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

[notverydeep]

Sulphur-crested cockatoos. Was there some food attracting them, or the promise of same?

The cockies in Dubbo may be red-tailed black cockatoos:

http://t3.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcQiDUz2wlnanOXvkgKO0cWfvanVMM9UWGolrOnBpf5ii9XrHbk2NKtO-wMXe0ZOMJoFmCCmMgebZfntHPI

My Australian bird guide has an excellent description of the calls of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, it accurately sums them up as 'raucous shattering screeches'!

 

[yorksrob]

That echinda is adorable !

 

[andy1pom]

My Australian bird guide has an excellent description of the calls of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, it accurately sums them up as 'raucous shattering screeches'!

Living on the Sunshine Coast in QLD, i love the sound they make except at 0430 EVERY morning.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Kangaroos seem like the best and worst pets to have. If you could get one trained it’d be amazing, otherwise they’d be evil beasts who’d destroy your hose.

That looks like an amazing time with the kangaroos!

Yes, I love kangaroos and these were incredibly friendly. You would have to be very daring and foolish to try and get that close to a New South Wales one, mind you. I don’t have any plans to visit Western Australia on this exchange due to time and money constraints, but on future visits to the country, of which I hope there’ll be many, it would be great to see the red ones you get down that way.

Enjoying your travels @TT-ONR-NRN. Just for accuracy, freight trains in Hobart ran up until 2014 to the docks. Also there are no heritage rail operations on the Bridgewater Bridge, only the Tasmanian Transport Museum run shorts trips (~1km) around their museum on some days.

Thanks for the clarification. I had asked about the railway at tourist information and had been told nothing since the 70s, so she there clearly had it wrong or was thinking of passenger trains.

My Australian bird guide has an excellent description of the calls of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, it accurately sums them up as 'raucous shattering screeches'!

Living on the Sunshine Coast in QLD, i love the sound they make except at 0430 EVERY morning.

Wonderful things, I love them dearly. Here’s a pair I saw in Helensburgh the other day that seemed rather into each other:

That echinda is adorable !

It was lovely

 

[XAM2175]

Oh my god, the bird there. I've seen LOADS of cockatoos in Australia by now, but the enormous cockatoo here asked me my name and then REPEATED MY NAME BACK TO ME as it said hello to me! I was in absolute stitches, and then in even sharper stitches as the bird then imitated my laughter! I thought birds only did that in cartoons, I had no idea they did it in real life.

They're remarkably intelligent birds, and they'll remember speech for life if they're exposed to enough. My dad had one as a pet* when he was a kid and right up until it died a few years back it was still cheerfully repeating the naughty phrases my dad's brothers had taught it forty years earlier

* = a rescued bird that couldn't be returned to the wild, rather than just an "ooh why not?" kind of thing.

 

[railfan99]

TT, excellent report! You really have achieved so much in a short period.

I have a fair idea why you want to experience koalas in Queensland but your secret's safe with me. Hint: no use coming to Victoria (Melbourne etc.) either.

At the risk of you labelling me a huge pedant, while 'spiky' is an excellent description, echidnas are also sometimes called 'spiny anteaters'. Their babes are called puggles.

You can have Onestar as far as many Australians are concerned - bogan airline renowned for cancellations and delays - but each to his or her own.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Day 39: Breathtaking views at Leura & Katoomba, Blue Mountains - followed by an XPT

I woke up at 10am on Friday morning, having arrived at my apartment only at 1am having landed back in Sydders from Tasmania (the report you read with the kangaroos was Thursday), to find myself all over the Australian News.

Long story short, if I need to use a public bathroom that would require me to use a cubicle, for personal reasons I am much better off using a disabled toilet, or I can get anxiety attacks. Many people who have had traumatic things happen to them in the past use disabled toilets for this reason, and of course many people with non-visible disabilities also do. Sydney Trains lock the "UNISEX/DISABLED" loos and you have to awkwardly ask for permission. It just so happens that on Wednesday, I asked "Mohammed" at Sydney Central to unlock it.

"Who for?" "Um... for me." "FFFFF! Er no. Absolutely not mate, nice try. It's for disabled people only as the sign clearly says."
This infuriated me, as for all he knew, I could have Krohns, I could have a stoma bag, I could have IBS (I'll admit I do, mildly, but that's not the point), I could have MS and require extra support bars, etc.
"And how do you know that just from looking at me?"
He then, unbelievably, went:
"Come on mannnn, look at you, you look good! The men's toilets are down there."

I was absolutely fuming, not just because he'd had the audacity to basically say "you look good so you're clearly fine," but because of the lack of consideration for those who use this toilet due to NON VISIBLE needs such as previous traumas or non-visible disabilities. Anyway, I turned to my social media accounts which have a fairly decent following and furiously recounted this. My followers immediately flew into rages and the rant soon had around 100,000 interactions, but I thought nothing of it - but then flew to Hobart the next day Wednesday, and now here I was on Friday slapped over the news. I hadn't said a word to the news, so it was a surprise. Now god knows I hate the "easily-offended" woke leftist progressive culture of 2023 where everyone is offended by this and that, you can't say this anymore, and people tell me their pronouns before even their name, but this wasn’t that, it was about discrimination and basic human rights. Anyway, I'll move on to the report now, but that was I woke up to on the Friday morning in between Thursday with the Kangaroos in Tas (previous report) and Saturday in the BMs (this report).

We’re setting the scene for the Saturday morning now, having landed back in Sydders very early on that previous Friday morning and attending lectures from 11am to 5pm (five of those six hours were dedicated to my Film Studies module, which I’ll openly admit I don’t enjoy or find interesting. I am a Journalist, not a Film-maker, but whereas my home university have a dedicated Journalism degree and Journalism building, the host uni tends to lump most Media types together into one, so I do have to branch out while here ) and now we’re at about 8am the following day, and time to go to the Blue Mountains.

This was during the annoying period in between losing my portable charging power bank and buying a new one, and as you all know by now, I’ve had to deal with how no New South Wales trains have charging points, so I had to use my phone sparingly today. It was a brisk walk to Erskineville for a morning train (Waratah Series 2, B Set B25) to Central, where unfortunately due to a closure of the mainline, a rather unpleasant and crowded bus took me to Blacktown about 20km out. My bottle of after-sun lotion decided to spill out of my bag side pocket and all over the seat, typically, but the journey was fairly quick and almost entirely on the freeway, including a ride under an EXCEPTIONALLY long road tunnel, where the Blue Mountains trains were starting today.

All Sydney - Mount Victoria via Katoomba trains (hourly, extending to Lithgow every two hours and with additional services to Katoomba in the peaks) are InterCity services operated exclusively by V Sets. InterCity H Sets, otherwise known as “OSCARS” do not run on this route beyond Penrith (on weekday peak services to Wyong via Blacktown and Gordon) as they’re too fat to make it beyond Springwood. I’m not complaining though, as the V Sets are lovely despite their age, and the 2+2 plum leather seats were just as comfortable as ever today. God, this set was FREEZING though. The air con was whacked up to the definite max. The V Sets on this route are supplemented by three or four extremely limited stop InterCity services from Sydney - Bathurst via Katoomba, Mount Victoria and Lithgow, the latter being the limited of the third rail. The Endeavour DMUs on this service only have two single decker coaches, and they’re not very nice. I’d definitely rather have a V Set. The daily Dubbo XPT and weekly Broken Hill XPlorer Regional services also take this route and first stop for alighting is Lithgow, the last stop on the standard Intercity Opal-pay trains.

A very pleasant 90 minute journey (would have been 2 hours from Sydney) from Blacktown to Leura on a very unevenly loaded V9+V45 (the rear 4 coaches where I was were quiet but front 4 crammed with large parties of hikers and expedition tourists) followed. Obviously the internet connection becomes progressively bad as you get into the Blue Mountains but what doughnut expects great connection there? I guess I’m a doughnut actually as I did choose this train journey to make an important phone call. Remember, btw, I don’t have a power pack yet, so I needed to preserve battery, so not many pics from the train were taken. Certainly no good ones. Sorry, but I’ll compensate at Katoomba, trust me.

