DOWN UNDER with TT-ONR-NRN (+ other overseas ventures)

[TT-ONR-NRN]

DAY 4: V-Line bashes in Melbourne, Victoria, and hunting for a disappointingly blue, snake-infested “Pink Lake”

(Frustratingly, I’m limited to 9 images per post so I’ll post additional images including interior down below so you can compare!)

Here they are:


Image description: HMRT Metro train at Flinders Street, the sky is very blue and weather sunny. The train is a shiny blue and silver. Internally, it is somewhat reminiscent of a 700 with lots of space and advanced passenger screens, and a blue and yellow colour scheme.


Image description: V-Line Bombardier train at a cloudy Footscray. The interior is yellowish lighting with purple 2+2 seats (some have blue moquette) similar to that of a 170.


Image description: V-Line single decker “158-esque” Sprinter train at Southern Cross. Weather is cloudy, train is silver with a red stripe. Interior is somewhat darker than the above train, with purple 2+3 seating a similar shape to 315 seats, but far more grooved and indented/hollowed for a more comfortable ride.


Image description: Purple V-Line locomotive at Footscray. The interior has clinical blue seats, with a 3+2 layout.

 

[railfan99]

Great report but if you properly read our timetables, you might discover that passengers are not allowed to make suburban journeys on V/Line (not 'V-Line') traiis, with the exception of outer suburban stations at Sunbury (Bendigo line) and Pakenham (Traralalgon line), so you are lucky a V/Line conductor didn't tell you off, or worse, Revenue Protection Officers observe you hopping on or off.

So you can't do this at Footscray or Sunshine (although on the Ballarat/Ararat line, you can to Ardeer or Deer Park, just beyond Sunshine, and stations beyond on the Geelong line such as Tarneit or the Bacchus Marsh/Ballarat line such as Melton).

Similarly in Sydney I was mystified that you 'went for an hour's run' on an XPT as in NSW, Opal smartcards are not valid for use on XPT trains, and nor can you travel to say Penrith (the Dubbo train), Hornsby (Brisbane line) or Campbelltown (Melbourne line) and alight, or indeed join an up XPT at these locations for a trip back to Sydney Central. The same applies to XPLorer railcars used to Bathurst, Griffith and Canberra. NSW TrainLink charges different fares and like V/Line doesn't allow suburban travel on long distance trains.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Great report but if you properly read our timetables, you might discover that passengers are not allowed to make suburban journeys on V/Line (not 'V-Line') traiis, with the exception of outer suburban stations at Sunbury (Bendigo line) and Pakenham (Traralalgon line), so you are lucky a V/Line conductor didn't tell you off, or worse, Revenue Protection Officers observe you hopping on or off.

So you can't do this at Footscray or Sunshine (although on the Ballarat/Ararat line, you can to Ardeer or Deer Park, just beyond Sunshine, and stations beyond on the Geelong line such as Tarneit or the Bacchus Marsh/Ballarat line such as Melton).

Sure, and I did wonder that, but as the doors opened at Footscray, I decided I might as well get off rather than continue to Deer Park and waste time. Still, I won’t again now I know.

 

[Bletchleyite]

THE DOORS ARE TERRIFYING. They’re slam doors that swing and slam shut on their own. There’s not even a warning sound until they’re moving. Think of the slam doors of a MK3, if they slammed shut on their own without notice. That’s what it’s like.

I'm guessing you've not done much European travel? This sort of door was the norm for many years and they're still about. Interesting that they exist in Oz too.

(Video of repeated closing of doors on German Silberling/N-Wagen)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I'm guessing you've not done much European travel? This sort of door was the norm for many years and they're still about. Interesting that they exist in Oz too.

