All Around Australia

From Taiwan’s heat and humidity. I jumped into the thawing Australian winter in Sydney. It was a relief to be in milder temps and back among English speakers, although with their funny accents and turns of phrase, it really was like I had traveled so far as to wind up in a mirror world. That’s not to diss on Australia though, because my six weeks here turned out to be equal parts relaxing and engaging.

I only opted for a week in Sydney to start my stay. Affordable accommodations have become a struggle in Australia (or everywhere?), but in Sydney, it’s particularly acute. I found myself totally disappointed with my options, so I downsized to a week in a budget hotel and set on other options. This was one of the last bookings I set up before I was laid off earlier in the month, and was nonrefundable. I really got a disappointing location in Sydney as well. Noisy road traffic, poor public transit options and a sterile environment defined my stay, but I was at least able to get out daily with a bit of extra walking. And once I was away from the hotel, I found the shining parts of Sydney, starting of course with the vaunted opera house.

I griped about hoteling in a poor zone for transit, but Sydney’s actual network was solid. The system is an easy, affordable and open system for tap-based bank cards, local transit card optional. It’s definitely one of the better networks of getting about I’ve been to.

My week there was a bit lonely, but I got some good walks, hikes and urban runs in. Special favorites were hiking in the Blue Mountains National Park which gave a taste of arid Australia. It reminded me of Arizona’s Grand Canyon as a basin. The Manly-Spit Walk along Sydney’s stark, beautiful coastline was another nice day, and I topped that off with a twilight ferry back to urban Sydney.

Unfortunately, from Taiwan, and as yet unresolved as of this writing weeks later leaving Australia, I’ve been afflicted with a pernicious stomach bug. It’s giving me symptoms that parallel with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I don’t know yet for sure if I’ve developed the chronic ailment but after weeks of varying antibiotics, anti-parasitics and an inconclusive stool sample, I and the clinic doctors were a bit stumped. I sure hope I won’t have to stop eating spicy! A bonus was getting to learn that universal health care doesn’t come cheap for foreigners in Australia.

Once I decided I was priced out of Sydney, I fell on Melbourne as my primary residence for Australia. The city always has had an international charm and strong rankings in livable city indices and so It lured me as well. I thought a twelve hour train from Sydney would be a romantic way to make the journey but it wound up feeling, of course, like a bit of a slog, not dissimilar to and perhaps less appealing than Amtrak back stateside as there was no lounge car offered to get out of your seat for a bit.

After my layoffs, I was fortunate to have booked a refundable hotel and so changed my booking to a hostel in a bid to start budgeting. I set up for three weeks at Europa Melbourne. It wound up being a very easy and pleasant stay. When I think back of my time there, it will be cooking in the chaotic kitchen, the occasional night out, and endless banter.

The huge hostel was full of youngish foreigners almost all aiming to make the most of Australia’s working holiday visa. It allows visitors a year to work in the country, mostly in service jobs. Besides work, most are there to learn and strengthen their English. As a native speaker without a busy schedule, I was a useful friend for people wanting to practice language exchange, and as a hostel typically forces one into public spaces, I found myself in interesting chats most days. It was easy entertainment, but in the hostel life, it’s always a bit bittersweet to say goodbye to fast, funny friends.

Melbourne itself was a hoot in the city center. I found plenty of cheap-ish  options for veggie eats, lots of nightlife options, and a charming tram-based transit system. The city had a strong multicultural lean with a large, varied Asian population, thus lots of good options for sushi or bubble tea. Sadly, a lot pricier than Japan or Taiwan.

That tram based system had some of the highest transit costs of anywhere I’ve been, even beating out NYC’s at US$3.50 a ride. Compared to $1 a ride in Sydney, it felt a bit usurious. As a result, there’s a low key rebellion from riders not “tapping on” that was interesting to observe.

Australia in general has mastered the cashless transaction. Almost nowhere was cash needed, even in the deep interior. With an international credit card, it was no problem and super convenient. I had only a scant handful of cash transactions in my weeks there.