Leura is the stop before famous Katoomba, and many people have raved about it for being a beautiful underrated town. I got off and saw that indeed it is quite pretty, though I genuinely wouldn’t have a clue how to fill more than two hours there, so plan accordingly. It depends what you like. My nan would have loved it. Hardcore railway historians and lovers of old railway facts like Geoff Marshall would relish at the Railway Museum there.

What I did with my time in Leura, was visit this delightful little hidden-away cafe behind the town square which had come very highly recommended online, called Lily’s Pad. It was beautiful, and I had a lovely coffee and a delicious Eggs Benedict served by an adorably cheery middle-aged waitress. What a lovely way to spend a morning, I thought, and it was especially lovely as I don’t usually get up until the afternoon (and I go to sleep very late as a result, I’m a night-owl) so it was all the more of a change.



The service was so quick that I found myself on the Blue Mountains service only ninety minutes or so after that I’d just been on, this being V24+V33, and less than five minutes from boarding I alighted at famous Katoomba, well-known for being the must-visit Epicentre of the Blue Mountains National Park. Weather was looking great, station right in the town where a (public, not the ridiculously priced charter) bus immediately took me to Scenic World. $0.83 on the Opal. That’s about 45p. I love Opal



Oh dear how blœdy touristy of me for going to Scenic World, but the reality is, it’s just a complete must do if you’re in the Blue Mountains, in the same way Sydney locals slag off Bondi Beach for being a tourist trap but you’d be silly to visit the area and not go there once. It has three major attractions: A glass bottom, horizontal cable-hauled “Skyway” gliding seamlessly across the mountains and connecting the main centre with good lookouts for the Three Sisters, and offering ridiculously superb views en-route, the world’s steepest railway catapulting you and your stomach - a few paces behind - down to the bottom of the mountains, and another, this one more of conventional, cable car taking you back up again, amidst more incredible views. You can also do the cable car down and train up, or either both ways, but it’s most popular to do it the way I just mentioned.

I first went across to “the other side” on the Skyway, which was incredible, and from here I did a bit of a hike for an hour around the mountains from this side. There was a lovely waterful there too.



HOLD IT! Nine pictures up. Let’s split the report, as usual, into parts:

 

[Intercity110]

That XPT buffet attendant deserves an OBE for that! (i haven’t seen the post before he posted it, he just split the post for photos)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Day 39: Breathtaking views at Leura & Katoomba, Blue Mountains - followed by an XPT

HOLD IT! Nine pictures up. Let’s split the report, as usual, into parts:

THIS IS PART TWO - READ PART ONE ABOVE FIRST

It’s truly spectacular and I’m so glad I did do that Skyway. I hiked around it a bit.


It’s the most iconic thing to do, taking that Skyway between the mountain tops. I did the trip back and forth twice actually, as you can use the Skyway, Cable car and Railway as many times as you want if you pay the $40 entry fee. Expensive but essential.

I queued for a little bit extra for the railway, so I could sit at the front which is well worth it. God, it really is steep. It feels far more like a rollercoaster than a railway, and it’s a longer journey than you might expect too. I’d say it lasts at least ten minutes to get down. The view from the bottom is lovely. Here’s a pic of the bottom of the tracks, but this steep bit here isn’t the main steep bit. That’s right at the top and hard to get a good photo of.




From the bottom you can take three bushwalks - all on paths so very safe - of ten, thirty or fifty minute lengths - I took the shortest as I was here for views of mountains not trees and logs - to the more traditional cable car taking me back up.

I’d actually spent about three/four hours at Scenic World and had got some incredible views and pictures, so was definitely glad I’d done it. From there, I got back on the bus for less than two minutes to Echo Point Lookout, cited as the best spot for seeing the famous “Three Sisters” mountain formation. When tapping off, the reader said “$0.00” as the previous bus journey and train from Blacktown, and Erskineville to Central (replacement buses such as that Central Blacktown are free in NSW) had cost $8 which is the weekend cap. Nice



And then it was time for lunch, so where better than an absolutely stunning, classy bar and restaurant with a terrace overlooking the mountains - and BINGO. As luck would have it, arguably the best seat became free the minute I got there. Australian Fish Tacos and a cocktail (can’t remember what it was now, but it was prosecco, grapefruit puree, lime and a spirit I think) were enjoyed, and it just seemed very very classy and luxurious. It was probably the best location of anywhere I’ve ever eaten, including possibly even Icebergs Club at Bondi, although that will definitely go down in TT history as an iconic meal.


I returned to Katoomba station, where the plan had been to take the limited service Bathurst Endeavour DMU (this is an InterCity service, not Regional - those are XPT/XPlorer worked - so Opal is valid) to Rydal, about an hour and a half further into (and out of) the Mountains and heading sharply towards the outback, because I had actually booked myself on the ex-Dubbo XPT from Rydal back to Sydney ($20 First Class) as a nice upgrade from the Intercity EMUs. Rydal Sydney is usually about 3 hours 15, but due to the trackwork the XPT (the only train to go from Blue Mountains to Sydney Central today, with others terminating at Blacktown) was diverting via and reversing at Liverpool, taking it to a 4 hour journey.

Unfortunately the Bathurst Bullet was delayed by 45 minutes, making a connection at Rydal unworkable, so I would have to take a normal V Set to Lithgow - end of the electrification and regular services - and take the XPT from there. It’d reduce my XPT journey by half an hour, but these things happen. Unfortunately, I forgot that the half-hourly evening peak service to the Blue Mountains is only half-hourly to Katoomba, and only hourly to Mount Victoria, and every 2 hours to Lithgow. So I got to Lithgow ridiculously early on V24+V33 - about an hour’s journey from Katoomba, this pair had also carried me earlier between Leura and Katoomba, watched it go, and then realised there was not another pair leaving for two hours. I’d planned to bash V Sets to pass the time until the XPT came in two and a half hours.

So it was a wander around Lithgow, where I’ve been before, and EVERYTHING, even takeaways, was closed - apart from Woolworths and Coles. So I couldn’t even get some dinner (the tacos suddenly seemed like ages ago), apart from whatever the supermarket had. They had no food to go - they don’t seem to do that here, certainly no Tesco Meal Deals (god I miss them) - I don’t like Australian crisps, they were out of Nobby’s nuts, pistachios which are a favourite of mine from Tesco were $9 (!!!!), I don’t eat sweet things like chocolate, well, it looked like it’d be my favourite gigantic juicy Australian blackberries to keep me going until I could visit the XPT buffet.

When returning to Lithgow station, I still had 90 minutes until the XPT’s arrival, so I locked my phone in a charging box there (badly needed), and did some PC work until it finally came. First class was very quiet (no daysitters on Dubbo trains btw), except for a very annoying trio of stereotypical looking middle aged trainspotters complete with enormous glasses, enormous notebooks and unbearably loud voices. “YEH WE’RE GETTING THE XPT BACK TO KATOOMBA IT WAS ONLY FIVE DOLLARS TO RIDE IN FIRST CLASS!” - on the phone. They kept getting up and moving round too, which was irritating, and when I got back from the buffet, one of them had decided to move to the seat IMMEDIATELY in front of my own in the practically empty carriage and flip it back so far I could hardly get back into my seat. Of all the things to do when all my stuff is clearly there and the train is full! I gave him a ferocious glare to be quite honest, and moved to the other side. Thankfully they got off at the next stop, which by the way, was set down only. Lithgow may be the origin of Intercity services on the route, but it’s the last pick up stop for Sydney-bound Regional services.