(Video of repeated closing of doors on German Silberling/N-Wagen)

I’ve travelled through Germany, Austria, Italy, Czech Rep, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg and more by train, but that was my first experience with a massive single slam door closing and slamming. What you’ve attached has what looks like bus doors, so it’s not surprising that they fold. What looks like a large manual door is different.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You'll have to get us a video

 

[Techniquest]

I've only just come across your thread, but wow it's already been an adventure! I'm absolutely convinced that a friend telling me years back Melbourne wasn't very interesting got it wrong, I have got it on my list to visit now

I definitely recommend a good spin on a XPT, I really enjoyed my journey on one in 2019 and regretted not doing a longer journey. I think that, like yourself, I'd probably look to fly that distance rather than spend that long sat on one train, certainly I'd have to fly one way and train the other I think. The seats are really good though, you won't be disappointed by those. I was certainly blown away by them when I visited almost 4 years ago, and I recommend the cafe on board too. If their sausage rolls are as tasty as they were when I went (obviously these days I wouldn't have them, but this was a couple of years before I converted to vegetarian and even longer before I went over to vegan), then you'll like them a lot too.

I don't think coffee's your thing by the looks of it, but I did like their coffee as well, prices were certainly very reasonable in 2019.

Those flights will stick with you for a long time I suspect, and good tip with the BA flight, I'll certainly look for those seats when I end up on a BA 380. They tend to be my first choice for flying, and hopefully I'll end up on board a BA craft during my NZ trip. If it's a 380, I'll be choosing those seats upstairs!

Have an amazing time out there, and I look forward to seeing more of your travels in due course!

 

[railfan99]

I'm guessing you've not done much European travel? This sort of door was the norm for many years and they're still about. Interesting that they exist in Oz too.

(Video of repeated closing of doors on German Silberling/N-Wagen)

The single slam door that our OP refers to is on what Victoria, Australia calls 'N sets.'

As so many Bombardier (now Alstom) built VLocity railcars have entered service, N sets are seeing less and less use. Catering is only available with N sets (loco-hauled trains) to Warrnambool and Swan Hill, plus IIRC the evening down and morning up to/from Bairnsdale that unlike the other ones to the latter hasn't become a VLocity railcar.

The doors on N sets were originally manually opened by passengers but after a drunk fellow fell out on the wrong side at Camperdown, Victoria on the Warrnambool line one Sunday night (he chose the non-platform side to alight), the doors were changed to being controlled by the conductor.

I've not heard of any accidents from being trapped as the doors close. Of course, anything can occur.

 

[Bletchleyite]

About 9 minutes in on this video the door operation is shown. Doesn't look violent, unlike the European ones:

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I've only just come across your thread, but wow it's already been an adventure! I'm absolutely convinced that a friend telling me years back Melbourne wasn't very interesting got it wrong, I have got it on my list to visit now

I definitely recommend a good spin on a XPT, I really enjoyed my journey on one in 2019 and regretted not doing a longer journey. I think that, like yourself, I'd probably look to fly that distance rather than spend that long sat on one train, certainly I'd have to fly one way and train the other I think. The seats are really good though, you won't be disappointed by those. I was certainly blown away by them when I visited almost 4 years ago, and I recommend the cafe on board too. If their sausage rolls are as tasty as they were when I went (obviously these days I wouldn't have them, but this was a couple of years before I converted to vegetarian and even longer before I went over to vegan), then you'll like them a lot too.

I don't think coffee's your thing by the looks of it, but I did like their coffee as well, prices were certainly very reasonable in 2019.

Those flights will stick with you for a long time I suspect, and good tip with the BA flight, I'll certainly look for those seats when I end up on a BA 380. They tend to be my first choice for flying, and hopefully I'll end up on board a BA craft during my NZ trip. If it's a 380, I'll be choosing those seats upstairs!

Have an amazing time out there, and I look forward to seeing more of your travels in due course!

Thank you very much. Actually though it was nice there, Melbourne has nothing on Sydney, and certainly the latter makes you feel more in Australia with its tropical climate and scenery compared to the UK-esque weather and temperatures. Certainly a lot more to do in Sydney too, hence you should expect more interesting reports when Sydney comes into it.

I’ve done an XPT, albeit for a short journey - report very soon to come - and I plan to use it for travel to Brisbane.

