Sorry
about the length of this post, but thee last few days of the tour
have been a bit manic, as the schedule for the three T20s meant
fly-match-fly-match-fly-match.
On
Thursday afternoon I flew out of Hobart. Being at the airport was
interesting. There are only two gates, and very few flights to
Melbourne that day. So, after I'd been there about half an hour, in
strolled the Australian and English men's cricket teams (the women
had flown out a lot earlier in the morning). The airport, for an hour
or so, felt like it was some sort of Ashes cricket village, with the
teams, as well as lots of fans, the players' families, and a whole
heap of cricket journalists.
Coming
back into Melbourne was actually a lovely feeling. Strangely like
coming home. I've spent the longest here out of anywhere on my trip,
and I guess that feelings of massive affection for this city have
crept up on me without me really noticing.
I
spent Friday morning in Fitzroy Gardens, and also wandered into the
Melbourne Museum and did a free guided tour, which I really enjoyed.
The museum is a great mixture of natural history – a “forest
room” with real life plants and trees growing around you; a million
stuffed animals; and a blue whale skeleton – and exhibitions about
Melbourne's history, including its Aboriginal past (and hopefully
future).
Friday
afternoon was the second T20, my last at the MCG. The one thing about
double-headers is that they really highlight the disparities which
still exist between men's and women's cricket. Doing that post-match
press conference with Charlotte Edwards in the gym at Bellerive, for
example, with people from the men's set-up continually walking in and
out and interrupting, was very irritating. I guess she's used to it,
but it makes my blood boil.
However,
there are bonuses: the food is way better, and you occasionally find
yourself in a lift with your childhood hero (Nasser Hussain in my
case). It's hard, being a member of the press corps, because
sometimes you aren't allowed to be as fan-girly as you really would
like to be...so no photos of me and Nasser, I'm afraid.
On
Saturday, after one last look at Fed Square and one last tram ride, I
flew to Sydney. Leaving Melbourne was pretty sad – but hopefully I
will be back.
But
arriving in Sydney was incredible. I caught the train from the
airport, right into Circular Quay. As I emerged from the station,
there, right in front of me, was the Harbour Bridge – and then,
just a little way to the right across the water, the Opera House. I
was rooted to the spot, not even feeling the weight of my now
stupidly heavy rucksack on my back, staring. I've been to many
amazing places on my trip, but being here in Sydney, suddenly, I
really was actually in Australia.
In
Sydney, I was staying in the YHA in The Rocks, which is right
near the Harbour Bridge. This initially meant climbing up some very
steep stairs with my bag, which was NOT fun. But there were also the most spectacular views of the city:
It's
also an interesting place to stay for another reason: it's right on
the top of an archaeological site known as The Big Dig, a recently
excavated area of The Rocks. The Rocks district is the oldest part of
Sydney, where the first settlers lived, and when they dug it all up
about 20 years ago, they found a whole load of interesting stuff that
is now on display in the building.
On
Saturday night I was invited out by a girl in my dorm room, Sophie,
to go for dinner with her a couple of the other girls who are staying
here. We went for noodles, and then wandered into Chinatown, as it
was Chinese New Year. On the way back, Sophie and I stopped for
“scary jugs” in an infamous bar called the Scary Canary. It was,
true to reputation, filled with backpackers out for a good time, so
we drank our luminous blue cocktails, and left. The night ended with
a whole group of us going for more drinks in the Australian, which is
a “buzzy” (Aussie slang) pub right next to the hostel. By 1am I
was exhausted, so crawled off to bed.
On
Sunday morning I was up early enough to have a wander around The
Rocks district and explore a bit. Apparently much of it was almost
pulled down in the 1970s by the government, but local protests,
including by the construction workers asked to do the job, eventually
triumphed, and many of the gorgeous old buildings were saved. Thank
goodness! I also went to see the famous Rocks markets, which were
selling a ton of amazing hand-crafted goods, though sadly very few
things that would survive a 10,000 mile flight home.
The
final match of the series was being held about 30 minutes train ride
out of the city centre, at the ANZ Stadium in the Olympic Park. I was
amazed by the size of the Park, which is almost a city in itself, and
had a wander around (and a sneaky ice-cream) before making my way up
to the press box. I was excited to discover that this was the same
stadium where Jonny Wilkinson kicked that famous drop goal in 2003,
breaking a million Aussie hearts in the process! Unfortunately, the
reverse occurred on Sunday, with both England men and women defeated
in their matches. The post-mortem for the men's side really begins
here, I guess, and out of sheer curiosity I went down to watch the
men's presser this time, which happened to be the one in which Ashley
Giles confirmed he is applying for the job of England coach.
Exciting, and interesting to see how different (by which I mean way
more journalists and way less honesty) these post-mortem conferences
are to the women's ones.
As
for the women's team, it wasn't a great way for them to end the
series, and I was sad about that; and also sad about it ending, and
my assignment as a journalist being, for now at least, officially
over. But still: England have the Ashes, and I was here to see it
happen. That's pretty amazing.
