Back in Good Old Blighty

Upfront I need to state that until last month I had never set foot in the United Kingdom. However, since I was about six I have had a hankering to visit England; London specifically.

It is possibly due the Victorian family and social codes that pervaded our society in Australia during my childhood. Or maybe it was my love for English books and comics like The Magic Faraway Tree, Paddington Bear, Professor Branestawm, Jack and Jill (and later Biggles, Hornblower, Battle, and Valiant). It could have been British history threaded into the primary school curriculum, or the plethora of BBC and Thames television found on the family's favourite channel, the ABC. It is most possibly a mixture of all of these, and more, that has left me with a tie to a small island stuck on the top right-hand side of the North Atlantic.

On a reasonably balmy Sunday evening in September, this new-to-town traveller alighted on an unfamiliar Paddington Station platform, with a strange sense of familiarity. I bought Cornish pasties with a twenty pound note and thought nothing of it. I used the crossing on Praed Street in front of a black cab and red double-decker bus with a feeling that I had done it before. I was briefly lost in the back streets of Hyde Park with a sense that I really did know (roughly) where I was. It may have been jet lag, but I didn't have the sense of awe or bemusement I thought I would feel. I felt comfortable and at ease in this sprawling city.

In fact I spent the entire trip marvelling at the similarities of our two societies, governments, advertising, morals, et cetera. This seems to be irrefutable proof of how integrated British culture is in the Antipodes. In contrast Christine saw the differences, wowed at the new, and aahed at the counterpoints of our new location.

Please don't think I was unimpressed by London, as this was not the case. I was struck by the beauty of the city at night; amazed at how it never seemed to sleep, no matter what time you were out; captivated by the history steeping in its roads and walls; as well as being intrigued by its well deserved self importance. I continued to be impressed by Wales and Southern England on the rest of the trip.

So even though I had never been to the UK, some part of me felt as though I was returning to something familiar.

In the next few blogs I would like to share with you the wonderful travels and the feelings Christine and I gained from our newly adopted Mother Country.

I'm back to work next week, so don't expect them in a hurry.

Iechyd da!
TT