Into the Bush, Byron and a bit of surfing

Reunions are usually fun and seeing my cousin for the first time in a fair few years was no exception. Whilst we hadn’t really spent huge amounts of time together in the past, the age gap seemed much bigger when we were younger, I’ve always thought (and been told) we were pretty similar. At any rate he and his girlfriend made me feel so welcome at their home and I had a really chill couple of days.

Before I continue though, what a home! If my memory serves me my cousin was always a bit of a hippy and that whole idea of being in tune with your environment is something reflected by his current abode. It’s right in the middle of the Currumbin Valley and is pretty much surrounded by the forest on all sides. All the house water comes from rainwater and I’m pretty sure he said that the electricity and heating were solar powered. The toilets are even eco friendly, rather than flush they just go straight to compost.

My favourite thing though? If any of my rubbish was biodegradable I could just sling it over the side of the balcony into the forest for the local beasties to munch on. It was far more fun than it should have been.

So speaking of beasties there was an abundance of them around. Aside from my cousins dog there were also possums, bush turkeys and kangaroos weaving their way through the bush, though in the case of the former I only heard a pair scrapping in the wee hours of the morning. This being Australia there was also all manner of creepy crawly things flitting about. I’ve never been overly squeamish anyway but Japan has certainly hardened me to bugs.

Being the big nature geek that I am it is no real surprise that I was excited to experience some of Australia’s weird and wonderful wildlife. To that end my cousin kindly organised a trip to a nearby wildlife sanctuary for myself and some friends he had staying over.

Currumbin wildlife sanctuary is run by the national trust of Queensland and is one of the oldest of its kind on the gold coast, originally founded way back in 1947 by a beekeeper. Now it is of course a much grander affair and it even has a wildlife hospital attached. As a general rule I’ve avoided things like this whilst in Japan, the Japanese animal welfare policies are pretty abysmal making most zoos very depressing. The sanctuary was a breath of a fresh air however and made me reminisce of times long gone spent playing in Chester zoo. The enclosures were nice and spacious with plenty of nooks and crannies for the critters to tuck themselves away from prying eyes should the mood take them.

Aside from the usual animals; koalas, kangaroos, dingoes e.t.c, I managed to get through most of my checklist of weird Aussie wildlife, including echidnas and Cassowary; the worlds most dangerous bird. Sadly not platypuses (platypi?) at this sanctuary, they are apparently unbelievably rare. The wombats and Tasmanian devils were sadly a no show but that is just incentive for a second visit.

To round the trip off we watched a bird show sponsored by Air Asia. It’s a bit weird really to think such a massive global company would be sponsoring such a trivial thing but I guess all publicity is good publicity. I suppose it would be nice to think they are just trying to give something back, that’s what the less cynical part of me keeps saying at any-rate.

In fact this enviro-centric notion seems to permeate throughout Australia, from water saving toilets, through the large amount of recycling points all the way up to issuing massive fines for interfering with native wildlife. It’s clear to see that there is a big push to fight the wrongs of the past here. This reverence of the natural world is, I believe, very admirable and I hope it’s a growing trend.

There are similar ideals requiring this respect of the natural world in Japan, however it’s always seemed a bit shallow to me. Preservation does occur but, in general, only reserved for things of beauty or areas that can be considered aesthetically pleasing. Some of the older generation of Japanese people seem to be very proud of this but to me it just seems, like a lot of things in Japan, more about outward appearance than anything else.

Once we were all Koala’d out it was back to my cousins jungle retreat to chill for a bit. I really do mean just for a bit as well. With everyone having early starts the next day, my cousin is usually up at 5am to go surfing and his girlfriend has an almost 2 hour commute to work, bedtime was about 9am. In fact since the sun rises at about 4am and it’s too hot to do anything by midday, daily life there is shifted forward a couple of hours. Everything is really laidback as well, a nice change from the 24hr craziness that can be Japanese big cities or life in a synchrotron.

