History Lessons

Tuesday March 6th

Ella was at nursery today, so this afternoon we parked at Rose Bay and took the jetcat to Circular Quay where the entire passenger list of a London-based Saga Holidays’ cruise ship were meandering about the dockside in variously unsuitable clothing for the 25 degree heat (one couple in full evening wear, the husband wearing a bow-tie and dinner jacket, the wife in floor length black velvet). They were all British and probably all over 65. I’m assuming they didn’t cruise all the way from London but met the ship in some exotic port of call. Can you imagine cruising all the way from London with the same set of people driving you stark raving mad every day and evening of the week? It could turn from “The Love Boat” to some sort of Agatha-Christie-meets-Miss-Marple-playing- Cleudo type episode at the flick of a perfectly-placed fish knife.

The ship’s passengers didn’t venture far from the harbourside, sipping afternoon tea in the cafes along the quay and wandering through the souvenir shops admiring the boomerangs. They call the mass produced stuff “Australiana” and it consists broadly of Koala Bears in Australian Cricket Shirts, Boomerangs painted with dreamings(Aboriginal art) and key rings in the shape of the Opera House. I don’t know who buys this stuff.

After wandering round the opera house we had cocktails on the concourse (make mine a Vanilla Thiller) then headed over the The Rocks, which is the oldest area of the city and marks the spot where British settlers lived after the arrival of the first fleet in 1788. Most of this early settlement was cleared to make way for the building of the harbour bridge, so only a few really old buildings remain. If you wander the back streets and climb some steps you come across the remains of probably the earliest brick construction dwellings in the whole of Australia, which are known as the “tumbledown houses” on account of being built into the side of the rock as though they are about to tumble down the hill. It’s a fascinating and spooky area; some of the dwellings still have fireplaces, window and door openings. It’s the sort of place we would never have discovered if we’d had the pushchair.

Afterwards we had lunch at the Gumnut Tearooms, which sounds very grand but is really just a little shack of a café in the backstreets (see the picture) before reading up on the history of Sydney’s first hospital. The guidebooks explain that a hospital was established at The Rocks within a few days of the first British settlers arriving. One of the surgeons was a convict, but as his skills were so vital, he became the first convict to receive a pardon from the governor. It took another two years before a “portable hospital” and supplies was shipped from London. In the meantime, they struggled to treat patients in tents and established gardens to grow the plants and herbs to make up medicines.

I’m fascinated by the story of Australia and the hard work it took to settle it. I’m only just beginning to realise the impact of British settlers on the indigenous population, who have suffered in many ways as a result. What luxury to have enough time in Sydney to visit these places and see the city’s museums and galleries. I can’t wait.