My Journal: Watsons Bay and The Gap in Sydney

It was 20090403.

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Watsons Bay

Take the ferry to the Watsons Bay in the Circular Quay, the way through Garden Island, Darling Point, Double Bay, Rose Bay and the termination is Watsons Bay. It depends on the number of wharves you stop, the elapsed time to reach the Watsons Bay may be different. Average, it's around twenty minutes.
從 Circular Quay 搭乘 Watsons Bay 的渡輪，途中經過 Garden Island、Darling Point、Double Bay、Rose Bay，終點站就是 Watsons Bay。視中間停靠渡口的多少，抵達 Watsons Bay 的時間會不同。大約是二十分鐘左右。

Watsons Bay Time Table
Watsons Bay 渡輪時刻表

Watsons Bay Ferry Route Map
渡輪路線圖

Not only by the ferry, you can go there by public bus as well or the Hop on and Hop off bus for the tourists called Bondi Explorer. Apparently, it's much faster by ferry. It takes around thirty to forty minutes to get there by bus.
除了搭乘渡輪，你也可以透過公車抵達 Watsons Bay，或是專門提供觀光客搭乘可任意上下車的觀光巴士。不過陸路顯然沒有水路來的快，大約要三、四十分鐘才能到達目的地。

Watsons Bay is located on the southern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. To the east is the Tasman Sea and to the west is the Harbour.
Watsons Bay 位於雪梨港的入口的南端，以東為 Tasman 海，以西則為港口。

It's also the Australia's oldest fishing village, established in 1788.
它也是澳洲，是最早的漁村，建立於 1788 年。

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The boarding platform for Watsons Bay in the Circular Quay, which floats on the water
這個浮在水面的平台位於環型碼頭是用來登船用的

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The entrance of the boarding platform
登船平台的入口

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This is biggest type of ferry in Circular Quay which only servicing the Manly route
環型碼頭裡最大型的渡輪，這種船只有跑 Manly 的路線

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The tourists waiting for the ferry
等待渡輪的遊客

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We are leaving the Circular Quay
準備離開環型碼頭了

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You should know this one
大家應該對它不陌生

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Another famous landmark in Sydney, Sydney Harbour Bridge
另一個雪梨的著名地標，雪梨海港大橋

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Watching the Circular Quay far away from us on ferry
從船上遠眺環型碼頭

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Ready to land
準備下船囉

The first sight you will see is the Doyles Restaurant upon landing, they started selling fish early in 1845. As to its fame, I have no idea how they won. In order to save money, I had prepared a lunch box and didn't think of eating out. The cost to enjoy the food in the restaurant might be enough for me to have more than three meals by cooking myself.
一上岸，第一個印入眼簾的就是 Doyles Restaurant，早在 1845 年就在這裡賣魚，至於它為什麼有名？我也不清楚。為了省錢，我早就自備了便當，壓根沒想到要在這裡外食。在這吃一餐，大概能抵上我自己開伙三餐以上。

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Doyles Restaurant

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Doyles Restaurant

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Robertson park
Robertson 公園

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Playground in Robertson park
Robertson 公園的兒童嬉戲區

There's a park with an extent of green space, Robertson park. Before I came this place, I didn't know anything about it and hadn't surveyed where I should visit. I found a cool place under the pavilion to have my lunch. The playground nearby, there's a family playing there, I closed to the dad and asked him any special spot around here worth visiting? It seemed that he couldn't speak English well. The mom came to us, I repeated my question again. She pointed to the place upward, there's a bluff up there.
坐落在碼頭和 Gap 峭壁中間的是一個有大片綠地的公園，Robertson Park。來這之前，我對這一無所知，來這裡到底該參觀什麼地方，也沒有做行前的研究。在公園裡找個涼爽的地方，吃起了午餐。旁邊的兒童遊戲區，有一口家庭在那嘻戲，找了爸爸詢問這附近有什麼地方值得參觀的，他似乎不諳英語。媽媽見狀過來我們這，我再次的提出我的問題。往上一指，說那邊有一個峭壁可以去看看。

