My two weeks in Australia were a wonderful welcome back to the Western world, and a necessary transition to make. The biggest element of shock that I received was actually facing the prices – the Australian dollar was just as strong as the US dollar, and prices were really really high – we’re talking $3.50 for a can of pop at a gas station, $3.00 for a small bottle of water, and $4.00 for a muffin at any given café or coffee shop. And just in case you’re not convinced, a grande Starbucks brewed coffee at $3.60 was the cheapest I could find, as any given small espresso or latte was $3.50 or $4 for a much smaller amount of coffee. Having just come from Asia, this wasn't fun. I wasn’t prepared for it, but I did welcome the option to finally go shopping at a Western grocery store again. Enter three weeks (New Zealand was similar pricewise, but a little better) of eating hummus, veggies, canned fish, granola bars, nuts, and fruit. Sounds sparse, but it was actually wonderful fun for to me to be able to eat these familiar foods again.
I hit up three cities in Australia, and one in New Zealand – flying back and forth between them all, due to the cheaper prices (honest!) of budget airline flights compared to the Greyhound buses or long distance trains. I didn’t get to see as much of the landscape as I would have liked, but for saving money and time it was ideal. As always, I’ll just have to come back to see what I missed the first time around.
Cairns
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| The Lagoon |
If you are a young backpacker coming to Australia on a one year work visa and you like to party, I’d say Cairns is the place for you. Cairns (pronounced ‘cans’ with an Australian accent) is a beautiful little town with a plethora of restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, and bars. There’s a nice shopping mall, a beautiful harborside street called the Esplanade, and a public pool called The Lagoon located right on the edge of the water, where everyone hangs out and lays out in the sun on the grassy grounds. There are lots of free things to do and options to stay active, as well as a fantastic place to base yourself to get out and discover more of Australia from, namely the Great Barrier Reef. That was my primary purpose for coming to Cairns.
My hostel was typical backpacker, and I shared a room with three other people my age, all on working holiday visas. I discovered that for Americans, (similar for other Western countries too, I believe) you can pay about $200 for a year long visa to live and work in Australia. With a minimum wage starting at about 15 dollars an hour, and so many hospitality jobs available as long as you can speak English, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal – if you shared accommodation or lived at a hostel it would be easy to either work and save money, or use your money to travel more around Australia or Asia. Definitely a good option to keep in mind.
But, I only had one thing in mind in Cairns and that was to get to the Great Barrier Reef. After making prior arrangements through an excursion company, I left for my day trip bright at early at 7 am. It was a beautiful morning, nice and sunny, with a cool breeze. I had signed up for my first scuba dive experience, so after the safety talk and debriefing I was suited up, strapped in, and thrown in. Not literally. The scuba gear was much heavier than I imagined, and I actually had a bit of a panic when I first started out – I’m used to holding my breath underwater, not breathing normally. The ear pressure was hard to get used to at first too – I wasn’t a fan of scuba diving for the first ten minutes. But then we got further down and I had my first glimpse of the reef from below.
The way I like to describe what I saw is “like being inside the Discovery Channel or National Geographic.” It was unreal how many colors and fish and different kinds of sea life there were. It was difficult to maneuver with all the scuba gear at first, and I kept losing my guide because I couldn’t stop looking up close at the reef. It was an incredible experience, and I was lucky enough to have an underwater camera to use for pictures and video. We surfaced after about 15 minutes, with our guide monitoring our pressure and depth for safety. After surfacing we traded gear with the next group and were free to snorkel around on the surface of the reef – just as fun to get even more up close on the surface.
After lunch (my first time having cold cuts in a long time, just in case you were interested) we had a second dive. On the second dive I saw a clownfish (left) and anemone, schools of fish, and a giant clam that snapped open and shut when we touched it (right). I couldn’t have asked for a better GBR experience, nor for a better first time scuba diving. Unfortunately, there is truth in the reports that the Great Barrier Reef is disappearing due to a series of events (I just Googled it and found a bunch of recent news reports – the disappearances are credited mainly to cyclones and a certain kind of destructive starfish), so I can only hope that there will be a positive effort to preserve this natural wonder so more people can have the same experience.
