Australia v England

Points in favour of living in Australia!

• Shop assistants who know where the products you want to see are located in the store
• Shop assistants who greet you in a friendly manner when you walk in, and say goodbye to you when you leave - all with a genuine manner!
• Shop assistants who are incredulous at the idea that a shopper might be expected to pack their own bag, and who understand that separating frozen food from household chemicals might be a good idea!
• OK - I have to put the beach in the list somewhere: it's close, it's clean, the water's warm, the surf's great, and there's SAND!
• Beautiful parrots and mynah birds calling in the morning, and eating bird seed on the verandah
• Friendly neighbours who are considerate about making noise, even though they're so far away that they won't upset you anyway
• Local fruit stalls with trays of nectarines, mangoes and pineapples for $20 each - about £8 - what you'd pay for 4 of those fruit in a UK supermarket most weeks! You've got no excuse for not eating your 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day here

Drawbacks of living in Australia...

• Few decent newspapers (I make an honourable exception for the Sydney Morning Herald)
• No Sunday papers unless you count the Sun Herald (and I don't!)
• Strange filter lanes onto dual carriages that come in from the right hand side...
• Undertaking is legal!
• No Marmite - well, not as I know it... there is something called Marmite, which got me very excited, but it turned out to be false optimism
• Insane quarantine regulations that mean I won't be able to bring Marmite back with me in my luggage - I'll have to try and find a shop that sells it in Sydney!
• It is a VERY long way away from our family and friends in Europe... and I don't think that disadvantage will ever fall off the bottom of the list. We miss you all, daily.