Southeast Asia check, next stop Australia. We would have gone to Australia anyway, but my brother lives in Melbourne, so there was no question that it was going to be a major stop on our trip. In fact, we ended up spending five great weeks there. Of course Australia was very different from the other countries we had visited on our trip. It was the first English speaking country on the trip, and in terms of culture and development, it was the closest to what we were used to in North America. It was also significantly more expensive than other countries we had been to, and getting over the sticker shock took a bit of doing. The biggest difference though, had less to do with Australia itself, and more to do with our particular circumstances, namely the fact that we would not be alone. Not only would we be visiting my brother and his girlfriend, but, when they heard we would be there, my mother and sister decided to spend their holiday in Australia and join us in what turned out to be half travel adventure, half family reunion.
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| Matt and the girls |
I have to say that my brother did a great job as host. We were there for a month, and it seemed like he had something for us to do every day. Looking back on it, it’s hard to think of how we fit it all in. Snags on rags (barbecue hot dogs) on the banks of the Yarra river, swimming at the beach in St. Kilda, Australian rules football game at the Melbourne cricket grounds (it was the season opener, so attendance was 80,000), lawn bowling in Kensington (a surprise highlight for everyone), live music at local pubs, the botanical gardens, museums, great restaurants at night, and flat whites (coffee) in the side street cafes in the afternoon were just some of the Melbourne highlights. It was also great having everyone together. Colleen and I ended up staying with Matthew at his apartment, and my mother and sister found a hotel a block away, so it was easy for us all to spend time together.
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| The gang on the Waltzing Matilda |
We also managed to make a few trips out of Melbourne. We rented a car and spent a day wine tasting in the Yarra valley, with a side trip to the Healesville Sanctuary for some close encounters with koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, wambats and a platypus. Another day, we rented a car to drive the Great Ocean Road, an incredibly scenic drive winding along the coast west of Melbourne ending up at a stunning rock formation just off the coast called the twelve apostles. We even took a flight to Airlie Beach in Western Australia, and took a three day cruise of the Whitsunday Islands (with a stop at Whitehaven beach) on a small sailing yacht called the Waltzing Matilda.
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| Deep conversation in St. Kilda |
Exploring a new city, season opener at a massive sports venue, natural beauty on a scenic drive, a sailing cruise, and spending quality time with family, ordinarily, any of these would vie for the title of highlight of the trip. However, they all paled in comparison to our experience at the Great Barrier Reef. We visited the Great Barrier Reef from Airlie Beach with a tour group. The plan was for a boat to ferry us to a large platform moored close to the reef, my sister, brother, Colleen and I would scuba dive, my mom would go on the glass bottom boat, we would have lunch, take the boat back and check Great Barrier Reef off our list.
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| The 12 Apostles |
It would have gone just that way too if it weren’t for my mother. I don’t remember who suggested it first, but someone told my mother she should give scuba a go. Of course she protested and said no, but there was something in her response that gave the impression that her “no” was not as definitive as she might want us to believe, it was like there was a chink in the armour. We all saw it and immediately started applying pressure. It took about a half hour of cajoling, but to everyone’s surprise, she suddenly said something like “well I suppose…”. That was all we needed, we rushed to the cashier to sign her up before she could change her mind. Before I continue, let me explain something about my mother. For whatever reason, she does not like getting her head wet. Sounds like a strange phobia, but in my life I’ve never seen her head underwater, I’ve never seen more than the very tips of her hair wet. Scuba can be intimidating to anyone, but to go from not putting your head underwater to spending a half an hour underwater is a hell of a leap. Anyway, for whatever reason, my mother had agreed to go diving, and as shocked as we all were, we weren’t going to let her change her mind, so we kept our incredulity under wraps and kept talking to her to take her mind off it.
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| SCUBA Mom |
She didn’t need our encouragement though. Once she made the decision, she was calm and serene. It was surreal. Right up until the moment she walked off to the dive platform with her skinsuit, mask and other gear I thought she would back out. Even while she was away diving, I couldn’t help but think the jig would be up as soon as she hit the water. I even had a moment of guilt. What had we done? Forced my poor mother in to doing something she hated? Maybe she had just said yes to make us happy, maybe she would be traumatized. I couldn’t have been more wrong. When next we saw her, just after her dive, she was excited as a school girl. She had spent her half hour under water and loved every minute of it. She saw things most people only see on TV and had the experience of floating weightless under the sea. The only people more thrilled than her were us.
Australia was an amazing country, and I have some great memories from there. I have to say though, as great as any of them may be, Australia will forever be associated in my mind with that strange day when reality was suspended and my mom went scuba diving.
Michael
Florida
