This Week: Hello from Australia!

My apologies for the lateness of this week's newsletter. Typically I compile it on Saturday and send it out on Sunday, but we've been moving around Sydney and Melbourne over the weekend.

We’re in the Land Down Under—exploring the historic neighbourhoods, iconic skylines, and appreciating the years since I first touched down, including the cost of an Electronic Transit Authority application. Two videos from Sydney to kick things off.

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Available on Libsyn, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

🎥 This Week’s Videos

1. ✈️ To Australia! - Kicking off a two-week journey through Sydney, Melbourne, and Uluru—what’s changed since the last visit? 👉 Watch here
2. 🌉 To The Rocks! - From colonial roots to architectural icons—the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and beyond. 👉 Watch here
3. What's changed? - Just a look around the neighbourhoods.

✈️ To Australia!

It’s been a while, but we're back. Hitting the road for a couple weeks in Australia—revisiting old jobs, familiar streets, and iconic sights. This trip includes stops in Sydney, Melbourne, and possibly Uluru.

👉 Watch the full video

🌉 To The Rocks!

In the heart of Sydney lies The Rocks—where the city began. From its colonial foundations to the postcard-perfect Harbour Bridge and Opera House, this walkabout covers some of the most famous sights in Australia. Whether it’s your first visit or a nostalgic return, I've always appreciated the uniqueness of this corner of the world.

👉 Watch the full video

🌉 What's changed? (And some pictures!)

I lived, worked and travelled through Australia years ago just as I turned 30, the idea was to capture that last moment before I wouldn't be able to apply for the Working Holiday Visa any more. If you want to renew the visa, you have to do 90 days of rural work, ie, work on a farm or in a postal code outside of the city, and then you can stay for another year. So I did.

However, I ended up splitting my time in Australia - six months for the first visa, and then three months for the second visa with a nine month stint in southeast Asia in between.

I'm meeting lots of young people travelling and looking for work; quite a few families in the hostels; and, maybe not surprising to some people - hearing lots of Chinese.

Now, the last point might be because I'm now familiar with the language and so it stands out a whole lot more. But that still doesn't take away from the fact that there are, in general, a lot of young Chinese walking around.

It's also interesting to see that Sydney is such an international and multi-cultural city. Lots of difference faces, accents and languages being spoken. Young and old travellers, buskers outside and lots of cafes serving people from all walks of life.

Some pictures:

The Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Downtown CBD

Bondi Beach

And the Southern Cross

Thanks for reading and my apologies for sending this out late. I'm hoping to find time to record this week's podcast during which I'll be able to talk a little more about what Sydney (and Melbourne) have been like this time round.

Thanks for reading! Any thoughts, recommendations, suggestions? Get in touch by simply replying to this email.

Best,

Steve

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