Anyway, the buffet. Well, unfortunately this XPT had a broken card machine, so I was told cash only. It’s very rare I carry cash these days, but I had just enough on me to buy my favourite scone with jam and cream.
“Would you like a cup of tea with it sir?” asked the buffet attendant.
“No thanks,” I said regretfully, “If the card machine worked I’d have got one, but I don’t carry cash usually. It’s rare I had even this!”

Well, he served me up a heated scone with the usual pot of cream and delicious homemade runny jam, and then poured me a cup of strong tea with milk and sugar on the side.
“I’m sorry, but you just can’t have a cream tea without the tea,” he grinned. “This is complimentary.”



Arrrgh what a lovely lovely man. I thanked him very warmly and then went back to my seat, reclined it, tucked in, and enjoyed the sunset over the Blue Mountains which was just idyllic. (I blœdy love that word, can you tell ) Then I logged on to the PC - YESSS PULL DOWN TABLES, best part of an XPT (The EMUs in New South Wales have reversible seat backs which is great but the drawback is as both sides of the seat are used as cushions you can’t have tables) and typed up my report for Port Stephens.



A very angry Scottish woman (from Stirling) was not happy when we stopped at Liverpool several hours later and then reversed out of the station with everyone going backwards. XPT seats are manually rotated using a pedal by staff at the journey origin so that all face forward, and this diversion undid all of that. “I simply cannot travel backwards,” she huffed. “And this travel time is ridiculous. I’ve been sat on this train for eight hours from Orange and we should have been there by now. This would never happen on the Virgin train.”

I was very tempted to tell her that the “Virgin train” in its current state, aka the Avanti West Coast operations of course, were really rather infamous for not running at all lately!

A pair of Tangaras (T80 and partner) returned me to Erskineville from Sydney Central, thus concluding a wonderful day.

Thanks so much for reading and the plentiful comments on the previous Tasmanian report.

They're remarkably intelligent birds, and they'll remember speech for life if they're exposed to enough. My dad had one as a pet* when he was a kid and right up until it died a few years back it was still cheerfully repeating the naughty phrases my dad's brothers had taught it forty years earlier

* = a rescued bird that couldn't be returned to the wild, rather than just an "ooh why not?" kind of thing.

Lucky, lucky your dad to have a cockatoo. I'd rather like a bird as a pet, especially such intelligent and beautiful ones.

TT, excellent report! You really have achieved so much in a short period.

I have a fair idea why you want to experience koalas in Queensland but your secret's safe with me. Hint: no use coming to Victoria (Melbourne etc.) either.

At the risk of you labelling me a huge pedant, while 'spiky' is an excellent description, echidnas are also sometimes called 'spiny anteaters'. Their babes are called puggles.

You can have Onestar as far as many Australians are concerned - bogan airline renowned for cancellations and delays - but each to his or her own.

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say. Yes, I know about Victoria - you've definitely got why I want to go QLD for them
Apologies, spiny was what I meant to type, spiky was a typo.
PUGGLES! What a hilarious fantastic word.
Not a massive fan of Jetstar, obviously would prefer Qantas/VA, was just simply pleasantly surprised as I expected it to be Ryanair-standards or worse, and it was far better than that.

That XPT buffet attendant deserves an OBE for that! (i haven’t seen the post before he posted it, he just split the post for photos)

This is why I left the bold disclaimer at the end No worries though. Indeed a very lovely buffet staff member there. Truly sterling customer service, compared to the Port Stephens report XPT's ticket inspector who said "Sit there and don't move!" !!!

Right, it's now 3:30am, I have an exhaustingly full day of uni classes today Tuesday and the alarm is waiting for 10:15, so better get some sleep in

Next report: THE ENTRANCE, CENTRAL COAST

 

[LowLevel]

A scone and a brew on a train. How civilised!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

A scone and a brew on a train. How civilised!

It was absolutely lovely and that’s the third time I’ve done that on a XPT/XPlorer service now. I’ve come to think of it as my little tradition for booked seat services

_


Here’s just a few pictures from today and yesterday, just because they were some rather nice scenic little afternoons in town:

I had a really nice therapeutic trip to the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe on George Street with my lovely veterinary-student housemate from Boston yesterday, and then we had natter and rant about this and that while walking round Circular Quay at sunset.



And then today after my lectures I popped over to Nelson’s Bay, and I caught a sunbeam in these daylight photos, and watched the sun set on the coast before heading back for a big Italian dinner. The famous, tourist trap beaches such as Bondi, Manly, Coogee and Bronté are certainly worth doing once to say you’ve been, but it’s the hidden away little less known beaches that are the real gems. The busy famous ones have nothing on them.

I committed the unforgivable sin of mixing Nike and Bad-didas (the enemy) in the same outfit today. What a traitor.



Living in Newtown which is five minutes from Central on the train (4am-1am with night buses running 1am-4am), I’m very lucky in that I can pop into town and see these wonders whenever I get a spare moment, even if it’s only an hour, and with over 100 beaches (yes, really) in Sydney, I never seem to run out of ideas for places to see.

I hope everyone else has/has had a wonderful Thursday. I know @Techniquest certainly will do (Keep an eye out for his Vegas canyon report, excited to read that myself)

Unfortunately I now have soggy trainers as I cut my hand on the rocks, went to wash it in the sea, and underestimated how far back the wave would come. My entire ankles were submerged. It wasn’t a comfortable ride home

 

[Techniquest]

Epic yikes to the enduring wet feet the whole way back! I did similar recently on a big cycle ride, I got absolutely drenched in some seriously heavy rain and spent a few hours in my rather wet socks and trainers. I had to peel off the cycling tights too!

My trip report getting a mention here certainly made me smile Just under 15 hours until I am due to be heading back to London, and I'm more than ready to get there too. The weather this morning looks glorious, a nice way to wake up with the mountains ciew and a reflection of the sunrise off a skyscraper. The lesss said about yesterday the better!

It looks like you had another nice day there, getting mighty jealous here!

 

[Techniquest]

Not jealous at all about the warm weather, given I've been away in Las Vegas which had one nice day this week then the rest of it much less so, to return to unpleasant British weather. Ugh!

Shoeless in Australia? Even in Las Vegas they wear footwear outside, and that place doesn't have much class!

 

[andy1pom]

Most Aussie's wear shoes outdoors nowadays for the following reasons:

• pavements/roads etc get hot in the summer (I recorded a temperature of over 65C on my artificial grass area this summer)
• lots of nasty bugs in the grass that can hurt you.
• snakes - we have brown and red belly blacks here!
• some plants have sharp burrs that stick in your skin.
• dog poo.
• broken glass; being a cyclist I see lots of it around.
• did I mention the snakes!

One place where shoes are generally not worn is inside a house; but check with the owner if visiting someones house...

 

[railfan99]

Most Aussie's wear shoes outdoors nowadays for the following reasons:

• pavements/roads etc get hot in the summer (I recorded a temperature of over 65C on my artificial grass area this summer)
• lots of nasty bugs in the grass that can hurt you.
• snakes - we have brown and red belly blacks here!
• some plants have sharp burrs that stick in your skin.
• dog poo.
• broken glass; being a cyclist I see lots of it around.
• did I mention the snakes!

One place where shoes are generally not worn is inside a house; but check with the owner if visiting someones house...

Yes, I don't agree (as a lifelong Melbourne resident) with TT when he says 'it's the norm'. Suspect his residency in Sydney at the conclusion of summer has given him an insufficient sample.

Bare feet may be somewhat more common in Cairns (Qld), Darwin (NT) and Brisbane (Qld) but untrue most days in Melbourne (Vic), Adelaide (SA) or Hobart (Tas) and apart from warmer days beachside, not in Sydney (NSW) either.

Thongs (which in Australia are what other nations may call 'flip flops', nothing to do with USA underwear) are more common than bare feet but again, except in boganville (poor suburbs), weather dependent.