I do like coffee but I’m a Red Bull addict so that tends to come first

The BA A380 upstairs when compared to downstairs could easily be mistaken for World Traveller Plus

thank you for the well wishes

 

[Bletchleyite]

The BA A380 upstairs when compared to downstairs could easily be mistaken for World Traveller Plus

I dunno, first thing that sprung to mind on seeing the seat photo in post 22 was that that was utterly unacceptable legroom for a long-haul flight, and how the mighty have fallen. If you think that constitutes WT+ then you've got lower standards than me - I'd more say it looks like a Ryanair 737!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I dunno, first thing that sprung to mind on seeing the seat photo in post 22 was that that was utterly unacceptable legroom for a long-haul flight, and how the mighty have fallen. If you think that constitutes WT+ then you've got lower standards than me - I'd more say it looks like a Ryanair 737!

Definitely better legroom than recent economy flights with Virgin Atlantic and American Airlines, and far better than the Qantas 380 that followed.

 

[hexagon789]

I do like coffee but I’m a Red Bull addict so that tends to come first

They invented the 'nitro' to solve having to choose

(Yes, that is Red Bull in a glass with a shot of coffee - in case you were going to ask that next.)

I’ve done an XPT, albeit for a short journey - report very soon to come - and I plan to use it for travel to Brisbane.

I look forward to reading that. I know you aren't so keen on the XPTs, but I am interested in a report nonetheless.

 

[Techniquest]

They invented the 'nitro' to solve having to choose

(Yes, that is Red Bull in a glass with a shot of coffee - in case you were going to ask that next.)


I look forward to reading that. I know you aren't so keen on the XPTs, but I am interested in a report nonetheless.

I was certainly going to ask what a Nitro was! The only one I'm familiar with is the green Nitro boxes in Crash Bandicoot

 

[WizCastro197]

I was certainly going to ask what a Nitro was! The only one I'm familiar with is the green Nitro boxes in Crash Bandicoot

Have you played the remade versions?

@TT-ONR-NRN, what aren't you keen on about XPTs?

 

[hexagon789]

I was certainly going to ask what a Nitro was! The only one I'm familiar with is the green Nitro boxes in Crash Bandicoot

I suppose the alternative name might be the 'Insomniac's Friend'

 

[Techniquest]

Have you played the remade versions?

@TT-ONR-NRN, what aren't you keen on about XPTs?

I haven't, no, but I've seen Caddicarus' videos on the remake. It looks nice, no question, but I stopped gaming years ago. However I do still like Caddy's videos, partly helped by the fact he's a local lad, which have come on leaps and bounds. I don't really have a huge interest in the scene now, too old for that sort of thing, but occasionally I do like the nostalgia!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

DAY 5: Windy St. Kilda; Virgin Australia; Arrival at Sydney:

What a place to land:




A popular destination for visitors to Melbourne is St. Kilda, a beach suburb just outside the city and well served by multiple of the Melbourne Yarra tram routes. It's perhaps best known for its little population of wild penguins - the smallest penguins that exist in terms of size - which inhabit the rocks surrounding St Kilda Pier and are visible at sunset. However, I knew that construction works on the pier make the area from where you can see the penguins inaccessible until 2024, but with this slight disappointment already learned before I flew down under, I headed to St. Kilda on Friday morning with an open mind looking forward to seeing what else was there.

Boarded a tram from the hotel to Flinders Street and onto a Siemens METRO unit bound for Sandringham, on which I enjoyed a twenty minute journey to Balaclava (Australia has some brilliant place names), and then changed to a tram taking me into St Kilda, which is rather pretty and laden with palm trees and flowery bushes galore.

