Australia is extraordinary - I hope they keep it that way

I am just got back from a trip to Australia. I had never been before, so the time, distance and investment all felt very “bucket list” and my anticipation was high.

Anyway, the major east-coast cities were great. Melbourne is gloomy, dark and wet in the winter, but somehow glamorous, it’s central business district like upper east side New York, and nearby St Kilda’s, like an upmarket English seaside resort, busy being repainted and spruced up for warmer days. The food, places to stay and hospitality was terrific and a short look round Melbourne Business School was fun and eye-opening on how things can look and feel so familiar when so far from home.  I had supper with some SEP alumni which was both fun and very generously given. Genuine, lovely people.

Sydney is a smart world-class monster city, with every iconic building lit up in neon at night. It also offered at trip to the NRL State of Origin Game One, with 80,000 other souls, which was sport-fan bucket-list life affirmation with nobs on.  Brisbane was the best mix – with huge and impressive shiny towers, framing a riverside endless ‘Southbank’, of cafes, parks and eateries, that made the weekend there feel way too short, while the citizens seemed at most in no hurry. The city will host the Olympics in 2032 and my guess is that will pay back hugely for the reputation of what is already a very attractive city.

But it was away from the cities that Australia came alive and vivid for me. It’s a massive country. The bus from Cairns to Airlie Beach – described in the guidebook as “just along the coast, in the same state” - took 11 hours to drive.  We flew over and swam on the Great Barrier Reef.  I have never been so exhilarated, awed and humbled in one trip. It’s beautiful and fragile, and the sea-life there is like swimming amongst the cast of Finding Dory, but it’s also vast - over 1,000 miles long and visible from space.

We spent much of the last week in Noosa Heads, which has a National Park where you wander through trees and look down to idly watch turtles, dolphins and whales (yes, whales!) pass along the coast.  Along the path, they have set up wooden seats and tables, so locals can “work from home”, or “work from paradise” I think it should be better known.

The whole trip was astounding. Australia still looks and feels like it’s just come out of the 1980’s - shiny and new and still being emboldened for a bigger role in the world. But the vibe, the constant proximity to so much wildlife in every street, cafe and garden is wonderful, and the “no worries” culture makes conversation, planning and thoughts about the future refreshing and uplifting. And “no worries” doesn’t make the place sloppy or thoughtless (the customer care was as good as I have known) but it is also not circumspect about how good things are, and allows you to be joyful and proud of the place as well.  Leaving some cynicism behind at customs check felt like a relief.  I guess there are a myriad of problems like any country, but they seemed easier to talk about than experience, and many felt somehow to be “down the track”, not quite yet confronting or endemic.

I am now back in London. We have a general election result just announced. There's a lot going on. Lots of noise. Discord abounds. Less a case of “no worries” and more a case of “more worries”.  Given that, do I double-down on yesterday, or embrace new things? Do I sink or swim?  A lot to think about, at least until I have time to plot some way to return. Like a boomerang, hopefully caught somewhere on an endless white-sand beach.