Back again

15 hours of flying , close to 24 hours in transit and we are back in Melbourne . On our descend the captain announces the weather conditions . The murmur through the Qantas A380 says it all . 4 degrees ! Tex and I look at each other with an incredulous grin . Here we go . We exit international and the kids and I are looking at each other ; shaking our heads, it’s an instantaneous lip sinking of WTF . We are dressed in T shirts . An icy fog greets ,steam emits from our mouths .Leroy thinks it’s great , he pretends to smoke . Tex , well , let’s just say that when I saw him blowing smoke rings I got an idea of what he’s been up to on the weekends .The drive back over the Bolte was unremarkable , the city was completely hidden fron view . It was once through the tunnel and on the stretch out past Toorak road that the 1st trigger I noticed was the traffic . It was all one way , city bound . Back in LA the same thing happens , but the outbound traffic is much thicker . Work commutes in Melbourne can be bad , but everyday commuting in LA can be a real frustration . The roads are so smooth here , well cambered , clearly marked and well signed . All the things I took for granted , even bitched about are now revisited . It’s a whole lot better than another place I know . I had to take a picture , I felt stupid , but it was the rain drops and fog and the empty roads . You just don’t see this in LA, ever . The kids were famished, so Beth gladly pulled into the BP roadhouse at Mooroduc to grab , but what else? That very American institution itself , McDonalds . Not for one day can we keep the US influence away . That’s when it hit me . I’m gonna get a servo pie instead …. and the paper , a proper tasting snickers bar and holy shit !….. a cappuccino too . The pie I inhaled in under a minute , the coffee I savoured . I wouldn’t of chosen to get a coffee from here in the past , but this one has already trumped every coffee I’ve had in 15 months of living in LA . Content , I take in the surrounds and then I start to notice things . It’s clean , bright and new , but it’s the quiet that stands out . Transplant this joint into the SouthBay and it would be standing room only , grimy , noisy and not filled with tradesman grabbing a coffee or using the open clean toilets . This place does get busy I’ve seen it before , but busy is the all day back in California . The day we flew out I met up with Emma and Leroy for lunch at Shake Shack , Leroy’s choice . At 1 pm on a Monday afternoon I couldn’t get a park near the joint , I had to drive around the corner and park in a multi storey car park just to go an eat fast food for Christ’s sake . As I walked back I cursed to myself , shaking my head at all these stupid fucks that had to get here to get their calories on a goddam Monday . Emma looks at me and laughs .”Calm down babe , it’s just lunch .” I look at her and just shake my head . Oh well , I’m one of them too . First day back and it’s cold , but it’s quiet . Give me 3 weeks and we’l get a better idea at where home is .