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Facing the wharf in Robertson Park
在 Robertson 公園，面朝渡輪口的方向

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Bondi Explorer
觀光客巴士

Go up through the park, within 1 minutes, you can reach the Gap and you can the walking trail with two directions. Heading north for the Lady Bay beach and Hornsby lighthouse, south for the Macquarie lighthouse. It is the site of Australia's earliest lighthouse. It is the longest continually running lighthouse station in the country and an important cultural landmark as well.
穿過公園在往上走不用一分鐘，就能抵達 Gap 峭壁了，由此步道分為二，往北走可以看以看到裸體海灘女士灣以及 Hornsby 燈塔。往南走則可以參觀 Macquarie 燈塔，它是澳洲最早建立，也是持續運作最久的燈塔，同是也是一個重要的文化地標。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

The Gap, which is a spectacular cliff top lookout, can be reached easily from the beach area.
It is also one of Sydney's favorite suicide spots because of the dramatic drop into the sea. At that time, I didn't know the bad reputation of this place with lots of suicides. One day after I came back to Taiwan, I knew it until I read a Australian local news reporting about the angel. It's a pity that I didn't meet this guy who has saved so many people. When I was there, I did stand against the fence as if thinking of something for at few minutes. but no one came to me.
Gap 是一個在峭壁旁的景觀台，很容易就可以從海灘走過來，路程很短。它也是雪梨當地，非常著名的自殺地點，因為這裡的到海面的落差非常的大。當時的我並不知道這是個著名的自殺地點，是到回來台灣之後，看到一篇澳洲當地的新聞報導才知道有這樣的事情。可惜無緣見到這位救了無數人的天使一面，當時我確實是靠著圍籬看海景若有所思，至少也站了好幾分鐘，並沒有任何人來關注。

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Gap Bluff (Get fined if you cross the fence)
Gap 峭壁（越過圍籬會被罰 150 澳幣）

Part of the report is as below:

In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea?" the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.

報導的內容大致上如下：每當那些站立峭壁上的迷失靈魂感到無望，猶豫是否該往下跳時。一個柔和悅耳的聲音打斷了風聲以及海浪的聲音。「為什麼不來杯咖啡或是茶呢？」那個陌生人會這樣問。當那些無助的人回頭看到他的時候，那個陌生人的笑容，讓他們如獲救贖般，放棄了自殺的念頭。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

For almost 50 years, Don Ritchie has lived across the street from Australia's most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbour called The Gap. And in that time, the man widely regarded as a guardian angel has shepherded countless people away from the edge.

Don Ritchie 住的地方和那個臭名昭著的自殺地點 The Gap 只有一街之隔，在 The Gap 附近住了將近五十年，The Gap 位於雪梨港入口的一個岩石峭壁上。大家都將他視為天使，因為他幫助了無數的人們遠離自殺的命運。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

Ritchie, copyright belongs to CBS.

How wonderful, the former life insurance salesman says, to save so many."You can't just sit there and watch them," says Ritchie, now 84, perched on his beloved green leather chair, from which he keeps a watchful eye on the cliff outside. "You gotta try and save them. It's pretty simple."

能夠救那麼多人的生命是多麼的棒啊，過去曾是壽險銷售員的 Ritchie 這樣說。「你不能只是坐在那看著他們」，84 歲的 Ritchie 坐著他最喜愛的綠色皮椅上繼續說著。同時不斷的看著外頭的懸崖。「必須試著去救他們，一點都不難」。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

Since the 1800s, Australians have flocked to The Gap to end their lives, with little more than a 3-foot (1 meter) fence separating them from the edge. Local officials say around one person a week commits suicide there, and in January, the Woollahra Council applied for 2.1 million Australian dollars ($1.7 million) in federal funding to build a higher fence and overhaul security.

