My reflections on Australia so far

OK, so I've only been in Sydney so these are really my thoughts on Sydney.

I love being able to walk the pavements without having to look out for dog debris or broken slabs.
I love how wonderful it all smells.
I love the fresh air and open spaces.
I love the buildings - not really all that old but not being knocked down to build towerblocks.
I love being able to understand what people are saying (well, mostly, the accent still throws me ocassionally)

I don't like the hostel. It seems to encourage drinking to excess. There's nothing more off-putting than walking into the tv room for some chill out time to find the sofas occupied by lads sleeping off their hangovers (that's what the beds are for).
I don't like the slapdash attitude of the hostel workers. I agree it's necessary to strip off sofa covers that have been puked on (see above) but rolling the covers into a bundle and leaving them in a corner isn't good.
I don't like my fellow backpackers. They seem to travel in groups and do here exactly what they would be doing back home - WHY? And, my god, are they pretentious! This is Australia for god's sake, it's not difficult to get to, get around or be understood. A month here does not make you a hardened traveller, especially when your parents are paying!

I am bemused by the fact that everything (bar a few tourist attractions) has shut down over Easter. They really take their holidays seriously here!

Anyhow, today I move onto Melbourne for a few days (I've been warned it's freezing there) and hopefully it'll all be different. I'm at the airport as everywhere else is closed and I've splashed out on the executive lounge as a treat to myself - nice and quiet.