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When it comes to where to live, Australia is consistently considered one of the top ten countries worldwide. Of course, we have incredible weather, great beaches, and amazing food. However, there are many other great things about Australia.
Australia definitely has some of the best beaches in the world, including Bondi right in the middle of Sydney, Bells, the surfing mecca, just outside Melbourne, and Hyams and Whitehaven beaches, often voted the best beaches in the world.
The country is vast and diverse, and has nineteen World Heritage Sites, including the Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu National Park. We have skiing in the Snowy Mountains, scuba diving with Whale Sharks in Western Australia, an outback cattle station bigger than Belgium, and in Riversleigh and Naracoorte two of the ten most important fossil sites in the world.
Sydney and Melbourne have an average high of 26 in the summer, with cooler evenings in Melbourne. In winter the days are a little warmer in Sydney with an average of 17 while both cities have similar winter evening temperatures.
90% of Australians live along the vast coastline, with Sydney and Melbourne located on the coast.
Tasmania is consistently voted as having the world’s cleanest air.
Australia has a very high per capita participation in sport and exercise. Athletics and cycling have the highest participation, followed by soccer, golf and tennis. However, the outdoor lifestyle generally lends itself to a healthier way of living.
It is very easy to get around Australia and flying in inexpensive. People living in Sydney and Melbourne are only a couple of hours from most major cities; three to four hours from New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Noumea; and well within traveling distance of South East Asia.
Australia is a truly diverse and inclusive society. Modern Australia was founded just over 200 years ago by British settlers, but the first Australians are part of the oldest culture known to man, which dates back around 75,000 years.
The 20th century has seen success waves of Chinese, Irish, Eastern European, Italian, Greek, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian and African migrants, along with a steady stream of British people. Australia has the largest proportion of migrant settlers of any developed country. Melbourne, for example, has the largest Greek population outside of Athens.
Each year Australia hosts many major international sporting competitions, including those for tennis, grand prix, golf, rugby, cricket, cycling, and sailing. There are also major international tours each year in cricket, rugby and so on.
Internationally Australians excel at many sports, especially team sports, like hockey, netball, rugby and cricket. It is often said that Australia performs very well internationally given the relative population size.
Australia rates very well compared to various OECD indices of standards of living. Unemployment is relatively low, average income is high, and overall life satisfaction is high. Australians also generally live longer.
Doctors are very well paid by international standards; their salaries have a higher purchasing power than the UK and are generally ranked in the top five for nations worldwide.
It’s relatively easy to travel around Sydney and Melbourne even during rush hour. Roads, although busy, are nothing like the roads in the UK. Public transport is a fraction of the cost it is in the UK.
Crime is relatively low compared to the UK and the USA. The cities are safe and so is public transport.
Australia has a mixed public/private education system. Public schools, especially in urban areas, are often well regarded. Each city has a number of selective schools. Children sit the selective school entrance exam when they are ten, and selective school students generally perform the best during the HSC exams (A Levels). Private schools range for smaller catholic schools to establishment’ schools such as Cranbrook and Melbourne Grammar.
Two Australian universities, ANU and Melbourne, were ranked in The Times Top 50 this year, and another three, Queensland, Sydney, and Monash, were ranked in the Top 100.
Australia has many world class chefs, including Peter Thompson of Nahm, Peter Gillmore of Quay, Tetsuya Waduka of Tetsuyas, and Neil Perry of Rockpool.
The diversity of the climate means there is a startling array of high-quality produce, such as Salmon from Tasmania, Brie from King Island, and Black Angus Beef.
Australia has over sixty wine regions. They produce good everyday wine to world class vintages such as Penfolds Grange, Rutherglen Tokay, and Beechworth Chardonnay.
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