I ♥ Sydney

Since finally knuckling down and booking my flights out of Sydney, I've come to the startling conclusion that I'm in love with the city, and almost don't want to leave.

I've spent a long time pondering what it is about it that I adore. Perhaps too much time. What has made this love even more confusing is that Sydneysiders are a cliquey bunch at the best of times; settling in has proved problematic. Coupled with my turbulent flatshare, there is very little reason for me to love it.

But love it, I do, and after much pondering, here - in no particular order - are my reasons why you should love it too... :D

Communal BBQs are in most outlying parks. Got a sossidge to cook? Stick a coin or two into the BBQ and get a-grilling. - But that's not the main reason why I love Sydney.
Go home on a Ferry, past the opera house and under the bridge, to Luna park or trendy Balmain. - Nor this.
Live in a city with more green than you care to consider. There are parks, reserves and leafy walkways everywhere. - Not this.
Enjoy civic events almost every other week. Noodles in the park, Australia day, Christmas BBQs and of course, NYE are just for starters.

No, it's the people that make the city so wonderful for me. Even though they stick to their own small groups, they're almost all professionals at chilling out and living The Australian Dream. It took a while for me to realise that this was the main reason for my love of Sydney. And it's surprising, as I've not been able to sidle my way into their groups.

I came to this conclusion earlier today, and have spend the rest of the day thinking about how best to describe them. The best I can come up with is that Sydneysiders are from Pleasantville.

Perhaps it's Australia's distance from the rest of the world. By this, I refer to both the physical sense and the lack of participation on the world stage; TV and newspapers seem to find "big" news hard to find locally, so often turn to the UK and US for their juicy stories. This gives a certain sense of remoteness from the foreign misery and darkness that Sydneysiders hear of. As such, the locals are an honest, open, innocent bunch, lacking the hard cynicism of Londoners (myself included). And this is what I love.