After growing up in Belgium, having lived five years in the United Kingdom and another five years in France, we are able to compare nations.

In Australia we found a very high quality of life.

We discovered a good balance between work and leisure. We were impressed by the Australians, so welcoming, open, interested and sociable. It made us conclude that Australia is that lovely mix of cultures, as if they took the positive parts of each nation.

There is only one thing that disappointed us: it is not a cycling-friendly country.

From a bicycle point of view, my husband and I are real 'Flandriens'. We both have three bicycles each, just like all our Belgian friends: a city bike, a road bike and a mountain bike.

In Flanders (and the Netherlands), you grow up with bicycles. We do not give our children training wheels; we start young enough with balance bikes.

Read more: Eline cycled to work every day. Then she moved to Wollongong

We have 'bicycle streets', where cars are not allowed to take over from bicycles. We have many good and safe bicycle paths.

We have large and safe bicycle parking in the cities. We bring our kids to school by bike. We even go shopping by bike.

In 2013, work took us to Bordeaux in the South-West of France.

Bordeaux is comparable to Wollongong with a population of about 250,000 citizens.

It was not a bicycle-friendly city when we arrived. I must admit that I lost pleasure in cycling when in Bordeaux. Cycling was dangerous and I got many scares.

Cars were parked on the footpath or on the bike path (if there was one), they came too close and drivers often yelled at me. It was the first time in my life that I felt unsafe on a bike.

It all changed quickly with Bordeaux's new city planning.

The bicycle became high priority.

The city of Bordeaux invested in cycling: bike-streets, cycle tracks, permanent bike lanes, secure bike parking, public bicycles and a network of alternative mobility centres.

The cars were almost totally banned from the city and replaced by other sustainable transport options. In a few years time the city changed from a car-friendly city to a bicycle-friendly city.

And my colleagues followed, more people started to cycle.

To date, Bordeaux still continues to innovate and is currently classified as the 6^th most bicycle-friendly city of 2019 in the 'Copenhagenize Index for Comprehensive and Holistic Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities on Planet Earth'.

Unfortunately, after moving to Wollongong, we had the feeling of starting all over again.

The car is the king of the road. Zebra crossings around the school are non-existent and cycling is not safe. At the school of our 6 year old, we were surprised by the small number of bikes parked in bike rack while most kids live in the neighbourhood.

Even more shocking for us is the presence of cyclists on Memorial Drive and on the motorways.

Notwithstanding, we continued our cycling life.

My husband became quickly known in the community as 'the bicycle father', cycling around with our two-year old son in the front seat of a Dutch bike borrowed from - of course - Dutch friends.

People seemed to show interest in his bike, asking about where he bought it, asking if they could take a picture.

For me, I did not enjoy commuting to work by bike.

I did not feel confident or safe. Most of the times I ended up taking my bicycle on the train, only having to cycle the safest part from the railway station to work.

The coronavirus crisis, however, made a change.

The Aussies discovered the bike and the freedom that comes with it. No need to wait for public transport, the bicycle brings you everywhere and is good for body and mind.

We saw a sudden increase of bikes in our street, at the beach and everywhere in the city and suburbs.

I was pleased to hear that Australian bike retailers were faced with a boom in sales since COVID-19 restrictions came into force. And I was extremely proud of my neighbour when he bought a bike and started cycling to work.

But it is cycling to work that exposes the weaknesses. Just like me, my neighbour is not enjoying it.

Cycling for leisure is nice if you use the cycling path at the beach. But where is the other cycling infrastructure?

Cyclists want to arrive quickly at work, they do not want to do a 20 min detour to and from the beach path. Where are the other cycling paths connecting the suburbs with the city?

Where are the bicycle friendly streets? Where are the bicycle parks?

Wollongong has a great cycling potential, it has space next to the railway line that could become a cycling path, it has great creeks that could make East-West connections. It is all there, it just requires a serious investment.

In Bordeaux, innovative city planning changed the mentality of people. In Wollongong, coronavirus created the opposite; the people's mentality changed, but the city planning remains the same.

COVID-19 showed that the people of The Gong are ready for a change. But will cycling for leisure be transferred to cycling to work? This answer is in the hands of the Government and City Council.

Let's hope they take this opportunity before my neighbour steps back into his car.

Eline Schotsmans is a post-doctoral research fellow at both UOW and the University of Bordeaux in France.