I can’t quite believe the year is over already.
66 blog posts this year (plus this one).
The most viewed, if I’m reading the stats right, were all transport posts:
- 18/4/2025: Myki: new readers coming soon
- 18/11/2025: What we know about the Metro tunnel opening
- 13/12/2025: West Gate Tunnel impacts
- 13/6/2025: Metro tunnel timetable during the 21st June test
- 10/9/2025: Fixing the network: the long list
Also top of the pops were the home page, a 2018 post about what the rail map will look like with the Metro tunnel open (the draft back then is actually better than the actual map now), and the page about catching the cheap PTV bus to the airport.
Blog posts this year that got the most comments:
- 10/9/2025: Fixing the network: the long list 27
- 18/4/2025: Myki: new readers coming soon 27
- 29/4/2025: You are my Sunshine 23
- 15/5/2025: At last, more services 22
- Several were equal fifth at 21.
- Looking back further, the most comments I ever got on a single post was 126 for a 2016 post: Skyrail!
The top social media post (based on Facebook stats, which are the most comprehensive) was a short video showing one of the new Myki readers.
Other social media platforms don’t make it as easy to see this kind of info, but this snarky post in November did very well, as did the short video of the Eiffel Tower viewed from a train.
Some favourite things of the year, some of which I blogged, some of which I didn’t:
- We took a few short trips around Victoria to see rellies, and also to check out the Benalla street art festival, and Bendigo for the Frida Kahlo exhibition
- Retro gaming: chasing down cartridges for the Atari 2600 (including in Bendigo and Geelong), and just this month I got the new Commodore 64 Ultimate
- The Europe trip – still blogging that one. So much fun (despite passport panic)
- …and trying to learn French
- A family trip to Brisbane was fun too
- Getting to tour the metro tunnel stations before they opened, then enjoying the Metro tunnel opening – and meeting lots of people on the way through
- We also had family gatherings every month or two to celebrate birthdays – always good
- My photos/screen grabs remind me I had a short addiction to the 368 Chickens web game… until I cracked it. Four years after I first played it, Wordle remains an ongoing concern
- John Clarke doco at MIFF (showing on ABC TV on 1st January – recommended)
- Oasis at Marvel Stadium!
- PTUA campaigning kept going, with important issues continuing to be highlighted. We’ve seen substantial growth in membership (join now; there’s a free tier if you want) and social media this year.
The year was not all smooth sailing. Day job and PTUA stuff pretty busy at times. Some family members with health challenges. Including me come to think of it. (I mentioned the leg problem, but you probably don’t need to read about the warts.)
All of little consequence compared to world events, of course.
I’ve also got an ever-growing list of Things To Do… and Lego sets to build!
Hope your 2025 has been good good, and your 2026 is better!
4 replies on “Farewell 2025”
Happy 2026 Daniel…gosh I’ve been reading you blog for something like 25 years.
Happy New Year Daniel. I almost never comment but I do read your posts and I’ve been following you since about 2005 or so. It’s hard to believe I’ve lived in Australia for nearly 18 years and I came across you when I still lived in the US, probably around 20 years ago. Yes I still have an undiluted American accent. Jed
Happy New Year Daniel! Thanks for another year of interesting blogging.
Good to have an online space that is informative, accessible and respectful.
Happy New Year, Daniel!
I seem to have missed your blog post about your leg back in January 2025. I hope it is much improved now.
You wrote “I’d always hope I was already aware of accessibility issues in public spaces (including public transport), but this has emphasised it to me.”
Same here. I thought I had a pretty good understanding due to my mother’s difficulties in accessing public transport, which go back at least 15 years, but it wasn’t until I became disabled myself that I really understood. There’s nothing like first hand experience.
The problems with accessing trams are well known, but something that doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention is the fact that train doorways are often significantly higher than the platform. Essendon Station is one of the worst examples, but there are several others where the height is a real problem.
What makes it particularly challenging is that unless it’s a station you use often, you don’t know about this problem until you’re ready to exit the train, and by then it may be too late to request assistance from the driver.
Many’s the time I have boarded a train at a station where the platform is level with the train door, or near enough level not to be a problem, and discovered when arriving at my destination that I am facing a large and precarious step down, with a risk of falling.
I assume there is nowhere on Metro Trains’ website that lists stations where the platform level might be a problem, so that ramp assistance can be requested in advance?