A lot of what I write in this thing is meant to be mainly of interest to Australians, because a lot of what I’m going to write is me going on about the differences I’m noticing between Melbourne in particular and Australia in general.
Such as: trees. On the bus from Rome to Pompeii, I’m struck by the enormous number of trees, everywhere. It’s not quite driving through a forest, but it’s also completely different from the bare, flat, scorched and denuded landscape you encounter one you leave the outer suburbs of most Australian cities.
It’s really nice. It breaks up the view, it’s pleasant to look at, and it’s probably good at keeping down noise and air pollution