Living Down Under

It ain't half hot

Speaking to friends in London over the past few days, I was reminded at how ill prepared people can be these days. In the 21st century when we can make computer chips small enough to be barely visible to the naked eye, we can launch satellites into space and bring them back again, we can cure diseases and explore black holes.....but the city of London shuts down when it snows. Public transport was cancelled and 6 million people called in, saying they couldn't get to work, costing the UK government millions. It's being hyped as the coldest snap on record with winds gusting in from Siberia and much of England and Scotland blanketed in snow.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne, South Australia, temperatures hit 45*, bush fires raged, destroying homes and creating havoc, forcing the South Australian rural fire service to dump thousands of gallons of sea water over affected areas. The entire city then switched on its air conditioning units, causing the network to go into meltdown and short out.

Mother nature must be having a great laugh at us all.

We are all visitors here

Obviously when foreigners think of Australia , they picture tanned, fit girls in bikinis and muscled surfer dudes in board shorts, both with tousled hair and perfect bodies. The stereotype also dictates a laid back personality. Whenever Australian are captured in film, they invariably are wearing flip flops, a vest and a hat with dangly corks – Crocodile Dundee for our 80s film fans. I had the pleasure of meeting Baz Luhrmann at a party to celebrate the post-production of his epic “ Australia ” starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. His vision of Australia, albeit fifty years ago, is more accurate. Australia is a hugely multicultural country. There is still massive tension between the current population and the native aborigine people, who are still very much on the fringe of society. In one of the first acts as Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd apologies to the aborigine people, specifically, the stolen generation, who were taken from their families and placed with white families as a way of assimilating them into modern society. A really emotional moment, especially after Mr Rudd's predecessor, John Howard refused to apologise to the stolen generation. It's a really thorny issue here as you would imagine.

Sydney is a major business orientated city and it's rare to see Aborigine people outside of the touristy areas where a few appear with their didgeredoos to hawk CDs and earn a few dollars busking. Baz Luhrmann has cast several Aborigines in Australia and Brandon, the child who features heavily in the plot is the pick of the performances. As well as stealing the show, the young actor stole Nicole Kidman's heart and if what I hear is true....Oprah Whinfrey's! Oprah had Hugh and Nicole and Baz on a special Australia episode of her show, championing the film although it failed to impress audiences and critics and flopped at the box office which was disappointing.

Although I don;t claim to be an expert in Aussie sport just yet, there are several Aborigines actively involved in rugby league, the countries man sporting passion. I don't follow the aerial ping pong of Aussie Rules Football, but there are many young native Australians competing at an elite level. Yvonne Goolagong won seven tennis grand slams. Perhaps most famously Cathy Freeman, the 400 metre runner was selected to light the Olympic flame when the games were held in Sydney.

Aboriginies seem to be a marginalised people in their own land. This is a real shame, although it does make me feel better about being "an outsider". I would have thought the more recent arrivals (POMs - Prisoners of Her Majesty's pleasure) would feel a real sense of guilt for what their ancestors have done in the raping and pillaging of the Aborigines land and culture. This does not seem to be the case. If anything, they are seen as a pest and sadly, the stereotype is of alcoholics causing trouble and sleeping in the street during the day. I must admit, I have never seen any of this with my own eyes and they seem to get a bad reputation. This seems a shame. History is always written by the victor's point of view. To conclude, I hark back to Australia Day last year when I went to Australia's Big Day Out - a massive travelling music festival, similar to Perry Farrell's Looloapalooza festival in USA during the 90s. English folk singer Billy Bragg performed an odd pantomime about the settlement of the world's largest prison and wished the well oiled tattooed crowd "happy invasion day". This stoked the fire for the headline act - Rage Against the Machine. You can imagine what they thought of this, although they managed to blame most of Australia's problems on George Bush.

Commuting with my sunglasses on

Living and working in Sydney in a conundrum. Working in the financial industry, my job and the majority of others in the same sector are based in the iconic CBD (Central Business District).

There can be few more spectacular places to work in the world. I work on the 30^th floor of one of the tallest buildings in the city affording me spectacular views. To my left the Centre Point tower (similar to Seattle ’s space needle if you don’t know it) looks over the hive of industry. In front of me is Darling Harbour , the Anzac Bridge , known for its two tall wired span points, which earns it the nickname “Madonna’s Bra”. Beyond it the inner west suburbs of Balmain, Leichhardt, Rozelle and other beautiful exotically named enclaves.

