George Street

Easy English:  A high pressure system has settled over Sydney.  As geographers know, that means sunshine.  The days here may be short (dark by 5 pm), but when the sun is shining, it’s magnificent.  I reconnected with George Street today.  All the landmarks are still there:  Queen Victoria, City Hall, Market City (a mall inside the shell of the old market house), plenty of places to get a flat white, and what must be the highest concentration of Asians in Australia.  Portuguese fast food is also available.  I don’t know why that strikes me as funny.  The chain (which is all over Australia) is called Oporto, but there are other Portuguese restaurants (specializing in chicken) along George as well. 

You might be interested in the Baptist Church on George Street.  They have services in both Mandarin and Cantonese, which is interesting, but not unusual.  What is interesting and unusual are two of their other services.  The 11 am service is in English and the 4 pm service is in ‘Easy English.’  How innovative is that, here on the edge of Sydney’s Chinatown. 

What you can’t find along George Street is free wifi.  That’s not exactly true.  I asked in a few of the coffee shops and they all directed me to McDonalds, which is where I ended up this morning.  That’s sad, isn’t it?  To let an invasive species like McDonalds corner the market for free wifi.  In general, I would say that Australia is behind the times in high tech.  In fact, even the McDonald’s connection was slow and sluggish.  I’m not sure it is making much of a difference though.  From my observations, this country’s economy is now the strongest in the world (I didn’t say biggest).   Japan, all of Europe, the United States:  every other developed nation is suffering.  Australia seems to be thriving through what is, for others, a recessionary tide.  The weakness of the US dollar says a lot about the two countries’ comparative economic well being.  As for Europe, I am still trying to figure out how a little country like Greece could possibly bring down the eurozone, but that is the way the news is being slanted here. 

Circular Quay:  I took a bus to Circular Quay (the old harbor) and walked back to Sydney Central, which is a little over a mile.  'The Rocks' on Sydney Cove is where the first boatload of convicts came ashore in 1788.   Do you know where their ship departed from?  The Isle of Wight.  So, on this trip I made the same journey they did.  The English arrived on aboriginal lands and took over.  That is why there are always aboriginal Australians performing at The Rocks; they play rhythm instruments and the didgeridoo.  Their presence signals that Australia’s original peoples have not left this land but are simply sharing it with others.  By the way, ‘aborigines’ is no longer PC.  Circular Quay is where anyone can catch a ferry to the distant shores of Sydney Harbor, places like the Taronga Zoo, Watsons Bay and Manly.  It is also the place where you can stroll right up to the Sydney Opera House and walk across or climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  The whole area has undergone an extreme makeover since I was here in the 1980s.  In fact, it started in the 1960s.  The niceties I like best are the medallions under foot; they offer quotes about Australia and life in general from famous writers who have some connection to Sydney.    

Geographically yours,

D.J.Z.