I went down to the Opera House bar for a drink with friends last night, and on the way I ran into a fence. Pictures Below.














There were a couple of bored police around, but we had no trouble taking these photos. (Thanks to Charlotte for taking the first two.)

apec in sydney

Tags: apec, apec fence, sydney

When you visit Sydney, you are almost guaranteed to be asked one question, “What do you think of Sydney?” or some variation. The expected reply is "It’s fantastic, It’s great, It’s wonderful”,or some variation. It is necessary to reassure the troubled Sydneysider that their city is the greatest city you have ever seen, in fact you have to assure and reassure and assure again, such is the insecurity of those of us who live in what is the greatest city in the world.

I noticed when I was in the Northern Hemisphere that nobody asked the question, “what do you think of our city?” Perhaps those monoliths of the north don’t need the reassurance of the newly minted cities of the south? Or perhaps they don’t really care what anybody else thinks of them.

Being from the great south land gives me a peculiar view of the world. I travelled to the Northern Hemisphere in winter. It was a wonderful experience that taught me how very Australian I really am. It seemed that at each step I took from Sydney I became more Australian

My first day in London, as we drove from the airport to the city, I saw some bare trees, no leaves, just bare branches sticking up from the ground. My first thought was, ‘wow there must have been a fire through here.’ Sydney trees are evergreen, so my only real experience of bare trees was after fires, I had temporarily forgotten that in winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the trees lose their leaves. It was a strange jolt to my self perception as a sophisticated person of the world.


Another strange thing about the Northern cities was how finished they were. To me they seemed like places that were decaying, dying, not moving forward. It’s hard to explain this feeling. Sydney is characterised by its building work. To be in Sydney is to see cranes sticking in the air, large construction sites in the main streets and constant building. Sydney is a moving city, a city that always changes, shops change, places change , fads change, there is always somewhere or something new in Sydney.

So to me, these old cities seemed that way. Old. The oldest building in Sydney was built in the 1830s, buildings in London predate that by centuries. Even New York has references to ancient times. I’m not sure if the feeling of age and decay was due to the age of the cities, the fact that it was winter and the trees were bare or perhaps it was something else? But to me it was definitely there.

Now Sydney is a large city, and I felt comfortable in both New York and London. I have no problem with large buildings or crowds. Sydney is a sophisticated city, a first world city with a high standard of living and far better, fresher food than is found in either NYC or London.

Of course, we are English speaking too. Nobody in England had trouble with my version of English. In fact several people identified my nationality easily. But NYC was completely different. I was never recognised as Australian. ‘Are you Irish? Scottish? English?’ I was asked. ‘No I’m Australian ‘ I constantly said. In NYC they could barely understand my accent, especially, when I asked for ‘Coke” as in ‘Coca Cola’ as I constantly had to reiterate. Alas, no New Yorker could comprehend my words. I had no idea that the word ‘Coke’ had so many variations. In the end I just gestured for my American friends to order for me.

I was homesick all the time. I had an ache in my stomach and in my heart that yearned for Sydney. Even as I danced in the snow, and had the unique experience of seeing snow in a city, I still had that sense of emptiness, the sense that something was missing. A piece of my soul was gone, a fragment of my heart had been left behind.

But I did eventually return home, I slept on the plane most of the way, but awoke in time to see my country appear from the sea. As soon as I saw the bare trees, the remnants of fire, of the Royal National Park below the aeroplane as it glided in, and the sparkling diamond sea surrounding it, my heart lifted and my spirit sang. I was home. I got off the plane on a hot March day, squinted in the glaring sunlight and I felt free, I felt alive, and for the first time in months I felt whole.

Tags: sydney
Current Location: Sydney
Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: silence