When London hosted the Olympics last year, the opening ceremony featured a vast sweep of a thousand year history. When Sydney did it, the highlight was Nicki Webster in a sun frock and plastic beach sandals.
Nothing is more quintessential Australian than images of summer heat and coastal playgrounds. Never mind that in Tasmania and Victoria we spend a good chunk of our lives in winter woollies or that in central Australia we can be two days drive from the coast. In the imaginations of the world – and often in our own – we are lying on a beach or frolicking in the waves.
