Leaving behind many friends and teachers, my mum and I left Hong Kong soon after the Lunar New Year in 1986.
We arrived at the beautiful Melbourne airport on the morning of the last day of February. The long flight from Hong Kong on a Boeing 747 full of refugees was an anxious 8 hours for us. The flight brought us to a new land that opened us many opportunities with an unknown future.
Having lived in a cityscape for many years, where tall buildings were in all directions, the long flat horizon from Melbourne’s airport to the hostel has given me a mixed feeling of sadness and happiness. I felt sad because I missed my friends and I missed Hong Kong. I felt happy because I had started a new life in Australia.
The bright summer sun’s brilliant lights hit the vast grass paddock. Countless sheep and cattle were munching on the lush green grass. Each single-story houses stand on its block of land with plenty of bushland between them. Flocks of birds flew to and from gum trees in search of food.
As I stepped off the coach onto the hot pavement in front of the hostel, a strong desert wind hit my face welcoming me to Australia. The sun shone brightly upon the clear blue sky with its welcoming warmth that I had not felt before. The hostel was on a large land in the middle of nowhere. All I could see on the other side of the road was a large empty grass paddock. The long stretch of road beside the hostel headed straight into nowhere in both directions.
Later, as I grew accustomed to the beautiful landscape of Australia, I fell in love with it. Whenever I am oversea, I love to see the images of Australia shown on the local media and in advertisements. My passion for the beautiful Australian landscape has brought me to enjoy bushwalking in the natural landscape.
After collecting our luggage from the coach, a middle-aged Asian man led us to our unit. The little unit was on the second level, with two bedrooms and nice firm beds. The clean beds were a comforting sight after the tiring long journey. There was a small bathroom with a big clean big bathtub.
I have never lived in such a place all my life.
The naive little refugee boy found the readily available hot water from the tap magical. In Hong Kong, we only get cold water from the communal tap. If we want to wash with hot water, we must boil our own water.
I love the lamb steaks for dinner. Though, my mum doesn’t like the steaks. My mum can’t stand the smell of the lamb steaks. Many years later, my mum became accustomed to the meat in Australia and loved lamb steaks and lamb chop lambs.
I love our walk after dinner in the cool evening air and enjoying the beautiful red sunset.
We moved to Sydney after staying at the hostel for ten days. Boarded an interstate coach, we travelled overnight to Sydney. We stopped at a big cafeteria like the one at the hostel we were staying in Melbourne. I loved the clean white dishes, bowls and silver cutleries. I loved the butter and jam packets.