Sh'norhavor Surp Dz'nunt to those of you who celebrate a bit early :-)

I have been in Melbourne, Australia now for 5 days, and although I have not been in "downtown" yet, so far I must say the resemblance to Los Angeles is uncanny. Here is a list of similiarities (which incidentally Sydney does not share)

• Climate (and thus plants which are happy here), just about exactly the same
  
• Freeways, roads
  
• Boring (often ugly) architecture, urban/suburban sprawl
  
• Chain shops instead of one-of-a-kind/mom&pop type shops
  
• Christmas lights
  
• They seem to keep their tops on at the beaches
  
• Other things which I forget just now :-)
  

That is not to say I don't like Melbourne, or LA, it is just to say they share a lot in common, and both could work towards becoming more interesting (as far as the stores go) and easier to get around without a car. I am reserving final judgement on Melbourne till I have seen more. These are just initial impressions.

Now that I have caught up with all my cousins, and met their new families, it is nice to relax and spend lots of time with them all. It is just no good to travel in a big rush all the time. So thats all from the "down under" report which I have taken over from Lena! :-)