Just to ensure the Green Bogey
Down Under does not become a misnomer let’s talk about Australia. It’s spring
in Australia right now and how utterly fabulous. The streets no longer a scene
from Bergman, whose bleakness of winter has been replaced by a bright
Teletubbie land of yet-to-be-tarnished greens and exploding blooms. It helps
that I live in probably the most manicured garden suburb of probably the most
manicured garden city in Australia, but it’s been a pleasure to walk to the
shops, often for a coffee.
It’s funny that I’ve come back to
Australia and have been revelling in elements actually so foreign: the
introduced non-native Wisteria, the deciduous elms and oaks, the remnants of
Cadbury’s chocolate from Heathrow. But Canberra is nothing if not a fusion of
worlds, and a short walk through its leafiness invariably brings you into the
bush, that land of long golden grasses, gnarly white gums, and multicoloured
birds. A dusty sky one (wonderfully daylight savings timed) evening lending
itself to a mood of bush ballads, red dirt, and what lies beyond.
And, keeping on the native side,
there are always the Botanic Gardens to treasure. After coffee, Red Hill, re-acquaintance
with my car (which was actually quite odd at first), this was next on my list,
really to orientate myself with what it means to be October in the southern
hemisphere.
Away from Canberra, what does
spring look like in Sydney? Well, certainly not as sedate, the first sign of
warm sun sending flocks to parade semi-naked on its beaches, to cram its outdoor
tables and generally drive aimlessly round its streets in oversize cars. Thankfully
a small Barina and its anxious driver can navigate such hazards and drop me in
Newtown for a special night of food, friends and frothy beer.
Crowds were out in force along
the Eastern Suburbs Coastal Exhibition Treadmill, or the Coogee to Bondi walk
as its otherwise known. Still, there are always pleasant things to look at, in
all directions. This time some added extras, courtesy of Sculpture by the Sea,
or I don’t really understand by the sand, as it is also otherwise known. 
More abstract piles were on the
cards the next day, courtesy of a brief visit to the new improved Museum of
Contemporary Art. Not a bad way to while away a morning, especially as it is
positioned at A1 down on Circular Quay, the cafe on the fourth floor bedecked
with cakes and views and worthy of a future visit without having had a heavy
breakfast beforehand. And then...wait for it...yes it had to
happen...sadly...work. I know, can you believe it? I can’t, and the shock sent
me in a cold sweat to a small room to eat beans on toast for dinner.
Things were a little better the
next day, with no work as such on the cards, just the labours of eating a
bowlful of laksa for lunch and a cruise back on the highway to Canberra, where
the holiday officially now comes to an end. Still, the working at home thing is
not so bad, what with the coffee around the corner and the leafiness in
between. And there’s something to be said for getting back to some kind of
regularity, as much as you can, when there are distractions abounding. But
then, that’s Australia for you.
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