Stepping onto the beach, I walked down the narrow pier regardless of not being able to access the penguin rocks (not that any would have been there at 10am - they'd have all been out swimming until dusk) and took in the view. Sure, it was a cloudy day, and I have since learned the weather in Melbourne is somewhat cloudier and UK-like compared with tropical Sydney, but the view was rather pretty. I video-called a few of my friends from England, since it wasn't too late there yet, and felt very happy and grateful to be where I was. I'll certainly say that of Australia, that coming here has humbled me greatly. It's not every day I get to come to such a wonderful place for five months. (Sorry about the words on this picture, it’s a still from a video I put on my Instagram story as I forgot to take a normal picture )



Reminiscing and relaxing over, it was onto another tram for a very relaxing journey back into town, and into a very nice burger restaurant that sold "Brekkie Burger," consisting of bacon (slightly thicker than I'd have liked; I like streaky, thin slices), egg (poached to perfection and dripped all down the bun, proving the yolk was good), tomato relish, hash brown, spinach and BBQ sauce. Revoltingly calorific, but my PT wants me to eat more anyway, so I suppose it's a good thing, and then down to Southern Cross for an XTRAPolis ride to Jolimont, and then onto Heidelberg, both pleasant enough stations. Jolimont in particular looked nice in the sun.



A tram back into town and a ride on the heritage tram (when I first went on it on Wednesday, I hadn't taken the whole route, so some parts were left to see) down to the docks next, and then I found a lovely rooftop bar with a view of Melbourne and enjoyed a mocha there, as Melbourne is famous for coffee and one really should drink one while there. It was actually rather poor, ironically, and the one I had in Sydney on Sunday just gone was far, far better, but the view compensated. A little fact, it was while I was sat here that I learned of the unfortunate explosion of a Southeastern Networker, and I drew a few odd looks as I watched the video forgetting my AirPods were not connected to the phone! (Glad everyone is OK btw)



Don't even ask about the next hour, because my two god-awful wonky-wheeled heavy uneven suitcases then had to be collected from the hotel, somehow dragged down the street and onto the tram, off the tram and across the road and into Southern Cross' bus terminal, where I hauled it onto the Skybus, was whizzed away to Melbourne's Domestic terminal where I had baggage troubles and somehow my finger became cut and wouldn't stop bleeding and dripping all over Terminal 2, and UGH.

Just a load of stress, but don't worry, it was offset by an Australian Prawn Roll and a cherry Aperol Spritz from the lovely airside bar. I never thought I'd be solo drinking, let alone at 4pm, and the thought of sitting in a bar on my own would have made me want to DIE of embarrassment and social awkwardness only last year, but this trip has been really rather good for me as it's helping me become so much more independent. I haven't had the slightest homesickness yet either, not that you would in such a wonderful country when home is currently suffering from (what I believe to be) it's nastiest month. What a joy to miss British February. Sorry, I won't rub it in.



It was tastier than it looked Virgin Australia have their own domestic terminal at Melbourne and it is AMAZING, Virgin everywhere you look, so much red, so much glitz, so much glamour - I loved it, very simple boarding process, very nice interior on the Boeing 737-800 and a wonderful crew, trademark Virgin purple lighting. I definitely prefer the service and atmosphere to Qantas, although you do get a sandwich, free Wi-Fi and plugs on most of their domestic flights, and you don't on VA - having said that it's only fair that you get those seeing as Qantas seem to charge about 70% more.



Enjoyed a nice complimentary flat white for the hour's flight to Sydney, where the orange-pink sky made an exciting contrast from Melbourne's cloudy blue/grey one, bless it.



Don't ask about baggage reclaim as it's a sore subject, I've had to wait at carousels no less than FOUR times now on this trip and my suitcases always seem desperate to come out last each time.

It was straight onto Sydney Trains (I've always been an enthusiast of Sydney Trains' network long before coming to Australia so this was especially exciting), where a Waratah B Set took me to Central (I sat on top deck having somehow managed to lug the cases up there), followed by a Millennium M Set which took me to my new home near Newtown, the very lively, wonderful student town of Sydney.



The first thing I noticed was how much HOTTER Sydney is compared to Melbourne. Melbourne felt very much like a lovely warm summer day in the U.K, whereas Sydney's temperature reminds me of when I went to Barbados. It's so hot and humid, very tropical, with few clouds, and has remained like that in the six days I've been here now. The second thing I noticed was the crickets, which are very loud and chirpy.

