When I did a 'Dorothy' and found Oz....
Welcome back, again
my sincere apologies for not being able to be here earlier, but, as
always, Life seems to have had other plans for me recently..anyway,
without further delay, let's get on...so, as you might have guessed
from the title, I am going to write about how you can travel
literally thousands of miles and still feel like you've barely taken
a step until you take a much closer look...
As I might have
mentioned before,(although I might not have, so don't waste time
checking back), I am originally from the U.K. but, throughout my
life, I have travelled far and wide across our little planet. I have
always felt, with so much world to see, it seemed a shame to only
ever see one tiny part. Please don't misunderstand, I do love my home
country – for all its faults ( most of which are the direct
responsibility of the politicians), we have a rich history, a
surprisingly diverse landscape and a way of life which has many
blessings. But, as I said, I do have this need to see what's over the
next mountain...so when the idea of Australia came to mind, I
couldn't think of a single reason not to go and explore, although
those around me could think of several ! The main objection seemed to
be how far away Australia is from the U.K. which, even with my basic
geography knowledge, was blatantly obvious ( as an aside, don't you
just love it, when people tell you - usually in a vaguely patronising
tone- something which most toddlers could work out ?) Once I
reassured them I was aware of this fact, there was either a degree of
eye-rolling or a whispered 'things can happen to women travelling
alone.' Naturally, I reassured them, I would be absolutely fine and –
as very often happens- life chose to intervene and contradict me, as
over the next weeks, a plane sadly crashed, another was attacked by
an unknown assailant and a further one, disappeared completely. But
undaunted, I hopped aboard the plane, leaving behind those who
seemingly wouldn't even go the fridge without a first aid kit and a
walkie talkie.
Now, as I gazed out
of the window, watching the magical cloudscape drift by, it did occur
to me, I didn't really know much about Australia at all ! (Yes, you
would imagine this thought might have occurred to me sooner and I
would have bought an informative guidebook, but I didn't..) In fact,
my knowledge seemed largely based on the works of pop goddess Kylie
Minogue, my pregnancies spent in the company of either the cast of
'Neighbours' or 'Home and Away' as I had to have my feet raised to
prevent swollen ankles and, of course, the world famous wildlife, one
of which I grew up with - the TV show 'Skippy- The Bush Kangaroo.'
Now for those of you who sadly missed this particular gem, it was
obviously based on the adventures of 'Skippy' who belonged to a boy,
who conveniently, was perhaps one of the most accident prone children
ever, as he frequently fell down mineshafts, wells, got feet trapped
under rocks, passed out having eaten poisonous fruit etc etc. Owing
to this young man's frankly reckless behaviour, it was down to the
relentless Skippy to rescue him – either alone, or travelling
through a bushfire to get help or (and I am completely honest about
this), would use a radio to summon assistance. Skippy didn't talk,
because that would be too far-fetched- even for these script writers-
so instead the lovable kangaroo would switch on the radio and through
the use of a series of clicking noises, managed to relay the location
of his trapped owner, to the local park ranger- just in the nick of
time!
Anyway, so when we
landed in Melbourne, some 26 hours later, my lack of Oz knowledge was
now blindingly apparent, as it was abundantly clear the ONLY thing I
knew about was Skippy, and the chances of her rescuing me, did seem
unlikely. But with all the blind faith of the fool, I stepped out
into the sunshine and was relieved to see a flag flying, with my own
beloved Union Jack wedged firmly in one corner – could it be this
famed land Down Under was just a much warmer version of home ? After
all, every signpost was in English, familiar brands were advertising
everywhere and the people looked exactly the same too. To be honest,
when all these facts became clear, I did feel a slight pang of
disappointment, had I travelled so far NOT to experience anything new
? But thankfully, I could not have been more wrong, it was true,
there were some things which reminded me of home, but there were many
more which were completely different. For example, one evening, I was
walking along a perfectly ordinary suburban street, when suddenly I
noticed a four-legged creature in the shadows, I stopped, assuming it
was just a neighbourhood cat on the prowl, but when it turned to face
me, I realised I was meeting my very first possum- its huge eyes
stared back at me, before it scampered away into the darkness. Every
morning, instead of the familiar chirping of the English dawn chorus,
I was awoken by a dazzling array of bird calls and even a sleepy
glance out of the window revealed a flock of multi-coloured parakeets
zipping through the bluest of skies.
The longer I stayed,
the blend of the familiar and the completely unfamiliar became a very
enjoyable cocktail – within Melbourne, there are manicured parks
which could easily be in the heart of London, statues of English
royalty gaze down on the bustling streets as they do back home, yet
alongside these, are wildlife reserves filled with animals and plants
unique to Australia. Even doing a supermarket shop – possibly one
of the most boring tasks ever – shows off this diversity...one of
my first trips left me standing at the fish counter for ages, as I
attempted to 'pair up' the Northern hemisphere favourites with
Barramundi, Flathead and Blue Grenadier, in the vain hope, I might be
able to prepare a meal. There are many more examples, but I don't
think it is entirely necessary I share my whole shopping list-
otherwise you'll suddenly remember you haven't done your own
groceries and leave before the end...(not that I am saying its worth
staying for, but you might like to know).
I do think it's
those kind of times which make me enjoy travelling so much, because
even doing the more mundane tasks can be quite a challenge. What
wasn't mundane, was when I finally saw a wild kangaroo, which may or
may not have been Skippy, I suppose I could have hurled myself down a
mineshaft and seen if one rescued me, but I was more than happy to
stand in the half-light of dusk and silently watch them emerge from
the bush to feed. I know they meant a different place, but, at that
moment, I really did feel I was in the magical land of Oz.
It is said, travel
broadens the mind, I believe that so much, to experience the world is
something I genuinely feel would make us all far more understanding
of other cultures, because then we wouldn't think of them as
'unknown' and, perhaps, this would make us all slightly less fearful.
The unfamiliar will always remain that way, if we don't make an
effort to explore it...and I am a long way from being done. I hope
you will be back again soon, but I REALLY hope you will be off on
your own adventures too...either way, until the next time....
Take care out there
xx
