I have been asked to give my impressions of Australia so far. The country seems really good from what we have seen. We are generally very impressed.
Prices seem to be much higher than in the UK. It will not have been helped by the reduction in the pound since the Brexit vote but I think it might have been a bit expensive before that too. I'm not sure how the wages are here because that might balance up the prices for people who live here.
Public facilities like sports grounds and museums and libraries all seem well provided for. I suppose having plenty of space compared to the UK will help the provision. Australia is a sports mad nation.
Having watched the local TV we are frustrated with the adverts frequency which spoil any film watching. The programmes can be rather American but they also have quite a lot of old series' and programmes. I haven't seen the US soap opera 'Benson' for a long time and we have watched an episode of 'Heartbeat', we must be sad. The News coverage is probably rather stale...lots of stories about the health problems of too much sun, toddlers drowning in swimming pools, bush fires etc. Those stories must go round on a loop! Weather events also get a lot of coverage.
The politics seem to be rather more direct than our coverage. Politicians are asked straight questions and often give straight answers...it will never catch on in Britain! Quite refreshing.
We believe that the Aussies generally have a straight forward approach to life. There is a little less silly political correctness where every minority must be appeased and there are fewer health and safety dictats. There are some sensitivities around the Aboriginal people, I haven't worked all that out yet and wouldn't like to offer an opinion.
People generally seem to have a better sense of 'personal responsibility', if you do something stupid it's your own fault! People are more self reliant, instead of blaming others for their problems.
We are pleased that Australia is not as obsessed with Christmas as the British are. Maybe that's because it's their summer and Christmas imagery is more associated with winter but it's nice because it seems less consumerist and materialistic.
People seem to be friendly and helpful when necessary. Whilst in Sydney we travelled regularly on the bus and we saw several acts of courtesy by people giving up their seats. On one occasion a bus driver made everyone wait before an older lady was allowed on the bus first and he made a young man get out of the front seat so she could sit down.
We have seen lots of school groups of children in public places and have been impressed by their general behaviour. We have seen children waiting in lines and in groups without petulant or attention seeking behaviour. Teachers have not been maintaining discipline because it wasn't necessary. We saw a large group of children having a surfing lesson at Manly Beach. They were sitting on the sand in about eight lines of five. They were quiet whilst the instructor talked to the whole group. They all acted in sequence when instructed to go in the water and it was a very orderly process. I cannot imagine any group of British children from any neighbourhood behaving so patiently and orderly. Our children seem to be constantly seeking attention and trying to show off by disruptive behaviour. Our teachers seem to be constantly working to keep discipline and our children don't listen as they should.
All the above comments are only impressions and I know there will be lots of exceptions to the rule. Please don't take exception to my comments. An Aussie wouldn't bother making that comment - we are too worried about not offending anyone but they would just get on with it.
Brisbane was a lovely city that felt nice and casual and uncrowded. It is clean and has a modern feel.
Cairns was a bit more of a backpacker place with lots of public barbequing taking place near the seafront. Sydney was bigger and busier but it had none of the unpleasant behaviour that we regularly see in London. Certainly the cities seem to have a high proportion of Chinese and Japanese, probably Indonesian, Malayan and other nationalities from that area too. I'm not too sure how many will be tourists and how many are residents but there don't appear to be any obvious tensions. In my experience Far Eastern people tend not to claim racial discrimination but just get on with hard work and good personal examples.
Our journey now will include some smaller towns and countryside and we are booked into a few B&Bs so will have a chance to chat more with people. It will be interesting.
Aussies seem generally interested in their history and that includes their links to Britain. So, much of their history (place names, monuments, historical events and infrastructure) is closely linked to Britain. On the whole I think they like us really! I'm sure they do.
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