On the flipside, I seemed to have terrible luck at finding reliable internet. Every lodging had untrustworthy or glacial wifi, and my esim data plan was constantly lagging. As a modern traveler, these are dependencies for me, and it was frustrating to have constant issues. Since it was frequent everywhere I went, I’m calling it an Australia issue.

My last item in Australia, and most ambitious, was a 5,000 km road trip from Melbourne to the spiritual and physical center of the continent, Uluru, and back. This stone monolith, sacred to the aboriginal peoples, rises up 1,000 meters in the middle of the mostly featureless desert outback.

I rented a tricked out jeep through a service called Indiecampers. Ominously, it was carjacked off their lot, so I got upgraded to a fairly posh camper van. I felt feverish to do something adventurous in nature down-under after my NZ hiking plans collapsed last month. It was a bit too far for the short 12 days I had it, but I managed with an average of 4 hours a day of driving or so. Meaning that days without hikes involved double the driving.

Driving on the opposite side of the road wasn’t as nightmarish as I feared. Curiously, the most difficulty I had was actually keeping positioned in the lane. With the driver’s side opposite, I found myself straddling the passenger side line where I’d normally be sitting. This actually led to me damaging the vehicle by whacking a kangaroo carcass and taking out the vehicle’s water storage, an amusing snafu that led to us spending half the time with water compromised. A couple of repairs and a few hundred bucks later and wrongs were righted.

That was the only issue I had, besides maybe that one time I ran out of gas… Fortunately, we easily got a lift to and from the petrol stop from a couple of nice folk from Coober Pedy. My own ineptitude and tunnel vision caused that easily avoidable error, but driving around with faith in humanity helps take the force of the blow.

So was it worth it? I think so, I probably had the minimum amount of time for such a bold amount of driving feasible, averaging about 4 hours daily. That allowed for splitting up the days with activities, and strategically loading up several days for all day driving gave some breathing room. It was still taxing, a bit like a sprint and marathon combined. Uluru and other Outback wonders were special to see and take in and it was really about the journey more than the destination, although $6-10 a gallon of fuel put a significant burden on the costs as well.

Fortunately, Ellen joined me from Taiwan for the trip for her first visit to Australia as well. I handled all the driving, we split other tasks and costs, and she helped keep the RV a fun, happy and tidy space. Cooking veggie meals with a haul from the Asian grocers in Melbourne was a treat as the Country options dwindled to roadhouse fare, not yet too vegan friendly. Spending all this time together in the van, staying on target for sightseeing and daily goals and keeping our morale high left us feeling pretty triumphant on our return to the city.

Australia’s now in the rear view as the two of us fly to Singapore for a final bonus chapter together. It was a cool time as a tourist, and I’d gladly try to stake out a life here if the cards ever played out right. Australia’s political system looks a lot less toxic and equitable than in the USA today.

Despite having that better system, the country is currently riven with a national referendum to decide on giving their indigenous an additional voice in parliament. It seems to have become fairly controversial for such a simple issue that doesn’t even change voting powers. I admire Australia’s effort countrywide to recognize and own its genocidal original sin towards its native populations; in this way, our countries are twins, alas. Will that ring hollow if such an effort is defeated, I wonder.

Civilly, every Australian is required to vote, or face a token fine, so the decision will reflect the population’s will truly. This is so interesting to me and unlike our system where a majority doesn’t even participate. I’d like to imagine a USA where everyone votes and the two party duopoly is shattered. I’d hope that would diminish the allure of toxic ideologies like Trumpism.

Soon enough I’ll be back in the States to confront that coming political storm. I’m counting down my travel by weeks now. I have decided to land in New York as well and take some additional time to see my close ones there.

There is the search for new work and purpose, as well. Will my travels influence the next job I take? Would I secure more work that would allow me the grand undertaking I’ve done as a digital nomad this year? I’d love to continue this constructive roaming life as a web professional, but the cards life can deal us are always up to chance. It’s going to be a time of soul searching once I return to my home in Tucson.