What I love (and hate) about Australia - 2 lists, 25 years today!

We arrived in Oz 25 years ago today. So here are 25 things I love about Australia, not in any particular order:

1. Frequent sunshine
2. The great outdoors - spectacular scenery and a healthy lifestyle
3. Amazing produce, and excellent food in (some) restaurants and cafes
4. Space - room to breathe
5. Wildlife
6. The beach
7. Plants, from native orchids to flowering trees, like poincianas, jacarandas and frangipanis
8.  Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell
9. Matthew Evans' Gourmet Farmer
10. Gardening Australia
11. Mangoes, lychees and other tropical fruit (but especially mangoes)
12. Rainforest
13. Tasmania 
14. Proximity to New Zealand and Asia
15. Denise Scott, Wendy Harmer, Julia Zemiro and Judith Lucy - and all the other women who make me laugh
16. No longer having to pay a mortgage in London
17. Really good coffee
18. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
19. Birth Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, where J was born
20. Aboriginal art and culture, and Aboriginal people's relationship to the land
21. Laughing Lotus Yoga - simultaneously nurturing and challenging classes
22. Food Connect - veggie box scheme sustainably connecting farmers and consumers
23. Higher Education - UQ for establishing an art therapy program, and QUT, for teaching me to be a social worker, when it was still affordable.
24. Friends, new and old
25. Family - both near and far

 

And then there is the not so good...

1.  Immigration policies - see #4 above - we have lots of room to spare
2. (Lack of) climate change policies in current government
3. Car culture, poor public transport
4. Hideous pubs
5. High levels of domestic violence
6. 'Casual' racism and sexism
7. Nowhere near Europe or UK
8. Dependency on coal mining and other fossil fuel
9. Very hot days
10. Commercial TV, truly trashy

more later