I'VE MADE IT TO SYDNEY! And let me tell you, six days after arriving - the day you've just read about was Friday 3rd btw, it's currently 15:30 on Thurs 9th at time of writing (once I've attached all pictures it'll probably be considerably later), and I have absolutely fallen in love with it here. Please do check back for the next reports, as I have my exploration of the city centre and harbour (SAT 4), Bondi Beach and XPT trip (SUN 5), very scenic Intercity journey to Newcastle and Bogey Head (MON 6) and visiting remote snake-infested Wondabyne - the only station in Australia with no road access - all ready to tell you about (with pictures of course)

Right, well I'm a little bit hungover as I had my first taste of Australian clubbing (THE CLUBS ARE SO SO HOT COMPARED TO CARDIFF ONES, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO MELT!!!!) last night with some of my new mates here, so I'm going to go and get myself a bruschetta to cure that, and then get to the IceZoo Rink for some hockey practice. Whatever you have in store for today, have a good Thursday. Nearly the weekend now.

See yous soon (if it keeps raining I'll have the next report out by tomorrow)

PS: The images are better viewed from a phone than a laptop.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

DAY 5: Windy St. Kilda; Virgin Australia; Arrival at Sydney:

Additional photos - click to view as some Thumbnails show sideways/blurry:

XTRAPolis at Heidlberg

VA Terminal, Melbourne



My VA 737-800

Sydney Trains B Set “Waratah” at Domestic Airport station

Sydney Trains M Set “Millennium” at Newtown station


Do join me for the next report
I'm also happy for yous to check out the "Highlights" (collection of saved Instagram story videos/pictures) for Melbourne and Sydney which are on my Instagram profile @sebtomsargent, but that is something very different indeed to @TT-ONR-NRN so don't be shocked if I don't appear as classy and reserved on there as I surely am here

Highlights look like this and you’ll find all my videos (far more impressive than the pictures on here tbh) in the SYD and MEL highlights:

They invented the 'nitro' to solve having to choose

(Yes, that is Red Bull in a glass with a shot of coffee - in case you were going to ask that next.)

I look forward to reading that. I know you aren't so keen on the XPTs, but I am interested in a report nonetheless.

Nitro sounds revolting.
You'd maybe be surprised at the verdict on XPTs.

@TT-ONR-NRN, what aren't you keen on about XPTs?

Read the report when it comes out and you'll learn exactly what

 

[LowLevel]

A nice write up, keep it coming!

 

[railfan99]

To and from St Kilda, you could have travelled down boulevard-like St Kilda Rd (busiest section of street tramway worldwide) on route 16 (plus 3A if a weekend) and returned via the 1987-converted St Kilda railway line on the 96 light rail.

Mind you, you've achieved an enormous amount.

It's a beutiful sunny 27 in Melbourne compared to Sydney having had storms and resultant severe flooding (again). "Temperate" v "sub-tropical" and as you point out, "dry heat" v 'Humidity". Rare for Melbourne to have humidity during summer.

 

[Techniquest]

You're making me a wee bit jealous right now, some beautiful scenes there!

I never knew Melbourne is famous for coffee, fascinating. More reason to go there then, oh yes a good walkabout taking in the sights with a coffee in my hand, this sounds amazing right now! I have the beautiful sunshine here this morning, but not the warmth. The penguins thing I must remember too, that sounds like fun.

Virgin Australia I have only flown once, from Brisbane to Sydney, and that was a good flight. It still features highly on my list of favourite flights!

Clearly you're having an amazing time, hangover excepted. I don't do Instagram (or social media in general, the exception being Facebook Messenger to keep in contact with a few people) so I'll be reliant on photos shared here. Looking forward to the XPT trip report in particular!

 

[hexagon789]

You'd maybe be surprised at the verdict on XPTs.

Even more interested now...

 

[Bald Rick]

Here was my seat, and yes: It’s a bay of two, not three, because I chose seats on the top deck – it is three on the lower deck so that’s one reason to look out for upper deck seats which are no more expensive if you’re booking in the free check-in timeslot 24 hours prior to departure.