自從 1800 年已來，很多澳洲人都選擇這裡來結束他們的生命，即使這裡有將近一公尺高的圍籬將他們和崖邊隔離開。當地的政府官員說，一週就會有一個人來這自殺，當地的議會也特別申請了兩百一十萬澳幣的聯邦基金，將圍籬加高以及增加它的安全性。

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Gap Bluff (The buildings far away are where the Sydney CBD locates)
Gap 峭壁（遠方建築所在的位置就是雪梨的市中心）

In the meantime, Ritchie keeps up his voluntary watch. The council recently named Ritchie and Moya, his wife of 58 years, 2010's Citizens of the Year.

(Reported on Jun 14, 2010)
此時，Ritchie 仍持續的擔任義工監視著。當地的議會最近將 Ritchile 和他的 58 歲太太選為 2010 年的年度市民。（本篇新聞報導於 2010 年六月）

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Gap Bluff (The buildings far away are where the Sydney CBD locates)
Gap 峭壁（遠方建築所在的位置就是雪梨的市中心）

He's saved 160 people, according to the official tally, but that's only an estimate. Ritchie doesn't keep count. He just knows he's watched far more walk away from the edge than go over it.

根據官方紀錄，至今，他已經救了 160 人，不過那只是估算而已。Ritchie 並不知道確切的數字。他只知道他看到遠離崖邊的人比跳下去的人數還要多。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

In his younger years, he would occasionally climb the fence to hold people back while Moya called the police. He would help rescue crews haul up the bodies of those who couldn't be saved. And he would invite the rescuers back to his house afterward for a comforting drink.

在他年輕的時候，他經常攀爬過圍籬將那些自殺者給抓回來，同時他老婆就會通知警方。他也會幫救生員把那些無法被即時救回的人們的屍體給拉上來。然後再邀請他們到他家休息小酌。

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Gap Bluff
Gap 峭壁

It all nearly cost him his life once. A chilling picture captured decades ago by a local news photographer shows Ritchie struggling with a woman, inches from the edge. The woman is seen trying to launch herself over the side - with Ritchie the only thing between her and the abyss. Had she been successful, he would have gone over, too.

曾經，他幾乎要付出他自己的生命。十多年前，一位當地的記者補捉到一張令人毛骨悚然的照片，Ritchie 和一個女人扭打在一起，他們距離崖邊只有幾英吋而已。記者看到那個女人試圖要跳崖，但是 Ritchie 就站在她和懸崖之間。如果那個女生自殺成功的話，他也會跟著一起走。

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Walking trail from the Gap Bluff to the Macquarie lighthouse
通往 Macquarie 燈塔的步道

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The Gap

There have been a few, though, that he could not save. One teenager ignored his coaxings and suddenly jumped. A wind blew the boy's hat into Ritchie's outstretched hand. He later found out the teen had lived next door, years earlier. His mother brought Ritchie flowers and thanked him for trying. If you couldn't have talked him out of it, she told him, no one could.

然而，仍有少數人沒被他挽救。曾經有一個年輕人無視他的勸告，突然地往下跳。一陣風將男孩的帽子吹到 Ritchie 伸長的手上。他後來發現，那個男孩過去就住他隔壁，他的媽媽帶著花來感謝 Ritchie。並告訴 Ritchie，如果你都不能阻止他，應該也沒人可以做到了。

From 20090403_WatsonsBay_DoubleBay_RoseBay_Manly

The Gap

Despite all he has seen, he says he is not haunted by the ones who were lost. He cannot remember the first suicide he witnessed, and none have plagued his nightmares. He says he does his best with each person, and if he loses one, he accepts that there was nothing more he could have done. Nor have he and Moya ever felt burdened by the location of their home. "I think, 'Isn't it wonderful that we live here andwe can help people?'" Moya says, her husband nodding in agreement.

即使他過去親眼看見人們在他面前自殺成功，他並沒有因此被他們的靈魂所糾纏。他已經不記得他第一個看到的自殺者，也沒有人讓他受到惡夢的困擾。他說，他試著盡力的去幫助每個人，如果有某個人失敗了，他相信，他能做的都已經做了。對於他們家所在的位置，他們夫妻兩一點都不感到是一種負擔。「我想，住這裡可以幫助人，不是很棒嗎？」老婆說到，她的老公點頭表示同意。