A dream of Australian culture
This morning we arrived back in sunny Sydney... all the way from sunny Queensland. The weather has taken a turn for the better and is charging into a brilliant summer. Today was set to be a fantastic 34 degrees, this means BEACH!!!!!!! Yesterday I was lying around on Surfers Paradise (TM), this morning I took a walk down to Balmoral Beach. If I had a digital camera there would be photos. It is moments like this I am proud to live in Australia.
We (the MC team and the LCPs) were up in Queensland, or more specifically: Warrick, for our annual presidents meeting. The conference site was set out in what I would call: bush. If you rose early in the morning you could see wallabies hoping off in the far fields, cows drifted through neighbouring paddocks and the site owners were a rare bread of country hospitality. This was the Australia that we are so proud to promote as our international image. What gets me the most is the trees… the combination of solitary grey gums with sparse foliage is something that conjures up a sense of… comradery and loneliness akin to the poetry of Paterson and the paintings of Albert Namatjira. This all sounds a little romantic and possibly a little over the top, but it is a rare occasion when I stop and look at the country we possess outside of Sydney.
There are times when I stop and wonder: could this terrain exist in any other part of the world. The answer is irrelevant but it does make me wonder how much I value my own country. Every time I set foot outside of the cities I am amazed at what we have to offer. Whether it is the Great Dividing Range, the national parks, the forests that stretch from Sydney to Newcastle… there is definitely something there.
It is a common thing for Australians to travel the globe several times over before ever considering our own country. Amongst my friends we have scoured every continent, every region of the world, from Laos to London, Bolivia to Belarus, Russia to Romania, China to Chile, but I cannot think of a single friend that has devoted the time to my own country. During my own travels I have listened time and time again to our traveler’s tales of my own country. Grape picking in South Australia, hitchhiking across the Nullabor. Why do we feel the need to travel across the world to find our adventures?
Time and time again I hear trainees compare my country to its English speaking relatives… and what are we doing to dispel this concept? Nothing… Time and time again we stumble when attempting to describe Australian culture, we define ourselves by what we are not rather than what we are. Me thinks it is time to revisit some of our own past and celebrate the poetry and culture that was so celebrated in the earlier part of this century.
TO CONCLUDE: Nick Cave’s movie: ‘The Proposition’ opens this week. Looks fantastic. If I could have a truly Australian experience I would be driving due west listening to the sounds of the Dirty Three a truly haunting band from Melbourne.
We (the MC team and the LCPs) were up in Queensland, or more specifically: Warrick, for our annual presidents meeting. The conference site was set out in what I would call: bush. If you rose early in the morning you could see wallabies hoping off in the far fields, cows drifted through neighbouring paddocks and the site owners were a rare bread of country hospitality. This was the Australia that we are so proud to promote as our international image. What gets me the most is the trees… the combination of solitary grey gums with sparse foliage is something that conjures up a sense of… comradery and loneliness akin to the poetry of Paterson and the paintings of Albert Namatjira. This all sounds a little romantic and possibly a little over the top, but it is a rare occasion when I stop and look at the country we possess outside of Sydney.
There are times when I stop and wonder: could this terrain exist in any other part of the world. The answer is irrelevant but it does make me wonder how much I value my own country. Every time I set foot outside of the cities I am amazed at what we have to offer. Whether it is the Great Dividing Range, the national parks, the forests that stretch from Sydney to Newcastle… there is definitely something there.
It is a common thing for Australians to travel the globe several times over before ever considering our own country. Amongst my friends we have scoured every continent, every region of the world, from Laos to London, Bolivia to Belarus, Russia to Romania, China to Chile, but I cannot think of a single friend that has devoted the time to my own country. During my own travels I have listened time and time again to our traveler’s tales of my own country. Grape picking in South Australia, hitchhiking across the Nullabor. Why do we feel the need to travel across the world to find our adventures?
Time and time again I hear trainees compare my country to its English speaking relatives… and what are we doing to dispel this concept? Nothing… Time and time again we stumble when attempting to describe Australian culture, we define ourselves by what we are not rather than what we are. Me thinks it is time to revisit some of our own past and celebrate the poetry and culture that was so celebrated in the earlier part of this century.
TO CONCLUDE: Nick Cave’s movie: ‘The Proposition’ opens this week. Looks fantastic. If I could have a truly Australian experience I would be driving due west listening to the sounds of the Dirty Three a truly haunting band from Melbourne.
posted by Westy at 3:01 PM
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