Grew up in Sydney. Lived for months in Canberra, and some years also in Brisbane. Have revisited all three, most recently in 2009. Loathed all three, but Sydney least.
As a toddler I picked up a female funnelweb spider, which luckily was too stunned to bite me; as a teen, huge poisonous black snakes used to invade our indoor loo, and swimming was a bit intimidating as shark alarms sirened and jellyfish stung. Once I saw a yellow-bellied sea snake swimming a foot away. In Bris, which I'm sorry is the arse end of everywhere with bling knobs on, we used to have a hundred plus cane toads on our lawn every night.
I still adore Pacific beaches, but there my pleasure ends. Sorry - it's just over, me and Oz, and in a way it's a young person's country. I could counter all paddling pool tales with the pleasure of any cafe in Milan or Vienna or Paris or London, elderly ladies slipping off fur coats and slowly sipping their favourite coffee, while the slow rain drizzles gently and the windows mist up. It's all accordin, innit?
lisianthus, I'm guessing you live in Oz? In Melbourne or Tas, if you can make a go of gardening? I've been to both. And after a year in NYC and two years in London, the cities are like provincial towns.
(Fiercely scrubs out additional comments about cravings for Golden Gaytimes - that's an ice cream, everyone...)