Australian Colonisation and the tale of Bennalong

Another choir tour was looming, off we went to see T and F as they toured the country with their school choir.

Full of excitement to escape the cold, and for a change of routine, we boarded our China Eastern flight to Melbourne via Shanghai on Valentine’s Day. The entertainment was limited and the food full of garlic! Very romantic.

On landing in Shanghai, we had a full day to play with, so it was straight down to the Bund area. An hour to get out of the maze that is Shanghai airport, but only 10mins to the outskirts of Shanghai via the speedy Maglev train (300km an hour)

Shanghai is huge in size and scale. When we arrived at the Nanjing Road, the main shopping area, we were greeted with an area of modern bustling shops of mainly Chinese consumers ready to spend their RNBs. As we tried to join the consumer frenzy we quickly realised the many places do not take western credit cards, but use cash, AliPay and some other methods that we were not familiar with. After grabbing cash from an ATM we went about satisfying our consumer needs. “A” (my daughter) absolutely loved her time here as there were many Kawaii shops (selling all things cute and cuddly). Having loaded up with items we stumbled upon a big group of young men crowding around scantily clad anime cosplay characters - “A” was confused as to why they were all men (we swiftly moved on). We managed to eventually make our way to the Bund (wharf along muddy shore), the main colonial part of Shanghai (consistently under control of a mixture of Britain, France, America and Japan) - it was easy to get a sense of the scale of trade here and why all these buildings had sprang up.

After sampling the immense-ness of Shanghai, it was time for yet another Colony - Australia.

We arrived in Melbourne in time for F and T’s concert. Exhausted, we dragged our way to St Patrick’s Cathedral. A wonderful way to beat the jet lag. Then to the Melbourne Skydeck for well deserved cocktails at sunset with a friend of the choir, JT.

The following day was the main event concert at the amazing Melbourne Recital Centre. A memorable concert finished in style with a surprise choral version of Waltzing Matilda (Australia's unofficial national anthem). Eric Bogle (who did a famous cover of the song) was in the audience, and was given a mention at the end, to give a unique finish to an amazing concert.

Having briefly caught up with F and T at the end, it was off to Patrick Island. We were conveniently given a lift by a choir fan, JT. 2 hours later and a few choral albums later we reached our destination - the spectacle of the “March of the Penguins” awaited us. As we took position on the beach before sun down, behind a rope barrier we waited for the arrival of thousands of Little Penguins from their food pursuits at sea. As it got darker the spectacle began. Either side of the patient crowd sitting on the beach came waves of little penguins, waiting for there moment to cross the exposed beach to the safety of the hills where their burrows and children were located. Like waves of soldiers they zipped across the beaches and made their goal! An amazing site to behold.

From Melbourne, off we went to Sydney. A short flight later, and within 30mins, we were at the heart of it all - Circular Quay, home of the famous Utzon designed Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, both iconic symbols of Australia. 

From this point everything was easily accessed, from the zoo with a view (Toronga), to Manly Beach. There were no huge crowds and everything was easy. The Surrey Hills area was a nice excursion for a nice taste of an artsy neighbourhood just outside Sydney - very low rise with a few famous art galleries, grunge and sports bars.

Watching Rossini’s Barber of Seville was also another real highlight, getting to see the inside of this magnificent structure - and yes, we did go for the cheapest standing tickets with the aim of moving into more expensive seats when it started! Worked a treat after years of doing the same at ROH.

To wrap up Australia, where better to go than the Sydney Museum to get a sense of the infamous colonisation story.

Everywhere we went in Australia there seemed to be apologies to the original displaced peoples - the Aboriginals. One most striking stories was that of  Bennalong and his relationship with Governor Philip (the first governor of New South Wales who was commander of the First Fleet of ships that established penal colonies there in 1786). Accounts may vary, but the museum portrays Philip as a person who wanted to colonise the right way by teaching the indigenous people the  ways of the civilised world. The idea was to befriend the peoples and get their buy in so that they would be willing participants in colonisation and trade. 

However, this proved tough and they then resorted to kidnapping natives and then teaching them British ways. The idea was to get information about the superstitious natives, translate on their behalf, as well as get them to encourage more to come on side.

One of the famous examples of this was Bennalong - this is a tragic tale of a native who found favour with the Colonists and Philip and almost converted. 

His first stint with Philip ended up with him yearning for his old simple life and escaping back to it, even though he had all the trappings of high society. Philip then went after him and was nearly killed by the worrier friend of Benelong (called Pemelwuy).

Philip, after he recovered sent out troops to find Bennelong again, he was said to be sad at the fact that he had left. Another theory was that it would have taken too much effort to groom someone else. Philip was eventually successful in coaxing Bennalong back and eventually offered him and a friend passage back to England (as a trophy for how successful his colonisation efforts had been). Whilst away, the bad luck swept over Bennalong and his people - Bennelong’s survives pneumonia and his friend dies in London. When he eventually makes it back, he is no longer respected by his people, his wife has left him for another and many of his people have been killed after a revolt by Pemelwuy his warrior friend. The perfect plan of colonisation had not worked, as with most attempts, it ended with violence and a divide with the natives. Instead of integration Aboriginals were on the fringes of society being given Rum which would end up being the scourge of this race of people even to this day.

Australia, a wonderful place to retire and get away from it all - a vast English speaking island surrounded by many Asian speaking neighbours, all touched in some way by colonisation and trade.