London is a shock. After the common sense of most Canberrans, riding on public transport in the British capital is an unpleasant and jarring experience.
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At the southern end of my 30-hour journey from one side of the world to the other, there was a sense of civic responsibility, of people doing the right thing for each other in a community.
At the northern, British end, many do wear masks when they are close to strangers in confined spaces like a Tube train - and many do not.
As the new variant of the accursed coronavirus takes hold, the British government is trying to get a grip. When I first arrived in late November, the government had announced that not wearing masks on public transport in London could mean a fine.
Good luck with that on the evidence so far, I thought.
The transport authorities were urging passengers to mask up. There were constant announcements - and constant decisions by many to ignore those calls.
On the best official estimate, about a fifth of Tube passengers are bare-faced rebels against what the other four-fifths view as good sense. On the journeys I've taken, I'd say that four out of five wear a mask.
The maskless on the Tube are defiant as they invade the space of the rest of us. We do the right thing and cover our mouths and noses to protect ourselves and to protect others from the infections we might have.
They breathe with impunity. Some passengers are brazen. They stand, shoulders back and we avoid their eyes.
There have been occasional nasty incidents. In August, the Metropolitan Police issued a picture of a bus passenger who spat at a driver who had told him he couldn't get on the bus without a mask.
Contrary to what you might think - and despite the protests against lockdowns in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney - Australia has not gone down this unpleasant route. To my certain knowledge, drivers and driven on the Queanbeyan buses mask up without qualm. Nobody shops in Canberra without a mask.
Contrast this sense of civic responsibility with the way British shop assistants say they dare not insist that the customer within breathing distance should wear masks. The anger would be frightening and perhaps even dangerous.
I've been told not to say anything to people who breathe in my face on trains. 'There are knives about, you know', is the warning from friends.
From the end of November, the rules are toughened. A constant urging by the train operators is replaced with the threat of fines - the equivalent of about $350 an infringement, doubling each time.
But the British government does not seem confident that the law will work. The health minister Sajid Javid did say at the time that it would be a "legal requirement" to wear masks on public transport.
But when he was asked how it might be enforced, he replied with less than ringing certainty that the law will stick: "I do think people will take this more seriously".
After all, the previous easier rule imposed by the train operators, with all their urgings and announcements, didn't carry much sway.
According to Transport for London which runs the system, only 108 people had been removed from trains for not wearing masks.
To put the figure in perspective, there are about 22 million journeys a month on the Tube, up from 17 million in the depths of lockdown in January.
By mid-December, tighter COVID measures continue to be introduced across the UK as the Omicron variant takes hold.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced changed guidelines to come into effect from December 11, including increased self-isolation requirements if a household member tests positive for COVID, and suggested people should think about postponing Christmas parties.
In England, masks are now compulsory on public transport and most indoor public venues - including shops, hairdressers, theatres and cinemas, but not hospitality environments or gyms. From December 13, people have been told to work from home if possible. Vaccine passports are in place for entry to nightclubs and certain venues depending on their seating and capacity.
On December 12, the daily number of new COVID-19 cases in London was 9959. The total number of COVID-19 cases identified in London was 1,381,289, compared with 9,178,705 for England as a whole, according to the latest data from the British government.
Just as the government may be whistling in the wind when it urges travellers to mask up, so the unions for the drivers and ticket staff are in despair.
On the best estimate, only one in five people at stations wear masks. On the journeys I've taken, I'd say that the figure is about right.
Train unions are concerned. The leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, Mike Lynch, said: "Even on London Transport, where it is supposed to be a condition of carriage, just like paying a fare, the policy is coming apart at the seams."
Part of the British antipathy may stem from confusing leadership. The government has urged people to wear masks - but the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly been photographed bare-faced, even in hospitals.
As is his habit, he sends conflicting signals. He is not known for straight and honest talk.
It is true that Britain hasn't become as bad as America where Republicans take pride in not wearing masks to make some sort of statement about "freedom".
But compared to the US or UK, Australia remains a model of common sense. The science still rules, just about. There is still a bond between people, and a cohesive feeling of community. International surveys of attitudes say as much.
If you doubt it, imagine a trip on the Tube - just you and the virus and the maskless.