The land of Oz

Its been almost a week since I left Wellington. I can’t even begin to describe how weird it has been to be without a home. It’s really hard to grasp that I won’t be returning to Landcross Street. Unlike my South Island adventure, which eventually returned me to my “regular life,” my time in Aus and Fiji will result in my return to my actual life. And again, I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am to be back in New York & Delaware.

Having Dad here has been fantastic. We landed in Sydney on Monday and Dad basically passed out in bed as soon as we arrived in our hotel. But after the hours he had spent travelling, it was totally understandable. We both slept well that night, I was emotionally drained from the last few days. On Tuesday, we rented a car and drove northwest of the city, towards Lightning Ridge. This tiny town is one of the first places in “the Outback” and is the only place in the world where black opals come from. We did some self guided tours of the region and then descended into an opal mine turned sandstone sculpture gallery. Wicked cool. For anyone who hasn’t seen an black opal, they are absolutely gorgeous. They certainly surpass the diamond in natural beauty and come close in price. Our drive out and back to Lightning Ridge included interesting characters, emus, kangaroos and heat. The temperature has been at least 40 degrees since we arrived. And that’s Celsius...

We spent yesterday in the Blue Mountains, one of the many “World Heritage Sites” located in Australia. These mountains constantly appear to be covered by a blue mist which is actually caused by the eucalyptus trees that fill the area. We did a few short hikes to see many different areas of the park which culminated in a train ride up the steepest railway in the world. At its steepest, it measures 52° and has a gradient of 1 to 1.28. This officially beats Baldwin Street in Dunedin in both gradient and thrill. While we were both nervous about the strength of the cable pulling us 450 metres (in length and 250 metres in height), Dad was definitely more vocal about it. Today it was the remainder of the drive back with a quick stop at the Olympic Stadiums, where the games of the XVII Olympiad were held in 2000. There was some pretty cool stuff to see here and I hope to be able to visit another set of stadiums soon, maybe when the games are being played.

After getting back to Sydney, Dad and I took a walk across the Harbour Bridge and I finally got to see my first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House. Less than 6 hours I was inside, about to hear the Sydney Symphony perform the fourth concert in their Prokofiev Series. On the program was Lieutenant Kije: Suite, Piano Concerto No. 5, The Ugly Duckling for Soprano and Orchestra and Peter and the Wolf. This was an incredible performance. The pianist who performed the concerto was fantastic. His body became one with the instrument and after a resounding amount of applause, he played a solo piece. I swear, he had 6 hands.

The most interesting part of this trip so far has been traveling with Dad. While New Zealand and Australia have very different cultures and accents, there are certain things that they share. And on these points, I have a clear advantage over Dad. My favourite moment so far has been when we went out to breakfast for the first time and Dad was asked if he wanted coffee. His response was simply, "yes." However, this is not such a simple question in Australia or New Zealand. As I've explained before, coffee is very different here. Dad's still adjusting.

Another great moment has been "teaching" Dad to drive. Even though he's successfully driven on the left side of the road before, I have way more recent experience. Almost every turn is preceded by "ok, so a wide right now?" And no matter how often he flips the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signals, it never gets old. And I chuckle every time. Uncle Bobby joins us tomorrow and I can't wait to help a new person adjust. Or hide some secrets and just laugh some more.

Kia Ora,

Liam