Back Home in The Cottage

Well that was Sydney and the Blue Mountains that was.  Being shown Sydney though the eyes of a British Canadian Aussie who has lived there for several decades was a revelation.  I had absolutely no idea what I was expecting so I can't say how it compared with expectations  I can say that it is a buzzing, lively, frenetic, noisy, dynamic, mellee (and sometimes it really does appear as though the dictionary definition of the word might apply) of a people-laden traffic jam of a city.  I loved the wide open spaces of the harbour, the Royal Botanic Gardens, The Centennial Park, the many beaches,  the café culture and so so many more things.  It has good public transport.  It also has traffic that I've not seen before even in England (which, admittedly, is a place I tend to avoid these days so maybe I just don't know what I'm missing).  The houses are a really fabulous mix of old and new, traditional and modern, well-kept and run down and all pitched into one huge melting pot and existing exactly where they landed when the pot was tipped out and the contents emptied.  There are trees planted everywhere and, in some cases the houses built around them.   British town planners would have a hairy canary of a fit but, you know what, they could learn a thing or two and perhaps we'd have a much more pleasant urban environment in Britain.

I'm so glad I went to Sydney because I caught up with my almost-life-long friend and her daughter (who is the British Canadian Aussie) and I now know why so many friends who have been to Sydney rave about it.  But I'm glad to be home again in The Cottage in quiet Napierian Kiwiland.  Mind you there were three cars in front of me at the traffic lights in town this morning which was rather more than usual.  Admittedly, though, it wasn't 'rush hour'.  

Over the next week or so I shall hopefully manage to show you what it was like being a tourist in Sydney.