Remarkably, assuming you took the window seat (81K), I sat in exactly that seat on that aircraft (G-XLEC) last year on a trip stateside. I hope I left it in good condition!

I dunno, first thing that sprung to mind on seeing the seat photo in post 22 was that that was utterly unacceptable legroom for a long-haul flight, and how the mighty have fallen. If you think that constitutes WT+ then you've got lower standards than me - I'd more say it looks like a Ryanair 737!

I‘m 6’4” and had loads of room in it. I have a pathological dislike of BA but had no other (reasonable) option on this occasion, so picked the A380 route specifically to make the best of it. Despite BA mucking up arrangements (again), as @TT-ONR-NRN says it was magic-carpet smooth. 4 bottles of in flight wine might have helped of course.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

DAY 6: A wander around Sydney, and the wonderful Sydney Trains network - this is a long one:

Fuelled by coffee for this day, not Red Bull! From a lovely little shop in Newtown, complete with a Newtown flag! (RIP to the Rai-Bans)

Naturally, the excitement of waking up in Sydney for the first time having anticipated moving here for so long was really quite something, but while I woke around 9am, I didn't leave my apartment building for a while. Why? Because not only does the student building where I live have a number of great communal areas, music rooms and a gym, it has this twelfth floor terrace which really does have a rather incredible view.



So after a few video calls to some of the family on Floor 12, I took a stroll down to Newtown station down the exceptionally sunny road past a nice park and into the busy student town, where I picked up a nice mocha from a little cafe next to the station. Another Waratah B set took me a couple of stops to Redfern, - first stop is Macdonaldtown where most trains skip, next stop the very pleasant Redfern where all commuter trains call (and limited Intercity, but most are first stop Strathfield) and then straight in to Central. All in all, the journey cannot be much longer than five minutes to Central. Yet another B Set was the next train from Redfern, arriving pretty much as soon as the other had left, such is the frequency of Sydney Trains. Far more trains pass through Newtown than call, and yet it still gets approximately one train every 5-10 minutes! Macdonaldtown, as noted is described as having a limited service, and even that gets served at least every 12-15 minutes.

Central is a really wonderful station, exceptionally sunny as the vast majority is open air besides the shelters, although the impressive concourse of course isn't, and it is separated into a collection of through platforms (with the many, many Sydney Trains commuter services serving those, towards the suburbs in the direction I'd just came, and then in the other direction they continue underground either to the City Circle via the Museum/St. James, the City Circle via Town Hall/Wynyard, or over the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge and through Milsons Point) - gosh that was a long pair of brackets - and then a collection of termini where NSW Trainlink Intercity and Regional trains stop. The layout is a bit like London Bridge in that respect, although I believe Sydney has slightly less through platforms and slightly more terminal platforms.

NSW Regional and InterCity services are somewhat reversed in terms of their title and roles compared to European services. All InterCity services use (like Sydney Trains commuter services) electric, double decker stock, and these travel on journeys typically 2-4 hours end to end. The Regional services are the only single decker passenger trains that run in Sydney, and these are diesel long-distance services, operated by the HST-like XPT trains on Melbourne, Casino and Brisbane services of 10 hours plus, and shorter "Xplorer" DMUs (albeit with an almost identical interior to the XPTs) on shorter routes such as 4-5 hour long Sydney Canberra.

There was a V-Set (currently the oldest train type to operate in New South Wales and the only electric and non-Regional stock in the state to have 2+2 seating) parked in the low level platforms, so I decided to get on board. The interior is delightfully retro and yet somehow not dated - with very soft, comfortable leather seats. Such is the layout in all NSW/Sydney Trains services (excluding the single decker Diesels), you board the train on a sort of middle floor, and then can either go upstairs or downstairs. V-Sets are to be short lived, with the D-Set "Mariyung" to replace them as soon as drivers accept them (I think they may have recently done just that), so it's wise to make the most of them. I took this set to Strathfield - fifteen minutes away or so on a fast run - bombing past Newtown en-route, and as luck would have it another InterCity V-Set was arriving in to take me back to Central as I arrived, saving me from a tedious all-stations ride. I LEFT MY RAI-BAN SHADES ON THIS TRAIN So that’s €250 down the drain, but we move.



