Things I Will Miss About Bunbury/Australia ...

In no particular order these are some of the things I will miss about Bunbury/Australia:

1. The People
Since I arrived here, I have met some really awesome people. In fact I would go as far as to say almost everyone I have met has been pretty cool. Don't get me wrong, a few have been a bit crap, some have been downright crazy and dangerous. But on the whole, the people I've met and worked with have been excellent. I have made more good friends and am more likely to come back for a holiday here, than anywhere else I have lived.

2. Being A 'Regular'
Somewhat tied in with the above, it has also been cool being a 'regular'. I think the only other time I have been a regular was the campus pub when I was at uni. It is just really nice going in places, having a chat with the people who work there and occasionally getting preferential treatment ;-) The other benefit is getting to see how a business is run over a medium timescale. A big part of deciding to start my own business, was seeing that problems in business are similar in every industry and having the confidence that my experience was relevant.

3. Being (somewhat) Anonymous
The flip side of the above, is that I could be a regular because I wasn't worried about running into people I know, but don't like. The biggest reason I try not to go out in Inverness is because of the above. Actually 'don't like' is a bit strong, I just have no patience for small talk with people I only have a passing acquaintance with, from years ago. This hasn't been a problem in Bunbury. Sure it is a small town and you run into people quite a lot, but they are all people you have seen somewhat recently, so there is less of the inane; "So what have you been up to?", nonsense.

4. The Coffee
I don't think I have been anywhere else where there is such an abundance of places selling decent coffee (by decent I mean anything better than Starbucks). Ok I have not spent much time in Italy, but compared to everywhere else I have been, Australia is excellent for coffee. Before I moved here, I hadn't had a cup of coffee for 6 years, that is how irresistible it is.

5. Clothes Drying Ridiculously Quickly (in summer anyway)
This is a really random one, but it is just so handy when you hang clothes up to dry and 30mins later they are totally dry. I can think of no other benefit of it being 35C and 30%RH outside.

6. The Wine
This is probably not true throughout all of Australia, but generally there is an awesome selection of wine here. It might have something to do with living an hour up the road from Margaret River, one of the best wine growing regions in Australia. I'm still hardly a connoisseur, but I do enjoy a nice red more than I have in the past.

7. Long Drives
Driving in general would probably end up on my 'Things I Won't Miss About Bunbury/Australia' list, but I really love long drives in the outback. The scenery can be rather monotonous, but there is something strangely zen-like driving for hours through an unchanging landscape. It is so much less boring and stressful than similar long drives on motorways in the UK. The traffic is generally light and there are plenty of opportunities for overtaking. The other great thing is that you can listen to a whole long audio book (or two or three) without really missing anything. It would be cool to hire a camper and drive around Australia ...