenly realized that I wanted to be outside in sunny Melbourne again. This had been long enough for me – and I felt fortunate that I was able to do exactly what thousands before me in years gone by always wished that they could do; leave.

As a pleasant contrast to Victorian-era incarceration, I then enjoyed the Italian quarter of the city – and, chiefly, Lygon Street. This is where thousands of Italian families first made their homes in Melbourne, soon after the end of the Second World War. Melbourne quickly benefited from their wonderful cooking and perfect espresso coffee, as it still does today. Lygon Street is lined with countless Italian restaurants, delicatessens and cafes, which were today filled with both locals and visitors enjoying lunch and soaking up the sun on every available sidewalk table. After another stunning cup of coffee, I then took a tram back down to Flinders Street. Melbourne’s trams are superb – they are plentiful, quick and much-loved by all.
Other cities that got rid of their trams too hastily now look with envy at Melbourne and its excellent tram system. It’s certainly the best way to see much of the city as a visitor and it is significantly quicker than a car (helped by the fact that trams always have right of way. If you’re a car and there is a tram coming, you have to move – and fast!)
I crossed the Yarra over to the South Bank – the artistic hub of Melbourne. Here, there are museums, art galleries, concert halls, the convention center, even more cafes and restaurants, skateboarders, street musicians and dancers and plenty of folks simply enjoying sitting on the banks of the river. Other than on the observation deck of the Rialto Tower, this is probably where you get the best view of the city also.

I was also fortunate enough to visit another school today. Thanks to my wonderful local guide and host, Kate, it had been arranged for me to tour Buckley House – the junior school of Ivanhoe Grammar School, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was a delightful school filled with charming, happy, engaged students, many wonderful facilities and some impressive new buildings. I even had the chance to spend some time in a third grade classroom, during their Writer’s Workshop lesson! Everything was reassuringly familiar and I was pleased to make some great connections and contacts, which will be so useful when we are all studying Australia next year.

Melbourne has a great history, with its Gold Rush, its time as Australia’s capital city and its sustained influx of immigrants who made it such a richly diverse and cosmopolitan city. All around you, so many grand Victorian buildings remain – which, I realized, is unusual and sets this city apart from others. Back in England, so many of these types of buildings are long gone – either destroyed in wartime (1939-1945) or by developers with no aesthetic sense (1965-1975). But here those remnants of a prosperous and dynamic age still stand proudly, alongside the modern buildings that remind us that Melbourne has continued to be a city of exciting growth, change and optimism.
But now, my stay here is over. It's finally time to return to Sydney, where my journey started back on July 7th.

P.S.
Postscript to Saturday’s entry, for those following my cricket news: England DID eventually beat Australia in the cricket today, which completely astounded me! It is the first time in 75 years that England has won at Lord’s Cricket Ground against Australia. That’s a long wait. It’s just so funny that I should be over here – of all places – to witness it. I’m being very respectful to my Australian friends about it all right now – but, just between you and me, I am absolutely ecstatic!

Penguin Parade

Today I went on one of the 'must do' trips out of Melbourne - an excursion to Phillip Island, home of the fairy penguin and the incredible Penguin Parade.
Until a few weeks ago, I had absolutely no idea that there were penguins in the wild in Australia. Kangaroos, yes. Koalas, certainly. Crocodiles, of course. But penguins? I thought I would have to go to the south pole to see penguins in their natural habitat. Australia is a sun-drenched and generally warm climate, surely? But these penguins are native Australians and this is their natural home - and the incredible spectacle I was about to see had been going on since long before there was a Melbourne, a Sydney or anything much else.
Phillip Island is about a two hour drive from Melbourne - almost due south. I took a tour bus, along with about a dozen other visitors to Melbourne and we set off at 3:00pm. Our driver, Dave, was extremely knowledgeable and liked to keep us informed, using his microphone headset, of all the places of interest that we passed. This was fine as we drove out of Melbourne, where he pointed out some of the great buildings, the Rod Laver tennis center (home of the Australian Open), Albert Park's Formula 1 motor-racing track, the old Olympic Park and the nearby Dandenong Mountains. But he wasn't done yet - even on the many miles of the 'M1' motorway. Dave then gave us a never-ending narrative about the history of the roadways, dual carriageways and overpasses. It was when he excitedly told us that "this stretch of road now has three lanes in each direction - and it only had the two lanes last year..." that I decided enough was enough and sought refuge in my iPod.
I amused myself for the final hour of the journey by trying to only play music by Australian artists - so it was Crowded House, INXS, Men At Work, Midnight Oil and even Kylie Minogue that kept me going until we pulled in to the parking lot at Phillip Island at 5:00pm (which, Dave told us enthusiastically, had recently been expanded to hold up to 1500 vehicles).

