Australia

A land almost at the opposite end of the world from ours, with which we are only united by our European origins: everything else is completely different. A journey that was long, not just because of the 8700 km traveled by car and the heat, which even in the Australian winter often makes itself felt. But you don't feel the fatigue, except perhaps on a few evenings. Never during the day, when the attention, sometimes even the tension, to see and discover something interesting or simply never seen before, prevails over physical and mental limitations. We tried to understand and learn: from lifestyles and habits to differences, comparing them with ourselves and others, taking into account the limiting factors for each. Living in 20 million people on a territory twice the size of Europe offers great advantages but also requires great sacrifices for a young population, still uncertain of its own identity. We tried to find explanations for many "whys," which may be right or wrong, or neither. And it is also to find questions to which answers can be found that one undertakes a journey.

Day 0: August 19, 2007

After almost 24 hours of travel, we have finally arrived in Australia!

We arrive in MELBOURNE when it's almost midnight, with about an hour and a quarter delay due to the delayed departure from Dubai. After checking in and the time needed to reach the hotel by taxi, we finally get to sleep around three o'clock. We don't sleep very well because of the time difference, which means we're only just getting into the late afternoon, but especially because we were able to sleep on the plane. We won't really notice the time difference except for a little tiredness the following evening. We make a stop in Singapore during a monsoon storm, which is just starting to subside at the time of departure after an hour and a half.

The Dubai airport is dazzling, and the city pulses with lights and traffic even at night. The stop-over is distinctive for its palm trees included in the internal transit and for decorations that aim to resemble the version of "One Thousand and One Nights" in aviation. The human population is very diverse, with women wearing chadors and many others in burkas, accompanied by partners dressed in bright Western-style shirts. We wonder how they can be checked to verify their identity upon boarding. When we arrive at the capital of Victoria, we find a temperature of 5°. It's now dark, and the taxi has no trouble reaching the hotel in the city center.