Geogrifacts

I cannot accurately recall how much I knew about Australia before I was offered this job in November. Most likely I had heard of Sydney but could not tell you where it was located in the country/continent. So, for your enrichment, I thought I’d share a little about my current home.

1/5 of the country’s population lives in Sydney! In fact, 85% of Australia’s residents live in 1 of 5 cities, and 99% of the population lives in 1% of the area. The country is basically the east coast cities, and one city on the west.

The three largest cities in Australia are:

Sydney (population 4 million)

I have yet to find an Australian who likes Sydney. They all complain about it being big and having a long commute to work, etc. Sydney seems the most like a large American city – busy and big – and Australians don’t like that.

Melbourne (population 3.7 million)

Everyone here claims that Melbourne is the best part of Australia. So, I am flying there on Saturday to check the city out for the day, and then flying back Sunday. Sound irrational? Well, when else in my life can I fly to Melbourne for $150? I figured that being there for 30 hours is all I need to get a feel for the city, and were I to stay longer I’d have to pay for a hotel for more than one night.

Also, Melbourne will probably be the most south I go in my entire life!

Brisbane (population 1.8 million)

Brisbane is an hour north of here. I went there on Saturday to check out the city. I’d already been twice before, but neither time had I seen a thing. Saturday turned out to be pretty similar – I went to a couple of museums but remembered that I was sick or something, so I ended up utilizing this coupon I had for a Brisbane movie theater and got to see ‘Click’ for $6! Wow! And then I walked around the city a bit more and took the train to the Gold Coast Airport to pick up two girls, both named Amy. They go to law school with me and were in Sydney and came to go to the beach for a few days. Anyway - Brisbane is really great - kind of reminds me of Seattle. I would like to live there.

I live on the Gold Coast in a town called Southport. I think soon I will devote an entire blog to how much I love Southport. It is the best.

Also, the Great Barrier Reef is in northern Queensland around Cairns (I live in Southern Queensland) and I am going there in a month with my mom!