The Wild Reed: Australian Sojourn

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Last Days in Australia

April 15–18, 2014

My recent visit home to Australia began and ended with time spent in Sydney.

You may recall that I timed my arrival in Australia to coincide with the completion of Raph's Cycling to March,' an inspiring 1900 kilometre bike ride from Adelaide to Sydney that Raph undertook in memory of his sister Tess and as a way of raising awareness and funds for melanoma research and prevention.

After my first few days in Sydney (March 20-23) I traveled by train to Port Macquarie, where my parents live. I spent a good part of my time while in Australia in Port Macquarie, though I also made trips to Gunnedah and Melbourne to see family and friends.

On Tuesday, April 15, I returned to Sydney. Raph met me at Central Station and we took the city bus to the eastern beachside suburb of Maroubra, where he lives. We stepped off the bus to the beautiful sight of a rainbow over the stormy ocean (above).

Above: My friend Raph – April 16, 2014. Don't worry, he still has (and rides) the bicycle made famous by his 'Cycling to March'!

Above: Coogee Beach – Wednesday, April 16, 2014.

A few days before my arrival in Sydney on April 15 I was contacted by Julian, a Sydney-based reader of The Wild Reed. Here's what he wrote:

I have been reading your blog for a few years and wanted to meet you when you have been in Australia but you have come and gone before I could do so. I see that you are now here in Oz, although not in Sydney where I live. If you are coming through on your way out of the country would it be possible to meet up in Sydney before you go back to the States?

If that doesn't happen, thanks for the work that you put into the blog. I say 'work' because it seems to me that it must require a lot to put it together with the photos and the many references and sources that you use. You bring disparate sources together really well when you are making a point or reflecting on an issue. But it is when you give your own opinions or reactions to something that I particularly like to read. I can also relate to many of the things you feature, like Port Macquarie, because I have been there several times over the years. The photos you have uploaded really show it off well, especially around the beaches and that tidal zone at the end of Flynns Beach.

I can see from what you have written recently that you are thinking about your future and where it lies. There appear to be significant influences and relationships drawing you to both [the U.S. and Australia]. I hope that it resolves well for you.

If we can connect up in Sydney that would be great.

Now how could I refuse such a request?

I e-mailed Julian and we arranged a meeting. On Wednesday, April 16, we had lunch at a great beachside restaurant in Coogee and then spent the afternoon walking along the beautiful shoreline. Julian's also a gay Catholic man . . . and so we had lots to discuss and share. It was a very special time and I'm so glad it worked out for both of us to meet.

As Julian noted in an e-mail a few days afterwards:

I really enjoyed the day. I still find it amazing that it could happen when it was such a matter of chance; chance that you were still here when I sent the first e-mail, that you had an available day, that I could get free at the same time, and that it just worked out so well. Thanks for that.

Well, thank you, too, Julian! Following are some images from that special afternoon.

Above: Julian, with Wedding Cake Island in the distance.

Did you know that in 1975, "Wedding Cake Island" was the title of a popular surf music instrumental single by Australian rock band Midnight Oil? Lead singer Peter Garrett and guitarist Martin Rotsey were residents of Coogee at the time. The track was re-released in 1980 on the EP Bird Noises, which is where I first heard it. Apparently, it's now regarded as a classic surf music track. You can listen to it here.

Above: Julian took this photo of me standing on the boulders at the base of Dolphin Point, located at the north end of Coogee Beach.

Above: On my last night in Sydney, Raph shouted me to a great meal at a restaurant at Bondi Beach. Thanks, Raph! It was a great way to end a great visit home to Oz!

Above: Moon over Bondi – Wednesday, April 16, 2014.

Above: Farewell, Sydney! Farewell, Australia! . . . At Sydney Airport, about to head back to the U.S. and my life in the Twin Cities of Minnesota – Thursday, April 17, 2014.

Did you know that coming over to Australia from the U.S. I had four seats to myself! It was heaven as I was able to stretch out and get plenty of sleep. Going back, however, it was a packed flight – and accordingly somewhat of an arduous experience. After all, Sydney to Dallas (the first leg of my journey back to Minneapolis-St. Paul) is a 15-hour flight.

Right: One of the films I watched on the plane back to the U.S. was the 2013 Indian drama Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run), based on the life of Milkha Singh, the "flying Sikh," an Indian athlete who was a national champion runner and an Olympian. Farhan Akhtar stars as Singh. It's a very engaging film, and one that I highly recommend!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Port Macquarie Days
A Visit to Melbourne
Seascapes
Diamond Head
A Visit to Gunnedah
On Sacred Ground
Return to Oz . . . Sydney to Be Exact!
A Surprise for Raph . . . Well Somewhat

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Port Macquarie Days

Although I spent time in Sydney, Gunnedah and Melbourne during my recent visit home to Australia, most of my time was spent in Port Macquarie. It is here that my parents, Gordon and Margaret Bayly, and my younger brother, Tim, and his family live.