From Central, now it was time to take a look at the city, and so I had a wander down the road outside the station until I realised I had no clue where I was going, so it was a quick jump onto a shiny red Alstom tram that was passing en-route to Dulwich Hill (usually operated by the troublesome CAF stock, which I haven't seen on this route yet despite hearing that they're back from being parked up due to cracks now - not that I'm complaining as images show the interior to be nowhere near as pleasant) and took this one stop. It went in a different direction to how I had planned to go, but boarding this proved to be a good idea as I ended up in the magnificent Darling Harbour.

What an extraordinary place Darling Harbour is. It was looking out here that I felt a lump in my throat, and for the first time it really sank in that I was in Australia. The national flag was flying high above the bridge, the sun was hot and intense on the back of my neck, slightly cooled by a very gentle breeze, and there was not a cloud to be seen in the endless blue sky stretching over the city. Melbourne is absolutely lovely, but it was at that moment in Sydney, having only been there a night and a morning, that I immediately fell in love with it.



Walking over the Darling Harbour bridge, photos were taken, and it was across to the other side where a little relic of the long-closed (sadly) Sydney Monorail remains, where they retained a piece of Darling Harbour monorail station - if you look carefully you could still see the adverts for morning peak monorail fares inside it. Past the famous Queen Victoria Buildings, I came to the exceptionally tall Westfield building, where I tried chicken, mushroom and spinach gozleme for lunch (it's a bit like a cross between a crepe and a stretchy puff pastry) and took a peep at the city from the Sydney Eye.



Rejoining the Sydney Trains network, yet another B-Set Waratah (it was Saturday, and Waratahs tend to dominate most routes on weekends, leaving M-Set Milleniums and knackered old K-Sets to linger in the sidings, and keeping T Set Tangaras exclusive to route 4, which is largely confined to its own private tunnels when in the city) took me to Circular Quay via the city-circle, a beautiful station with full views of the harbour and potentially Sydney's most famous two sights: Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Here, it was of course necessary to alight and get many pictures.

Here at Circular Quay, one can board a ferry from a huge number of routes, and this is all included with Opal, the way of getting round not just Sydney, but the entire state of New South Wales. You tap in and out as with Oyster, and are capped at approximately $8 (£4) weekends or $16 (£9) weekdays, but the key difference is - there are no zones and once you reach that cap, you will not be charged for the rest of the day no matter how far you go in New South Wales, be it Katoomba in the Blue Mountains or Newcastle, a good three hours away and practically a quarter of the way to Brisbane! Sydney Trains commuter rail, NSW Trainlink Intercity rail, Light Rail (trams), Metro, Buses and Ferries all accept Opal. If you use it excessively, like I've done while I'm here, there's also a weekly cap. You can use contactless (unlike in Melbourne, where the smart card is MYKI and that does not allow you to travel to the whole of Victoria) but I do not want the fines from Lloyds Bank for using my card so much abroad - thank you for reminding me to go to the bank tomorrow and get an Aussie bank account! (My parents keep nagging me to do that, and to get an Aussie SIM!)

Alas, my phone was about to die and I'd made the mistake of not charging my power bank (a lesson has been firmly learned and that mistake not repeated), so it was back to Newtown on a direct Sydney Trains service via Central (you've guessed it, a B Set Waratah) where I charged up my phone, did a bit more unpacking, and later got a bus to the nearby K-Mart and Coles complex to get a few essentials.

Sydney, you impressed me from the start. The next day would see me hit up Bondi Beach, and then try an XPT. That will be the next report. Thanks so much for reading, and all the comments (which I reply to at the end of publishing each next report so that every time it shows I've posted on this thread people know a new report is out) Do keep all your comments coming I find them fascinating and love to know your thoughts.

Btw, I went upstairs to the terrace for sunset

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

More pictures b’cause together we can defeat the curse of the 9 picture limit :

Newtown
Newtown station
Redfern station
V Set at Strathfield station

Replies:

A nice write up, keep it coming!