The sun was already beginning to set - so it was time to get down to the seafront and wait for the arrival of the penguins. This natural phenomenon happens every day at dusk. Fairy penguins come ashore, having being at sea all day (or, for some, several days), to find their nests for the night - and next few days. They deliberately wait until this time of the day, as in the near-darkness it is the safest time for them to cross the exposed sandy beaches, avoiding predators. A group of us waited patiently on a boardwalk right on the beach. For a few minutes, I wondered to myself whether there might be some nights when the penguins go somewhere else - or perhaps we'd just see one or two. But then, out of nowhere, as the waves crashed on to shore, there suddenly appeared out of the foam a huddle of about fifty penguins! It was unbelievable and quite magical.
They continued to waddle out of the sea, closer and closer to where we were watching in silence and awe. I have certainly never been this close to a penguin - let alone fifty. They continued their journey, marching by us and onwards - up on to the hillsides to find their nests, calling to each other all the way and occasionally pausing for a quick preen of their feathers. But there was more - and I mean more penguins. Just a few minutes later another wave crashed ashore carrying another group of penguins - and this happened twice more, perhaps with about twenty or thirty penguins in each of these later clusters. It was, quite simply, awesome – and something I will never forget seeing. My evening was made complete when, walking away from the beach as the last of the penguins disappeared into the darkness of the scrubland, I looked up at the sky. Never before had I seen a night sky like this. There were so many stars - all of them so bright and perfectly clear. Tonight was a stunning display of nature at its best and most beautiful. This, alone, was worth the journey to the other side of the world.

Cook's Country

Captain James Cook is credited as being the person who ‘discovered’ Australia. He was certainly the first European to officially step foot on Australian soil (in 1770) when he sailed his ship, Endeavour, along the coastline and landed at Botany Bay – near where Sydney stands now. He then claimed the land as British territory – and the rest is history. Cook was from Yorkshire, in the north of England, and he grew up in a small cottage in the town of Great Ayton (where, incidentally, I visited back in the 1990s, when I was researching the story of Captain Cook for a fifth grade class I taught in England). That entire cottage is now right here in Melbourne. I remember, back in the 90s, being disappointed not see Cook’s house in Great Ayton. Well – twelve years later, I’ve made it! The building was carefully taken down, brick by brick, in 1933 and shipped to Melbourne where it was re-built in the middle of Fitzroy Gardens, near the Treasury building in downtown Melbourne. It is an important building in the history of Australia – an equivalent, of sorts, to Washington’s house or the Pilgrim’s first settlements.
It was great to tour the cottage – and see this little piece of England, so far from its original home. Even the British flag was flying proudly above it.
I then continued on towards the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) – a historic cricketing venue and also centerpiece of the 1956 Olympic Games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Impressively, it can hold 100,000 spectators – which it generally does on big days, such as the Boxing Day (December 26th) test match (cricket) – or the AFL Grand Final (Aussie Rules football) – which is Australia’s equivalent of the Superbowl. It also hosts international soccer games, rugby matches and even rock concerts. Funnily enough, cricket fans here in Australia are all focused on London, England right now – and Lord’s Cricket Ground (as am I!). For the next few days, Australia are playing England in what is known as the ‘Ashes’ series of cricket. This is THE big cricket series. Think of it as the cricket equivalent of a World Series between the Yankees and the Red Sox – and you’ll get the idea. It’s strange for me to be watching this series form the backyard of the ‘enemy’!
But at least here there is full, live television coverage – which I never get back in the USA. So, most evenings, before going to bed, I’m happily relaxing in my hotel watching live cricket from London – where, as we speak, the English are doing rather well. This is particularly satisfying for me, as Australia tend to beat England - often rather comprehensively.