In honour of it being Australia Day, I thought I’d celebrate the things I love (and miss) the most about that gorgeous corner of the world I call my homeland (for it is all these things, and a wealth of other memories, that have shaped who I am today):

1) Seemingless endless summers (though I don’t miss the associated sunburn, heatstroke and melting face that goes with the 40 degree days) which make it possible to waft about in white cotton dresses and eat mangoes for breakfast for months on end;

2) Hours spent collecting seashells along the whitest beaches I’ve ever come across, warm sand underfoot, and vast stretches of azure blue waters (if you do one thing before you die, make sure you sail around the Whitsundays and swim in the Great Barrier Reef);

3) The fact that our default national attitude is to be laid-back, relaxed and happy (all the sunshine and the tanned, athletic men don’t hurt with this disposition!);

4) The smell of sunscreen and nightly backyard barbeques in the evening all summer long (I don’t even like meat, but one whiff of this smell and I’m instantly transported to my childhood where meals were eaten beneath the shade of trees in our garden on balmy evenings);

5) When the sun eventually does go down in the evening, there is nothing quite as spectacular as the sight of the Southern Stars (I once went camping in the desert and vividly recall the sight of those stars stretching from horizon to horizon, brighter than anywhere I’ve ever seen them before);

6) The sounds of the beach, of the birdsong in the tropical rainforests, of thunderstorms on tin roofs and the haunting strains of a didgeridoo being played;

7) Lazy weekend trips to the beautiful, slow-of-pace wine regions for sunburnt hills, luscious green vines and wines, and unfailingly exceptional food;
The most majestical landscape you will ever find. I can think of few other countries that can boast fiery red deserts, tropical rainforests, seas that glint like jewels, and rolling green hills as this proud land does.Happy Australia Day to all my lovely readers Down Under! Now, I’m off to hunt for some cheese Twisties, a lamington and a Kath and Kim marathon….

Love, Miss B xx