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the upcoming reports of Bondi and Wondabyne too A break from the city!

You're making me a wee bit jealous right now, some beautiful scenes there!

I never knew Melbourne is famous for coffee, fascinating. More reason to go there then, oh yes a good walkabout taking in the sights with a coffee in my hand, this sounds amazing right now! I have the beautiful sunshine here this morning, but not the warmth. The penguins thing I must remember too, that sounds like fun.

Virgin Australia I have only flown once, from Brisbane to Sydney, and that was a good flight. It still features highly on my list of favourite flights!

Clearly you're having an amazing time, hangover excepted. I don't do Instagram (or social media in general, the exception being Facebook Messenger to keep in contact with a few people) so I'll be reliant on photos shared here. Looking forward to the XPT trip report in particular!

Yes, apparently more famous for coffee than Italy according to some (!!!) and thank you for your comment; Australia is indeed warm and beautiful. Having a very good time and yes the XPT report (don’t be too excited as it’s a very short journey, longer one is planned) comes tomorrow!

Remarkably, assuming you took the window seat (81K), I sat in exactly that seat on that aircraft (G-XLEC) last year on a trip stateside. I hope I left it in good condition!


I‘m 6’4” and had loads of room in it. I have a pathological dislike of BA but had no other (reasonable) option on this occasion, so picked the A380 route specifically to make the best of it. Despite BA mucking up arrangements (again), as @TT-ONR-NRN says it was magic-carpet smooth. 4 bottles of in flight wine might have helped of course.

It was indeed 81K on G-XLEC to the States (LAX) how very amusing Wonderful seat too, very comfortable, and cabin crew member Jane was incredible.

 

[railfan99]

No, NSW TrainLink XPTs/XPlorers do NOT accept Opal smartcards:

NSW TrainLink bookings | transportnsw.info

Book NSW TrainLink tickets online

transportnsw.info

These are only available for use in an area bounded by stations such as Goulburn on the Main South line, but you can't jump on a Canberra or Griffith XPlorer or Melbourne XPT and use a smartcard: separate (higher) fares are charged for these trains, and seat booking is compulsory.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

No, NSW TrainLink XPTs/XPlorers do NOT accept Opal smartcards:

I never said they did. I said NSW Intercity

 

[railfan99]

I never said they did. I said NSW Intercity

You also mentioned 'whole of NSW' and compared it to myki stating re the latter smartcard:

"...that does not allow you to travel to the whole of Victoria..."

Your statement that

"...Here at Circular Quay, one can board a ferry from a huge number of routes, and this is all included with Opal, the way of getting round not just Sydney, but the entire state of New South Wales..."

was incorrect. You cannot use Opal on an XPT to alight at say Dubbo railway station, or on the connecting NSW TrainLink road coaches to distant Bourke or Brewarrina. It does not 'cover the whole state'.

I don't pretend as a foreigner to completely understand every nuance of English rail ticketing. It's mostly irrelevant to me as the majority of journeys see me using a Eurailpass. In London when I cannot use the pass, I try to have a basic understanding of Oyster card and various cities' ticketing such as in Manchester.

Likewise, I don't expect you to understand every 'nook and cranny' of the various Australian states' fares and ticketing conditions, although to your credit you mostly seem to, apart from the above and your earlier errors in Victoria and NSW of using non-suburban trains to alight from or board at suburban stations.

 

[hexagon789]

which really does have a rather incredible view.

That really is quite a view from just an apartment building.

Btw, I went upstairs to the terrace for sunset

And it was worth it.

More pictures b’cause together we can defeat the curse of the 9 picture limit :

Suggestion for next forum improvements survey?

There was a V-Set (currently the oldest train type to operate in New South Wales and the only electric and non-Regional stock in the state to have 2+2 seating) parked in the low level platforms, so I decided to get on board. The interior is delightfully retro and yet somehow not dated - with very soft, comfortable leather seats.

They do look comfy, supposedly also ride better than the newer stock? May of course be similar Australian railway forum wibble to that on here of course!