Category: Australasia

A year ago, just before christmas, we had big racial riots in Sydney. It began when some Lebanese Australians beat up a life saver in Cronulla. I wasn’t here at the time, but I’m guessing it was a personal, spontaneous event having nothing to do with his status. But we’re proud of our life savers… Continue reading Multicultural lifesavers

I rented a car and drove up to Port Macquarie to see my parents over the weekend. One advantage to renting a car is that the stereo is worth listening to, so I bought a few CDs to catch up on what I’ve missed while I’ve been away. One of them was Missy Higgins ‘The… Continue reading Australian Accent

January 26 is Australia Day, or Invasion Day as the Aboriginies call it, when the first fleet landed in Botany Bay in 1788. The natives have a point. Is it right that we celebrate a day when one culture turned up and began to annihalate another? It’s not as if we think about history on… Continue reading Australia Day

I always say that one of the most interesting, but wearying, things about living in another culture is that you don’t know where to find even the bost basic items. And just finding out can take weeks. Today I spent half an hour in the grocery section of the supermarket looking for celery. Even the… Continue reading Celery

My keepers (still staying with a friend’s family) turned on the TV this morning to find Discovery Channel had an American documentary on bush fires. It was quite surreal to realise that the subjects were Australian. Bush fires are such a part of Australian life that they hardly require a documentary, but to see someone… Continue reading Bush fires

There’s more to Aboriginal culture than digeridoos and carrobories, but they have the most impact, integrating music, art, dance and storytelling in one go. A couple of years ago, I stumbled across an aboriginal culture centre in Darling Harbour, just under the IMAX theatre. I wanted so much to take Marie there, but when we… Continue reading Aboriginal Culture

When I last lived in Australia, I used to laugh at the advice that said everyone should drink at least 2 litres per day. I used to drink that much before leaving home. But somehow, I lost that habit when I moved to Japan, then Belgium, then Bhutan. In the past 9 years, I’ve struggled… Continue reading Water

I used to believe that it was as compulsory to be registered with Medicare as it was to vote. I’m coming to learn that neither is really true. I’ve never been interested in politics and wouldn’t trust the person I voted for to live up to the promises that made me choose them anyway, so… Continue reading Not so easy to return

It’s great. I’ve been away long enough that the culture has changed in Australia. I have run a cable through the house where I’m staying so that I can get onto the net without having to bother my friends on their PC. Using their’s usually means booting it up rather than booting them off. If… Continue reading Power conscious

“Do kangaroos really hop down the streets in Australia?” It’s been a while since I’ve been asked this question, but the number of times I’ve heard it is surprising. Of course, I’m part of the problem. Every Aussie abroad spins stories of the wonder of our land and such a question begs a ‘drop bear’… Continue reading Wallabies in the Sydney Metropolitan