Mudgee Magic

The contrast between city and country has fascinated me since I was a child. The son of parents who grew up in poor rural circumstances but moved to the city I was exposed to both sides of the coin especially as most of the relatives lived out of town.

Places like Sydney are a world unto themselves and make for a happy and enriched environment for many but are also devoid of a community soul for many.

So coming back to the country via a visit to Mudgee brought back the memories of what country at its best can be. A small compact city/town - small enough to be able to walk the length of the main street with its bookshops and pubs, surrounded by parks which flow into the residential areas where quite homes grow lovely gardens.

Town planning needs to take into account the needs of community and help a soul develop. Why is it that places like Mudgee and Armidale are so loved?- it's because of their human scale. You can walk to town, find everything you need and walk home - no need to jump into the car just to meet basic needs.

Our town planning needs to encourage the development of small community centres - using the needs for commercial reality. Shops draw people in - use them further to develop the community square and markets and meeting places.

We will all be better off the the vast cities are more like a series of linked villages.

Confusion in South Africa

 Travel to South Africa 2009

I have returned to Australia from travelling for a month in South Africa and Botswana. I came back and still am finding it difficult to describe the experience because of its complexity. South Africa is a country which still has to find its way - it seems like a place at war with itself. I had some marvellous experiences and saw some wonderful and extraordinary sights but these were always coloured by the something I had little previous experience of - this remarkable split between rich and poor and largely but not entirely between black and white. Australia has many faults but it is largely an egalitarian society. Rich and poor mix and there is little in the way - there are few social or physical boundaries. South Africa by comparison seemed like worlds within world. Australia is a very tolerant place. 

 Coming to South Africa was a shock. Essentially I became a rich white man not just a person. As a result I moved and operated in a rich white world, not entirely by choice. I lived the high life and was waited on by a swarm of serving staff. Yet I could not or was warned not to venture outside, to go for a walk or go alone anywhere. I spent much of my time looking around, over my shoulder and wondering if something unpleasant was about to happen. Was I being paranoid? Perhaps I was not paranoid enough after hearing some stories later on. 

 South Africa is very rich in many ways - it is physically more beautiful than I ever imagined. But this split between rich and poor essentially based on colour and history constrains everything. If all the money which has been and is still spent on security could be spent on schools and improved housing everyone would be better off. And its not just a case of transferring wealth. There needs to be a cultural shift to educate and promote small business - to make a bigger pie not just carve up the one that's already made and slowly shrinking. Australia and South Africa share many features - similar climates and landscapes and a history of wealth built on mining. This needs to continue but expand not by penalising existing enterprises but by building new and better ones and using newly educated people of whatever colour. 

 I remain confused. I came, I saw, I left. I would love to go back but coming back to Australia shows how huge the task is to change hundreds of years of lost opportunity. Make the rainbow nation happen and build a land rich in spirit and wealth.