10 Things That Still Amaze Me About Western Australia After 5 Years

Our "immigration honeymoon" passed long ago. We are past the phase of comparing everything to home, past the phase of counting the days until the next visit to Serbia, past the phase of crying quietly in the car after a hard day.

We live here now. This is home.

And yet — there are still things that stop me in my tracks. Things that, after five years, I still notice. Things I never want to take for granted.

Here are ten of them.

1. The Beaches

The beaches in Australia truly take your breath away. Especially the Western Coast, with its great climate and hundreds of accessible, stunning beaches.

What shocked me most was that the beaches in Perth are completely free from cafes, noise, and the struggle to reach the water through a crowd. Entrance and parking are free everywhere. There are special beaches for dogs, and those perfect for surfing or kite surfing.

I live five minutes from the beach.

Yet I still feel that same excitement from my childhood when I used to stay up late at night on the way to our summer holiday, waiting to catch a glimpse of the sea.

2. The Climate

With 147 sunny days and 121 partly sunny days per year, Perth is officially the sunniest capital city in the world.

The climate is mild and Mediterranean. Winters are gentle and snow-free. Summers are warm and dry, with a pleasant breeze.

I don't miss the snow at all. Although having Christmas at 30 degrees, with Santa in swimwear and no frost, still feels a little strange.

I'll get used to it. Eventually.

3. The Nature

As a family of nature enthusiasts, we had explored Serbia inside out before we left. So arriving in Australia felt like discovering a new planet.

What amazes me most is the level of care for nature here. Suburbs in Perth are literally surrounded by reserves, forests, swamps, and protected areas. Having a fenced reserve across the street is normal. Even most roundabouts have trees in the middle.

As for the fauna — we've seen kangaroos, redback spiders, and snakes in person. That's enough wildlife encounters for one lifetime, thank you.

Western Australia is a vast, beautiful, wild country where people have a genuine awareness of the need to preserve what they've been given.

4. The Smiles

I'm coming from a poor, war-torn country where we've experienced economic crises, wars, corrupt politicians, and bureaucracy that makes daily life barely bearable.

The most striking difference between people on the streets of Belgrade and those in Perth is their smiles. Everyone around you is smiling and content. Life here is easy-going, enjoyable, and laid-back.

Sometimes it irritates me — they can be a bit too relaxed for those of us from war-torn areas. But being surrounded by smiling people is deeply, genuinely refreshing.

I wish to see such smiles on the streets of Serbia one day. We deserve it.

5. The System

This might sound odd, because "the system" usually evokes rigidness and obligations. But for me, it means something simple: living in a country where the laws are actually respected.

There are rules. If you don't follow them, everyone faces the same consequences — regardless of who you are.

A significant part of our reason for leaving Serbia was that we grew tired of living in a country where the law only applies to some people. Where the powerful use it for their own amusement.

Here:

• If the speed limit is 100, everyone drives at 100.
• If there's a no-dogs sign on the beach and you bring your dog, you get a fine. No matter who you are.

For us — tired of finding loopholes just to protect our hard-earned rights — this Western order is deeply pleasing.

I'll also say this: living inside a well-functioning system shapes people's thinking in ways that aren't always positive. People can slowly lose the ability to function outside the rules, to think creatively, to improvise. That's the other side of the coin. But for immigrants like us, freshly trained to "survive and thrive even in the most terrible places," it's a relief.

6. The Roads

Perth spans 200 km in diameter along the coast. I used to travel 100 km three times a week to get to my university campus.

With so much space, it's no surprise the roads are wide and beautiful. Driving here is a genuine pleasure after the so-called highways of Serbia, the slalom through Belgrade streets, and the daily risks on local roads.

The lanes are wide. The signage is perfect. Almost everywhere you have two or three lanes in each direction. Speed limits are reasonable. And everywhere — roundabouts with trees in the middle.

Driving only became enjoyable to me in Australia. In Serbia, it was unimaginable stress.

7. The Freedom

Perhaps this word is too strong for what I want to describe. But it's the only word that fits.

The past five years have been tough, with daily ups and downs, riding an emotional rollercoaster that tests the foundation of everything you are and have been for the past 40 years.

And yet — despite all of that — I feel free. Unburdened. Resolved to live life to the fullest.

In Serbia, even when I didn't allow the political situation, the wars, the sanctions, the poverty, the negativity to disturb me — I was still in a cage. My husband and I had built that cage ourselves, to protect our children.

That cage doesn't protect you from narrow-mindedness, judgmental looks, unsolicited life advice, or comments that insult your intelligence.

Here, we are learning to live without caring what others think. It's okay to dress the way we think is right, not how the "village" thinks. There is such diversity of people, nations, religions, and colours that no one notices, comments, or lectures you.

I watch my children slowly shedding those old restrictions. No longer thinking about what others will say as the supreme criterion for every decision.

Freedom. It's everything.

8. The Responsibility

We lived for so long in a country that merely resembles a state. That's why I still get amazed when something here works exactly as it should.

When you see where your taxes are going, you don't hesitate to pay them. You feel like a true citizen.

It pains me deeply when I see what is being done to Belgrade — tearing it apart without any regard for tradition or respect for what survived the Turks, the Austro-Hungarians, and every disaster in between.

Here, a city only two centuries old makes a serious effort to preserve every tree, factory wall, and lamppost. They turned an old whale processing factory into a tourist attraction. You cannot take a broken branch of eucalyptus from the Valley of the Giants because the trees are protected. Taking rocks or shells from some beaches is punishable by law.

Kings Park — the largest inner-city park in the world — sits right in the city centre. It even houses a famous baobab tree, transported 3,200 km to be preserved and continue living there.

Responsibility towards citizens, nature, ancestors, and history. That's what keeps enchanting me here, every single day.

9. The Bicycle Lanes

My husband is in love with recreational cycling. In Serbia, I used to worry every time he went out — would he come back in one piece?

Here, Perth has 661 mapped bicycle routes covering 62,829 km. Whether you're riding along the ocean, the Swan River, the Canning River, or heading east into the hills — cycling is safe, spacious, and a phenomenal experience.

He has never been happier.

10. The Diversity

More than 100 nationalities live in Perth. Walk down any street and you'll hear dozens of languages, see people from literally every corner of the world, witness every skin colour and shade, hear countless English accents.

This greatly eases the life of an immigrant. You see thousands of people who, just like you, came here seeking something different and better. It's easier to blend into that big ship.

No one will laugh at you or your children if your English isn't perfect. On the contrary — since most Australians only speak English, they consistently express admiration for those of us who can speak another language.

This collision of cultures means our children are being exposed to different ways of thinking. They are becoming accustomed to thinking beyond the borders of their own nation, religion, skin colour, or continent.

And that is invaluable.

If we ever decide to return to Serbia, among other things, we'll carry those ideas ingrained in our perception of the world — and our friendships with people from every walk of life.

Our immigration honeymoon is long over. But our love for this place? That's only grown.

Originally published on Medium.