Sydney
Next up was Sydney. I absolutely loved the city. I found no apparent faults with it, and it’s the first place I want to go back to if I return to Australia. It’s a stunning city, blessed with natural beauty, a cosmopolitan population, and the excitement of a metropolis.
The first boatload of convicts was shipped to Australia as a result of the American Civil War, when the Brits basically ran out of places to put them because they had to go fight the war. The people were brought over for small petty crimes, such as stealing loaves of bread, but nevertheless they were imprisoned and sent to Australia in order to ‘straighten them out.’ The idea was to transform the convict colony into a settlement decent, hardworking citizens. It mostly worked – but the main problem was that in order to create this ideal society they felt that the natives, the Aboriginal population, needed to be either pushed off their own land or exterminated.
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| The Rocks |
So, between the tensions with the Aboriginals and the poorly treated convicts, Australia got off to a rocky start. In fact, the historical district of Sydney, just to the left of the harbor, is called "The Rocks," now a lovely historical district with nice restaurants, shops, and cafes. Real estate runs pretty high in The Rocks, and there are numerous attempts to preserve and protect Sydney's early history.
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| Beautiful Bondi Beach |
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| View of Sydney Harbor from the bridge. |
In Sydney pretty much all I did was walk around. I had the great fortune of being connected up with friends of a friend, Joanne and Stuart, who were fun to meet up with and kind enough to show me around a bit. They let me tag along on their "Sculpture by the Sea" walk, an annual outdoor sculpture walk that hugs a three hour stretch of Sydney's coast, starting at Bondi Beach and ending at Cogee Beach. My first glimpse of Bondi was breathtaking - I knew the name but hadn't ever seen pictures, therefore wasn't prepared for the view. I learned that on Christmas Day hundreds of residents come to Bondi for a barbecue - Christmas is during the middle of the summer weather in Australia.
The day after our walk, Jo met up with me in the heart of Sydney - the CBD, or Central Business District. To me, the best part of the CBD is Circular Quay, the ferry docks of Sydney Harbor. Standing at Circular Quay railway station, you are facing the water, with the beautiful Harbor Bridge (and The Rocks historical district) on your left, the Sydney skyline behind you, and the iconic Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor on your right. It's stunning. To me, everywhere in Sydney, especially if you are blessed with nice weather, as I was lucky enough to be, is picture perfect. It's just impossible to take a bad one. We walked around the harbor, The Rocks, and even went up on the Harbor Bridge (where the picture on the left was taken from) to get breathtaking city views.
The rest of the CBD is filled with, as you can guess, skyscrapers, which at street level turn into more shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels, buildings, you name it. Pretty typical city stuff. I remember waking up early on a Monday morning and walking my way down to the CBD from my hostel, joining the throes of businessmen and women on their morning commute. Correction: businessmen and women exercising on their morning commute. I had an added bonus to my morning people watching session: the exercise/commuters. There were people walking to work in tennis shoes, jogging with backpacks (most likely filled with business attire), biking with backpacks - I even saw one guy with a suit coat hanging on a hanger attached to his backpack. It was great fun to observe. It had been my first time in a big Western city for a long time, so to see familiar routines like morning jogging in T-shirts, going to work in workout clothes, walking with a large cup of coffee, riding bikes, etc., actually made me feel closer to home. Even though geographically I'm pretty sure I was farther away than ever.
Syndey has tons to do - you can take ferries all around the harbor, go to the beach, join all the avid exercisers for runs in the beautiful parks, workout in the outdoor exercise facilities, do adventure sports, shop til you drop, walk around and gawk at things of your choosing, go to museums, eat ethnic food from almost any country in the world (only a slight exaggeration), you name it. One of my favorite afternoons was spent wandering around the harborside, looking at the shops and the boats coming in, then making my way up to the Opera House and actually walking around the perimeter, just to get a closer look, then walking a few hundred yards down the road from the Opera House to reach the Royal Botanic Gardens, 30 hectares of beautifully maintained grounds. People were laying out in the sun, reading books on benches, strolling, having picnics - it was wonderful to see them enjoy and appreciate such a beautiful part of nature in Sydney. By the time I finished walking around, the sun was setting, so I parked myself at Mrs. Macquarie's Point, a part of the RBG that Mr. Macquarie, one of Sydney's first governors, designated as a perfect viewing point for his wife, Elizabeth, and even . She must have been a pretty special lady, because this was the view she got to see each evening from her own personal point in Sydney Harbor (minus the bridge and Opera House, I suppose.)
