Sydney and Newcastle

As usual, I lost an entire day flying from San Francisco to Australia. Because I left late the night of the 11th, by the time I arrived in Syndey it was early morning the 13th. The flight over the Pacific was quite calm, though I seem to recall some turbulence. However, I was better able to entertain myself this time around. All QANTAS flights now have movies on demand in economy so I made full use of that facility. For the comfort of the passengers on this 14-hour flight, eye covers and blankets were provided. I managed to get some sleep on flight which helped me combat jet lag.

After the usual pro forma motions through customs, I emerged into the terminal of Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport. I had returned. One thing I find particularly enjoyable about Australian culture is the more lax attitude in the country. A case in point was that going through customs there were two sets of lines, one for Australian/New Zealand citizens and permanent residents and another for everyone else. In North America I find that you must line up in the proper queue but in Australia, the guy in charge said, "Ignore the signs.", so everyone lined up wherever they chose.

As it turned out, I had arrived in Australia on a very special occasion. The new government, headed by Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor (note the spelling) Party, was apologizing to Aborigine Australians for their maltreatment at the hands of previous governments. Much like the Canadian experience with residential schools, Aborigines were separated from their families and placed in schools or homes where many faced abuse; this practice continued until the beginning of the 1970s. Previous governments had refused to apologize, particularly the Liberal (read conservative) government of the previous Prime Minister, John Howard. He claimed that it was improper for contemporary administrations to be held responsible for the acts of previous administrations and that it might open the government to large civil claims. Neverthless, following an election promise, Kevin Rudd gave the apology in the Australian House of Representatives. February 13th, 2008 will forever be known as "Sorry Day". I hope that it was the first day of a new Australia, one finally able to come to grips with the demons in its past. Cosmopolitan Australia and Aborigine Australia may now be able to move on.

After leaving the airport, I got in touch with Alex, a friend of mine from my previous stay in the country. He and his father had agreed to let me stay at his place for a few nights while I travelled around the area. I spent my first night in a hotel by the airport but the subsequent night I spent at Alex's house. I met up with some of his friends, one named Helen I also remembered, aand we went to see the movie Jumper, which was so-so. I only stayed one night as I left for Newcastle the next day. I had an evening train so I managed to meet a few more of Alex's friends during the afternoon of the 15th.

The evening of the 15th was the beginning of my adventure to Newcastle, a city about 160 km north of Sydney. There live the Motyka family, friends of my family and I had stayed with them previously. I met with Oleksander on the train from Sydney and we rode it together all the way up. Unfortunately, the weekend I was going up work was being done on the track between Sydney and Newcastle which delayed the train. It took about a half-hour longer than ususal for it to arrive. When I arrived at the Motyka home, I was immediately made welcome; I always enjoy going up to Newcastle.

Already arrived was Platon (plah-TOHN), a guy from Winnipeg now studying medicine at the University of Queensland. Although like me he is in Plast (Ukrainian scouts), neither recalls ever having met the other though only 2 years separate us, with him being older. That is somewhat unusual given that the Plast community is fairly tightly knit. A friend of mine from Ottawa, Roma, arrived much later as she had to take a train from Wollongong, a city about 70 km to the south of Sydney. She is studying interior design at the University of Wollongong. I found it interesting that 3 Canadians, studying 3 different subjects at 3 different universities, should meet up in yet another city. Nonethless, we got to talking about out programs and Canada and soon we were all at ease with each other.

The4 next morning, Olenka Motyka treated us to a fabulous tour of the Hunter Valley. The Hunter river to the north of Newcastle is renowned for its wines with some prominent labels such as Rosemount, Pelham Estates and other having their vineyards there. Olenka, who has completed her legal studies, drove us to the Tyrrell Wines vineyard where we took a tour of their facilities. Viticulture is actually a very complex process, to the point that the wood selected to make the barrels must be of a specific type. After the tour, we had lunch on the lawn of the Blue Lizard Brewery. We then drove around some more visiting a liqueur shop, a chocolate shop, the Smelly Cheese Store, and a few more vineyards. Roma was particularly exciting about seeing the Rosemount Estates building but it turned out to be very anticlimactic. The house on the property is n ot much bigger than a normal house while we were expecting something more grandiose. We suggested that Roma buy it, rebuild it and rename it Romount Estates. We drove back to Newcastle through the stunning countryside.

That evening at dinner, various running jokes emerged. Somehow, Platon, Danylo (Oleksander and Olenka's brother) and Oleksander started quoting Queen Elizabeth I from Black Adder to the point that, "Who is Queen?" (in a high voice) became a running gag. Another one which emerged was a line from Robot Chicken, "What a twist!" However, the funniest thing Platon, who's a great guy, said was, while parodying himself, "My name is Platon. I talk like this and I'm unusually dark-skinned for a Ukrainian." I couldn't stop laughing. It wasn't just what he said but the way he said it.

The following day Olenka took us ona tour of Newcastle. We drove around the city which is experiencing a revitalization. There are many new hotels and apartments going up. We walked along the boardwalk, visited a public bath and a cathedral. We even saw the spot where a large ocean vessel became beached after a particualry harsh storm. It has since been removed but has become part of Newcastle lore. However, Olenka was particularly interested in showing us what used to be the Governor' private Gardens and a pool hewn from the living rock. You walk down to the pool via a pathway while a short distance away, the surf pounds. It is a truly spectacular sight.

We returned home to have an early dinner as Roma and I had to make our way back to Sydney that night. I will always be thankful to the Motykas for the hospitality they have shown me. Roma and I boarded a bus as the train service between Sydney and Newcastle had stopped for track work that weekend. After arriving at the Central train station, Roma boarded a train to Wollongong while I boarded one back to Alex's house.

I hope to visit Newcastle again during my stay in Australia and hopefully the opportunity is not too distant in the future.