The poem and the foot
I spotted this in November on a train. Read both of the poems, was mildly amused, then noticed the second one had been written by someone I know. (Well, admittedly have only met once or twice, years ago, but you know…)
Posting it today as I saw on Twitter this morning that he had to go into hospital with a foot injury. Hope it heals quickly.
A short break in Inverloch
Got back yesterday from a few days in Inverloch. We rented a house near the beach with my sister and her family.
Sunday
Drove down as sorry, but even V/Line’s new improved services only provide 3-4 services a day. Anyway we had lots of stuff to carry. Stopped at Korumburra for lunch at the Kelly bakery (not sure what Ned Kelly’s link to Korumburra is), and checked out the tourist railway but didn’t ride on it.
Then onward to Inverloch. Drove around the town looking for the supermarket, which we found eventually. Very crowded with fellow holidaymakers. We stocked up on stuff and then headed for the house.
Quite nice and comfortable, if a little basic. One toilet was a stretch for so many people. Isaac ended up on a mattress on the floor, but seemed to get used to it. No actual dinner table — just an island kitchen bench with not enough stools, so the adults got used to having meals standing. And a TV which was tiny and had no proper antenna, and was therefore unwatchable. I was glad I’d brought a radio to be able to listen to the news and the cricket.
But these minor issues were forgotten when we found the slot car set in the cupboard.
After settling-in we strolled down to the beach (about 10 minutes walk). It was a little cold, but very nice. The kids kept themselves entertained by wading in the water and scrawling pictures and words into the sand.
Strolled back and Adrian (genuine Italian) cooked us all pasta. Yum. Then we had a go of RoboRally, which took some study of the manual. I won, perhaps reflecting that I was the only participant who had played previously, as veteran rallier Marita decided she wanted to just watch.
Spotted a huge huntsman spider in the bathroom just before going to bed, but happily didn’t see it again all week.
Monday
Went for a nice long triangular walk down to the beach, along the coast into the town then back to the house. Seemed to be plenty of people about, and (for whatever reason) I snapped a few moderately entertaining signs with unfortunate pictogram men falling off cliffs and being carried away by strong currents.
After some lunch we did the slightly amusingly named Screw Creek scenic walk up to Townsend bluff, taking a few wrong turns along the way. It’s one of those scenic walks where it turns out the best view isn’t at the proper End Of The Walk, but about 200 metres back down the hill. But oh well, there was some interesting stuff to see along the way.
Adrian fired-up the wood-fired barbecue in the evening and we feasted like kings yet again, before a game of Cluedo.
Tuesday
Into the car (we must have made an amusing little convoy, my sister’s Golf and my Astra, carrying four people each and both with matching orange “More trains = Less traffic” PTUA stickers on the back), we went for a spin down the Cape Paterson Road. Lots of glorious views of the sea, and after a stop at some place called Eagle’s Nest (great view of the cliffs) we took a look around the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi.
Some really interesting stuff around the mine — it’s free entry to the surface exhibits. Time and the presence small children prevented us doing the hour-long mine tour (for which there is a charge); maybe another time — if it’s half as good as the one in Bendigo, it’d be well worth while.
The lady behind the counter recommended lunch at the Caledonian hotel in Wonthaggi, and sure enough their BLT burger went down a treat. Then we headed back to the house for a rest before hitting the beach.
The promised beach weather never quite eventuated, but it was nice enough for some paddling, sand-castle building and beach cricket, before home made pizzas for dinner. Yum. Followed by another game of Cluedo, and a quick go of the telescope the kids got for Christmas, though not many stars were out.
Wednesday
Time to head home, but beforehand a ride on the South Gippsland Tourist Railway, from Korumburra to Nyora and back in a 1950s diesel railcar (apparently once used on the Adelaide suburban system). It’s a bumpy old track, but some great scenery along the way, and my nephew Leo was thrilled to be able to watch out the front window to see the track ahead.
After lunch, back to the car and the drive home to the big smoke. A nice little relaxing break.
Tags: beaches, Cape Paterson, holidays, Inverloch, Korumburra, Ned Kelly, South Gippsland Tourist Railway, spiders, V/Line, Wonthaggi
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Happy new year
Happy new year.