A close friend was working in his eastern suburbs (better area) Melbourne garden, was bitten by a white spider and ended up with multiple surgeries, a lengthy private hospital stay and using crutches at least twice for weeks. I never go outside without shoes or socks. Unlike sub-tropical Sydney, we do not have infamous red funnel web spiders, but that's not to say others aren't on occasion dangerous.

 

[Techniquest]

Good to hear that it's not the norm to avoid feet hygiene in Australia!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Not jealous at all about the warm weather, given I've been away in Las Vegas which had one nice day this week then the rest of it much less so, to return to unpleasant British weather. Ugh!

Shoeless in Australia? Even in Las Vegas they wear footwear outside, and that place doesn't have much class!

Most Aussie's wear shoes outdoors nowadays for the following reasons:

• pavements/roads etc get hot in the summer (I recorded a temperature of over 65C on my artificial grass area this summer)
• lots of nasty bugs in the grass that can hurt you.
• snakes - we have brown and red belly blacks here!
• some plants have sharp burrs that stick in your skin.
• dog poo.
• broken glass; being a cyclist I see lots of it around.
• did I mention the snakes!

One place where shoes are generally not worn is inside a house; but check with the owner if visiting someones house...

Yes, I don't agree (as a lifelong Melbourne resident) with TT when he says 'it's the norm'. Suspect his residency in Sydney at the conclusion of summer has given him an insufficient sample.

Bare feet may be somewhat more common in Cairns (Qld), Darwin (NT) and Brisbane (Qld) but untrue most days in Melbourne (Vic), Adelaide (SA) or Hobart (Tas) and apart from warmer days beachside, not in Sydney (NSW) either.

Thongs (which in Australia are what other nations may call 'flip flops', nothing to do with USA underwear) are more common than bare feet but again, except in boganville (poor suburbs), weather dependent.

A close friend was working in his eastern suburbs (better area) Melbourne garden, was bitten by a white spider and ended up with multiple surgeries, a lengthy private hospital stay and using crutches at least twice for weeks. I never go outside without shoes or socks. Unlike sub-tropical Sydney, we do not have infamous red funnel web spiders, but that's not to say others aren't on occasion dangerous.

Good to hear that it's not the norm to avoid feet hygiene in Australia!

Whatever yous may see in Melbourne, I've seen it an enormous amount in Sydney. I should add the 7/11 I went to is directly next door to my accommodation and it was because my shoes were drying - it was also 2am. I generally find it kind of repulsive when people just randomly walk down the street, get on a train or enter the mall like that, which I've seen very regularly here.

My report on The Entrance, Bald Hill and Stanwell Tops should be out in a couple of days - I'm hugely overwhelmed with Uni work - but fear not, as my reports should get a bit more interesting/varied soon as this week I embark on my Easter trip.

I will fly (yes, sorry, the XPT lost out. Nice train, but overrated and I dislike many of the Regional staff, it's also stupidly long and the lack of facilities is appalling. Yes, I'm criticising the XPT. Australians and lovers of HSTs are welcome to take offence at that. It won't change a thing ) to Sunshine Coast with Jetstar on Wednesday morning and spend a sunny day in Noosa, get the tilt train down to Brisbane on Thursday, have a rushed but ultimately enjoyable few days there, local train down to Gold Coast on Saturday, fly to Adelaide with Virgin on Sunday, to Auckland with Qatar on Tuesday, down to Wellington on the scenic panoramic views train on Thursday, ferry to Picton and train to Christchurch on Sunday and back to Sydney with Emirates on the Monday. Sure to be an adventurous fortnight.

 

[railfan99]

I will fly (yes, sorry, the XPT lost out. Nice train, but overrated and I dislike many of the Regional staff, it's also stupidly long and the lack of facilities is appalling. Yes, I'm criticising the XPT. Australians and lovers of HSTs are welcome to take offence at that

TT, we won't 'take offence' but as a railway enthusiast, there's a good reason for XPT Brisbane to Sydney being 'stupidly long' in trip duration.

With few exceptions, the line features a huge number of curves. The scenery, including the spiral at Border Loop, compensates: wide rivers including riverside running, native eucalypt (note: note 'eucalyptus') forests, well watered pastoral country that sometimes was previously used for dairyfarming but Victoria (and NZ) have the edge in that, and north of Maitland, single track so some crosses, especially if intermodals from Melbourne/Sydney and the twice weekly from Adelaide are late, plus other XPTs.

Agree a number of NSW TrainLink staff (especially on the North Coast) could learn some manners. I've never said anything back but a couple are downright obnoxious, and won't even let one stand whereas on the Melbourne train, it's never a problem to stand in the vestibule and watch the world go by to have a change from being seated.

The lack of WiFi is also a pain: too much steel and glass in the train but being away from highways also doesn't help given the hilly terrain.

The XPT has a love=hate relationship with travellers: I like it, but it cops criticism on TripAdvisor on occasion for being 'old'. However as the locos were reengined, they're remarkably reliable for 40 year olds. The aircon usually works well, and the seats are very comfortable as you've pointed out. The buffet selection is fair, although alcohol is more expensive than say on an Austrian RailJet or German ICE (though travellers there are complaining about price rises, as I found last year).

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

TT, we won't 'take offence' but as a railway enthusiast, there's a good reason for XPT Brisbane to Sydney being 'stupidly long' in trip duration.

With few exceptions, the line features a huge number of curves. The scenery, including the spiral at Border Loop, compensates: wide rivers including riverside running, native eucalypt (note: note 'eucalyptus') forests, well watered pastoral country that sometimes was previously used for dairyfarming but Victoria (and NZ) have the edge in that, and north of Maitland, single track so some crosses, especially if intermodals from Melbourne/Sydney and the twice weekly from Adelaide are late, plus other XPTs.

Agree a number of NSW TrainLink staff (especially on the North Coast) could learn some manners. I've never said anything back but a couple are downright obnoxious, and won't even let one stand whereas on the Melbourne train, it's never a problem to stand in the vestibule and watch the world go by to have a change from being seated.

The lack of WiFi is also a pain: too much steel and glass in the train but being away from highways also doesn't help given the hilly terrain.

The XPT has a love=hate relationship with travellers: I like it, but it cops criticism on TripAdvisor on occasion for being 'old'. However as the locos were reengined, they're remarkably reliable for 40 year olds. The aircon usually works well, and the seats are very comfortable as you've pointed out. The buffet selection is fair, although alcohol is more expensive than say on an Austrian RailJet or German ICE (though travellers there are complaining about price rises, as I found last year).

I'm not criticising the railway, just explaining that as the plane is by-far-faster (and I'm pushed for time), slightly cheaper, and gets me to the Sunshine Coast without the need to change in Brisbane, it's made for a more attractive option for me. I may book the XPT for my June return to Melbourne.

Yes, it was on the North Coast I was told to "sit there and don't move," and the more I think of this, the more I'm increasingly angry with myself for not telling him that this is an unacceptable way to talk to any customer. However, I must insist that away from on-board the XPT/XPlorer services, and of course the ignorant dateline twits I've encountered (and consequently named and shamed on the AU news media) guarding the toilets at Central station, the vast majority of rail staff here have been lovely. Sydney Trains guards in particular seem exceptionally friendly and pleasant people, far nicer than guards of trains in the UK.

To be honest, I'm less fussed about the lack of Wi-Fi, y'know? I have 4G as to most people (or 5G) these days, and while this inevitably cuts in and out on long-distance trips, it's a reasonable expectation that the train will pass through areas of limited or no service when travelling through the outback. What I can't handle for that length of time is a lack of charging points. Even if one's laptop/phone does not die during the journey, it almost certainly will later in the day which is a massive problem for me especially if I'm about to continue my journey onwards or if I have a while before I can check in to the hotel.

If the XPT had table seats, I'd far prefer it. I don't want to be cramped into an airline seat for that long, and while the recline is certainly generous, it is INCREDIBLY invasive of the space of the person behind.

I find the buffet extremely cheap compared to European buffet offerings, although I haven't noticed the price of alcohol as of yet.