Melbourne
I went to Melbourne simply because I was told I should. I knew it was a city and I had heard it was the more ‘cultural’ city in Australia, so based on reviews from a couple of friends I decided to check it out after Sydney. With luck, I happened to be in Melbourne at the time of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the second largest international horse race in the world, which made it an exciting and busy weekend to visit. I stayed in Brunswick, a little suburb north of the city center that was easy to get to by train, tram, or walking.
Melbourne, formerly the capital of Australia when it was first granted independence in 1901, was a gold rush town, and it grew at exponential speed in the 1850s, earning the nickname ‘ Marvelous Melbourne.’ This was when the infamous Sydney vs Melbourne rivalry grew, a competition which actually spurred the original idea to build a landmark that became the Sydney Opera House after Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympic Games. Today Melbourne has only expanded and developed upon its original wealth, with a magnificent skyline and Central Business District centered around the Yarra River. It was a fun city to walk around in, explore, people watch, and experience. A relatively new city, it still retains its wealthy beginnings, which is evident in the beautiful Victorian architecture all around the neighborhoods and districts. It is also a very diverse city, with a prominent Chinatown, Greektown, and pretty much any kind of ethnic food you could want.
At the hostel I met a lovely Japanese woman who became my Melbourne buddy for the week - we visited the zoo together, because I decided I had to see a koala and a kangaroo in Australia. The Melbourne Zoo was also very impressive - there was a lot of emphasis on wildlife protection and preservation, and the exhibits had a lot of interesting information about Australia's native creatures. My absolute favorite part was the koala bear exhibit - we got lucky and found them during the four hours they stay awake during the day - all four of them were pretty lively and active - they jumped around from branch to branch. They were so adorable I felt I could have watched them all day. After the zoo we went downtown, took a walking tour together, and enjoyed exploring the CBD of Melbourne. I found the city very easy to walk around and enjoy - one of my favorite buildings was the iconic Flinders Street Station, below, built in 1905.
2012 marked the 151st anniversary of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, a five day event that includes the 3,200 meter race to win the Emirates Melbourne Cup, also known as "the race that stops a nation." We enjoyed the parade downtown the day before the race, which represented the sixteen horses, trainers, owners, and jockeys for the sixteen horses participating in the race, and then on race day we headed to the CBD to join the crowds of people tuning in to watch the race in the afternoon. One of the best parts of the race atmosphere was that everyone who goes to the races dresses up - the men in suits and the ladies in stylish dresses and (our favorite part) hats. It was so fun to take the train into the city on race day and catch everyone taking the train on the way to the racecourse - we people watched for about a hour. The sports bar we went to was packed, and sure enough the atmosphere grew more exciting as the race time grew closer - you can see everyone tuned in (see the hat on the bottom right) and getting ready to watch.I didn't place any bets or have any horse to cheer for, but it was exciting nonetheless. Congratulations to Green Moon, this year's Melbourne Cup winner. Cup Day was my last day in Melbourne, so after watching the race and saying goodbye I took the Skybus out to the airport, to depart for my second to last destination, Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland
I’m including Auckland in here because now I can explain the title, ANZAC, which stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. The ANZACs were the 'pride of the Pacific' during the First World War, which was when they both distinguished themselves as separate nations from their mother country, Great Britain, during the 1916 Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. They came back as national heroes, and even today “Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, originally commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honor the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).” (Wikipedia).
