AUSTRALIA – Down-Under

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are just overflying the Ayers Rock in central Australia. I don’t want you to miss it. Please remain seated and I will roll the plane first right and then left so all of you can see,” – announced the captain of a huge Boeing-747.  With the clear-blue skies over most of deserty Australia we had a memorable view of this remarkable rock formation. If we were on the radar of some extra-terrestrials, they must have been perplexed at this plane’s strange behavior in the middle of nowhere.

Academic sabbatical year is a fantastic institution. 
This time, I could not go any farther – Australia is almost on the opposite side of the globe
from Montreal. I decided to fly via Europe and Bangkok.  As all flights go to Sydney –I changed planes and continued on to Melbourne where this Visiting Professor arranged for a stay with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology as it was called then - and there I was. 

Australia is in many aspects similar to Canada – but pleasantly warmer.  The coldest south shores, close to Melbourne are beautifully scenic – just look here at the seashore rock formation called the Twelve Apostles. We were wandering close by, looking for local seaweeds that we could use for our metal biosorption research. And that supply of different algae species kept us busy then for another year.

I also had another invitation from the University of Queensland to spend about two months with them in Brisbane – some lectures, some research and an interesting challenge that haunted me for months to come. Their Department of Chemical Engineering was granted an island facility and did not know what to do with it. Well, it really was a small laboratory building on a tiny island right on the Great Barrier Reef. We made a little expedition to check it out there and brainstorm as to what with it. It was about an hour’s ride on a motor boat from Port Douglas. It is far north from Brisbane, so we flew to Cairns. Then got picked up by the lab’s one-man crew who drove us to Port Douglas where we boarded his small motor boat and set off.

I did not know that this all was a ride to a paradise (Low Isles).
Or sort of, on the one side. On the other, our brainstorming often bumped into what is called a “feasibility”. The lab was in a house with a simple dormitory for the crew. It even had electricity from a generator of a nearby (government) lightouhse. But fresh water was, of course, in a short supply on a tiny island that one could walk around in about 10-15 minutes. However, the location, the small island, was a paradise sitting on top of a magical coral reef.

To cut a long story short – while this was an absolutely fairy-tale paradise location, it was somewhat ‘unfeasible’ to make a progressive use of it or develop it as a prospective science base. A small simple base – perhaps. In other words, lots of our wishful thinking evaporated when confronted with small-island realities, our imagination just failed us. Upon a closer look, a “paradise” may not always be sustainable. It would perhaps take some billionaire to buy the whole thing up and visit it every once in a while to enjoy the crystal-clear ocean surroundings and dive to his heart’s delight. This way, a boat with a few tourists anchors close by sometimes, its passengers use it as a base for snorkeling and diving. Then they have a supper comfortably onboard and - depart for the mainland which is so beutiful - and so comfortable throughout.

Maybe the place could serve as one of a bigger network of sampling points monitoring the reef health as it is suffering from the nutrient pollution creeping from the mainland intensive agriculture. You see, I got smitten and all excited there – and keep thinking just WHAT to do with such a place. I suspect that this little island paradise nowadays still keeps on going low key, the way it has been for a long-long time – and it may be the right way after all -

Deflated, our little expedition returned back to our home base in Brisbane.  I should perhaps mention the nearby Gold Coast as another Australian seaside playground. Not surprisingly, Australians are obsessed with the ocean and they are very sporty in general. I have never seen as many sailing regatta broadcasts as there – with such enthusiastic sailors and their audience. And the city of Sydney lives by its beaches and surfers – more than by its famous Sydney Opera.

When I was attending an international conference in Sydney, suddenly a face I knew appeared in front of me. It was my former Iranian student with a big smile. Not even finishing her degree with us in Montreal, fond of the Iranian revolution then, she  returned home – only to be heavily persecuted and seeing her brother killed. Ten years passed by before she was able to escape and ended up in Australia, getting a professional job and living a happy family life. It was a pleasure to see her.
I eventually returned, via Sydney and Los Angeles, completing the other half of my one and only around-the-world journey. But the world “down-under” left a lasting impression.

Too bad that Australia has been so distant so far. But it is getting closer these days and emigrants from South-East Asia, Indonesia, China, even the Middle East are streaming to the “empty continent” – bringing with them also their tastes in food and dishes from all over the world that are gaining stronger and tastier prominence in traditional and rather bland British-based Aussie cuisine.

Australia has been known for its very unique fawna - Kangaroo meat is widely available in Australia, although it is not among the most commonly eaten meats. Also eaten (in specialist restaurants) is emu meat and crocodile meat. Although not found in mainstream restaurants, I tried all three meat types and found them somewhat similar to beef, chicken and veal, respectively.

 



The LATEST NEWS (March 24, 2016) :
“Worst Coral Bleaching Event’ to Hit Australia’s GreatBarrier Reef”
The extreme bleaching event, which began several weeks ago near Lizard Island off Australia’s northeast coast, has prompted the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to raise its response level to its highest level (3). This allows for greater surveying and monitoring of the fragile reef ecosystem.