Australia. It’s a different kind of wild.

Many people visiting this island continent for the first time are concerned about everything—large and small—that could kill you here. On the larger side, Australia has saltwater crocodiles. Sharks. On the other end of the scale, there are varieties of spider, jellyfish and snake best not to tangle with. Otherwise, the only things to worry about are not breaking down in a remote desert area, not getting lost in the bush, and not being swept away by a rip (or fishing where king waves are a likelihood, which rules out a lot of coastline). And then there’s the climate and its effect on the environment: cyclones, floods, heatwaves and bushfires are increasingly common.

So if you’ve heard Australians have this reputation for being laid-back, sunny-tempered, not overly formal, perhaps it’s because this is a country that shapes a certain kind of courage and resilience, a can-do attitude that doesn’t stand on ceremony. Which champions a type of kindness that emerges in mateship and thrives on reciprocity and looking out for each other. It’s a tough country, a big country, and hearts have to be generous and stalwart enough to match. Australians, by and large, reject pretence and artificiality, and no wonder. This is the home of the oldest continuous culture in the world. We have some of the most dangerous and scary species on the planet, some of the most amazing natural landscapes and resources on Earth. And we’re dead-set proud of all of them.