Miami reminds a lot of the Gold Coast, and South Beach is pretty much just like Surfer’s Paradise – flashy and ostentatious. Even the mannequins here have obscenely enhanced breasts!

With glorious autumn temperatures of at least 28C every day and clear blue waters, the beach is the main appeal here. The cuisine, on the other hand, is not so appealing though unless you live on pizza and sushi, in which case this place would be your idea of culinary heaven. I would estimate that 80% of the restaurants here on South Beach would be pizza joints and sushi bars, with the remaining 20% made up of burger joints. This is not the place to be craving a chicken pad thai (how Australian!).

The men here are very forward and a bit leery, and I get a lot of stares (perhaps I just look like a complete tourist??).  Men beep the horns of their pickup trucks at me as the drive past.  Guys will say, “oh, you are beautiful” as I walk past them in the street. I certainly don’t get this sort of attention in Australia or in the UK – I don’t know whether I should be flattered or embarrassed! I keep checking to see whether I have toilet paper hanging out of my skirt.