 

[railfan99]

Sydney Trains guards in particular seem exceptionally friendly and pleasant people, far nicer than guards of trains in the UK.

There's a difference in duties. Sydney Trains guards give the right away, but don't in my experience check tickets.

UK guards would be more likely to be referred to as 'conductors' in Australia. Correct me if needed, but generally in the UK they give the 'right away' or 'platform work complete' to 'drive' (Australian railfan slang sometimes for 'driver') AND if diligent, check and if required issue tickets.

By the way, we wouldn't typically refer to Brisbane to Sydney's route as passing through 'the outback'. That term would be reserved for sparsely settled NSW country west of the Great Dividing Range, plus other remote areas in Queensland and other states. An example might be Charleville or Longreach in Queensland or Broken Hill in NSW. It's rare for anyone in the smaller southern state of Victoria to regard an intrastate location as 'the outback.' We tend to call it 'the bush' or 'country'.

 

[andy1pom]

Whatever yous may see in Melbourne, I've seen it an enormous amount in Sydney. I should add the 7/11 I went to is directly next door to my accommodation and it was because my shoes were drying - it was also 2am. I generally find it kind of repulsive when people just randomly walk down the street, get on a train or enter the mall like that, which I've seen very regularly here.

My report on The Entrance, Bald Hill and Stanwell Tops should be out in a couple of days - I'm hugely overwhelmed with Uni work - but fear not, as my reports should get a bit more interesting/varied soon as this week I embark on my Easter trip.

I will fly (yes, sorry, the XPT lost out. Nice train, but overrated and I dislike many of the Regional staff, it's also stupidly long and the lack of facilities is appalling. Yes, I'm criticising the XPT. Australians and lovers of HSTs are welcome to take offence at that. It won't change a thing ) to Sunshine Coast with Jetstar on Wednesday morning and spend a sunny day in Noosa, get the tilt train down to Brisbane on Thursday, have a rushed but ultimately enjoyable few days there, local train down to Gold Coast on Saturday, fly to Adelaide with Virgin on Sunday, to Auckland with Qatar on Tuesday, down to Wellington on the scenic panoramic views train on Thursday, ferry to Picton and train to Christchurch on Sunday and back to Sydney with Emirates on the Monday. Sure to be an adventurous fortnight.

Hopefully the Jetstar flight went well; not too cramped - I think there is more leg room on the trains!!

Enjoy Noosa - too many Victorians there for me... prefer the southern end of the coast

You mentioned going back to Brisbane on the tilt train. I don't think it does much tilting between Nambour and Brisbane although there are a few slow curves; try and sit on the right hand side to get great views of the Glass House Mountains. Note that this stretch of line is being dual tracked (before Olympics in 2032 hopefully) and straightened...

 

[railfan99]

An update from Brisbane - @railfan99 the secret is out! (Non-Aussies, it is illegal to hold one in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, etc. Come to Queensland).

I knew immediately why you went there and the restriction in Victoria, but if truth be known, had to look it up for NSW.

So don't ever assume 'locals' like me instantly "know everything".

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Hopefully the Jetstar flight went well; not too cramped - I think there is more leg room on the trains!!

Enjoy Noosa - too many Victorians there for me... prefer the southern end of the coast

You mentioned going back to Brisbane on the tilt train. I don't think it does much tilting between Nambour and Brisbane although there are a few slow curves; try and sit on the right hand side to get great views of the Glass House Mountains. Note that this stretch of line is being dual tracked (before Olympics in 2032 hopefully) and straightened...

It was a very quick flight and I was comfortable enough in my seat, but it was full of screaming babies including one in the seat directly behind me on the mother’s lap.

Noosa was great but I suddenly felt homesick for NSW being there. Upon landing in Queensland is very obvious that the state is very different and it messed with my head to know I was still in Australia, but not Australia as I knew it. Everything in NSW is the same from the signs and fonts around town, to the Opal cards to the shops and it was a shock! It’s also too quiet and rural for a city boy like me. Glorious scenery mind.

I did see the beautiful mountains. I went for the left hand side as it was 2+1 and I wanted the 1, but moved over briefly to take a photo of the glass houses.

Report will come soon.

 

[thaitransit]

You should definitely do more long distance train travel in Queensland. The spirit of Queensland to Cairns and The Spirit of the Outback to Longreach are excellent and very worth doing. However they are both over 24hour long overnight trains.

In terms of passenger comfort and friendly staff Queensland Rail is far better than NSW Trainlink any day. Also avoid jetstar at all costs and consider virgin or rex instead when flying.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Day 43: The Entrance, Central Coast
Day 44: Thirroul Pool, Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops
Day 45: …

(This was all written on Sunday’s flight, so when I refer to “now” or present, I mean Sunday. I didn’t have time to upload it)

DAY 43:

If you haven’t forgotten who I am by now, and what country I’m currently in, I’ll be delighted to welcome you back to another report. (And if you had, it’s TT-ONR-NRN, I’m in Australia, and you’re still welcome anyway) Yes, it’s been a while since the last one came out, and for that I apologise, and put it down to a ridiculously hectic uni schedule.

I believe (my memory may be failing me here, so don’t hold me to it), I only have two reports from within New South Wales to tell you, so as I’m sure you’d much prefer to hear about my current Easter trip to Queensland, Adelaide and New Zealand rather than yet more just-outside-of-Sydney stories, I’ll merge those two into one so that next time, we can get to the good stuff.

Speaking of the good stuff, I’m in the middle of the trip right now – currently I’m typing this report from comfortable window seat 10A (quite considerably more forward than I normally sit – I’m a regular haunt of the back few rows) on a Virgin Atlantic 737 taking me from Gold Coast to Adelaide. I have a nice milky coffee, some delicious chunky biscuits that the adorable cabin crew member kindly swiped from the business class stash for me when I requested something to dunk in it, and as it is Easter Sunday today, the crew also passed around little Lindt Lindor eggs to all customers which is such a delightful, thoughtful touch. It will always be a pleasure to fly with Virgin on either of their two much-loved airlines.

Now, enough of that, and back to the past, where I had woken up on my usual day off – Wednesday – with a desire to check out something new. After a little bit of research, which took a bit longer than usual as almost all well-known destinations within a 100 mile radius have been seen now – I discovered that The Entrance bay, a highly attractive little-known coastal destination, lay a short bus ride away from Wyong or Tuggerah stations. In the past two and a half months of living in Australia, I’ve tended to find a good four or five days out of seven each week are gloriously sunny, with the rainy days usually following consecutively and immediately before another several days of sun ensue. Today, indeed, was a very hot day and so swim shorts were packed in my trusty ol’ backpack, and with everything I needed (at least, so I thought at the time), it was off to Newtown for a pair of Millenniums bound for Central.

Arriving into Central, I saw the Indian Pacific and it’s would-be stinking rich customers was commencing its three day journey to Perth, and my first thought was – what a shame it’s only a luxury train now – as until a few years back you could purchase a “Red Ticket,” which would effectively buy you Standard Class travel for a reasonable price on the route. Now this is scrapped and it’s sold as a premium short break only. Then, my second thought was, actually no. A three day train journey NEEDS to be luxury. It’s three days.

Speaking of luxury, I jumped onto V17 and partner (partner contained carriage 8110, I’ll look up the unit number at some other time and edit it in if I can be bothered), and immediately took out my laptop to book my Adelaide Auckland and Christchurch Sydney flights. I say luxury because, stupid as it may sound, I decided to treat myself a little so we’ve gone for Qatar Q-Suites on the former and Emirates First on the latter. Please do check back here for the reports on those, not that they’ll come anytime soon as I haven’t even flown them yet – they will be Tue 11th April and Mon 17th April respectively. The V Sets rushed out of Sydney on the express service to Newcastle and I managed to get both booked before losing service in the beautiful but remote stretch of track near to Cogra Bay.

