Cardiff is a very unusual city for many reasons, but for me, it was most unusual because more than anywhere else we've visited in Europe, it felt so much like home.
New South Wales was named by Captain James Cook. He originally called it New Wales, but apparently he decided he was specifically talking about South Wales, and so amended it in his journal.
As we drove along the motorway from Merthyr Tydfill to Cardiff, we grabbed tiny glimpses of home. A little hamlet here, or a hill there just sparked a little recognition, and reminded us of something we'd seen in Australia.
Having said that, we possibly only saw that because we were looking for it, trying to work out what it was about the wild new land that James Cook thought was so much like South Wales.
If James Cook landed in 21st Century Newcastle, Australia, however, he may have seen similarities to 21st Century Cardiff.
Cardiff, the Welsh capital since 1955, is a small city of 340,000. It was once the world's largest coal port, and after the East Moors Steelworks closed in 1978 there was a decline in population.
However, since the late 20th Century, a huge infrastructure boom in the city has converted it into a cultural hub. In 1987 the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was established, which was told:
"To put Cardiff on the international map as a superlative maritime city which will stand comparison with any such city in the world, thereby enhancing the image and economic well-being of Cardiff and Wales as a whole."
Cardiff Bay, which once was a purely industrial area, is now surrounded by beautiful buildings, a foreshore area, walking and cycling tracks and the dominant Wales Millennium Centre, home of the Welsh National Opera. The area is serviced by a railway line that runs a regular service to the Centre of Cardiff, 1.5 kilometers away. The line services over 600,000 passengers annually, up from 250,000 in 2004.
We arrived there on a Sunday, the day before Bank Holiday, so the roads were pretty quiet. We drove on a motorway (speed limit 110kph) almost all the way into the centre of Cardiff, and with only simple directions found our way to a caravan park in Bute Park, right next to Swalec Stadium, a Test Cricket arena.
The sun was setting and the dark green trees cast stunning shadows across the park.
The following morning (Bank Holiday) we went on a 1 hour walk through central Cardiff. We discovered that the caravan park was a very short walking distance from Cardiff Castle, the main shopping district, the huge and beautiful Bute Park, Millennium Stadium (home of the Welsh National Rugby Union team) a water bus stop (with services to Cardiff Bay) and Cardiff Central Railway Station. We walked past all these at a slow pace, stopping to take photos and buy smoothies, in under an hour.
On the way back we stopped to watch some cricket through the gaps in Swalec Stadium.
In the afternoon, a relative took us on a tour of Cardiff, where she has lived and worked for 17 years.
First she took us to Chapter - a council operated facility that houses one live action theatre, two cinemas and a great restaurant.
The cinemas run independent, arty, small films and the theatre is apparently successful. It was around lunchtime on a public holiday and the restaurant was buzzing. The menu proved it was a "trendy" place for all the arty kids to eat with more than 20 vegetarian or vegan options.
The Bay area is remarkable - the jewel in Cardiff's extremely modern crown. As mentioned earlier it's the home of the Millennium Centre, with two theatres, a gallery and another restaurant and bar.
Outside, the Cardiff Bay festival was going on in Roald Dahl Plass (site of the entrance to Torchwood, Doctor Who fans), with rides, markets, sideshows and in the late afternoon, an airshow featuring people doing acrobatic tricks on top of biplanes (seriously).
Cardiff Bay was really converted into a public and tourist area in the 90's when the Cardiff Bay Barrage was built. Cardiff Bay opens onto the Bristol Channel, which boasts the world's second largest tidal variation, which means that the bay was reduced to mud flats during low tide.
The Barrage was built to turn the mud flat bay into a real water feature, and is essentially a dam across the mouth of the bay featuring 3 huge locks which continuously let boats in and out of the bay. During the hour we spent at the barrage we saw around 20 sailing and motorboats go through the two operating locks, while people sailed and water skied around the bay.
The bay was beautiful. It's no longer industrial, but it's a hive of activity.
As we headed out of Cardiff about 24 hours after we arrived on one of the several motorways in town, I really hoped I'd be back someday. It really felt a lot like home.
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