Quarantine and the Unglamorous Side of Sydney

Last week we went to visit our cats in the Eastern Creek facility run by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS). It was pretty impressive. We only saw the cattery, but each cat had its own four-level cage, open to the air, the cages big enough for me to stand in easily. Not bad. And the attendants and vets were attentive and clearly loved working with animals. The quarantine restrictions are a bit over the top (you could even say absurd) but at least the critters are well cared for. We saw dogs and horses there too, and a vet told us they even quarantine animal embryos and semen, and bees at that facility. Plus lots of plants.

Before visiting the cats, we had lunch in the Sydney suburb of Rooty Hill. When you think of Sydney, you think of the Opera House, of Sydney Harbour (technically called Port Jackson), of beautiful million-dollar houses on the glittering water, of Bondi Beach, of fine dining and Olympic sporting facilities.

None of that is to be seen at Rooty Hill, a good 25 miles from the water. The main shopping area is like an old downtown of some small town in America, shops lining both sides of the street. But downtown is split in half by the train that runs right through Rooty Hill -- you have to climb over the train station on a pedestrian walkway. The downtown is full of small shops, take-out joints, and small restaurants, including several Philippine-food restaurants that indicates the presence of a Philippino immigrant community there.

Having eaten Philippino food before, we knew better than to try it again. So we went into the bistro attached to a little hotel that was built in 1890, and had a couple of very good sandwiches in a dingy, depressing little casino. The neighborhoods around the downtown featured neat but small houses and the commute from there to downtown Sydney was probably better than an hour. Clearly not one of Sydney's more glamorous suburbs.