Tuggerah and Wyong are both advertised by Google Maps as options for travelling from Sydney to The Entrance by public transport. Tuggerah is slightly quicker as the bus journey is shorter, but Wyong is the far bigger station which may be preferred by those who need a bit of help finding the right bus, or something. I stayed on at Tuggerah and double backed at Wyong, changing onto V43 and V50 heading back towards Sydney, as I fancied a bit extra travel time on these soon-to-be-shredded 70s units, before heading to the adjacent BP (yes, they have those in Aus, and Shell – no Nectar points here though, you can use Flybuys at garages with a Coles tho ) I picked up a Red Bull and a can of sun spray (sunscreen but in refreshing mist form, rather than a nasty oily white cream) as while tans are great, melanomas aren’t; the woman brightly told me that Red Bulls were Buy One Get One Free. When I die of a Red Bull related heart attack at some point, she will be partially responsible, as how could I turn down such an offer? Onto the bus then, which unfortunately went all round the houses and filled with schoolchildren that must have ranged agewise from 7-15 or so. When I think of how my schoolmates and I acted on the school bus, and many school children with them, these kids seemed like perfect angels by comparison. Someone buzzed the request stop button by mistake, and the man in front turned around and yelled “WHICH OF YOU KIDS ARE MAKING THE BUS STOP UNNECESSARILY?” I gave him a very hard look and said icily, “Excuse me, but how do you know it was them and not me?” He looked shocked, as if the thought of an adult making a mistake completely was ludicrous, and turned back around. And about twenty minutes later, yet a grumpy middle-aged man completely and utterly lost it at a kid who could not have been any more than about eight who accidentally kicked his seat (I saw, and it was clearly unintentional) and a young woman yelled, “I’m going to tell your headmistress how f*cking loud you brats are.”

I got very angry and just blurted out “The way you people speak to kids here is disgusting. Don’t get on a bus that says ‘School Service’ if you can’t handle it.” My voice sounded more British than it ever has done in that moment, and the bus fell silent for a few minutes. The kids soon piped up again, but I heard no more from the cranky chipolatas sat on the bus. I regret nothing. No way would they speak to them like that if their parents were there to watch.

The bus dropped me off after about forty-five minutes and I passed a cute little ice cream parlour just by the little bay. It sold Turkish Delight ice cream, which always reminds me of my mother as that’s her favourite flavour (mine too), so I just had to have one as it’s hard enough to find back home, let alone here. I had a double scoop, the other flavour being Passion-fruit which was laden with real passion-fruit pulp and seeds. It was lovely to have that in this hot weather.



The Entrance beach was beautiful. It was very natural, the complete opposite of somewhere built up and touristy like Bondi, and wonderfully unique in that the sea flowed across (very shallow, no more than ankle deep) the middle of the little beach, splitting it in half so that you had a pattern of shore, sea, shore, sea, all visible from where I was standing. I had a paddle (I rarely go in for a proper swim these days as I just can’t be bothered for coming out soggy and sandy) and a very nice walk along the coast for half a mile, until reaching this very nice saltwater pool and enjoying a pleasant half-hour of lengths in the fairly deep, warm pool by the sea. Unfortunately, I then realised that I’d forgotten to pack a towel, but this was not a major issue as the sun was very hot, so I lay down on the wooden plank patio bordering the rectangle of deep turquoise and enjoyed some blissful sunbathing for forty-five minutes or so. I dried completely after about ten minutes, but remained where I was as I was so warm and comfortable.



Another nice wander down the coast followed, this time with a gentle breeze cooling the air slightly which felt very pleasant indeed, and then I received a call from Emirates, thanking me for my booking and asking whether I would want to shower on my flight. I think this was so they knew whether or not to have it ready for departure from Christchurch, or whether they could wait until they’d taken off from Sydney to allow Dubai-bound passengers (probably all of them except me) to use the shower spa. I told them I very much did intend to shower if possible and was told that was absolutely fine. Of course I did. It’s not often you get that opportunity is it! There was a small selection of little restaurants, including one very fancy one, and so I popped into the Indian takeaway for a vegetable samosa – a firm favourite snack of mine if done properly, aka containing mashed potato NOT small diced bits – and then the fancy place for some fish tacos to take away, and these made for a very pleasant dinner. I wandered over the bridge stretching over the sea to be greeted by pelicans gliding around in the waters underneath! Now I had never seen pelicans in the wild before, so this excited me greatly; I popped down to the grassy bank and watched them and took photos for a while, before returning to the bridge to photograph the wonderful sunset over the water.



That concluded my day in The Entrance, one I’d enjoyed thoroughly and was glad to have done, and so I took the bus (much faster direct service this time) back to Tuggerah. The next southbound service was Oscars HXX and HXX on a stopping shuttle to Gosford, and I couldn’t be bothered to sit around waiting for the Sydney service for ages, so it was onto this – the Sydney service then caught up and I switched to that at Gosford. It was the return of V45 and V50 from earlier, and they rushed me back to my beloved Sydders in just under 90 minutes, where I jumped on a Waratah back to Newtown.

Right, that was Day 43. Day 44/45 immediately below.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Day 43: The Entrance, Central Coast
Day 44: Thirroul Pool, Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops
Day 45: …

Right, that was Day 43. Day 44/45 immediately below.

Posting 43-45 all at once. Day 43 is immediately above.
Most images are inserted as thumbnails to save those using limited data plans, these may show sideways. Click on them and you’ll see them the right way up at proper size.

DAY 44: Again this was written on my flight on SUNDAY, not today.

The next day was Thursday, and a two-hour lecture for Arguments That Change The World, a really fascinating subject (unlike the others I do down under) led by a very funny and friendly lecturer who also lends his time to local prisons to teach English, which I think is a wonderful thing to do. The university’s stunning buildings looked especially pleasant in the blistering sun, but it was well into the mid thirties in terms of temperature degrees celsius, and all I could think about as I left the class was how much I’d love to visit another saltwater pool. It was a beautiful day for it after all.

Therefore, I walked to nearby Redfern station – my backpack already packed as I had anticipated wanting to go somewhere later prior to leaving for class – and jumped aboard the Intercity South Coast service bound for Kiama for Bomaderry, which was formed of Oscar sets HXX and HXX and this hurtled me down to Thurroul at an acceptable speed, getting me there in just over an hour’s time.



From here, it is only a short walk to the coast, past some simply beautiful, beautiful houses. The beach is pleasant, certainly, but I was here for the pool, and it was stunning. The colour of the water was an insane turquoise, it was partially shaded by some trees, and it reached just under 3 metres at the deep end, so deep enough for a proper swim. Enormous vats of sun lotion sat on a table for anyone to use, which is a smart and thoughtful idea. I had a really good swim, thoroughly enjoyed it.



Following on from this, I boarded Tangara TXX which was on a Port Kembla to Waterfall stopping service, and this took me to Otford in the middle of the bush.



In order to reach where I was looking for, I had to do a bit of a bushwalk (does it count as a bushwalk if you’re walking along a road), which was an absolute pain as there were no paths so I had to walk on the road, in the direction of upcoming traffic of course as my dad always taught me as a little kid ( ), and this felt a bit dangerous each time I went round sharp corners – which was many times. The sun was beginning to set which put my mind at ease about snakes a bit; these cold-blooded creatures crave sun and warmth, and there was a sign by Otford station warning of snakes sunning themselves on the road. There was a number of signs about bush fires also, which of course are a constant risk in the Australian bush and formed a major crisis back in early 2020 when much of it burned and couldn’t be tamed. Went over a bridge with a freighter running under too.



You might wonder why I was trekking into the bush at 7pm, but here was the answer:


One mile and a bit from Otford station, I made it to the Bald Hill Lookout at Stanwell Tops, and it was the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen. It was like walking into a watercolour painting. I’ve never seen such a ridiculous sunset in my life. WELL worth visiting.

