Back home

Hello! It’s been another year and I am still no better at writing regularly - but here we are.

I am back in England after a good stint in Australia, helping the government to start the Digital Transformation Office. It was a busy year and a half, and unfortunately it didn’t end as well as I’d hoped, but the good news is that there are plenty of lessons for the wider gov community to take away and learn from. A lot of people have asked, so I am working on writing a few things up.

Australia was exhausting and I’m a little bit burned out, so I’m trying not to rush into another job so soon. My plan is to take a bit of time out, do some travelling, and use the time to figure out what I want to do next. Living in a country about the same size as Europe has made me appreciate just how close everything is back home.

Between leaving the Australian Government and getting back home, I managed to get a few trips in.

First up, I went to Uluru, right in the middle of Australia. It’s so beautiful and, as a sacred Aboriginal meeting place, there was so much history to take in. Having bought a new camera for the trip, I spent a lot of time hiking around with my camera gear and taking experimental shots.

From there, I flew over to the Gold Coast. I like how close the Gold Coast is to good bushwalks - the Springbrook National Park was on the cards for this trip. We went up to the ‘Best of All lookout’, aptly titled for the view. We also visited Natural Bridge, where a brisk walk into the valley brings you to a beautiful cave inhabited by glowworms.

On the way back from Australia, I had a stopover in Hong Kong. I’ve been to Hong Kong before, but I was just as mesmerised at the busy streets, passageways and markets as on my first visit. I took the ferry to Macau, where it’s fascinating to see the old Portuguese architecture amongst the modern skyscrapers and casinos.

After all that, it is lovely to be back home in Lancashire. It’s very quiet but, after eighteen months living in the middle of Sydney, I am really enjoying the change.

Yesterday, I went out walking up Pen-y-ghent, one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks. I haven’t spent much time in the British countryside, but I’ve enjoyed visiting Australia’s national parks, so I’m going to try and keep up the habit. The weather was good and the tracks weren’t too onerous, so it turned out to be a great beginner walk to do.

Next week, I will be visiting Lyon and Geneva. If you have any recommendations for places I should go in either city, please do let me know.