Sydney, you were a dream of warmth and ease. When I returned to wintry Melbourne, time collapsed – and the city was still romantic

A few years after graduating, I moved north and got lucky. It was like riding a smooth, perfect wave that would never hit the shoreI went to a wedding in Sydney when I was 12, arriving from the gloomy and windswept south-west coast of Victoria, and even though it was only two days I never forgot it. First time on a plane, first time eating poached salmon, first time realising people could actually live like this, drenched in sunlight, homes right on the cliffs, goldilocks weather where you could be in the ocean before work and on weekends go sailing. Continue reading...