It did occur to me, as we settled into economy class, that someone may read about the airline traveling conditions in the 21st century and wonder how we ever managed to handle it. I think the tranquilizing effect of the in-seat entertainment screen factors heavily. Quantas was pretty good, but there is no getting around the fact that to get between Australia and the east coast of the USA, you have to pretty much stay in a seat for about 24 hours... are probably not going to get much sleep, and will emerge with 'cankles,' no matter how often you get up and walk. (OK, maybe only travelers of a 'certain age,' have to worry about those). Nevertheless, our young travelers kept their good cheer for most of the journey! The old ones did pretty well too.
Now that we are back, some 'global' thoughts:
Sydney or Melbourne?
Mark says Sydney. That's probably because he walked through the Royal Botanic Garden almost every day. Alan said Melbourne, because it was like NYC, laid out on a grid, walkable, and very oriented to food and shopping that was out of our price range. JR can't pick (diplomat!). I think I give Melbourne a slight margin, and here's why:
What I liked about Melbourne was that it is very cosmopolitan. Not that Sydney isn't, but Melbourne seemed a bit more jazzed to have such a very diverse population. Melbourne seemed to have an 'emerging Australia,' sense-- the atmosphere was not as tied to old England. I liked this about Melbourne too. Sydney seemed more British. It is an older city and more aware of its historical roots as a colony, whereas Melbourne really boomed as a gold rush town in the 1850's. Its history is more tied to events that happened locally.
I Still Don't Understand the Commonwealth
I try very hard to be aware of my 'cultural lens' when I am traveling. I hope I am pretty good at it. One of the most difficult things for me to understand in Australia, though, is what it means to the citizens to be part of the Commonwealth. We saw lots of historical markers of places where Queen Elizabeth visited (like the Three Sisters) or opened (like the Sydney Opera House.) Her portrait hung in the Vampire (the navy destroyer we toured), and this ship was decommissioned in 1986. Secretly, I found myself hoping for Australia to grow to feel independent from the queen, in the way that I might hope for an adult to become self-actualized. I realize this isn't fair since Australia only has the queen because they seem to enjoy her. With apology, I have to admit that the subtleties involved seem to escape me, and I will have to keep learning.
Why Don't We Do That?
Here are some good ideas from Australia that I wish we would implement in the States .
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| Milk, in condiment sized containers for tea |
Little milk containers were in our refrigerators in all of our hotel rooms and always when tea and coffee were served. When you made tea, you could have a drop of milk in it. I never saw powdered coffee whitener, anywhere. Even coffee drinkers prefer milk sometimes, and just think of how many calories and fat grams we could save if little milk vials were available instead of always half-and-half!
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| Don't leave the lights on |
This is not unique to Australia, but I haven't seen in in the USA. In our newer hotels, we had to insert our key into the holder in the room in order to turn on the lights. That meant that if no one was in the room, the lights were off. This must represent a huge savings in electricity since patrons don't leave the lights on when they go out.
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| Turn off the power at the outlet |
Each outlet has its own on/off switch. Whether you plug in a toaster or a charger, you have to also turn on the outlet itself. I would love to have this feature in the USA. We try hard to unplug appliances with transformers since they draw a little bit of current just from being plugged in. Some appliances, though, are really hard to unplug all the time. Australia runs on a higher current so I have been told that the outlet switch is a safety feature more than a saving feature, but still... The next time you conscientiously unplug your phone charger, think of Australia.
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| The half flush for lighter loads |
This was my favorite environmentally friendly find in Australia. In the States, low flow toilets have been mandated for new installations since 1994. The Australian company Caroma was the first to sell (in 1980) a dual flush toilet that gives the user the option of using only .8 gallons of water in a flush. Installation is mandatory in Australia for new construction, and most of the toilets we used had dual flush. Our family knew how to use them because the only other place we have seen one is in New Hampshire, at my parents' house. Yes, the same folks who showed us Banksia pods a year ago, also 'toilet trained' us for our Australian trip!
Probably a Sign Off, for Now, and Some Stats and Thanks
We are unpacking, organizing, and getting over jet lag, in this first 24 hours of being back. Mark and Alan were happy to be coming home. John Roy and I thought we would have been just fine to stay away for another week or so. Everyone has remarked about what a great trip it was.
In its short existence, Leaving with Laura had visitors from over ten countries. The most read post was "24 hours to go," posted July 16, and the second most read was "Coffee Tour!" posted July 29. The highest referring URL's have been Facebook, Stumbleupon, and Twitter.
Leaving with Laura may go dark for a while, since I'll be staying home for a while. If you would like to leave with me on my next trip, you can click to follow this blog, or click on the RSS feed button, or follow me on Twitter. My twitter name is lauragraceffa.
Mark has been very helpful in proofreading, especially when we had to conserve connection time and when I was writing at night after a long day, and feeling a bit bleary.
To all reading, I wish you safe travels.
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