However, though the remembrance of the Anzacs unites Australia and New Zealand, (according to some Australians I asked, they have a big brother-little brother relationship like the US and Canada) and they have basically the same food and accents, that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
For example, I came to New Zealand thinking the original inhabitants were pretty much the same, but I was quite wrong – New Zealand’s Maori tribe echoes the Polynesian Pacific Island cultures much more than Australia’s Aborigines, who have been natives of Australia much longer than the Maoris have in New Zealand. Also, unlike in Australia when they basically just took over everything, New Zealand's first white settlers actually drew up a contract with the Maori tribe (although it must be said that the Maori and the English translations are slightly different...guess whose favor the treaty is in). I actually found
this website to illustrate some more fun facts and differences between the two countries, if you're curious.
I enjoyed my visit to the Auckland Museum, with really impressive displays of Maori carvings and housing structures, along with tribal artifacts from all the Pacific Islands that we hear about in travel promotions, such as Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and Samoa. The top floor of the museum was dedicated to the war history of New Zealand, which wasn’t much, but more than I had realized – there was a New Zealand Civil War with the Maoris when they first arrived, they they helped fight in the Boer War in South Africa, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and were involved in a few other global peacekeeping issues.
But enough about the history – of all of my trip, New Zealand was my biggest regret, simply because I didn’t plan well enough for it. By the time I got there I was out of both time and money so I didn’t see anything beyond Auckland. When I was planning, I knew it was supposed to be very scenic and beautiful, but I decided I’d rather be interested in people and cultures on this trip, and didn't think I'd be as heartbroken to miss more of the country than I actually was. But, the good news is - I can always go back. And now I have a better idea of what New Zealand is about and what I want to do next.
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| View from Mt. Eden |
I still got to see some beautiful parts of the city and get a feel for the country. The city itself isn't very big, about 1.4 million people, which is one third of New Zealand's entire population. As always, the best views are from above - I spent a beautiful morning hiking up to Mt. Eden, a sunken volcanic crater, for some lovely pictures and a great view of the city, which as you can see is built around the harbor. The city is nice to walk around in and explore, but not overwhelming like some big cities - there are tons of ethnic restaurants, cute little shops, cafes, and restaurants. I was lucky enough to time my visit out to be there when a friend of mine from my university swim team was studying there, so I was able to meet up with her a few times to hang out and catch up - at that point I was getting pretty homesick, so it was great to meet up with someone familiar. I also had my first Korean food outside of Korea since leaving - it was pretty good but nearly three times the price as in Korea, sadly.
Another highlight of Auckland included running along the harborside trail (pictured) in the afternoon - I didn't realize how beautiful the water would be so I didn't even have my camera along - the iPod doesn't do it justice. Across the harbor (not pictured) is an island called Rangitoto, also a volcanic island, which is popular for hiking and was actually the location for part of the filming of Jurassic Park, I learned.
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| "The Cloud" |
This is another view of part of the harbor - the funny white thing is a venue called "The Cloud," recently built, which echoes a part of New Zealand's early history. When the first Maori tribes arrived in New Zealand, they came in canoes, and had no idea whether they would find land or not when they had to leave their former islands (most were usually kicked off by losing to cannibalistic tribes - leave or be eaten...tough life.) So, after long days at sea, their fates unknown, all of a sudden before they could even see New Zealand, they saw a long stretch of white clouds, for which they praised the gods because that meant there was land nearby. They named it Aotearoa, or ""the land of the long white cloud." The Auckland Airport has a beautiful cloud statue suspended from their ceiling as well.
The Domain was the last part of Auckland I explored - a large public park area that included the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the wintergarden greenhouses, sports fields, and beautiful grounds for strolling and enjoying nature. Fun fact: "The Auckland Domain volcano, Pukekawa, is one of the oldest in the Auckland Volcanic Field...Originally, the crater floor was filled with a lava lake, which the western half collapsed slightly and became a freshwater lake which later turned into a swamp, before being drained by Europeans for use as playing fields and parkland. These origins are still somewhat visible in that the Duck Ponds are freshwater-fed from the drainage of the crater." (Wikipedia) Call me ignorant, but I actually had no idea that so much of Auckland was built upon volcanic remains. It was really interesting to learn about at the museum - I guess I must have fallen asleep that day in Earth Science after a morning swim practice.