The following day I was up and ready to go by 7am. Today we were travelling through time, well time zones at any-rate, to Byron bay. A lot of people recommended this place to me and, given that I’m a big fan of mister mad, bad and dangerous to be with himself, I should at least have a gander at the town which takes it’s name from his grandfather. It’s nice though, super trendy, in fact maybe a little too trendy for me. It seems like a major way point for rich young backpackers on tours around Aus and the towns infrastructure has built up to reflect this. A bit more wandering would have been nice but I think it would of burnt a hole in my already over light wallet.

My cousin took me a bit further along to cape Byron, the eastern most point of mainland Australia. From here we had a nice wander along the costal cliffs and up to the lighthouse. This was apparently my Grandma’s favourite place in Australia on the occasions she visited. Looking out at the wonderful coastline views, the rolling waves and the impressive skyline of Gold Coast itself I could confirm something I have always known, she has great taste. On top of the views it is also a great spot for a bit of whale and dolphin watching, didn't manage to spot any of the former though sadly.

I finished the day up hanging out in Coolangatta, the Australian equivalent of Liscard. Well that sells it a little short, Liscard does not after all have gorgeous stretches of beach and I’m also told it’s a popular surf point. The high street isn’t much to look at though, but it did have somewhere I could buy new shoes. No surfing for me this day sadly as the wind was all wrong. I did have a good dip in the ocean though. Living up a mountain all the time makes me forget how much I miss the sea.

This trip definitely wet my appetite for a deeper exploration of the vast and quirky land that is Australia. I’m fortunate to have made a fair few Australian friends during my stay in Japan do they should expect a visit from me in the near future.

Yoroshiku ne.

Talks with my Grandad

 

Well it's been a while since my last post and that's because I’m back home for the holidays, taking a break from work and visiting friends and family. Of course I’m having a wonderful time with little time to blog, and answering the same three questions over and over and over again.

On Christmas day I had an incredible chat with my Granddad Jimmy. I don't know if I'd mentioned it before but my Granddad was actually in Japan 60 years ago during his military service. He was stationed out there for a year and a half in a town called Kiori just north of Hiroshima. He used to tell me loads of stories about it when I was little and I think it’s where my infatuation with the country grew from.

We spent a good bit of the day exchanging experiences and it occurred to me that he was actually in Japan at a very interesting time, a few years after the dropping of the A-bomb and also in the midst of the Korean War. He told me about a lot of things, many interesting memories particularly about the prisoner camps and stuff he was told by the locals about their treatment by occupying forces not long after the war. I wish I'd written more down so I decided to do a little interview which I’ve transcribed here. I hope you find it interesting よろしくおねがいします。

1.You went out to Japan by boat.  How long did it take and what was the most interesting place you stopped on the way?

It took about 6 weeks in total. I’d say Sialom (was the most interesting). The vegetation was very and well everything was nice about it. It was just beautiful.

2.What was your first impression when you arrived?

In Japan? Well we went of a night and it was freezing. That left a big impression ‘cos I thought it was always going to be hot. We arrived about March, February or March.

3.What did you spend most of your time doing out there?

I was a clerk. I was in the Royal Army A corps so I was a clerk doing men’s pay. Debits and credits. But I didn’t like it. So then another Job I got was with a Japanese driver to drive me around in one of their cabs and I used to take all the mail to all the camps.

4.Where was your favorite place to visit in your local area?

In Kiori? There was a place called Kiori house. That was where akk the soldiers went of every different nationality. It was a big place. It sold Australian beer and sake, which wasn’t very nice really. I used to go walking a lot, though I couldn’t tell you where it was. I didn’t know the names of places. We went to Hiroshima a lot as well, when we finished work around 4 o’clock.

 

5.Obviously there are many cultural differences between Japan and England. What was the biggest shock for you?
Well what we were told here about them (Japanese people) I found was very different. I found they were very honest and very open. The biggest shock I found were where morals were concerned. They had communal baths and all that. The men and the women together, that shocked me a bit. Many of them just took it for granted. They were used to it. Also I didn’t like the food. Fruit was alright. A bit of rice maybe, I liked rice.

