Long time readers of this blog would know that I am an Australian by birth, who now lives in Scotland. I had not returned to Australia since my arrival in the UK in 2014, so when I received an invitation to attend my eldest daughter’s wedding in Australia in October 2023, I decided to return. It was an opportunity to spend a lengthy time there, to catch up with familiy and friends, and visit places I had not been to for far too long. Plus of course to do some swimming in the warm waters of the place I used to call home.

My flight arrived into Sydney after the long journey from Europe in early October, the start of the long hot summer. The east coast was in the middle of one of the driest springs on record, But after a summer away working in Greece and Croatia, I was ready for the long summer of 2023 to continue for a while longer. I based myself in Newcastle, my former home town, staying in the house where my parents used to live. The house is on the shores of Lake Macquarie, with lots of black swans, cockatoos, rosellas, magpies, currawongs and kookaburras to see and hear. I enjoyed the sounds of once familar birdlife, and reacquaminted myself with the local delicacies such as banana bread, vegemite and mangos, and of course the chicken parmigiana.

While in Newcastle, we went swimming at places like Merewether Baths, an ocean pool that is 100 yards long and 50 yards wide. I used to swim here a few times a week at lunchtime when I worked in the city, so it was good to return once more. This is a totally free facility, with cleaning taking place once a week, and at high tide the water is refreshed by the sea. A wonderful place to swim a few laps, but you have to concentrate on swimming straight as there are few lines on the bottom.

Another place we swam was at Caves Beach, the beach I grew up on. There is now a cafe there, rather than the take away that existed in the late 20th century. It is a nice safe beach, with some nice caves that can be entered at most times except at the highest tides. I had also in the past done a few openwater swim races here in the past.

We also swam quite a bit at Salts Bay, a very sheltered arm the channel that links Lake Macquarie to the Pacific Ocean. It was usually very quiet on weekdays, but is much better to swim either side of high tide, with lots of fish to see, and as summer approched, some small sting rays as well. A nice place to do a swim of around two kms or so, as there was no surf to contend with. I lived within walking distance of this place and used to swim here with my siblings, another place full of memories. On weekends this place gets very busy with jet skis and family groups.

I also made a nice habit of swimming at Swansea Pool, which is just another outdoor 50m pool in Australia. There are more 50m pools in my hometown than there is in all of Scotland. My parents were heavily involved in getting this pool constructed in the 1960s, so there is a long family connection to it. While I was swimming my long laps with the warm sun on my back, I tried to think of the last time I had swum there. I remember learning to swim here when I was four, watching my younger brother doing his first lap of 50m, and spending many hours as a kid here at school swimming carnivals. FInally I remembered that it would have been swimming at the Belmont Primary School carnival probably in February 1976. So only almost 50 years between dips.

We were also fortunate enough to see a bit of a small part of Australia, with a swimming holiday on Heron Island a highlight. We decided to drive the 1300 km from Newcastle to Gladstone, the ferry port for Heron Island. We stopped at various places along the north coast of NSW, marveling at whales on their migration back to Antarctica, seeing kangaroos on the beach at South West Rocks, dodging bushfires, gazing at the big rivers like The Clarence, Hastings and Manning, and enjoying the sereneity of an outdoor chapel on the shores of a lake. The road has been improved greatly since some horror bus crashes in the early 1990s that killed 40 or so people. It used to take a couple of days to drive from Newcastle to Brisbane, but now it can be done on a dual carriageway in less than ten hours. Nowhere near as interesting a drive, but a lot safer.

Heron Island, what can I say about this place? We did a swimming holiday with oceanswims safaris, run by a chap I knew from my ocean swimming days in Sydney. The island lies about 40km of the central coast of Queensland, and is on the Great Barrier Reef. There are only a limited number of people allowed on the island at any one time, as it is a major bird breeding sanctuary, and a hatchery for turtles. It is only quite small, being around 2 km in diameter. We tended to do a swim before breakfast, and another organised one in the mornings on the actual reef. The highlight though is the marine life: turtles, sharkes, rays, fish, all easy to see in the clear water.

I have also dreamed of one day swimming at Whitehaven Beach, which is an absolutely stunning beach in The Whitsundays, a group of islands in Central Queensland. We also had the opportunity to do just that, with a stay on Hamilton Island with extended family. Whitehaven did not disappoint, with some of the whitest sand on the planet, warm water and lots of marine life. The only downside was the risk of jellyfish stings requiring stinger suits to be worn. But I am so glad I have done that swim.

Before long the time came to turn our heads for home and leave the east coast of Australia. I must admit that I was slightly nervous about visiting again after so long away. But I realised that a large part of me has been formed by all my experiences of growing up where I did, something for which I will always be grateful. It was actually quite tough to leave, knowing that the dark grey winter of the UK was awaiting, and the joys of getting back into cold water.

On the way home, we stopped off in Perth in Western Australia for a three day stopover. I had made some friends with a group from there while working in Crete in 2018 and they offered a bed at their place. A huge thankyou Shayne, your hospitality was amazing. We went swimming at North Cottesloe on three mornings earning me the right to wear a PodSquad white cap (and also getting a podcast recorded). While swiming at this beach I would gaze over towards Rottnest Island twenty km away, and think that maybe one day I could do that swim, perhaps. It was my first visit to Perth and I loved the city. I have now been to every one of the state and territory capital in Australia.

However, all good things come to pass, and we headed to Perth Airport with heavy hearts to board our non-stop 17 hour flight to London. I had so many wonderful memories to dwell on on that journey, and to think about the next time to visit the land of my birth. I am sure that it will not take another nine years to vist, after all there are three grandkids to enjoy, new and old friends, and plenty of places to revisit. In the words of one song..”I come from a land downunder” and of course another…
“I’ve been to cities that never close down
From New York to Rio and old London town
But no matter how far
Or how wide I roam
I still call Australia home

I’m always travellin’
And I love bein’ free
So I keep leavin’ the sun and the sea
But my heart lies waiting over the foam
I still call Australia home”