I said good-bye to Australia
Added on Monday, August 18th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Sydney Opera House
Buenos Aires at 9.13pm and I am sitting in the café La Leyenda waiting for my coffee. It’s slightly retro with delightful art décor. Nothing is straight. Other than square tables the wall furnishing are oddly angled with irregular shapes. Mirrors are wavy and balustrades are of brass tubing with wooden collars. This is my first café I have been to in Argentina and one that shall not be forgotten.
The flight lasted 14 hours and because the route crossed the international date line the plane landed the same day it took off. Flying East we took off and landed in daylight, but now it is dark. The brightly lit Calle Esmeralda is a four lane one way route that bisects the city and is parallel to the main 9 de Julio broadway just two blocks north.
I feel unsettled, mostly because the strain of the journey sometimes wears through my very thick coat. I could do with a week on the beach, but I’m riding non-stop to North America instead. It was always like this. As a young adventurer – 27 years ago – all the travellers were journeying from chill-out zone to beach and back. I never slept in the same place twice. There was so much to see and do. So much energy to dissipate. Never enough time to get everything done and after three months hard cycling or motorcycling I returned home emotionally a wreck.
In retrospect I have understood Australia much less than I thought. Having ridden around this beautiful country no less than seven times it has been a rash presumption to think I know it. Yet, the morale of countries waxes and wanes. In the early‘90’s I remember Ecuador being a cool place to be and Peru a desperate place. Five years ago those roles have reversed. Central America was a no-go area throughout the ‘80’s, now you can take your cappuccino’s in El Salvador once riddled with a civil war. Colombia’s looking better, because prior to my first visit in 1996, I received a personal letter from the British Embassy in Bogotá strongly warning me not to go. Syria’s up, Jordan’s down. Zambia’s up, Kenya’s a mess. Sudan is safer than blighty and there are places in London you can’t go at night but Cairo’s ok? So what happened to the Aussies legendary sense of humour?
I said good-bye to Australia, to the harbour and to one of the most dynamic city entrances in the world. When you descend to cross the harbour on the bridge, the overpass weaves you through huge monoliths of modern buildings until you see the enormous tonnage of old bridgework that stretches across one the most magnificent city harbours anywhere.
Buenos Aires has other qualities and just reeks of old world charm. There is something extraordinarily cultured about this town and I’ve only walked down one street. The hostel is excellently appointed in a quiet part of the centre a two-minute walk from café’s that the ghosts of many lives lay hidden in their walls.
The bike should be waiting at the freighters and with luck will be processed through customs during the day. With luck I’ll be on the road first thing Tuesday morning heading North West through Paraguay and then across the Pampas. I might go into Bolivia or Northern Chile before turning North through Peru and Ecuador and then Colombia to fly out to Panama.
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