It's a long way from Del Mar to Mount Macedon, but it was a remarkably smooth ride. First, a half-hour flight in a cosy little Embraer from the even cosier Carlsbad Airport (which feels like it must be an outpost of nearby Legoland) to LAX, flying out over the Pacific toward the sunset then back
across the stunning sea of lights which is the LA valley. Then in a big United 747 to Sydney, arriving after a refreshing night's sleep (they just told us to put down the window-shades and turned down the oxygen, I suppose, as we all slept soundly for 9 hours), just as the sun began to
burn off the clouds... and then, after briefly getting lost in the Sydney international terminal as they cleaned our plane, the last stretch to Melbourne (whose airport, Tullamarine, is far enough inland you'd never guess the ocean was near). Here you can see the runway of Tullamarine
at top right, the encroaching suburbs below, and, off in the distance, the silhouette of Mount Macedon, Melbourne's nearest mountain (you used to see if from incoming ships before you saw the city, too), and home of my sister and her family. It doesn't feel like I just jumped a bunch of timezones - and crossed the Pacific to the southern hemisphere!
across the stunning sea of lights which is the LA valley. Then in a big United 747 to Sydney, arriving after a refreshing night's sleep (they just told us to put down the window-shades and turned down the oxygen, I suppose, as we all slept soundly for 9 hours), just as the sun began to 
burn off the clouds... and then, after briefly getting lost in the Sydney international terminal as they cleaned our plane, the last stretch to Melbourne (whose airport, Tullamarine, is far enough inland you'd never guess the ocean was near). Here you can see the runway of Tullamarine 
at top right, the encroaching suburbs below, and, off in the distance, the silhouette of Mount Macedon, Melbourne's nearest mountain (you used to see if from incoming ships before you saw the city, too), and home of my sister and her family. It doesn't feel like I just jumped a bunch of timezones - and crossed the Pacific to the southern hemisphere!
