Introduction

 

A little backstory. In July 1963, just turned two years old and the youngest of four children in my family, I first set foot on Sydney soil after disembarking the SITMAR ship Castel Felice at the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf. These were the days of the White Australia Policy and, just like over a million other immigrants from the British Isles alone, we had travelled as part of the Australian Government's Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. I think maybe we were just a little proud (even though I believe the phrase had been coined with a derogatory intention)  to be known locally as 'Ten Pound Poms'.

Over half a century later, aside from a couple of wonderful, yet brief, excursions to Japan and Hawaii, I had barely again left Australian shores and certainly never before 'returned home'. Australia was, and is, my home. Then, after too many years of half-formed intentions, missed opportunities and delayed plans, in late August 2019, accompanied by my partner and adult son, I boarded a Qatar Airways Airbus at Kingsford Smith, bound for Edinburgh and nine weeks exploration in Britain.

Prior to departure, I had undertaken to keep a small personal journal. As I have a habit of being overly generous with words when writing, I deliberately limited myself to a single small page of hand-written text at the conclusion of each day. My partner was similarly maintaining a quite detailed daily log of our numerous destinations and activities, so I felt at liberty to permit myself a more brief, impressionistic, almost lyrical approach.

Little did we realise at the time that just six months later, with the onset of a global viral pandemic and its wide-ranging implications, our trip would have been impossible. We feel so very fortunate to have been able to truly enjoy a remarkable adventure in a magnificent land. And now, one year on and aware that travel restrictions mean such a trip is still perhaps beyond the reach of most, I wanted to share some of the delights of our journey with others who may, through lesser fortune, have missed out on a similar opportunity.

I have included a photo from each day's travel and, where appropriate, some brief explanatory notes. I hope you find my observations as enjoyable to encounter as I do to revisit.

Image: A poignant and almost prescient interpretation of the UK flag we encountered at an outdoor 'gallery', fixed to a hoarding in a back lane at Weymouth Harbour.