I am sad to report that after two months in Australia on the travel-writing program, I am officially no longer a Sydneysider. Actually, it turns out, I may not have been classified as a SS personality, as I tended to click more comfortably with the rival of the Southern bit, Melbourne. In fact, with my choice of shoe, style, and love of café culture, it seems that I may have been a Melbournian all along.
With that said, it was terribly sad to say “so long” to my sunny friend, Sydney. Sydney has a completely different sort of beauty than any sort of city I’ve ever seen, and although my typical description is “Sydney has magic moments…” I do feel like it was the perfect place for me to soak up the Australian way. Sydney is her own person, with her own style, and the ability to bring out the best of the “no worries” mentality. Her Harbour view is to die for, and that spot by the Opera House is one that will never leave me. That one little corner of the world where the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge outline the sunset into the oceans beyond will always define the beauty I found in my Sydneyside experience, and the joy and completeness I found in being there.
However, with my portfolio finally handed in, my finals and final papers finished, and my two and a half bags (yikes) packed and ready to go, I wanted to end my trip at one of the most legendary cities the world has to offer, in the very bottom of this country that I have come to love and adore: Melbourne, Victoria.
Without question, Melbourne is a mish-moshed, mixed up, marvelous city. Its definition falls somewhere in between the wide, busy streets of New York, the alleyways of Paris, the multiculturalism of London, the antiquity of Rome and Madrid and the funky neo-classical architecture of Brussels. Truth be told, with its reliable trams and funky art displays juxtaposing the glitzy lights of Federation Sqaure, Melbourne (like the rest of her country) isn’t quite sure who she is yet. It’s definitely a city that can buzz with the best of them, but her real charm lies in the hidden nooks that take her dwellers back in time; to a more reserved, retro era.
With a few days to spare before getting back to the States, I joined Annie on the first leg of her big one-month travel adventure to tackle the sights and sounds of Melbourne, starting on Tuesday. After an emotional goodbye with the gang in Sydney and our wonderful teacher, Sharon, Annie and I headed our of our sense of Australian home, and ventured to the other side.
Now, it’s no secret really that Melbournians and Sydnersiders don’t really get along. There seems to be this constant competition between the two, where one tries to “steal the other’s thunder” in all things. I’ve had it described to me like that more than once, and I think it means that Melbourne used to be the immediate capital of all things cool, where the art galleries, movie premieres , government business and financial markets used to thrive in (and represent) Australia. After hosting the Olympics in the 1950s, Melbourne toned down a little, and Sydney stole that thunder in 2001, when were chosen to host the Olympics over the big guy. I think it’s also got to do with the gold rush history, and maybe even that famous Australian egalitarian mentality. Sydney is more about having “no worries”—no class division, no focus on political issues, very easy going state of mind and way of things, while Melbourne is the epitome of the country’s wealth and prosperity. In short, it’s a tale of two cities: one is sparkling and spectacular, and the other, simple and serene. It’s just something to admire and appreciate separately.
Anyway, Melbourne was a huge success for us. Sadly, Amy and Aly had to go back to the States by Friday, and my last Saturday in Australia was spent with my first new friend in Sydney, and someone who has truly become a lovely, wonderful adventure partner, Annie.
Now, there’s a lot to say to preface the sort of day we had, but I’ll try to keep it cool and collected so I can capture the beauty of it all.
First of all, Annie and I rented a car, which is sort of a huge deal for two twenty-one year old girls who come from a country that doesn’t trust you with a rented vehicle til twenty-five. We were both a little nervous, and a little excited to see what was ahead as we headed out to explore Great Ocean Road. Just south of Melbourne, Great Ocean Road stretches for miles along the coast, and it includes some of the most breathtaking views that Australia has to offer. From Day One, we were both dying to see it.
However, did I mention that Australians drive on the left side of the road? Or, that most of the route is over hills and valleys of a National Park that overlook the seaside? Did I mention that I’ve never tackled either of those tasks? Well, I did. We did. And I’m damn proud of us for that.
As the road got smaller and smaller, and our GPS started to lie and invent streets that weren’t there, we navigated ourselves through the long and windy streets and roundabouts through our handy maps and rusty road signs, old school style. And you know what? With two stops for lunch and tea along the seaside towns, Annie and I made the goal that we never thought we would—a place about six hours away, over, under and down, called the Twelve Apostles.
