I expect many of you who commute in UK cities would relish the chance to use one of these ferries in Sydney harbour for your journey to work and you’d be right to do so. The trip into Circular Quay in the business district is spectacular, taking you past the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, usually under a faultless blue sky.
But all is not well and there’s a growing feeling that this city with its gem of a waterfront is a city in crisis. Those ferries, and the faster catamarans, keep breaking down; the trains don’t run on time and there’s problems with the track and the axles; just don’t ask about the roads; and they’re not sure where the next drop of drinking water is coming from.
Property prices have soared in recent years and, as you know, there are the sort of tensions that resulted in the recent Cronulla riots. Meanwhile, the New South Wales State Government (you could be forgiven for thinking that it runs only the city, and not the whole of this sprawling and varied state) lurches from leadership changes to reshuffles via a major budget crisis.
In the middle of this comes a poll which comes to the startling conclusion that those of us living in places like Sandy Beach are happier than those living in Sydney. You can imagine that we all fell off our surf boards in shock up here and no doubt many Sydney-siders similarly fell to decks of those ferries in amazement that their country cousins might actually be living a more sublime existence, beyond spitting distance of the nearest Starbucks (we don’t have one at all - imagine that).
Is there a serious point here, other than the supreme pointlessness of that poll, which someone was presumably paid to conduct? If there is, I really can’t be bothered to think of one but the following will probably do.
Last Sunday, neighbour Carl suggested going for coffee at a beach-side café in the village to the south. It was lunch-time so just having coffee was bit problematic and there were five of us and tables were needed for people eating so we ended up being forced to have sour dough bread with hummus and olives, as well as coffee. “Oh well,” said Carl, tucking in. “Serves me right for trying to be a bit urban.”
