tigertail in new york

Today, February 13 2008, is a landmark day in Australian History.

Today, our newly elected Prime Minister offered an official apology to our nation's Indigenous people for the wrongs of the past, in particular for the taking away of Aboriginal children from their families.

Today Australians re-started the journey down the path to reconciliation, to acknowledgment of past wrongs and to new hopes for a better shared future.

Today will be remembered as the day the wheels were set in motion for all Australians to have the same opportunities, to celebrate our backgrounds and communities, to experience our cultures and share them with other Australians, to work together so we all can live together in peace and harmony.

It's been 8 years since I joined with a quarter of a million other Sydney-siders and walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge for reconciliation. And for a long time I felt like the powerful surge of support for Indigenous Australians that was so much a part of that day had been lost under the previous government.

But today I feel proud. Today I feel uplifted. Today I celebrate. This is not the end of the struggle, but this is the beginning of healing together to move forward to a brighter future.

I know my Mum & my Aunty are out there flying Aboriginal flags today, and I'll be wearing my Aboriginal colours pin today in recognition of this great moment.

After so many years of being ashamed of the racism, intolerance and petty-mindedness of the previous government and what they were doing to our country, today I feel I can hold my head up and say "I'm Australian".

Because today we said one simple word that signifies so much.

Today we said "sorry".

Posted by Ness at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

The other night a friend and I caught a car service (read: what used to be called a gypsy cab, Dad) to a spot in her neighbourhood. The driver was on his phone in Spanish, so my friend nudged me to speak Spanish to him so we could get a good price. So when we got to our destination, I spoke to him in Spanish, telling him that here would be fine.

He was surprised.

In Spanish
Cab Driver: You speak Spanish?
Me: Ummm.. yes I speak Spanish - we're speaking it now!
Cab Driver: Oh, you're very fluent! Where did you learn?
Me: I studied for 3 years at university, and I went to Cuba on a study exchange.
Cab Driver: Cuba?? Really?? Where are you from?
Me: Australia. Where are you from?
Cab Driver: the Dominican Republic. Australia, eh? With the Kangaroos??
Me: Yes - the kangaroos.
Cab Driver: and Heath Ledger!! So sad... (pause) Oh!! And Arnold Schwarzenegger
Me: Arnold Schwarzenegger?? Nooooo, he's Austrian!
Cab Driver: Oh, not Australian.. Austrian...

We managed to get a good deal on the ride, and I gave our cabbie a tip, despite his almost-inclusion of a right-wing former Mr Universe-turned-Governor in my country-folk.

Posted by Ness at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments

Many people have asked me where I feel more at home - Sydney or New York - or whether I feel that New York is my home now.

Sydney will always be home to me because I belong to the land and the ocean there, but I have felt at home in many places around the world.

For those of you who don't know me so well, I've left Australia 12 times to travel all around the world. And I've been out of the US twice since I've been here. Sometimes those journeys were short and close by, other times they were much longer. Sometimes I stopped for a while and put down some roots before moving on again and a few times it felt like I'd barely scratched the surface, no matter how long I'd been there.

In some respects it feels like home can be found in so many places that I carry in my heart and in my memories.

I saw this today, and for me it really encapsulated how I feel about home, and about travel, and I wanted to share it with you.

Posted by Ness at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments