Nature

Comparisons between Australia and England are inevitable but none are so obvious as the discrepancy between the two when it comes to nature. Where the English countryside is a softly muted palette of grey, green and brown, with gentle overtones of weak sunshine filtering through, the Australian landscape is clear-cut and harshly defined, every colour standing out boldly and brilliantly against a seemingly endless sky. 

Everything is bigger and brasher, including the birds. Innocuous-looking rainbow-coloured lorikeets and bright rosellas utter harsh screeches, while ugly magpies are relatively melodious. There are no soft English songbirds or gentle twittering. 

Insects are aplenty too. Yesterday evening, while sitting outside in the garden having supper, we heard one persistently loud and shrill cicada which, when tracked down and gently flicked from it's bush to the grass in the name of a peaceful meal, turned out to be a monster, capable of bringing traffic to a standstill with a mere brush of its legs.

Charlie carefully scrutinises each insect he discovers and has an irresistible urge to manhandle them all - he visibly fights with his conscious knowing it may retaliate, but in the end curiousity wins and the poor creatures (usually hapless beetles) are upended or pursued around the house until I take mercy on them and throw them in to the garden. 

Introduction

Having been in Sydney almost a year now, I feel it is time to offer a soupcon of antipodean life by way of this blog. My mental note-taking and daily observations of Australians and the way they live may not serve up anything extraordinary or remarkable, but it might offer a small insight into this rugged, beautiful and often harsh country, and our transient experiences here as an English family with two young children. 

Inevitably there are pros and cons of living the other side of the world; of being thousands of miles away from family and friends, yet of living the lifestyle dream - not to mention experiencing a certain schadenfreude every time we read news reports of rain lashing Britain, postal strikes and transport problems. 

We swing wildly from high days to low days and yet the challenges are ultimately rewarding and what we don't have we know we will appreciate even more.

I hope you enjoy my thoughts, for what they are worth.