I come from a saltwater people

[dolorosa_12]

This afternoon, in order to clear my head, I walked out to Grantchester, which is a small village about half an hour's walk from Cambridge proper. It's a lovely little walk along the river, but one thing struck me: no matter where you go in Britain, you are within sight of signs of human habitation.*

In Australia, this is not the case. I grew up in suburbia, but there was a big national park just out of town, and my family frequently went hiking there with friends and the extended family. Later, I would hike there as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, as well as in other national parks. These hikes were very challenging, because we didn't follow the paths, but went bush-bashing, navigating only with maps and compasses. We usually didn't see another human being for the duration of the hikes.

On other family holidays we went to the beach, usually to Broulee or Bawley Point down the south coast, but often to extremely rough camping areas - usually Mystery Bay or Pebbly Beach. These had no electricity, and Mystery Bay didn't even have hot water or flushing toilets. Although you saw other campers, there were no other signs of human activity - no shops, no visible houses or roads. There certainly weren't any people on the beaches beyond those who were swimming or walking.

Even within the big cities, there were areas of wildness. My grandparents lived in the northern suburbs of Sydney, and everything was very controlled and picket-fenced. However, just down the road was a patch of bushland, and if you walked for a minute or so, the houses disappeared from view, the sound of cars vanished and was replaced by birdsong and cicadas.

There was a wildness about nature that I haven't encountered in the UK. And I know East Anglia isn't really the place for it, but even in more remote areas I've visited, such as North Wales and Cornwall, everything seems smaller, tamer, with more evidence of human hands. And there's nothing wrong with that! But the feeling of swimming in the cold water at Pebbly in the autumn, tossed by waves, looking out across the grey sea and seeing nothing but water and a few small islands, salt-washed and exultant, is almost impossible to replicate.

Sometimes I just miss those landscapes.

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*With the caveat that this only extends to places I've personally visited - there may be places in Britain that don't fit this description.

Comments

[ymarchoggwachul.livejournal.com]

As I read this I started thinking about North Wales myself, and I think elevation makes a huge difference - you might be far away from somewhere, but you can still see it if you're high up, which is very different to say your little patch of bush in northern Sydney - you're (relatively) isolated, but you don't *feel* that you're isolated. Areas like the southern side of Snowdon are pretty lonely, but elevated and very open too, so I could always see the main settlement in the area - similar case in the hills of Meirionnydd. All that said, I completely agree with you (and angelofboox) - head for the Highlands!

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point. I was in that part of the world recently, and it is stunningly beautiful - just not very isolated. I've been wanting to go to the Highlands for ages, but it's expensive to travel to Scotland unless you plan ahead. It could make a nice post-PhD trip, though.