Back in 2008 I wrote about Port Macquarie in this post, which you're welcome to check out. What I'll briefly say here is that Port Macquarie is located on the New South Wales mid-north coast and is about a 5-hour drive north of Sydney. Situated on the Hastings River, the town has a population of around 41,000. For most of the year (with the exception of the summer holidays around Christmas) Port Macquarie is a quiet place, owing largely to the fact that the busy Pacific Highway bypasses the town about seven kilometres inland.

The area around the Hastings River (Aboriginal: Doongang) has been home to the Birpai Aboriginal peoples for tens of thousands of years. Traditional Birpai life changed forever with the mapping and naming of the area by Surveyor-General John Oxley in 1818. In 1821 Port Macquarie was founded as a penal settlement for convicts sentenced for crimes committed in New South Wales. The region was opened to free settlers nine years later.

Port Macquarie was declared a municipality in 1887, but – and now here's an interesting fact – the town never progressed as a port owing to a notorious coastal bar across the mouth of the Hastings River. South of the river, over twenty shipwrecks occurred in the Tacking Point area before a lighthouse was designed by James Barnet and erected in 1879.

Above: Dad and Mum in front of their home in Port Macquarie.

My parents relocated to Port Macquarie from my family's hometown of Gunnedah in 2002. Last year they moved from Swallows' Ledge, overlooking Port Macquarie's Town Beach, to a villa in the "independent living" section of a local retirement home. They are very happy in their new digs – which, in keeping with the bird theme, we've named Ibis Lodge, owing to an Australian White Ibis we saw walking stately around the garden during the last couple of days of my stay (above right). My parents home is often visited by kangaroos (below), and it affords some beautiful sunset views! Altogether it's a lovely place to live.

Above: With my brother Tim – March 29, 2014.

Right: My lovely nieces Layne and Sami – March 23, 2014.

On Friday, April 4, I visited with Tim and his wife Ros an area just south of Port Macquarie known as Diamond Head. For images of this beautiful coastal spot, click here.

Above and below: Two views of Gordon Street, Port Macquarie's main thoroughfare.

Above: Town Beach.

Above: This is the spot at the south end of Town Beach where my parents and I would come most mornings of my stay with them. The view of the sea that we had when sitting on the golden sand beneath these trees can be seen at right. This picture also shows the spot where Mum and I would swim – just in front of and to the right of that rocky little island.

Above: Dad took this photo of Mum and I swimming in the diamond sea!

Above: Dad, sitting at the south end of Town Beach. The rock platform that I love so much is just a little ways further along the beach.

Above: Situated above Town Beach is a number of relatively new buildings, including Swallows' Ledge, pictured at far left, where my parents lived from 2007-2013.

Located on the ground floor of the building at right is a great little cafe called The Milk Bar. That's where I'm pictured at left, enjoying a vanilla milkshake – a favorite drink of mine from my childhood, and one which I only ever indulge in when visiting Australia! Why? Because you just can't beat an Australian vanilla milkshake!

Above: The Port Macquarie Observatory, home of the Port Macquarie Astronomical Association.

Above: At the north end of Town Beach is the mouth of the Hastings River. There's a walkway along the river's southern break wall that takes you all the way into the main business/shopping area of Port Macquarie.

Above: Port Macquarie's historic Royal Hotel.

Above: The popular Fig Bar and Restaurant, located on the ground floor of 17-19 Horton St., Port Macquarie.

Above: One of Port Macquarie's famous Norfolk Island Pine trees reflected in The Glasshouse. Located in the center of Port Macquarie, The Glasshouse comprises a 600-seat theatre, rehearsal/performance studio, an art gallery, conference facilities, heritage displays, and a Tourism Information Center.

Above: On May 7, 2014, the legendary Petula Clark will be performing at The Glasshouse. As I noted previously, I'll unfortunately miss this show – but my parents will be attending! I hope she sings "Every Word You Say," which has become my favorite track from her latest album, Lost in You.

5/25/14 Update: To read my mum's review of Petula's concert, click here!

Above: My parents with a number of their Port Macquarie friends.

When in Port Macquarie I was happy and honored to be contacted by two former students from my teaching days in Goulburn.

Above: With Briody and her family. I last saw Briody and her husband in Sydney in 2008.

Right: With John, whom I hadn't seen in over twenty years.

Both Briody and John were students of mine in 1992, when I was their fifth grade teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul Primary School in Goulburn. It was wonderful to catch up with them in Port Macquarie and hear all about what they're doing now.

Above: A picture from 1992. I'm with Briody and John and other students after the performance of an Easter play I'd written and which "5B" staged for the school community. From left: James, Briody (as Mary Magdalene), me, Tom (as Jesus), Bernard, John (as a Roman soldier), and Bernice.

Above: John as Bastian Balthazar Bux in the play I wrote based on Chapter XXII ("The Battle for the Ivory Tower") of The Neverending Story, and which 5B performed for the school community in 1992. Behind him is Katrina, playing the sorceress Xayide.

For more images from my teaching days in Goulburn, click here.

Back now to the present . . . and Port Macquarie! On my last night in Port – Monday, April 14 – I went out to dinner with my family to the Hot Wok Chinese Restaurant, which is where Mum and Dad are pictured above.