THE AMAZING RACE-R

Australian Ambassador Anthony John Hely is an adventurer at heart. Some of his memorable trips include going off into the freezing wilderness, playing golf with kangaroos and taking spontaneous drives into the country.

“My last assignment was in Canada,” explains Australian Ambassador Anthony John Hely, comfortably settled into a sofa in his residence, the centralized air-conditioning on full blast. “I left Canada in January 2005 and the temperature was -34°C. When I got to Manila in March 2005, it was around 36°C. It was like a 70-degee turnaround! I remember the first few months I felt so overwhelmingly hot!” This affable gentleman, his wife Wendy Jeffery, and their two Maltese terriers Shakey and Sam have called Manila home for just over two years.

What was your most memorable trip?
[My wife and I] visited the most remote part of Canada to see how indigenous Canadians lived and survived in the freezing isolation. We went up to northern Ontario to an Indian Cree reservation: It took eight hours of driving, then a five-hour ride on the Polar Bear Express, then another three-hour ride into the wild of northern Ontario by snowmobile. We spent two nights sleeping in an Indian teepee; the temperature at the time was -54°C.

What’s your favorite place to visit in Australia?
Driving out for two hours from Canberra, you reach the eastern coast where there’s a place called Merimbula, a small coastal fishing community. It’s big enough to have restaurants and golf courses, but small enough to be isolated. There are beautiful walks along the beach for miles. We tend to go down once every year or so.

What are the top five places in Australia you would recommend to tourists?
Horrific, horrific question that’s almost impossible to answer! Australia is such a contrasting country: The northern part is near the equator, while the southern part is near Antartica, so the extremes in the
climate and the scenery are so different.

1. Sydney—it’s got the iconic buildings of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the beaches and restaurants are fantastic and it’s a short drive north to some of the best farming regions of the country.
2. Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland—again you have beautiful beaches, tropical rainforests, quaint restaurants, and golf courses.
3. Adelaide is called the “City of Churches,” many of its first inha-bitants were German refugees. There are lots of parks there.
4. Perth, right there on the west coast is also a very beautiful city and very accessible from the Philippines; fly to Singapore and straight to Perth. Perth is also near the Margaret River, one of [the country’s] new places to visit.
5. If you’ve got more time and want to experience indigenous Australia, go into the outback. For classic scenery, there’s Uluru or Ayers Rock in South Australia; go to Darwin in the Northern Territory and see incredible art forms like bark carvings, amazing animals, and a lot of aboriginal culture.

Any “off-the-beaten-track” places?
One time, [my wife and I] threw our golf clubs into the back of the car and drove through different parts of rural Victoria. There’s some beautiful scenery and lot of it is quite out of the way. In the local golf course—they were very rustic, to say the least—there was no one to take you around. No caddies. They had an “honesty box” where you put your five dollars, and then you go play your game. And there are kangaroos all over the golf course.

What’s a nice souvenir to buy in Australia?
You can get really excellent indigenous paintings, which are just so incredible, unusual, and dramatic—it reflects the Outback and the physical colors and contrasts of Australia. It’s a bit of a rage now.

When is the best time to visit Australia?
I tend to think that the best times are during the Australian spring (September-October) or the Australian summer (December-February). Although summers can get quite hot.

What do you like most about Australia?
The wide, open spaces. In cities [like Manila] there’s an intensity [to the] lifestyle. In Australia, it’s a much more relaxed lifestyle. It’s all open spaces, so you’re able to move and travel and get out without having to really plan. Just jump in the car and drive.