History and Heights

I decided to treat Sunday as a real Sunday and not a tourist Sunday... After a long breakfast with the newspapers, I walked down to 'The Rocks' market...it reminds me of Greenwich market and had some really unusual things to buy.

I would urge anyone to go to 'The Susannah House Museum' in The Rocks. It is a row of two up, two down houses in an area that was once run down and the entry point for many immigrants. Ironically, areas like The Rocks and homes like it have increased in price and the whole area has been gentrified...sounds like another Notting Hill to me!

The homes have a great substance to them...with old backyards complete with tin baths and outdoor lavatories! I met a couple at the museum and we talked at some length. They have lived in Australia for over 30 years. They talked about their unease of the political situation. For some time when they first arrived, they felt their lives were controlled to some extent by ridiculous rules and regulations. They also felt uncomfortable about the racism within the country...they felt even Sydney had a long way to go...they felt London was streets ahead in terms of integration. I have to admit, I know what they mean, I think it is particularly bad with the older generation, there is an acute ignorance of anyone else and their lives. They don't even realise how offensive they are being!

I was listening to the radio on my way down to Sydney and I was listening to one debate programme about how much money they should spend on aboriginal education and whether it is worth it! I found this astounding! News and the media have very much exploded in Australia...it is now everywhere and yet a short while ago, in some areas, it was quite limited...people knew no better.. Let us hope the channels of communication and the freedom they now enjoy, raise those levels of debate and get people to question old ideals... Surely this can only be a good thing?

The same couple are staying put in Australia for the time being... They once had a cottage in Sussex and now they have a four bedroom, large house in Australia with lots of land... if they sold up now, they would not have the money to buy something similar in Sussex... the quality of life is just not comparable!

I had a wonderful afternoon in the 'Museum of Contemporary Art'. In contrast this was a space full of work from artists all over the world. Many of the pieces were from India, Africa and Iran... Much of the subject matter was about moving on and escaping war... I was particularly interested by the work of a female artist in Iran. He path to becoming an artist was an interesting one. She was living in France at the time and was suddenly told she needed to go home in 15 days. Desperate to stay, she made a series of WANTED posters requesting a husband so she could gain residency in France. I liked her humour about the whole situation...one poster shows her whole face blanked out with just her eyes on display and the other shows her face with her eyes blanked out. She displayed in her own country, but this was 30 miles from the city and completely underground to avoid arrest...

Many posters later...and two years of work, she was granted permission to stay in France and her posters were recognised as a piece of art in their own right... I know my favourite author, Paul Auster, would find this interesting... it smacks of the work he did with Sophie Calle..

Today, I've just come back from the famous Syney Harbour Bridge Climb... Although it draws tourists like a magnet, nothing can explain how wonderful it really is...

Life is so strange...as we were about to go up, another group were coming down and I realised I knew two of the people in the group! They were a couple in my surf class along the coast!

The view is great.. Life does not stop, cars drive over it, trains pass through it, and all the life below... The mixture of steps and vibrations making it a well used 3 hours.

I was pestered by an American couple in our climb group. The husband thought I looked like a very young version of Julie Andrews!! woman from '. I thought he must be wearing some pretty strong contact lenses as I look nothing like her...but he proceeded to be annoying by telling me how many times he had seen 'The Sound of Music! Funny, I thought he looked like the lead singer of 'Kiss' (without the make-up)...........