Last updated: 25 June 2023
As I sit back on a beachfront lounge chair with the sun on my back, I reflect on life and think, huh! Australia does it better. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an opportunity to bag out other countries because I do appreciate what they have to offer. But sometimes you just know, deep in your heart, that you’ve had it better elsewhere.
While I’m missing home, I reflect on things Australia does better.
10: Meat
Living abroad, oh how I miss meat. Not just any meat, good meat. Where good marbling is the norm and your butcher is best mates with the abattoir to ensure they only stock the best of the best.
I don’t honestly know how vegetarianism just hasn’t died out as a fad.
I enjoy tasting local delicacies when travelling but nothing beats a solid piece of beef BBQ’d to perfection on a sunny day.
9. Language
I have never in my life started an email with Dear until I moved to London. Apparently that’s the social norm. Even to colleagues you go and have beers with after work!
I long for the return of Hey, Hi and Hows it going? and an appropriate curse word mid sentence. In return for a casual ‘shit’, I will quite happily ditch the Alright? which serves as both a question AND a response. Confused? Yep, I was too.
8: Air conditioning
I wish someone could explain to me how it’s 2015 and yet there are hotels around the world where rooms don’t have air-con. I’m not referring to the run-down caretaker-operated 2 star establishments, I’m referring to classy 5 star hotels.
Majority of homes in Australia have reverse cycle (heating AND cooling) and hotels, it’s a given. Transport has it too. Buses, trains and cars all have (mostly) functioning air-con.
7: Weather
This is winter. Need I say more.
6: Affordable transport
Initially I was outraged at the cost of trains whilst travelling in the UK, but it became quickly apparent that expensive trains were a British rite of passage.
So in the interests of saving time, let’s compare:
Sydney to Wyong: 1.5 hours. 93km. Cost (one way, peak time) $8.60 (£4.69GBP)
London to Oxford: 1 hour. 94km. Cost (one way, peak time) Cheapest was £32.60 GBP ($59.82) but went up to £56 GBP ($102)
It’s simple mathematics, I think I’ve made my point.
5: Functioning sewerage pipes and water pressure
To my surprise, it is completely acceptable to wipe your bum and pop the paper in a basket for the scent to gently waft from all day long. Combine this with the balmy Athens summer heat, that smell will quickly become a stench. *gag.
Water pressure in the UK is particularly temperamental. My landlord was surprised when I asked about it prior to signing a lease, and even more so then I tested it upon inspection. A drizzle of water is not acceptable when I’m paying £1500 GBP/month to wash my hair in the sink or tub.
I’ve heard the spiel about Europe’s ancient plumbing, I just don’t care for it. I like my flushes good and proper and my hair free from shampoo residue.
4: Attitude – mateship
There’s something about the Australian way of helping out a mate that resonates with me to my core. If you need a hand with something (moving, building, BBQing) you ask a mate, and generally they’ll say yes. It’s how it works. Jayne Gorman recently wrote a piece about finding a property in Sydney and she writes about a helpful passerby:
“I even stealthily checked my handbag to make sure we hadn’t just been robbed (10 years in London will do that to you)”
For the most part, we’re just an affable kind of people.
3. Shopping
Gone are the days of the successful high street shops. Maybe it’s the air-conditioning we’re drawn to. Sydney has 35 shopping centres, London has 2. It’s where you can do all your shopping in one go. Groceries, gifts, clothes, entertainment and takeaway all under one, albeit air-conditioned, roof. No need to worry about the rain, or finding parking.
2. Beaches
Sydneysiders alone have well over 100 beaches to choose from. They all have views like this.
Majority are patrolled by volunteers especially in the summer. Chances of drowning or being eaten by a shark are actually really slim, providing you swim between the flags.
I’m an advocate for a functioning mindset. I discovered that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is actually not a fictitious imaginary excuse to be blue over winter. It’s pretty accurately named when all you feel is SAD from the never-ending grey, dark and freezing European winters.
The Australian sun warms your inside and out. You have free parks, festivals, beaches and events to keep you entertained outside from dawn til sunset. Everyone is jovial and it’s contagious.
When it’s all said and done, the beaches are a way of life for most Aussies. But be warned, don’t leave it too late in the day or the sand will be so hot your feet will blister.
1. Lifestyle
I can’t seem to put my finger on it, but most Aussies breeze through life. Sure we work, and most of us work hard. It’s the BBQs, the parks, the blue skies and the fresh sea air that give most of us this air of care-free relaxed approach to life that can’t be replicated anywhere else.
If you’re fortunate enough to live in a densly-populated area, you can meander the streets from one cafe to another, feast on a worldly array of foods from across the globe. Typically, Australia welcomes all.
What’s your experience with Australia? Visited or know someone Aussie? Share your thoughts...