Balmain was my first home in Sydney . My partner and I rented a unit there for six months. It’s originally an Irish settlement with a pub on every corner, so I was right at home! All pubs are called hotels, although few now have accommodation. Balmain has more than its fair share; the Town Hall, Dicks, the Exchange, the Dry Dock and the London being my favourites. Leichhardt, originally a Dutch settlement, is now populated mainly by Neapolitans, it is dotted with excellent pizzerias and fragrant delicatessens. The inner west stretches out as fat as Homebush, the site of the Olympic Stadium and the various other sporting venues and discount warehouses. On a good day you can see as far as the Blue Mountains .

To my right is the coat hanger - Sydney Harbour Bridge . When my mum and dad came to visit, my dad and I climbed the bridge. It is truly spectacular when you climb early in the morning as the sun comes up or at dusk as the sun is setting. The story behind the building of the bridge, the lives that were lost and the impact it had on the city could only be matched by New York City ’s Empire State Building . It truly is something everyone should see before they die.

The other side of the building looks out over the prosperous Eastern suburbs of Woolloomooloo, where Russell Crowe owns a harbour-side residence, the infamous Kings Cross, Double Bay, Rushcutters Bay and the world famous Bondi beach. Then in front of the finger peninsula where Russell moors his enormous yacht is the Sydney Opera House. A magnificent feat of modern engineering. I understand that the acoustics aren’t up to much and Melbournians argue that Australia has the best opera house in the world – Sydney ’s outside and Melbourne ’s inside. The opera house’s sails welcome me across the bridge every morning signalling an end to my beach-side commute.

Back to the conundrum of living and working in Sydney . The decision to be made is whether you want to live close to work and pay three fortunes and have little or no space, or get more for your money, but take the hit on the travel time and live to the South or the magnificent Northern Beaches. I chose the latter and I haven’t look back, well, not since I got over the hour long commute!

The Northern Beaches for the uninitiated is a stunning part of the world. My journey home starts in the CBD, then over the Harbour Bridge with the sails of the Opera House roof peeking over the side of the bridge from Circular Quay to the right. Heading up the hill to North Sydney, we swing through Neutral Bay , Mosman and Cremorne, all idyllic spots with plenty of money. The bus meanders through traffic which other city commuters would envy, we head lazily up the hill to Manly Vale, Warringah and the start of the beaches: Dee Why, Curl Curl, Long Reef, Collaroy, Narrabeen, Warriewood. The bus continues north through Mona Vale to Whale Beach and Palm Beach, otherwise known as Summer Bay, home of the Aussie soap opera Home and Away. It’s mile after mile of golden beaches with the waves breaking at the side of the Pittwater Road. With the bright sunshine and typical Aussie good humour, the majority of people are happy reading their books and newspapers or sat gazing out the window, plugged into their iPods. It’s a great life. I believe I’ve made the right choice.

Happy Australia Day!

Coming from the UK, I was amazed at the popularity of rugby league, or football as it is always referred to. “Footy” for me and the rest of Europe, Asia and South America was a round ball game played by two teams of eleven. More of that later, but I have grown to love the 13 man game of league and was enthralled by the scale of last year’s centenary celebrations culminating in the world cup, which ended so dramatically. The less said about that the better. The only exposure I had to Rugby League was the occasional match on BBC, usually played in a mud-bath somewhere in the north of England. It seemed a totally foreign game to me. Having been raised on soccer, field hockey and rugby union, the six tackles was totally alien and I didn’t pay it much attention.

Being a Northern Beaches resident I was swept up in the Manly Sea Eagles hype last year and was delighted to see a real local show of support with shops and business decorating their premises with flags and bunting. Coming from Northern Ireland, any display of patriotism, flags and emblems was always tinged with political connotations. I come from a place where you can tell someone’s politics by what colour their kerb stones are painted and what flags they have on display, especially around the traditional marching season, when a tiny minority of Northern Irish residents spoil it for the rest of us by taking to the streets and causing what the news refers to as 'anti-social behaviour'. This normally involves gangs of youths in Scottish football (soccer!) shirts (Glasgow Rangers for one side of the community and Glasgow Celtic for their neighbours) and throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at each other and in the bad old days, hijacking cars, trucks and buses and burning them out, blocking roads and causing general mayhem (and you wonder why I moved!) All this to celebrate a war between Prince William of Orange, a homosexual Dutch midget and King James, a Scot who fought the battle of the Boyne, just north of Dublin at a place near modern day Drogheda, almost 100 miles from the Northern Irish border in 1690. More than 300 years later, the Protestant Orange Order still celebrates this by marching in bowler hats carrying banners and flags. Recently the Republican side of the community, who want a united Ireland, have taken exception to this and demanded marches are re-routed.

I was just thinking what a relief it was to have a public holiday not tinged by riots....then Manly's corso was overrun by drunken youths on Australia Day ranting about Aussie pride and attacking an asian woman, smashing her car window. It's enough to make you homesick!