And then it got a bit weirder! A man visiting from Prague began chatting to me, and we were suddenly shushed from the side. A film crew were there, and I soon saw from the title on the van and the shirts on the back of the crew what they were filming. Well, it was only Season 3 of my favourite Aussie series The Secrets She Keeps! (You know, the one with the stolen baby and where – as usual – the one with the English accent is the baddie. I won’t include any spoilers in case you want to watch it and haven’t seen it) Crazy.

I walked back down the hill in the direction of Stanwell Park station, which is a fraction closer to the lookout than Otford, but requires a spirally drive down to the bottom of the hill with no path which was VERY, VERY difficult. I was extremely worried I’d get hit by a car, and I must recommend to anyone wanting to visit Bald Hill Lookout to use Otford station instead. The walk TO the lookout seemed easy as pre-school colouring by comparison.

I was absolutely starving by now, having not eaten since the aforementioned food at The Entrance on Wednesday evening – and it was now 8pm on Thursday! The only place I found that sold food was a little café at the foot of the hill, and they had a fair few things on the menu, so I asked how long a fishburger would take (I didn’t have long until the hourly train) and was told twenty minutes. That’d be fine. The station was three minutes away. I was pleasantly surprised to see it came after more like eight minutes, thanked them, left, and got stuck into it walking to the station. OH GOD!

WHAT A VILE, VILE TASTE! It was simply enormous, with the largest battered fish fillet I’ve ever seen in a burger before inside, plus salad, but it just tasted so absolutely awful! Whereas all fish I’d had in Australia up to that point (and I’d had a lot, as I adore all fish and seafood) was spectacular, freshly-caught and left me craving more, this tasted like a frozen Birds Eye piece of crap that had gone off.

I was starving so I tried eating it with my breath held so as not to taste it, but I could taste it easily and began retching and gagging (I can never help doing that if overwhelmed with a foul taste or smell), so immediately discarded the fish fillet and just stuffed what was left of the burger (salad in a bun) with chips. I could still taste the horrendous flavour even now, so just threw it away, glared furiously into the (by now pitch black) distance thinking of the $19 I’d just wasted on it, and downed the can of Red Bull I’d bought with it to remove the taste. Do you know, this was I think March 15th, and I’ve still not touched fish since as it’s put me off so much, almost a month later. And I’m someone who would have it almost every day until then.



I kid you not simply looking at this picture is making me feel badly ill.

From Stanwell Tops I caught Oscar HXX on the ex-Port Kembla stopping service bound for Waterfall, alighted at Helensburgh (where I ordered my concession student Opal card, was told 4-5 working days and it has STILL NOT COME), and then boarded the ex-Kiama express bound for Sydders formed of Oscars HXX and HXX. This to Redfern, and a local service one stop back to Newtown. What good timing, we’re about to land. 3000 words in a 2.5 hour flight, not too bad. Still, I can natter for England.




DAY 45:

Overwhelming nausea and a watering mouth woke me up. Spent the whole day puking violently. I’ll kill whoever made that fishburger.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I hope you enjoy reading.
Next reports to be:

Day 65: Flying to the Sunshine Coast and ridiculously beautiful Noosa
Day 66: Queensland’s Tilt Train to Brisbane, and exploring this great city
Day 67: West Brisbane - holding a koala, red kangaroos, bird MAYHEM
Day 68: Brisbane’s PENG city Beach, train to Gold Coast, in Gold Coast
Day 69: Insane Burleigh Heads/Tallebudgera Creek & flight to Adelaide
Day 70: In Adelaide: City, Port & Gardens, Grange, Henley & Noarlunga
Day 71: QATAR AIRWAYS Business Class Q-Suites flight Adelaide-Auckland

and it is currently 3:32am on what will be Day 72, spent in Auckland, NZ.
I will respond to all comments tomorrow if I can. Goodnight!

 

[hexagon789]

If you haven’t forgotten who I am by now, and what country I’m currently in, I’ll be delighted to welcome you back to another report. (And if you had, it’s TT-ONR-NRN, I’m in Australia, and you’re still welcome anyway) Yes, it’s been a while since the last one came out, and for that I apologise, and put it down to a ridiculously hectic uni schedule.

Nice pic

Onto the bus then, which unfortunately went all round the houses and filled with schoolchildren that must have ranged agewise from 7-15 or so. When I think of how my schoolmates and I acted on the school bus, and many school children with them, these kids seemed like perfect angels by comparison. Someone buzzed the request stop button by mistake, and the man in front turned around and yelled “WHICH OF YOU KIDS ARE MAKING THE BUS STOP UNNECESSARILY?” I gave him a very hard look and said icily, “Excuse me, but how do you know it was them and not me?” He looked shocked, as if the thought of an adult making a mistake completely was ludicrous, and turned back around. And about twenty minutes later, yet a grumpy middle-aged man completely and utterly lost it at a kid who could not have been any more than about eight who accidentally kicked his seat (I saw, and it was clearly unintentional) and a young woman yelled, “I’m going to tell your headmistress how f*cking loud you brats are.”

I got very angry and just blurted out “The way you people speak to kids here is disgusting. Don’t get on a bus that says ‘School Service’ if you can’t handle it.” My voice sounded more British than it ever has done in that moment, and the bus fell silent for a few minutes. The kids soon piped up again, but I heard no more from the cranky chipolatas sat on the bus. I regret nothing. No way would they speak to them like that if their parents were there to watch.

They wouldn't last 5 seconds on a British 'school bus' would they?

The bus dropped me off after about forty-five minutes and I passed a cute little ice cream parlour just by the little bay. It sold Turkish Delight ice cream, which always reminds me of my mother as that’s her favourite flavour (mine too), so I just had to have one as it’s hard enough to find back home, let alone here. I had a double scoop, the other flavour being Passion-fruit which was laden with real passion-fruit pulp and seeds. It was lovely to have that in this hot weather.

I mean when can you have an ice cream if not in hot weather? Was the Turkish Delight any good, i find it can be hit and miss - some seem almost nauseatingly perfumed.

From here, it is only a short walk to the coast, past some simply beautiful, beautiful houses. The beach is pleasant, certainly, but I was here for the pool, and it was stunning. The colour of the water was an insane turquoise, it was partially shaded by some trees, and it reached just under 3 metres at the deep end, so deep enough for a proper swim. Enormous vats of sun lotion sat on a table for anyone to use, which is a smart and thoughtful idea. I had a really good swim, thoroughly enjoyed it.

That does look nice.

You might wonder why I was trekking into the bush at 7pm, but here was the answer:

Spectacular, really spectacular - but then all the sunsets you've posted in this thread have been quite the kaleidoscope of colour

Another nice wander down the coast followed, this time with a gentle breeze cooling the air slightly which felt very pleasant indeed, and then I received a call from Emirates, thanking me for my booking and asking whether I would want to shower on my flight. I think this was so they knew whether or not to have it ready for departure from Christchurch, or whether they could wait until they’d taken off from Sydney to allow Dubai-bound passengers (probably all of them except me) to use the shower spa. I told them I very much did intend to shower if possible and was told that was absolutely fine. Of course I did. It’s not often you get that opportunity is it! There was a small selection of little restaurants, including one very fancy one, and so I popped into the Indian takeaway for a vegetable samosa – a firm favourite snack of mine if done properly, aka containing mashed potato NOT small diced bits – and then the fancy place for some fish tacos to take away, and these made for a very pleasant dinner. I wandered over the bridge stretching over the sea to be greeted by pelicans gliding around in the waters underneath! Now I had never seen pelicans in the wild before, so this excited me greatly; I popped down to the grassy bank and watched them and took photos for a while, before returning to the bridge to photograph the wonderful sunset over the water.

