In Melbourne now. What a fabulous city! If I could move all my friends to live here I would come here to live tomorrow. Art galleries, museums, parks,theatres, music, river boats, trams, great food, sporting arenas, victorian villas, the place has it all and more to spare. Might be the fact that the sun is shining on the river and on all those young people who seem to be having such a nice time!! Headed tomorrow for the Snowy Mountains and Canberra on the way back to Sydney so I am keeping out of the direct sun. Last week was a bit crazy with a mixture of culture and the lack of it! Went around Sydney on foot and to an exhibition of Pissarro's work at the NSW Art Gallery, which was followed by a 'talk' by a 'broadcaster personality" who turned out to be 25 years old and who began by refering to Pissarro as "the poor old b***** who got ignored in the impressionist movement". "Old beardy" she went on......well you get the gist. (You try to ignore those who say that the difference between Australian culture and yoghurt is that in yoghurt the culture is active and then.......). Also had the week of mistakes...... washed a pair of tan shorts with a shirt and now have a fetching pair of blush pink shorts which will be fine for 'cruising or camping' but may look a little conspicous in the bush. Also hired a car and drove 300 kms in the rain to esape the rain in Sydney. Arrived in Husskin - "Australia's first plastic bag free coastal resort" mid afternoon but had to move on as the 'kiss me quick' atmosphere reminded me of Scarborough on a wet Wednesday in August. Disconsolate groups wandering in search of fish and chip shops. Spent the night in Narooma eating in a chinese restaurant and wondering how I had come from sitting on the Finger Wharf in Sydney (home of Russell Crowe) the night before, eating Barramundi to this within the space of a day! Anyway, the following morning was a gift from the gods. Got up very early and drove to the historic (!) town of Tilba where I walked through the empty eucalpytus scented streets and sat alone in a cafe drinking in the smells and sounds in what must have once been a small farming town. Mostly now converted to galleries and art workshops but none the less, just right for the day. Went then to Tilba Tilba, which you might think would be larger.......but was half the size with only around ten houses. Drove afterwards through coun tryside which looked as if it had been a stand-in for every Australian image I had ever seen on screen or on page. Fields burned dry, trees blackened by fire, houses with bright red tin roofs, tractors sitting in long grass and everywhere the smell of eucalyptus accompanied by the sight of seas of agapanthus, which seem to survive despite the heat. Stayed in a lovely lakeside town Melena (?) and on into Melbourne the following morning. Cannot begin to describe how wonderful this city is and what I have already seen. Sunday morning I walked through a collection of the most wonderfully preserved Victorian villas and terraces you could ever imagine. Untouched by war or town planners they sat there, reminding me of the houses on the hills in San Francisco. To add to the ambience of the day I came across a string trio and tenor in Fitzroy Gardens, rehearsing for a wedding ceremony. The combination of sound and image were quite wonderful and , of course, these are always the gifts that we are given unexpectedly, which often come to mean more than the large events for which we have planned. Food note: Is it a coincidence that this country seems to be full of bakery shops selling pies, sausage rolls, cakes galore and that everyone eats all through movies AND that there seems to be a lot of very overweight antipodeans?? Style question: Is there anything much more disturbing than the sight of a blonde haired Japanese woman?