6.Do you have any interesting memories of individual locals?

I used to speak to this marathon runner, he used to run for Japan. Well I used to try and speak to him. He could speak a little bit of English. I never knew much Japanese. He used to go to work and run and he’d take a tobacco tin full of rice and a bit of raw fish and that's what he used to have all day.

I found, well I used to work in and office and the girls were quite nice there you know. Very polite and that. The only thing I didn’t like about them is that if a bird came in the office they used to call it ‘chop chop’. They’d want to eat it and I’d want to let it go.

(I’d just like to point out here that my Granddad is a massive bird lover. For the whole time I’ve known him he’s kept an aviary in his back garden and some of my fondest memories are of visiting bird shows with him.)

7.Did you ever experience any hostility towards yourself or people with you?

No, no, no. None of that at all. I used to talk to the students, they were very open about it, about what happened and all that. But it was their way of life. So different from us you know? Army wise and their orders. If you gave up you were a coward.

8.How did you cope with the weather?

Well I didn’t like the heat. I used to get up about 4 or 5 in the morning and go for a walk before it started getting hot around 10. Then I used to keep out in the shade. Fill around 4 or 5pm, then it was a bit nicer.

We were right by the sea so I used to go with this fella yachting. One day the officers were having a race and this fella, he’d been wounded in an infantry regiment, they’d put him in charge of Yachts. One day they’d asked us to fit into the race because they were short of people in the race. We cheated and won. We took the heavy bit in the middle of the boat out, took a lot of weight off us and we flew away.

10.What did you find most difficult?

Nothing really I liked it. We used to play a lot of games, they loved baseball and played the Canadians a lot. We did a lot of athletics as well. It wasn’t that difficult really, everyday things, going to work. I never really felt I was in the army more or less I was just a clerk.

11.Any other interesting memories?

I used to go to Miyajima, maybe 3 or 4 times or more. I used to get leave to stay there of a weekend. It was handy for s like cos I knew the fella with a yacht. And we could go to Hiroshima whenever we wanted. I found that very interesting and was shocked. I never thought they (America) should have dropped the bomb, they (Japan) were more or less giving up anyway. I thought it was a disgrace.

12.Anything else?

Only about the Prisoners when the Korean war was over. they were all taken to a camp called JRBD and when you went into the camp it was full of all their (Korean) money. You could pick up as much as you want. They didn’t want to kow about anything. They dragged them down to the Ships handcuffs, MP’s as well. They didn’t want to go back.

Well that's all I’ve got hope you found it interesting and a big thanks to my Granddad for the chat. Also thanks to everyone for reading my ramblings for a year.

Akemashite omodetou gozaimasu (Happy new year). See you on the other side.

Today

Today I lost a spanner,
I also lost my Gran,
So far from home and comfort,
I'll just do what I can.

'Keep calm and carry on.'
Thats the British moto.
"Shouganai" As the Japanese say,
But hell I just don't want to.

Scream and rage and vent,
Thats what I wish I could do,
Or at least talk with the rest of the fam,
I know you're feeling it to.

But that won't honor her memory,
That won't do her Justice.
Dear sweet Thelma you were a wonder,
And by the Jones' will be missed.

The strength you harboured,
Unbelievable,
My drive and commitment,
I got it from you.

Such compassion and heart,
You had that as well.
Upon sad times,
You never did dwell.

Even three years later,
You never faltered,
Even though your life,
Was so drastically altered.

The flame of your courage,
Burns in us all.
Your light will surely guide us,
All over the world.

She put up with us for long enough,
I'm sure she'd agree.
Always the first to quip,
At our quirky family.

I bet she took one look at death,
And with a hint of glee,
Told him to get on with it,
I've better places to be.

So I call to all my relatives,
Listen to me well,
Be brave just like Thelma,
One Hell of a gal.