Down Under: Conclusions

AUCKLAND AIRPORT, NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND - 31st January 2010

2 months ago I was in Singapore, having kicked off my world tour with 7 weeks in India and getting ready to head Down Under. Anyone following The Daily Rod can probably appreciciate that it has been one hell of a 2 months - pound for pound the busiest, most action-packed time period of my life and, almost certainly, the most expensive. As this chapter of my travels draws to a close though, a few Antipodean reflections and conclusions are surely in order.

1. Driving


Visualizar Gap Year - New Zealand em um mapa maior

As the blue lines in the above map illustrate, I did one hell of a lot of driving in New Zealand. A recent blog covered various aspects of my driving experiences, in particular relation to Kiwis' inabilty to maintain decent speeds around corners, but there are other more general oddities to be beheld when cruising around their streets. Most strange is a law that bans parking on the wrong side of the street - that is parking your car facing forwards on the right side of the road (i.e. against the direction of traffic). Admittedly with so few people and so few cars, lack of parking space isn't a massive issue, but the rationale of "this law was introduced to prevent many accidents that take place" is pretty galling - a better idea would be to teach drivers to use their mirrors/eyes/generally look where they're going and save yourself a lot of hassle. The fact that the above quote was from an official note that was placed on my windscreen in Fox Glacier - a town with a population of about 100, on a street with about 10 cars parked on it, says more than enough about the resources being wasted in instigating such a stupid system.

Then, there's the traffic lights, which change straight from red to green - no amber stage in the middle. This isn't unique here in Australiasia - it's fairly prevalent in lots of places - but it sucks. Firstly, it invariably causes congestion as a result of the inevitable lags that come from drivers being slow to react to the sudden change from one to another without warning - fewer cars pass through the junction before the lights change, leaving more cars stuck behind, more traffic jams, and generally more annoyed drivers. Secondly, it is terrible for people who are desperately trying to figure out where they are going on a map in the brief period while the lights change - at least in England you have the second or two of warning while the amber glows to get ready to go - over here you just look up, see green, and have no idea if you've been holding everyone up for 30 seconds or 3. And invariably some numpty will get over-excited and drop the clutch and stall... more hold ups.

2. Weighing in on the age-old Sydney vs Melbourne debate

Sydney and Melbourne have been arguing with each other over who has the better city for the entirity of Australian history. For me, it's no contest. Sydney has the better climate, one of the most beautiful harbours anywhere in the world (in my experience, only Monte Carlo can challenge its glamour), and draws the headlines and the eyes of the world with its New Year fireworks bonanza... but I'd choose Melbourne any day of the week (with the possible exception of New Year´s Eve).

If you were to personify the two, Sydney would have bleached blonde hair, wear a tank top and designer sunglasses and spend the day prancing around on the beach looking like a prettyboy. Melbourne would probably wear jeans and a shirt but wouldn´t really care anyway - he'd ooze the sort of educated, cultured classiness whose sophistication absconds the need to show off particular assets.

It real terms, Melbourne doesn't have the big showpiece attractions like Sydney´s Harbour Bridge and Opera House - both jaw-dropping bits of architecture. What it does have, however, is a cultural buzz through an abundance of art and sport, and a real eclectic multicultural vibe that you can simply feel in the air, and that just does not exist in the same way in its New South Wales rival. Sydney is without doubt a cool city... but cool as a holiday destination. Melbourne is just cool. Period.

3. Getting screwed by currency

There's nothing that can be done about it, but I've got live with choosing to travel at the worst possible time as a Britisher - particularly in Australia. Sterling has tanked, while the Aussie dollar is running at all time highs, resulting in an exchange rate of A$1.70 or so to the pound. Talk to Aussies and they'll tell you about coming over to the UK and being battered by a 2.5:1 rate... so basically things in Australia have got about 60% more expensive for me for absolutely no reason bar British economic collapse. Things in NZ have been marginally better, but not by much - about a year or so ago it was almost NZ$3 to the pound - my stay saw me getting something around NZ$2.10. I guess it all depends which way you look at it - on one side you should be watching every penny when you're burning cash like a anarchist terrorist with a wodge of greenback... but on the flipside a few extra quid doesn't make all that much difference when you're spending money left right and centre anyway!

4. Young countries

Coming from England, it takes some time to get used to just how young the modern countries of Australia and New Zealand are. My first year bedroom in Oxford predates the discovery of Australia by Captain Cook by a good 3 centuries or so, and there is no limit of irrelevant bits of paraphenalia you could find in your average English town that would match the century or so age of New Zealand as a country. "History" as a concept is very different - over here you actually get a sense of history changing around you while you are there... which isn't that ridiculous considering every year is not that much of an addition to the respective ages of the nations. But what's really weird is that when you arrive, you smirk when seeing a "historic" building built in 1900... but after 2 months, you feel yourself thinking "wow - that's old!".


5. Rushing around

As I've regularly re-iterated, the last month has been ridiculously hectic and, although I have achieved an unbelieveable amount and got so many amazing memories from such a variety of places spread by such vast distances, there is a price to pay. Since completing "The Last Nizam" (an excellent read for anyone with the slightest interest in India's princely history) on that terrible night in Sydney Airport, I've been reading Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" - frankly compulsory for anyone heading to South America. One line stood out as soon as I read it though - "we couldn't get to know the city well because we were there only for a few days and were pressed for time with the many things we had to sort out". Travels have made me aware of a skill I didn't know I had, but one that has come in useful - the ability to thoroughly absorb all facets of a town or city in the process of a good few hours walk. However, if Che and Alberto couldn't get to know a city well in a few days, it says something for what I've been forced to sideline when, with the exception of Christchurch, I've spent no longer than 18 hours in any town since Brisbane.


There are probably a whole host of other random things I wanted to say at some stage over the last 2 months that I've totally forgotten and cannot remember now... but this it pretty much good night and good luck to a fantastic couple of countries, neither of whom I had enough time to cover properly, and both of whom I will be visiting again as soon as I am able.