Five Senses in Australia

A kangaroo and its joey at Cleland Wildlife Park.

I am writing as a way to stay awake and curb jetlag. In doing so, I am trying to avoid a natural impulse to be sad that a dreamy, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia with Travis and my mom is over; instead, I am aiming to be happy that it happened.

I am thinking about how I’ll remember Australia: As a place that tasted like flat whites, long blacks, and hot chocolates that we ordered from multiple coffee shops every day. And also how, to me, Australia will not taste like pavlova because we somehow traveled half a world away and didn’t eat one slice of a dessert that Australia is known for. Even so, experiencing a place like Australia was the sweetest of desserts and something I’ll think back on and crave for a long time, the same way the taste of Adelaide’s Haigh’s chocolate lingers on the tongue.

I am savoring how Australia smelled like trees, the ocean, sand, and lattes.

I am remembering how Australia sounded like a symphony playing a grand piece in the grandest of buildings built exactly for the purpose of symphonies. The country also sounded like cockatoos and ibises flying freely all over Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide - the cockatoos’ white feathers and funny yellow mohawks perched in trees far above our heads. The big cities - Brisbane and Sydney - sounded like big cities with endless passerby chatter, beeping crosswalk signals, rumbling of trains and vehicles crossing bridges, street performers encircled by crowds, and music drifting from restaurants. Even with all the noise, the cities felt more muted than American cities I know, and the lack of so much honking was a pleasant absence.

I am smiling at how walking an average of 20K+ steps per day made my feet hurt and I’m grateful our legs carried us through a rainforest, mountains, art galleries, airports, the many hundreds of steps at the Sydney Opera House, the many hundreds of steps to and from a waterfall, on beaches at sunrise and sunset, from a winning game at a footy stadium to Chinatown in Adelaide to a parking lot, a walk which we will probably laugh about for many years to come for reasons that are funny to us, but can’t be explained well in a message like this.

Some memories are only ours to own and giggle about.

I am reviewing videos in my mind of how Australia looked like innocent and skeptical kangaroo eyes, waves rushing up on beaches, hundreds of bats hanging upside down in trees, rainbow-colored birds flying from apartment deck railings, skyscrapers and the Harbour Bridge lighting night skies, waterfalls cascading from rock mountain walls, and mysterious glow worms dotting a cave. 

I am trying to grasp how Australia felt like koala fur in my arms, soft wallaby ears, and a giant duck nibbling out of my hands, sand stuck on my feet and fingers, and the 70-degree ocean on the one day it was warm enough to swim. I am also grasping at how Australia felt like community with its free botanic gardens, museums, swimming pools, telephone booths, and streets with crowded places that felt safe after dark.

I am exploring how to keep Australia and its many ideas and beautiful places with me so that I might share more community with you.

My mom spotted this heart cut out of a hibiscus at the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane.

An ibis walking around Brisbane.

A koala spotted on North Stradboke Island.

The Sydney Opera House lit up at night.

I’ll take a heart and carrot cake with my coffee, please. This was one of many heart coffees that I drank in Australia. This particular one was taken at Beach Break Cafe in Adelaide.