Every one of those images just looks 'perfect', it must have been a thoroughly enjoyable trip

WHAT A VILE, VILE TASTE! It was simply enormous, with the largest battered fish fillet I’ve ever seen in a burger before inside, plus salad, but it just tasted so absolutely awful! Whereas all fish I’d had in Australia up to that point (and I’d had a lot, as I adore all fish and seafood) was spectacular, freshly-caught and left me craving more, this tasted like a frozen Birds Eye piece of crap that had gone off.

I was starving so I tried eating it with my breath held so as not to taste it, but I could taste it easily and began retching and gagging (I can never help doing that if overwhelmed with a foul taste or smell), so immediately discarded the fish fillet and just stuffed what was left of the burger (salad in a bun) with chips. I could still taste the horrendous flavour even now, so just threw it away, glared furiously into the (by now pitch black) distance thinking of the $19 I’d just wasted on it, and downed the can of Red Bull I’d bought with it to remove the taste. Do you know, this was I think March 15th, and I’ve still not touched fish since as it’s put me off so much, almost a month later. And I’m someone who would have it almost every day until then.

That's a shame, but I can sympathise with how off-putting it can be to have one really bad experience with a particular food that basically stops you eating it for a while. My experience was also seafood, though not fried fish.

I hope you enjoy reading.
Next reports to be:

Day 65: Flying to the Sunshine Coast and ridiculously beautiful Noosa
Day 66: Queensland’s Tilt Train to Brisbane, and exploring this great city
Day 67: West Brisbane - holding a koala, red kangaroos, bird MAYHEM
Day 68: Brisbane’s PENG city Beach, train to Gold Coast, in Gold Coast
Day 69: Insane Burleigh Heads/Tallebudgera Creek & flight to Adelaide
Day 70: In Adelaide: City, Port & Gardens, Grange, Henley & Noarlunga
Day 71: QATAR AIRWAYS Business Class Q-Suites flight Adelaide-Auckland

and it is currently 3:32am on what will be Day 72, spent in Auckland, NZ.
I will respond to all comments tomorrow if I can. Goodnight!

Wow, do you get any sleep mate? Or is it all a Red Bull-fuelled haze...?

 

[Techniquest]

Wow those trips were amazing, clearly, apart from the dodgy food. Good thing you didn't eat the whole thing!

 

[Greetlander]

Posting 43-45 all at once. Day 43 is immediately above.
Most images are inserted as thumbnails to save those using limited data plans, these may show sideways. Click on them and you’ll see them the right way up at proper size.

DAY 44: Again this was written on my flight on SUNDAY, not today.

The next day was Thursday, and a two-hour lecture for Arguments That Change The World, a really fascinating subject (unlike the others I do down under) led by a very funny and friendly lecturer who also lends his time to local prisons to teach English, which I think is a wonderful thing to do. The university’s stunning buildings looked especially pleasant in the blistering sun, but it was well into the mid thirties in terms of temperature degrees celsius, and all I could think about as I left the class was how much I’d love to visit another saltwater pool. It was a beautiful day for it after all.

Therefore, I walked to nearby Redfern station – my backpack already packed as I had anticipated wanting to go somewhere later prior to leaving for class – and jumped aboard the Intercity South Coast service bound for Kiama for Bomaderry, which was formed of Oscar sets HXX and HXX and this hurtled me down to Thurroul at an acceptable speed, getting me there in just over an hour’s time.

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From here, it is only a short walk to the coast, past some simply beautiful, beautiful houses. The beach is pleasant, certainly, but I was here for the pool, and it was stunning. The colour of the water was an insane turquoise, it was partially shaded by some trees, and it reached just under 3 metres at the deep end, so deep enough for a proper swim. Enormous vats of sun lotion sat on a table for anyone to use, which is a smart and thoughtful idea. I had a really good swim, thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Following on from this, I boarded Tangara TXX which was on a Port Kembla to Waterfall stopping service, and this took me to Otford in the middle of the bush.

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In order to reach where I was looking for, I had to do a bit of a bushwalk (does it count as a bushwalk if you’re walking along a road), which was an absolute pain as there were no paths so I had to walk on the road, in the direction of upcoming traffic of course as my dad always taught me as a little kid ( ), and this felt a bit dangerous each time I went round sharp corners – which was many times. The sun was beginning to set which put my mind at ease about snakes a bit; these cold-blooded creatures crave sun and warmth, and there was a sign by Otford station warning of snakes sunning themselves on the road. There was a number of signs about bush fires also, which of course are a constant risk in the Australian bush and formed a major crisis back in early 2020 when much of it burned and couldn’t be tamed. Went over a bridge with a freighter running under too.

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You might wonder why I was trekking into the bush at 7pm, but here was the answer:

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One mile and a bit from Otford station, I made it to the Bald Hill Lookout at Stanwell Tops, and it was the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen. It was like walking into a watercolour painting. I’ve never seen such a ridiculous sunset in my life. WELL worth visiting.

And then it got a bit weirder! A man visiting from Prague began chatting to me, and we were suddenly shushed from the side. A film crew were there, and I soon saw from the title on the van and the shirts on the back of the crew what they were filming. Well, it was only Season 3 of my favourite Aussie series The Secrets She Keeps! (You know, the one with the stolen baby and where – as usual – the one with the English accent is the baddie. I won’t include any spoilers in case you want to watch it and haven’t seen it) Crazy.

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I walked back down the hill in the direction of Stanwell Park station, which is a fraction closer to the lookout than Otford, but requires a spirally drive down to the bottom of the hill with no path which was VERY, VERY difficult. I was extremely worried I’d get hit by a car, and I must recommend to anyone wanting to visit Bald Hill Lookout to use Otford station instead. The walk TO the lookout seemed easy as pre-school colouring by comparison.

I was absolutely starving by now, having not eaten since the aforementioned food at The Entrance on Wednesday evening – and it was now 8pm on Thursday! The only place I found that sold food was a little café at the foot of the hill, and they had a fair few things on the menu, so I asked how long a fishburger would take (I didn’t have long until the hourly train) and was told twenty minutes. That’d be fine. The station was three minutes away. I was pleasantly surprised to see it came after more like eight minutes, thanked them, left, and got stuck into it walking to the station. OH GOD!

WHAT A VILE, VILE TASTE! It was simply enormous, with the largest battered fish fillet I’ve ever seen in a burger before inside, plus salad, but it just tasted so absolutely awful! Whereas all fish I’d had in Australia up to that point (and I’d had a lot, as I adore all fish and seafood) was spectacular, freshly-caught and left me craving more, this tasted like a frozen Birds Eye piece of crap that had gone off.

I was starving so I tried eating it with my breath held so as not to taste it, but I could taste it easily and began retching and gagging (I can never help doing that if overwhelmed with a foul taste or smell), so immediately discarded the fish fillet and just stuffed what was left of the burger (salad in a bun) with chips. I could still taste the horrendous flavour even now, so just threw it away, glared furiously into the (by now pitch black) distance thinking of the $19 I’d just wasted on it, and downed the can of Red Bull I’d bought with it to remove the taste. Do you know, this was I think March 15th, and I’ve still not touched fish since as it’s put me off so much, almost a month later. And I’m someone who would have it almost every day until then.

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I kid you not simply looking at this picture is making me feel badly ill.

From Stanwell Tops I caught Oscar HXX on the ex-Port Kembla stopping service bound for Waterfall, alighted at Helensburgh (where I ordered my concession student Opal card, was told 4-5 working days and it has STILL NOT COME), and then boarded the ex-Kiama express bound for Sydders formed of Oscars HXX and HXX. This to Redfern, and a local service one stop back to Newtown. What good timing, we’re about to land. 3000 words in a 2.5 hour flight, not too bad. Still, I can natter for England.

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DAY 45:

Overwhelming nausea and a watering mouth woke me up. Spent the whole day puking violently. I’ll kill whoever made that fishburger.

So many people overlook the South Coast - it is stunning down there. TBH the best thing to do on any of the NSW coastal strips is get to the slightly out of the way places. Not all of them are on a train line but it is manageable.