Some first impressions

There's so much to take in. Parts of the city are very familiar. It feels a bit like a British version of Portland (Oregon) with palm trees.

This is the view from one of our front windows:


This is a street view in the Central Business District (the 'CBD', as they call it). It took about an hour to walk here from our apartment. We managed to be hit by none of these cars (dutifully following the cross signals - we're still not sure which way we should look before stepping into the street).


These are all 5 cent coins. We noticed that the portrait of the queen changed over the years. Maybe this happens in other Commonwealth countries? Not sure. But it certainly doesn't happen with portraits on US currency - in the US, you are only monetized at your most flattering.


A sampling of Australian produce. Everything is colorful (or 'colourful'), and some of it is cheap. Notice the gigantic leaves on the mint and the $1 pineapple. The Timtam cookies are very tasty - chocolate between two biscuits, dipped in chocolate.

The thing that looks like a turnip is a 'Tasmanian Swede' (their words, not ours).

And last: this is the quad in the middle of the building where the philosophy department lives. Flowering trees in the winter...