Now, I’m not sure about much of the history on the Twelve Apostles (well, the rock formation…), but I do know that it was utterly, absolutely, without a fragment of a doubt, the best, fitting, most appropriate and right place for me to end my time in Australia.
Around 5 PM, Annie and I emerged from our trusty car, to find the sight overlooking crystally blue water, matched with a golden pink sky that stretches out to meet the water forever and beyond.
As I walked down the rocky path with the other tourists, I started to feel that unexpected heart swell again, the same kind I had long ago at the bottom of an English valley with the sunsetting behind me and a group of 40 American kids would change my life. But it was more than just that re-ignited feeling of serenity, wonder and absorption of being in the midst of something greater than myself. This was not about England at all, this was not about what happened before, what I’d seen before, past experiences, or past figures. This was about Australia— just me and Australia.
This was about me realizing that I came here on a whim and a smirk, and I am leaving this country with a whole new half of myself that I never knew I could have. I am leaving this country with a totally new sense of appreciation for the land, for how the Australian people live on this land, and die by it. They fight to live in it, they fight to survive it, and they love every bloody inch of it. They are their land, and this scene in the middle of nowhere was part of that. This moment on the highlight of Great Ocean Road was about celebrating the freedom, liberty, and beauty of an untouched landscape that held elements and images that were older than every country, every person, every castle and dynasty in the world. This whole trip was about discovering the treasures of a mostly unknown, uncelebrated country that I have been lucky enough to find and explore. This trip was about leaving my elements of comfort, of solace, and even a little pain. This country gave me courage to ride a racehorse down one of the rockiest mountains in Australia, to dive deep into the depths of the Great Barrier Reef, and appreciate the largest living entity in all existence. This country gave me the glittery street lights I needed to keep me in check, but gave the best rewards were when I got pushed out into uncharted territory, and found that I could not only survive, but actually let go, and enjoy myself. I risked being attacked by rare dangerous birds in the wild, being eaten by a shark, falling from a cliff, and even boxing a kangaroo, and I made it. In fact, I made it just fine.
So I guess, this is it. Time to say farewell to what some call a “sunburned country,” but I still call the Wonderful Land of Oz (I even found rainbows, for goodness sake!). So to end the journey, I leave you with one of my favourite pieces of literature that we read in our classes here, by one of my favourite authors of all time.
This was me at the beginning of my time in Sydney:
" In Martin Place, he longed for Westminter, in Sussex Street, he almost wept for Covent Garden and in St. Martin's Lane, at the Circular Quay, he pined for London Bridge. It was all London without being London. Without any of the lovely old glamour that invests London. This London of the Southern hemisphere was all, as it were, make in five minutes, a substitute for the real thing. Just a substitute- as margarine is for butter. He went home pining for England."
And yet, by the end, he writes,
"He had fixed his berths on the Manganui, and would sail away in twenty days. To America — the United States...which seemed to lie next in his line of destiny...[Australia] had a deep mystery for him, and a dusky, far-off call that he knew would go on calling for long ages before it got any adequate response, in human beings. From far off, from down long fern-dark avenues there seemed to be the voice of Australia, calling low.
Yet the day came to go: to give up the keys, and leave the lonely, bare Coo-ee to the next comers. Even the sea had gone flowery again at last…She would leave behind her forever something of herself, in that home. And he knew that one of his souls would stand forever out on those rocks beyond the jetty, towards Bulli, advanced into the sea, with the dark magic of the tor standing just inland. "
For me, Australia will always be there as a place of renewal, a place of exploration, of both soul and soil. I came here with a list of “Things to Do,” and I leave here with notebooks full of things I’ve learned, things I’ve stumbled upon, and things to do next. I love Australia, as a country, as a people, as a concept, as a nation. This journey filled my lungs with fresh air, and brought me back a sense of new life. It made me better, it pushed my limits, it made me whole.
And I, like David Herbert Lawrence, will always feel one of my souls standing forever out on those rocks beyond the jetty…out toward the free Australian sea.
‘Ta, mates, and Happy Travels,
xxx
C.
