I arrived in to Sydney on the Thursday evening and spent the first 2 nights in a hostel in the Surrey Hills area, it was very nice, it had a nice courtyard to relax in and nice room mates who were very chatty – both had Persian and Indian heritage so we had things to chat about.
But a couple of things before I carry on with Sydney – I spent 3 weeks driving from Sydney to Cairns (which will be the next post, I thought just a Sydney one would be good) and then also got a car at Christchurch airport 5 days ago, and it has happened…. I have started talking to the sat-nav/Siri 🤦🏻♀️ 😳….. I put in my end destination but if I see an interesting signpost or something, I take a detour, the sat nav does not like this – obviously – and keeps shouting (not really shouting really) instructions about U turning or
Sorry about that abrupt ending to that sentence, but I am still trying to get my head around commands in WordPress and it does this thing where after a certain time, you cannot edit the paragraph.
I almost expect the lady on sat nav to tell me off for not doing what she is telling me! But obviously as I am on my own in the car for 2-3 hours at a time, I have started responding with comments like ‘really?’ Or ‘are you sure?’ And I do also thank her 🙃
The other thing I wanted to say is that I am GOING TO BE A DADI MA!! (Grandma in gujerati), Tayla and Rajiv are expecting a baby at the end of June, it is all really exciting and everyone is looking forward to it. I believe that Tayla did feel a bit grim during the first trimester but is feeling better now. It makes my heart really sing to think of what is to come.
Anyway, so back to Sydney. I had been to Sydney before, in 1990/91 so was not too fussed about doing the tourist thing, but I did feel that I needed to at least go back to the Opera House etc. It was fecking hot, over 30 degrees so I took the bus to Circular Quay and wandered down to the front. I had totally forgotten how awesome the Harbour Bridge is and the Opera House was getting ready for the pre Christmas festivities. The place was heaving, prime season I suppose, and it was nice to see people milling about, in the bars and restaurants having a good time.
Here comes the history and background info…….
Sydney is the capital of the State of New South Wales and the most populated city in Australia. Many automatically think that it is the capital of Australia, but that is Canberra.
Greater Sydney consists of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are colloquially known as “Sydneysiders”. The estimated population in June 2024 was 5,557,233, which is about 66% of the state’s population. By the way, the population of the whole of NZ is 5million!
James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay during his first Pacific voyage in 1770. In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts led by Arthur Phillip founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were Aboriginal Australians who had migrated from southeast Asia via northern Australia. Flaked pebbles found in Western Sydney’s gravel sediments might indicate human occupation from 45,000 to 50,000 years ago, while radio carbon has shown evidence of human activity in the region from around 30,000 years ago. Prior to the arrival of the British, there were 4,000 to 8,000 Aboriginal people in the greater Sydney region.
Britain had been sending convicts to its American Colonies for most of the eighteenth century, and the loss of these colonies in 1783 led the British to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay. Those who supported colonisation also pointed to the strategic importance of a new base in the Asia-Pacific region and its potential to provide much-needed timber and flax for the navy.
The first of 11 ships under the command of Captain Phillip arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788. It comprised more than a thousand settlers, including 736 convicts. The fleet soon moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. The colony of New South Wales was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788. By 1804, the colony was self sufficient in food.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1810–1821) played a leading role in the development of Sydney and New South Wales, establishing a bank, a currency and a hospital. He employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney and commissioned the construction of roads, wharves, churches, and public buildings. Parramatta Road linking Sydney and Parramatta, was opened in 1811, and a road across the Blue Mountains was completed in 1815, opening the way for large-scale farming and grazing.
Official policy encouraged the emigration of free British settlers to New South Wales. Immigration to the colony increased from 900 free settlers in 1826–30 to 29,000 in 1836–40, many of whom settled in Sydney. By the 1840s, free settlers, free-born residents and former convicts now represented the vast majority of the population of Sydney, leading to increasing public agitation for responsible government and an end to transportation. Transportation to New South Wales ceased in 1840.
The New South Wales Legislative Council became a semi-elected body in 1842. Sydney was declared a city the same year, and a governing council established. Since then, Sydney has survived the Gold Rush and the Great Depression and even a daylight bathing ban!
From the 1980s, immigration grew rapidly, with Asia, the Middle East and Africa becoming major sources. By 2021, the population of Sydney was over 5.2 million, with 40% of the population born overseas. China and India overtook England as the largest source countries for overseas-born residents. I don’t know how that compares with Britain, but it would be interesting to know!
That’s the info bit over – I always find history and how things have developed interesting. Having said that, from what I have researched, the history of Sydney does not appear to be as controversial as some of the other places I have been to – happy to be proved wrong.
There is the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, also known as £10 Poms, created in 1945 to substantially increase the population of Australia and to supply workers for the country’s booming industries. As well as subsidising the cost of travelling to Australia, the government promised employment prospects, affordable housing, and a generally more optimistic lifestyle – I don’t think that was the reality of it though.
In my previous post, I wrote about the Simonian family, and JoJo (she probably hates that moniker now, but I was known as Dogo when I was young) and she left UK some 25 ish years ago to be a nurse in Sydney. On the Saturday she came to pick me up from the hostel and I have to admit that I could not say much for the first few minutes! Not sure when I saw her last but I think that it was around 1998. I was so surreal being sat in her car with her daughter Cate, in the back. But then we did not stop talking for the next couple of days!
Jo being Jo, took me to a – wait for this – dinner and a drag show Saturday night – I won’t get into the details of why, but I really wanted to go!
The Imperial Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Erskinville featured in the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it has hosted drag shows since 1983, and continues to be an icon for the LGBT community with its restaurant renamed “Priscillas” in honour of the film. The hotel was added to the State’s heritage list in Recognition of its’ cultural significance and being a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
I had no idea what to expect but I love Ru Paul and have always wanted to see a drag show. I was not expecting much food wise but it was an amazing mix of Mediterranean food and was fantastic. The show was fine, it was a Christmas show so the usual Christmas songs and double entendres, but was a fab experience! One of the performers could have actually been Terence Stamp!!
Sunday was a bit gray and cold, a huge difference from the 30 degrees previously, and Jo drove me around her side of town, they live in Coogee which is a super suburb and has a great beach. Rick Stein has just opened a restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel on the beach!
We went to Bondi and saw the lifeguards, a very well known scene, and had fish in chips at the the Lemon Tree Bay – beware the seagulls! The very sad thing is that JoJo messaged me a week later telling me about the Bondi shooting and that was just awful, I listened and watched the news and there is a real fall out from it and what the country needs to do…. Makes more of an argument for gun control – worldwide.
JoJo and I had the best time and just talked for the whole time, we talked about my aunt, Amita, who was close friends with Jo’s parents and how we all met. She was very close to her and what was nice is that she spent a lot of time with her and was able to talk to me about her as she spent much more time with her that I did as very sadly, my aunt died when I was 10. My aunt and I were close, as far as I can recall, and it was nice to talk about her. It was JoJo’s father Jack and my uncle Shekhar who found her, it was a shock for everyone.
Let’s not end on a sad note! It was an amazing catch up, it’s one of those relationships which is more like family than friends, where there is an unconditional friendship and no airs and graces.
Having said that, it is not only the long standing friendships that can only be like that, you can know someone for a year and have that connection, and it is on that note, a positive one, that I will end on.
Adventures of Nisha 