When I first visited Sydney in 1999, what struck me most were the cranes. They stood over the city in every direction, building towers, stadiums and rail lines for the Olympic Games. The future was being built, quite literally, in front of my eyes.

I had come partly to meet, at last, the South Australian pen-friend I had been writing to since 1991 and whom I later married. Australia had always been my dream destination, but at least at the time I thought it would be a one-off holiday.

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