Winning a return flight to Italy for his Italian studies at the University of New England, was the first step in what has turned out to be ‘the catalyst for a lot of big changes in my life’. First stop, Rome. But while Greg thought Rome itself was ‘brilliant’, he found the Romans less so. Deciding to move on to ‘somewhere different, somewhere less obvious maybe, that I never would have thought of going to before’, his light-bulb moment came in 2001 watching Estonia win the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. ‘It took all of about 5 seconds,’ he says, ‘for me to start planning how I could work my way into the organising team at Estonian TV. It seemed a natural step for someone who was such a fan of the contest with the right credentials to help them out where they needed it.’

With very little idea of what he was heading into, his first impression was of the smell. ‘It'll probably make the place sound awful, which it's not, but the air just smelt completely unlike anywhere I'd been before; it reminded me of freshly peeled potato skin - that kind of starchy smell. I also soon realised that it wasn't the air that smelt like that but, strangely, the people.’ He puts this down to their standard diet of ‘pork and potato’, and despite the dubious smells says he’s found the traditional Estonian cuisine ‘pretty damn good.’

Today Greg lives with his partner in Pirita, close to Tallinn’s centre, and surrounded on three sides by the city's 'forest cemetery', which he says, ‘while it might sound morbid, is absolutely beautiful’. On a clear day, neighbouring Finland is visible from the TV Tower, next to his apartment.

And does he miss Australia? “Not really, no. Which probably sounds cold but it's true. I miss my family of course, and strange, inconsequential things.” Like what? “Crumpets”. Despite this, living overseas has kindled his national pride and turned him into something of an unofficial ambassador for Australia, amongst his friends and colleagues, at any rate.

Choosing Estonia ‘on a whim’, Greg says, ‘has definitely paid off. I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t. I like it. It's a comfortable fit. It's unlikely to be everyone's cup of tea but it's definitely mine.’

Whereabouts do you live?

I live with my partner in a lovely forested area of the city called Pirita, which is about 10-20 minutes from the centre, depending on the traffic. We’re pretty much surrounded on three sides by the city's 'forest cemetery' as they call it, which, while it might sound morbid, is absolutely beautiful. Pirita is home to the ruins of St Bridget's Convent, one of the most eye-catching landmarks in the city; the city's most famous 'beach'  - I swear you could wade all the way to Finland; and the yachting centre that was the location of the boat races for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. And we live pretty much in the shadow of the TV Tower, from which you can actually see Finland on a clear day.

Why Estonia?

I'd decided to leave Italy mostly because I found the people - or at least the Romans - to be nothing like what I expected, sadly in a very negative way.
The job I had was fine, I had made some great friends, the city itself - while dirty and noisy - was brilliant, and the food and wine was great too. But when you find it hard to live with the locals, something's got to give. I wanted to go somewhere different, somewhere less obvious maybe, where I never would have thought of going before. Maybe Eurovision played its part as well; as someone who had always watched it, was interested in languages and liked music, however strange or trashy! I was aware of what Estonian, as a language looked and sounded like, to an extent, and it kind of fascinated me for being so different to anything I'd studied before.

Did you have a certain idea of what it was going to be like? And has it lived up to that?

I had no preconceptions at all. Pretty much all I knew about it was where it was, and that it would therefore presumably get cold in winter, and that it used to be part of the Soviet Union. As I had very little idea of what I was heading into, it's hard to say whether it lived up to it. One of the impressions I'd got from researching was that it was a forward-looking go-getting kind of place that was determined to shake off its past and move on, and to that extent it did live up its 'reputation'. So I guess I chose Estonia on a bit of a whim, but it's definitely paid off. I wouldn't still be here if it hadn't.