Tuesday, March 13, 2018

The White Man’s Perspective

Bondi Beach, Sydney

At each stop we have at least one and sometimes two lectures to begin our day and give insight into either an area we will visit or more broadly a geological, political or cultural aspect.  They are in depth, lasting approximately 1.5 hours.  (The tea break goes without saying).  The lecturers are highly regarded in their area sporting multiple degrees and years of experience.  This morning our lecturer was Robert Lee, Professor of History. After a few minutes of listening, I suggested he should have been named Robert E. Lee due to his very one sided presentation on race, religion and politics.  For example, he said he would have no problem with commemorative memorials to slain soldiers no matter what their cause.  (Hitler?  Really?). Muslims were okay as immigrants as long as they were nominal Muslims.  You get the drift.  The group seemed to have the same consensus and expressed a wish for the Aboriginal point of view to balance the lecture.  


Archibald Memorial Fountain designed by Sicard, Hyde Park, Sydney

Following the lecture we rode to an area of north Sydney known as Bondi.  It is a beach suburb with pretty decent surf and a view of the Harbor entrance.  We had lunch there and were set free back in Sydney proper to explore on our own.  Personally, I could have skipped Bondi and explored all day.  Wayne and I decided to walk through Hyde Park in search of the fruit bat.  Alas, no bats were found, but a pretty fancy fountain was.  Later, we had dinner on our own back in Darling Harbor at a place called Little Snail.  Wayne resurrected his French side and we ate all appetizers of snails, calamari and a bouillabaisse.  Pictures at flickr.