I
started Monday by climbing the steps up onto the Harbour Bridge. Some
mad people pay a huge amount and presumably scare themselves witless
by doing the proper Bridge Climb, where you are strapped into a
harness and climb up the outside, which takes about 3 hours. I
decided to opt for the cheaper, safer(?) option of going up to the
top of one of the pylons at the side. The views from there were good
enough for me!
There
was also a museum in there, detailing how the bridge was built.
Opened in 1932, it was largely constructed during the Great
Depression, and was known as the “iron lung” because it kept so
many men in work while it was built. I hadn't thought before about
what an amazing feat of engineering the construction process must
have been: firstly putting in the foundations, to support the
enormous weight of the arch; secondly, erecting cranes on either side
of the harbour to lift the steel. And then, slowly but surely, the
two halves were built out of steel, extending further and further
out, until finally the arches were joined together, right at the end.
After
that, as the weather was glorious, I caught the bus to the
world-famous Bondi Beach. I thought I had seen some nice Australian
beaches since I've been here, but Bondi really is everything you
could wish a beach to be. Golden, soft, warm sand, stretching for
miles; and a sparkling blue sea that, when I went to swim in it, sent
wonderfully refreshing waves over my head. Another incredible thing
is that, while you are sat on the beach, people come around to you
selling drinks and ice-creams, meaning you don't even have to move
when you get thirsty. Amazing!
I
spent the afternoon doing the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. It's just
a tiny bit different to the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path! Stunning
views, and a series of beautiful beaches all the way along, in
particular Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee. To give some idea of how hot
it was, I walked the whole way (a couple of hours altogether) in
bikini top and shorts, which was a pretty novel experience! It was
absolutely wonderful to stop on each beach and go for a cool swim.
I
caught the bus back into the city as the sun was setting, and seeing
the harbour all lit up for the first time was fantastic. I've seen
some beautiful natural sights while in Australia, but there is
something uniquely beautiful about a city like Sydney at night. Maybe
there shouldn't be, but there is.
I
ate dinner with the bridge in view; I ordered something called a
“Journo burger” (highly appropriate) which is basically just a
normal cheese burger, but bigger. Not sure what that says about
journalists...
Yesterday,
I walked down George Street (the main street) to the Town Hall, for
the free city tour I had heard about. These run every day, and they
operate on a “pay what you think it's worth” basis, which is a
fantastic concept. Our tour guide, a native Sydneysider, was really
excellent, with a great insight into the city that I never would have
gotten otherwise. For starters, she took us into the network of
underground tunnels underneath Sydney, which I didn't even realise
were there. Many of them are now filled with shops, but there are
apparently so many that no one quite knows how they all connect up.
She was also pretty knowledgeable about the First Fleet, and told us
all about how one of the most famous Governors of New South Wales,
Lachlan Macquarie, rounded up all the convicts at Hyde Park Barracks
one night, and locked them inside, to institute an element of
control.
Governor
Macquarie is everywhere in this city. And another thing I've noticed
is that there are a ton of streets and places here which are named
after things with which I'm very familiar back home: Liverpool
Street; Oxford Street; and of course Hyde Park, which has its very
own Speakers Corner. It's like being in a warped, more exciting
version of London, which happens to have the Harbour Bridge and Opera
House in it.
I
also did an Opera House tour yesterday, which was the next best thing
to actually seeing a performance (tickets for that are very
expensive!) The tour was great: we got go right up inside the “sails”
at the top, and saw inside three of the theatres, including some
rehearsals.
We
also heard the whole story behind its construction, which again I had
no idea about beforehand, but is again absolutely fascinating.
Basically, there was an international design competition in 1955, won
by Danish architect Jorn Utzon. But, perhaps because of the novelty
of his design, he had absolutely no blueprint for construction when
he started leading the build. Eventually, after years of overspending
and with the project nowhere near finished, he fell out with the
Australian government, resigned his position, and went back to
Denmark. The Opera House was, of course, later finished – but Utzon
never came back to Australia, and he never saw his completed design
come to fruition. Very sad really.
In
the evening, I walked around the Botanic Gardens for a while, and
then over to Darling Harbour (or, as it is surely inevitably known,
Sydney's Other Harbour). This is on the east side of the city, a bit
of a walk from Circular Quay, but it's a great place, with an
adventure playground, an aquarium, fountains, and some lovely
restaurants and bars. I ate dinner there, and was lucky enough to
come out when it was dark: I feel like I've taken about a zillion
photographs of Sydney at night since I've been here, but it is just
so beautiful!
Today
is my last day in Australia; I fly home tonight. I will write one
last entry about my adventures when I get home, but for now, suffice
it to say that I've loved my all-too-brief time in Sydney, which is
clearly (sorry Melbourne and Canberra) the real capital of Australia.