2010. It sounds so futuristic. At least, for a day or two.
Resolutions? I’ve got a number of goals, but the underlying theme is to get myself organised, stop being distracted by every little thing in the always-online worl… (ooh, did you see that Tweet??) and get stuff done.
Hope 2010 brings good stuff to all of you.
Myki has arrived
Myki has arrived in Melbourne. Kind of.
The government announced yesterday it is now valid for travel on trains only, so if that’s the third of the PT system that you use, and you never get on a tram or bus, you can use it.
I gave it a spin yesterday afternoon. Here’s what happened.
In summary? The travel worked, but I was unable to put any more money onto the card, on two separate machines.
Myki’s step backwards
Melbourne has had multi-modal ticketing for more than 25 years. The simplicity of it is the envy of cities that don’t have this. One ticket on tram, train and bus. But not with Myki. At least not yet.
Of course, if you’re desperate to use it anyway, you can’t actually go and buy a Myki card and play with it today — unless you want a trip to a regional city first. You have to order online, and it’ll take about a week to show up.
Once you have the card, you can travel by train on it.
Because apparently it’s all working on the train system. All tickety-boo. And nothing to do with the impending self-imposed deadline of the end of the year that the government set themselves.
“I have received advice from the Transport Ticketing Authority board that test data shows that myki is consistently reliable across Melbourne’s train network and they have therefore recommended the commencement of myki on the metropolitan rail network.”
– Government press release
Trying out Myki on day one
So I tried it, with the kids trailing along with their Metcards, since they don’t yet have Mykis.
I moseyed down to my local station with my Myki (bought in Geelong) in hand.
I know from looking at the web site that the balance is getting a little low. Maybe I’ll put some more money on it.
Bentleigh Station only has one Myki vending machine so far, on platform 3. That’s because the plum spots near the main entrance (platforms 1+2) are taken by Metcard machines. Later on they’ll take those out and put in Myki machines. So, I head for the machine on platform 3 to top-up my Myki card.
Strike one! The machine is out of service. It has in fact been out of service for at least a week and a half now, despite me flagging it a week ago via a contact at the Transport Ticketing Authority.
No matter. I have $4 something on the card. Enough for a trip.
Touch on, touch off
Over to the main platforms. Touch-on with the card. It works. Slowly — about 2 seconds, not the 1 second response time claimed.
While waiting for the train I try the blue (Myki Check) machine, which can show me the card status and history. All looks okay.
Train arrives. One stop to Patterson. Off the train. Touch-off. Again, about 2 seconds.
It correctly charges me the discounted zone 2, 2-hour fare of $2.02. All good.
The Patterson station Myki vending machine appears to be functioning. So I put the card on the reader and try to lighten my pocket by topping-up the card with some silver.
The machine prompts me to insert the coins, but no. Not one coin will go in. I look closely at the slot. The lock thingy that prevents nefarious characters inserting unwanted objects is closed. It won’t take my coins. Strike two!
So I try topping-up by credit card. It prompts me to insert my credit card into the slot, then to look at the EFTPOS section of the machine for further prompts. It doesn’t ask for a PIN, but instead instructs me to remove the card again. I do so. The machine then thinks about it for a good 30 seconds or more, before finally reporting “Sorry, your transaction could not be completed.”
I try again with another credit card. Same result. Strike three!
It’s not really ready, not even on trains
Let’s read that quote again.
“I have received advice from the Transport Ticketing Authority board that test data shows that myki is consistently reliable across Melbourne’s train network and they have therefore recommended the commencement of myki on the metropolitan rail network.”
– Government press release
I’m sorry Minister, but I beg to differ. If I have been unable to top-up my card at two separate locations (and remember, during the first stage of rollout, any station staff you might encounter have no ability to help with this), that means passengers at these two stations can’t pay for their train fares. This system is not ready, not even for trains.
Sure, you can top-up online or via the call centre, (it’s 13 MYKI, in case anybody needs to know).
As it happens, I tried an online topup. The first time, it returned an error, something along the lines of “No records found”, which made no sense. The second attempt worked, with the following cautionary note:
When topping up your myki via the website or the myki call centre, please allow up to 24 hours for the funds to transfer to your myki.
