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Chris Woodruff

My wife Liz and I have arrived from London's Heathrow Airport, via Budapest, and have now landed squarely in our new home - Melbourne.

From the get-go, there are some traits that stand out in this city:

• Melbourne is a vibrant, diverse city: It's full of an amazing mix of people, personalities and backgrounds

• It's easy to get around: Trams and trains are okay compared to what you would experience in Hungary!

• There's always something going on: it's very social

• This footy thing: WOW! I thought the English were passionate about their version, but nothing compared to this. We'll probably end up following the Hawks, principally because Jeff Kennett is a great salesman and his vision for the organisation struck a cord with us

• Melbourne is an inclusive place: you are positively welcomed in. Your views matter and because I'm involved in running a piece of vital State and national infrastructure, my views are sought on a wide range of areas, and I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of people very quickly

• This is a place that has a vision, a direction and it has energy and passion around delivery

• Melbourne also takes risks

Though I feel we're losing out. I don't think we tell our story well enough on the international stage.

I see Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia adding more flights, more destinations as this makes it easier for tourists to get to these places and easy for business to connect, and more international passengers than we are.

That's the challenge for us as part of Team Melbourne. And one that I'm absolutely bursting with energy to get stuck into.