Notes from the Sydney suburbs by a new resident:

The toilets at the train stations have blue lights in them. This is to discourage intravenous drug users -- they can't see their veins in the blue light.

The train seats on some of the trains are reversible so you don't have to sit facing backwards if you don't want to. It's brilliant.

GSM mobile/cell phones (with SIM cards) are awesome. You can pop your SIM card into any phone and it becomes 'your' phone with all your provider info and phone book, etc.

It's so handicap accessible! There are cabs that are modified to allow a wheelchair to simply ramp in to. No getting out and breaking down the chair! The cross walks are audible. Many of the lifts (elevators) have a second set of controls at wheelchair level.

The flies are almost as bad as you'd heard. They're worse in other areas. It's just a fact of life here.

Most (all new?) Apple products simply require a change of power cable to an Aussie type and will auto-negotiate the 240v/50hz power. (Yay!)

It's common for the shower in a flat to be constructed thusly: put a drain in the tile floor beside the bath tub, seal up the tile, put up some glass walls. Shower. Our bath room has two drains in the floor. One in the middle of the room and one for the shower. Weird.

Clothes dryers are tiny. We bought a decent mid-sized one (relative to the rest of the selection). I could probably lift and carry it down the stairs by myself if I had to.

I think Aussies who are Monarchists may have a bizarre form of Stockholm Syndrome. I'll probably be beaten up for saying that by some old lady with a "pip pip" sort of accent. But I think I might be on to something.