Up to 24 hours means the ability to top-up instantly while travelling is important.
Now, I know some people will want to get a card and try it out (especially since they’re free for now). But it’s really hard to recommend it to anybody for regular travel who isn’t looking for trouble.
Maybe the answer is to order one online, and tuck it away somewhere and keep using Metcards for now until Myki is fully functioning.
The simple truth is the government has rushed this thing to the table while it’s still half-baked. After foolishly having promised it by the end of the year, they’ve switched only part of it on, but even that part doesn’t work properly.
They should have waited until it works.
Thursday update: I took another ride this morning.
While the vending machine at Bentleigh still hasn’t been fixed (despite it making the front page of The Age yesterday), the money deposited via the web site on Tuesday night had shown up on my card correctly.
At Glenhuntly, I successfully deposited a bunch of coins onto my card on one of the vending machines, and inspected my history. The other machine somehow couldn’t show me my history. I didn’t test the topup on it, but the coinslot wasn’t blocked like at Patterson on Tuesday.
Touch-on and touch-off worked okay, except that one scanner at Glenhuntly didn’t work until the third try (it twice said “please try again”). The system appearing to charge me the correct $2.94 zone 1 adult 2-hour fare.
Another trip this morning, this time Footscray to Bentleigh. Stopped off at Flinders St to see how the gates respond to the card. The answer is s..l..o..w..l..y… (at least on the first gate) but it did work. The hack job to get the Metcard gates to recognise Myki cards meant it flashed up a code which I don’t recall the exact wording for, but seemed to imply the Metcard barrier thought it was an employee pass. The second gate was faster.
“Myki is here” posters have started going up (noted at North Melbourne and Bentleigh, with the latter having other posters describing how Myki works). But the posters about it still being in testing are still up at other locations (such as Footscray) — potentially confusing.
The vending machine at Bentleigh has been fixed… almost. Topped up my card with cash. Tried with a credit card though… no go, it came back with an error saying it’s not taking cards.
I’m sharp and smart
…apparently.
(It’s a sharps disposal container at Monash Medical Centre.)
Also spotted just before Christmas, reindeer carrot in Safeway:
- “The carrots preferred by reindeers.”
- “Ingredients: Carrots, magic, love.”
I wonder if the ACCC would approve of those claims?
Quick lunch review
El Fresco cafe, Centre Road, Bentleigh.
Maybe the notice in the front window saying they need experienced staff should have been an omen.
Stools in the window to watch the passing parade — excellent. Smokers’ tables far enough away that smoke shouldn’t be a problem except during a strong southerly.
The drinks arrived quickly. Tasty, but small. $6 for a banana smoothie that size? Yikes.
The food took ages. Even after they said they’d check on its progress it seemed to take ages. How long can an omelette and pancakes take?
They did apologise when it eventually arrived, and my omelette was tasty — a tad more well done than I’d like, but no complaints (especially compared to my own disaster-area-like creations). M’s pancake okay, though suspected not real maple syrup.
I’ve been there before and it was okay without being remarkable, with the feeling that it was a tad overpriced for what it was, underscored today.
Not entirely sure it was open, but shoulda just walked down to the Spotted Dog.
Christmas is coming
So here we are, Christmas Eve. After yesterday’s heat, it was still 30 degrees C overnight. Thankfully it’s cooled down now to 25, and I’ve opened up the house to let it all in — though hopefully not too many flies.
Tomorrow we’ll pile over to my sister’s house for Christmas lunch, but it’s looking like we won’t get to use the pool, as evidently it will be cooler, so not the stinking hot Australian Christmas we sometimes get.
“We can’t replicate an Australian Christmas over here. It’s too cold. Sometimes it snows. You can hear sleigh bells. Nah, it’s not like Christmas at all.” — Lee Tulloch in New York, The Age, 22/12/99
Brighton Beach station
Bourke Street
Little Bourke Street
To all those reading, thanks for all the comments over the year, and have a great Christmas and New Year.
The hidden message in the train seats
Many of Melbourne’s train seats look like this:
Look closely. Those are not all just random shapes designed to hide the dirt.
Anything look familiar?
Read more
