Visiting a Land Down Under
No fried out Kombi, no hippie trail, no head full of zombie
I just returned from Australia for work in my day job, giving a couple of talks at an event my company is hosting. For the weeks leading up to my trip, my husband quoted every line of the Men at Work song to me ad nauseam. “Look! A Kombi!” he gleefully pointed out to me when I had to take my VW Jetta in for repairs because the clutch completely fried out on my way home one night last week (not fun…aka terrifying). Yes, they still make Kombis, but they’re electric now and they’ll cost you $65K+. Not quite the same as those my friends had when I was growing up.
It’s my second time in Sydney, but the first time I didn’t see much. You see, my parents lived on Bondi Beach for a spell when my father was going to school on a Rotary scholarship. When my mom got pregnant with me, they decided to head on back to the States. That was WAY longer ago than I like to think about!
The flight is brutal. There is no two ways about it. 5.5 hours to LA, then another 15 to Sydney. But I had to do it the really brutal way. My trip was made even longer when 1.5 hours out over the Pacific ocean, our Delta pilot announces there is a low oil indicator and they need to turn back. We made it back without a hitch (it was only 40 hours later when I was finally deplaning in Sydney when one of the other passengers showed me the FLAMES that were coming out of one of the engines (hence the low oil I’m guessing). Apparently the fire was put out right away and both engines worked on the way back, but OMFG. I’m writing this from my hotel room and the only reason I feel calm about having to get on the plane and go back is that I know the chances of something happening on the return as well are extraordinarily slim, but yeah, terrifying. ChatGPT tells me that it could have been a leak that briefly caught on fire and was quickly extinguished due to fire suppression measures. Whatever it was, I’m so glad I never knew about it while we were in flight. But dang, I was so glad to finally be on Australian soil. My colleague estimated that we arrived 51 hours after we left Boston. Oof.
Sydney is a beautiful city—or at least what I’ve seen of it certainly is. But let me show you instead:
I’ve mostly been in the Central Business District (CBD), so my experience of Sydney is definitely limited. I’ve really only had two days to explore, unfortunately. But there would be worse things than coming back to see more of the city.
I was also struck by how truly lovely the people are. Absolutely friendly in a way that vastly differs from every other place I’ve been. There is a buoyancy to their spirit, a genuine kindness toward others that is refreshing. I wish the rest of the world could take a page from their playbook.
The most difficult thing for me has been remembering to pass on the left, not the right. This is something hardwired into the various cultures and it’s hard to remember when I’m gawking at all the architecture. It’s the only time that I’ve had people seem irritated at me, because I’m in their path instead of walking according to convention. Oddly, my comment about this on Threads has been one of my most engaging, with all the Aussies jumping in to mostly support this thought.
I also saw a few animals on this trip. I was fascinated with the birds in the Botanical Garden and we also went to the aquarium and the little zoo on the pier.
I also went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia which had some wonderful exhibits by Aboriginal artists. My favorite was the exhibition for Cerith Wyn Evans.
I was so grateful to go and to get to spend some quality time with my coworkers. That’s the stuff that really makes the trip even more special for me.
I’ll leave you with the video for that Men at Work song, which is, ironically, about the over-Americanization of Australia…way back in 1981. The video played repeatedly on MTV when I was a teenager. It’s so dorky to look back upon now.
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After spending a couple of months in Oz, my problem when I got to the states was walking on the wrong side of walks back home. Runs both ways.
Thank you for reminding me of how much I loved visiting Sydney and so many other places in Australia. I would love to go back despite the mind boggling flight time preferably sans scary mechanicals. Your photos are great—brought back memories.