GenQ

I have not so recently returned to Australia after living in England for 2 years. This weekend I remembered why I missed the lifestyle of Australia so much. I have had the most beautiful weekend away on the south coast of NSW in Currarong. After handing in 6,500 words in just under 3 weeks I decided to have a weekend off and it was the best decision. The weather was perfect and I had lovely long walks along the beach with my wonderful girlfriend. We had the best food, read books, played scrabble and spent hours finding amazing shells, including nine sea-urchins whole.

There are so many problems with Australia in terms of politics, discrimination and with the way society is governed by fear, however there are so many good things as well. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world; well I think so at any rate. I can get in the car, catch a bus or train and be somewhere that is both stunning and peaceful. Thankfully we know people who let us stay at their holidays houses so we got in the car on Friday night after work and drove down the coast. Arriving was like stepping off the treadmill for a while and you just don’t get stars in the city. I forget in the day to day where we live and how much I take for granted.

Australia has so much that the rest of the world doesn’t. It’s beautiful, it’s stunning, there is peace, there is quiet and there are wonderful cities as well. Compared to England, which does have its bonus points I will admit, living in Australia is bliss. There is sunshine, with beautiful blue skies; the water is warm enough to swim and there is white sand for those that like the stuff. Not only are the beaches sanctuaries but Sydney has the amazing Blue Mountains an hour away which is the epitome of peace. The Mountains are just breath-taking and there is a real sense of lifestyle that is so different to anywhere I have ever been. Not that I am saying I could live outside the city, I seem to like cafes a little too much and there is lots to recommend living in a thriving city. My girlfriend and I get to go to the theatre, out for dinner, to music, to movies and eat loads of sushi and all on a student’s wage. City life may be polluted, fast passed (see my article last week) but being able to escape to these beautiful places makes it’s all worth while.

What more could you want? That’s a bit a of a rhetorical question really because there is lots more I could want in Australia, like equal opportunity, like being able to openly declare my love for my girlfriend and that doesn’t even start to cover some of the problems. In England I could have married that one person I want to spend the rest of my life with but there isn’t really much point when it’s not recognised here. In fact there are many places in the world that give better rights to same-sex couples however, are they as beautiful, do they have a lifestyle where I can leave the city and be in paradise two and a half hours later? I’m not sure that I can find another place in the world quite like home.