Away from Sydney

We've just got back from our first trip away from Sydney, having spent a few days near Wollongong. It's just an hour and a half south of the city but feels like a thousand miles away. In many ways it was the Australia we were expecting to come to - very laid back - very beach centric - very 'outdoor'. We took advantage of the weather and camped - something we've only occasionally done in the UK having learned the hard way that it's not much fun in a tent when it's raining. It was warm and sunny the whole time and so camping was a joy - particularly in the good company of the Flowers family. We'll endeavour to do more of the same.

It's Australia day this Sunday (a public holiday celebrating the founding of the nation - as you might guess) so it seemed appropriate to take a look at Botany Bay over the weekend. The point where Captain Cook landed and which inevitably led to the colonisation of the continent is marked by several memorials and flags. To their credit the Australians are increasingly sensitive to the flip side of the story i.e. successful colonisation can also be seen as devastating dispossession if you happen to be Aboriginal. Aldi (the supermarket) was forced by public opinion to remove Australia Day celebratory T shirts off their shelves last week. The shirts read 'Australia - Founded 1788'  - effectively ignoring 40,000 years of rich history in a single sentence! Thankfully it didn't go unnoticed.

Here's a few photo's taken over the last month :- Sydney January 2014