Think of the painter Magritte. In his works, people are representational and fruit is dead on. It’s the juxtaposition of an apple for a face that makes the works surreal–the substitution of something that should not be there for something that is expected. This is Australia as viewed by my American eye. From a distance, the gorgeous landscapes are similar to Maine, the California coast, and many of our national parks. But when you get up close, the expected is replaced by the unusual.
You see an awfully large rabbit, blink, and now it’s a wallaby. You hear a bird whistle and see a grey and lavender parrot. The magpies have gurnsey feathering. A weeping willow turns out to be kind of pine tree. There are forests of eucalypts with a different version for each of the ecological niches. A black “garter snake” slithers by and you discover that it’s poisonous–but no worries, mate, it’s only the third deadliest in Australia, and one antivenin cures all (if administered in time). Aussies drive on the left. Cyclones rotate counterclockwise (but most drain water in sinks and toilets rotates clockwise–plumbing conventions are far stronger than the Coreolis Effect). The North Star isn’t visible and the Southern Cross doesn’t always point South. And in Australia America’s today is an Aussie’s tomorrow.
It’s high season and there are two cars on the road.
We visit wineries and we often are the only guests. Our hosts pour, four, five, six, samples and happily chat with us about the wine and life in general. Time per winery: 45 minutes to an hour. Cost: nothing. You meet an Aussie on a hiking trail and he’s your friend for life. They are a very open and friendly people. Ask a bloke for directions to a gas station and he’ll offer give you a liter or two if you’re running too low. If this is surreal, give me more of it. All one really needs to do is change one’s expectations and then surreal becomes normal. I’m working on that.
Come to think of it, maybe it’s the USA that is surreal in the sense that our expectations are out of line when it comes to living life as a human being instead of a consumer.
I Think I’ve mentioned before: In my 40 years living in San Diego, I’ve never met an Australian I did not immediately like and admire.
So glad you had a great time!
Your comment about living as a human versus as a “consumer,” hit home! John & I had that experience in Turkey and Greece in September. We noted simplicity, and graciousness in so many interactions. It’s about relationship, and you realize how caught up yanks are in the superficiality of having “stuff,” instead of “being” real. Even health care in this country is more consumerism than health.