So, Auckland, much like the previous three cities in Australia, was made most enjoyable due to its natural beauty and accessibility for walking around and exploring. I spent most of my days outside wandering, even though a few days were even too cold for me back in Melbourne. Due to cost, I avoided most of the museums and attractions, choosing to enjoy the city life as an observer instead - people watching, grocery store and tourist shop wandering, and coffee shopping all made my time in these two countries more fun. I learned a lot from people I talked to and books I read along the way - I'd love to go back to both countries to do more, learn more, and see more, as always. Both Australia and New Zealand were wonderful introductions back into the Western world, and it was nice to once again be back in familiar feeling territory (hence the grocery store wandering). I haven't decided yet if it helped or hurt with reverse culture shock, because I think it triggered early onset homesickness, but also helped ease the transition back to the West. My last stop, Fiji, was kind of a mix between the two - it wasn't Asia, but it wasn't quite the West - but either way it was a wonderful place to end my trip. That one is up next - the last travel post of 2012. I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season!
The drive to Lautoka, about 40 km north of Nadi and on the opposite side of Suva, the capital, took about half an hour. The views were gorgeous – bright green volcanic mountains on the right and sparkling blue ocean on the left. It reminded me a lot of Oahu, and I was struck by how untouched the land seemed to be – I barely saw any villages, just luscious green fields – sugarcane, not rice this time. The van was playing island-y songs, and everyone was wearing bula shirts - a kind of wide patterned print, again very similar to aloha shirts but with a special Fijian touch. The men also traditionally wear the sulu, a long wraparound type skirt (pictured below). Welcome to Fiji!
But, luckily, there was no tension at the daycare center I was lucky enough to volunteer at. There was a cheerful mix of Hindi , Fijian, Muslim, and even an Australian child who didn't care about anything except having fun together. The center is actually an early childhood learning center, so in addition to watching the children while their parents are working they work on songs, rhymes, teaching English (most kids grow up speaking Fijian/English or Hindi/English, or sometimes a mix of all three), and other early learning skills. However, the week I was there I was lucky enough to help out with rehearsals for the annual holiday concert in December. Performances included Christmas carols, rhymes, a drama, and lots of dancing. 
But, luckily, there was no tension at the daycare center I was lucky enough to volunteer at. There was a cheerful mix of Hindi , Fijian, Muslim, and even an Australian child who didn't care about anything except having fun together. The center is actually an early childhood learning center, so in addition to watching the children while their parents are working they work on songs, rhymes, teaching English (most kids grow up speaking Fijian/English or Hindi/English, or sometimes a mix of all three), and other early learning skills. However, the week I was there I was lucky enough to help out with rehearsals for the annual holiday concert in December. Performances included Christmas carols, rhymes, a drama, and lots of dancing. 
Bamboo had the perfect travel hostel atmosphere - everything ran on 'Fiji time,' and every morning we all sat around the cafe area and ate delicious cheap food for breakfast while asking: 'so what are you going to do today?' "Beach." And beyond that? "No plans." I got extremely lucky with the company at Bamboo: everyone got along, people shared travel stories, met up for meals, went to the beach together, took naps in the hammock, played volleyball or ping pong, read in the sun or the shade, maybe took the bus into town, or just sat and chilled. Even though we didn't do much of anything the warm, sunny days passed by quickly. One of my favorite parts of the day was going mango hunting. Bamboo had four mango trees on their little property, and I happened to arrive during peak ripe season - they kept long sticks and a mango catching pole lying around for people to pick them whenever they wanted a snack. I was thrilled about this situation, but anytime I tried to hit down a ripe mango the Fijian workers would see me trying, then come over, shimmy up the mango tree like nobody's business, and knock the ripe ones down before I could even say "thank you." I felt a little bad because I was perfectly happy doing it myself, but hey, I got some very tasty mangoes out of the deal. Win. 
