7 things I didn't miss about Canada while I was in Australia (because they do it better)
You know that one girl who comes back from her semester abroad in Europe and won't stop asking for an affogato and complaining about having dinner before 9 p.m.? Well, that's me now, but swap it out for going to Australia for a few months at 27.
Travelling around I couldn't help but be that person who points out every little difference, because somehow walking on the left side of the sidewalk and turning a light switch on by flicking it down never lost its novelty. Sure, there were also some more uncomfortable differences like living with the constant fear of spiders (and snakes and sharks) — or times when I missed a piece of home (mostly the ketchup) — but then there were some glaringly obvious ways in which Australia gained the upper hand.
Since my friends are all tired of hearing me go on about how Canada needs to step it up, I'm turning to all of you. So, queue up "Down Under" and get ready to dream about a land far away from the frozen tundra that is Canada in January.
The cafe culture
If you haven't heard this before, then you've probably never met an Australian in Canada, because they tend not to be able to resist pointing out how our coffee is lacking, to put it mildly.
I hopped on that first flight of my 27-hour travel day with the promise of groundbreaking caffeine greeting me when I touched down. Unfortunately, the airport coffee I grabbed wasn't exactly life-changing, but after months of intensive research (spending way too much money on lattes), I can say that, as a whole, Aus does coffee culture WAY better.
My takeaway is that you're never going to get a truly bad coffee in Australia. I've had great coffee in Canada, but it's much rarer, while almost every cup I had in Australia was above average in my book.
It wasn't just the coffee, though; it was the cafe culture as a whole. Even the tiny towns we stopped in while roadtripping around had cute cafes that small-town Canada could only dream of. They all had good vibes, latte art that now fills my camera roll, delicious baked goods (I miss cinnamon scrolls), and acai bowls galore.
Now I'm home, in the land of Tim Hortons drip.
The people
This isn't to say that Canadians aren't great, but I was genuinely surprised by the friendliness of Australians. While Canadians do tend to fulfill the stereotype of being polite (for the most part) with loads I'm "sorrys" thrown into daily life, I found that in general the people Down Under were just plain welcoming.
There was a chattiness when we were out and about, an easygoing attitude and a genuine welcoming feel.
The morning culture (or lackthereof)
I didn't miss Canada's morning culture, because there is no morning culture to miss. It was one of those things that I didn't know I needed until I had it.
At home, I'm an 8 a.m. alarm kind of girl, and I don't miss a thing by doing it. After my internal clock was sufficiently scrambled from my travels to Australia, though, I naturally became an earlier riser while there. After day one of stepping out onto a bustling street at 6 a.m. with running groups zooming past me, swimmers and surfers dotting the water and cafe patios filled to the brim — I was converted.
It wasn't just in the big cities either. Even the sleepy little towns had that social vibe and early start attitude. It wasn't about the "morning grind" and hustling to get to work either — it was more about getting outside and having a life before the workday.
I wish I could say that I brought these vibes back to Canada with me, but the current sunrise time has put a damper on things for me.
The driving
Honestly, at first, this one was a strike against Australia for me. On a highway in Canada, people are typically going at or above the speed limit. Rarely do you find a car crawling along even slightly below the general 110 km/h at home. My first few times going down the highway in Australia, though, I was genuinely confused as to why some cars were going 10 to 15 kilometres below the posted speed limit (once I came to understand the cost of a speeding ticket in some areas, I started to get it a bit more).
By the end of my road trip, I had a new appreciation for the lack of a "need for speed" attitude. In general, I noticed people were just courteous drivers – helpfully waving me into lanes and not honking even when I definitely deserved it. It was especially appreciated since I was driving on the left side of the road for the first time, white-knuckling the steering wheel with every passing car.
The public amenities
To be fair, it depends on where you go in Canada, what kind of public amenities you'll find, but I'm talking in general here.
In Australia, I was seeing public bathrooms at almost all the parks, rest stops all along the roads, public swimming pools along beaches, waterfront pathways, community lagoons, and free cooktops overlooking the water. The best part was that people were using these things. Walking to the beach around dinner time, I'd see friend groups and families cooking on a public barbecue and enjoying the outdoors together.
The weather ... kinda?
It's obvious, but sitting here writing and looking out at a snow-covered ground after my morning walk in -15 degrees, I can't not mention it.
Canada is a mixed bag of messy wintery weather this time of year, and it's difficult not to reminisce about the sandy beaches and warm water. I will say, the beach vibes could change on a dime and turn into a rain and hail storm in minutes (I was on the East Coast, so this can vary depending on where you are).
Still, I'll wait out the torrential rain at a Yo-Chi over scraping ice off my car any day.
The price tags
Nothing feels cheap in Australia really (or in Canada for that matter), but there is something uniquely gratifying about grabbing something from the shelf, seeing the price, and paying that exact price at checkout.
Shopping in Canada involves hasty calculations for the cost of an item plus taxes, and although it may be good to try and keep my mental math skills alive and well, I didn't miss it one bit while I was away.
With that, I'll leave you to daydream about a life Down Under – where the listed price is the price you pay, people respect speed limits, and you don't have to drink another Tim Hortons coffee ever again.
The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
